“Going somewhere nice, Brian?” she asked.
“Yes, I’m leaving on Monday for Yorkshire. Spending the holidays there with family. My brother and his wife and their sons, actually. They’re the only family I have left.”
“Oh, that will be nice.” Penny smiled. “I hope the weather will be good for the journey. Driving, are you?”
Kenley nodded as Penny shifted forward in her seat.
“I wanted to see you, Brian,” she began, “to apologize for the breakage last night. Your daffodil plate. But fortunately I was able to get a pretty good replacement at the St. David’s Charity Shop.” She held the package out to him. “Is that where you got yours?”
Kenley reached out to accept the package. “This was very kind of you, Penny, and much appreciated, but you didn’t need to go to all that bother. The plate wasn’t worth much, I don’t think, and anyway, I hadn’t had it very long. Still, very good of you. Thank you.”
Penny groaned inwardly. He hadn’t answered her question and she couldn’t think how to ask it again.
“The ladies at the charity shop told me that the plates had once belonged to Rhosyn Hughes,” Penny said desperately. “Did you know her?”
“No, I never heard of her.”
A heavy, awkward silence descended. Penny smiled at Kenley, then took in her surroundings. The room was neat and well kept. The surfaces were free of clutter and appeared to have been recently dusted. A built-in set of shelves stood floor to ceiling near an arched opening that led to the kitchen. Realizing that Kenley wasn’t going to offer her a cup of coffee and sensing that he wanted her to leave, Penny tried one last time.
“We’re really glad you decided to join our Stretch and Sketch Club, Brian. Your photographs are wonderful. We’ll be organizing an exhibit in the spring and I do hope you’ll consider showing some of your photos.” At this, Kenley’s face lit up.
“I was wondering, Brian, if you’d consider letting me have copies of the photos you took that day at Conwy Castle? With all the commotion, I didn’t even get my quick sketches finished. I don’t have the perspective or the details nearly right. And we’d love to have a couple for our Stretch and Sketch newsletter.”
Kenley hesitated. “I didn’t know there was a Stretch and Sketch newsletter. I’ve never seen one. Still, I guess that would be all right. Perhaps I could e-mail them to you?”
Penny pulled a computer memory stick out of her pocket.
“Do you think you could put them on here? That would be easier. Sometimes the files get too big and the e-mails don’t arrive.”
“Oh, right. My computer’s in the spare bedroom. Won’t be a minute.” As Kenley disappeared down the hall toward the back of the bungalow, Penny jumped up and reached the bookshelves in two long strides. She ran her fingers over the titles on the spines but saw only popular fiction paperbacks and several expensive-looking nature and photography books. Displayed amongst the books were several thriving plants in copper pots and photos of smiling boys with their happy parents. Hearing Kenley’s footsteps in the hall, she pulled out a book on Bodnant Garden and was leafing through it when he reappeared, holding out her memory stick.
“Here you go. They’re all here.”
“Oh, thanks very much, Brian. These will be really helpful.” Now that the two of them were standing, the timing seemed natural for her to leave.
“Well, again, I’m sorry about the plate, but I hope you’ll enjoy the new one.”
“Yes, I’m sure I will,” Kenley said politely, looking somewhere over her shoulder. “It was very kind of you to bring it, although, really, you needn’t have bothered.” He gave another wheezy chuckle. “I was a bit shocked when it got broken, but honestly, it’s fine.”
He showed her out and she returned to the spa where Victoria was waiting for her. They reviewed the most recent applicant for the hairdresser’s position, and Penny agreed that Alberto was definitely someone they should interview. With Christmas coming up so quickly, though, it might not be possible to get the position filled. The name seemed vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t place him. She smiled at his confidence in calling himself by just one name: Alberto.
The day passed quickly, filled with small things that needed crossing off the to-do list and other things that popped up and needed her attention right away. As she responded to yet another e-mail, she wondered how business ever got done without it. She had just about cleared her electronic in-basket when a direct message popped up. Seeing who it was from, she read it immediately.
Have dinner with me tomorrow night? it read.
She thought for a moment, then typed. Early? 5 P.M. Conwy?
Where? came the reply.
Meet you police station?
Right!
A few minutes later another message arrived from Gareth. Doing TV appeal tonight Harry Saunders.
It was getting on for four, so Penny checked on Eirlys in the salon and, after reassuring herself that everything was fine, gave Eirlys a grateful pat on the shoulder and went off in search of Victoria.
She found her in the photocopy room, bending over, feeding paper into the machine. “I’m not sure where all the paper goes, but we’re going through reams of the stuff,” she muttered as Penny walked in. “What did we do before we had our own photocopier?” she asked as she stood up, and then answered her own question. “Got by just fine, thank you very much.”
Penny looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Just coming to tell you that I’m ready to go now. I’m tired. Oh, and I’m having dinner with Gareth tomorrow night. Seems ages since I’ve seen him.”
“Right,” said Victoria. “And thanks again for the flowers. They’re lovely. I’ll take them upstairs.” As the photocopier resumed its printing job, she tossed a couple of wrinkled bits of paper into the recycling box. “Did you get in touch with Gwennie? Have you asked her to do the cooking for Christmas yet?”
“Yikes, thanks for the reminder. I’ll call her now.”
A few moments later she put down the phone in her office. Gwennie had cheerfully agreed to do all the cooking for Penny’s Christmas lunch and, indeed, had said she welcomed the opportunity to get away from her bossy, controlling sister’s home for a few hours. Gwennie had said she would bring Penny a shopping list of everything she must get in for the meal, and she, Gwennie, would take care of the rest. Oh, and there was just one other thing. Would Penny mind if she brought Trixxi? Penny had assured her Trixxi, an adorable black Lab, would be most welcome.
Gwennie had worked for many years as housekeeper to the Gruffydd family, owners of the charming Ty Brith Hall, situated high above Llanelen with spectacular views over the valley to the hills beyond. But with the murder earlier in the year of Emyr Gruffydd’s posh bride, and the death soon after of his father, Emyr was now spending much of his time at the family’s estate in Cornwall. Ty Brith Hall, the family home in North Wales, remained silent and shuttered. Gwennie, who adored Trixxi, was happy to look after her, especially as this meant living in at the Hall as her house-proud sister would not allow an animal in her tidy home in Llanelen.
Satisfied that most of her Christmas arrangements were taken care of, Penny set off for the short walk home. On the way, her thoughts turned to her visit to Brian Kenley’s home. Was it odd that he was leaving for Yorkshire? Not really. A man living alone would naturally seek out his family at Christmas, and the pictures on the bookshelves, probably taken by Brian himself, indicated a strong family bond. But something about the way he had responded to her giving him the replacement plate began to bother her. Something was not quite right; his behavior had been odd. Something was missing, but she couldn’t put her finger on what exactly it was. Except, maybe, he had seemed uninterested. Detached. And yet he’d seemed quite upset when the daffodil plate had got broken.