“He loaded some photos on here yesterday, and I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but I haven’t looked at them yet. It didn’t seem urgent before, but now it does.”
“Let’s get upstairs to the flat,” Victoria said
They reached the top of the stairs and entered Victoria’s sitting room. Victoria disappeared into the kitchen and returned a few minutes later.
“That food looks delicious, Penny. I’m glad you brought it. I’ll bet Gareth was disappointed, though.”
“Disappointed and hungry, that’s for sure. Anyway, let’s get these photos on your laptop and see what we’ve got.” Victoria pointed to her computer on the coffee table, and Penny switched it on and inserted the memory stick while Victoria cleared a few books and papers off her dining table. She laid out two placemats, set a couple of dinner plates on them, added some cutlery and napkins, and then joined Penny on the sofa. She leaned in to her slightly. Penny turned the computer screen toward her so they could both see. They stared at a series of carefully framed images.
“This is so sad,” said Victoria, “I can hardly bear to look at them. It’s hard to believe that the man who took these photographs has just died.”
Penny nodded as she leaned forward to get a closer look.
“Who’s that?” she said, pointing at a blurry figure disappearing through an entranceway to one of the staircases that led to the wall walk. “It could be anybody, and I can’t really tell which stair set this is.”
She sat back and gestured at the computer. “It probably doesn’t matter, anyway. The stairs all lead upto the wall walk, and we know who was up there at the time. I can’t see how these photos are going to help.”
“When did Brian give them to you?” Victoria asked.
“Yesterday. Why?”
“Well, maybe somebody else thinks there’s something in the photos that could help solve Harry Saunders’s murder. After all, you said Kenley’s computer was all smashed up.”
“Hmm.” Penny opened a new file and began copying all the images from the memory stick onto the computer’s hard drive.
“Just to be on the safe side, we’ll copy the pictures onto your computer, and then I’ll make sure Gareth knows about them.” She looked up. “That food’s starting to smell really good. Do you think it’s hot enough?”
Victoria stood up. “Should be. I’ll see to it.”
Penny followed her and stood in the doorway to the kitchen. “Why don’t we go over our notes for the window display competition while we’re eating and do the judging tomorrow so we can call in the results to the newspaper tomorrow evening? The shop owners will want that extra bit of publicity while there are still a few shopping days left.”
“Good idea,” said Victoria, handing her a pair of oven mitts. “You put the food on the table and I’ll get the notes we’ve made so far.”
Half an hour later, Penny set down her pen. “So we have our criteria?”
Victoria nodded. “Most creative, most beautiful, and best in show.”
“Not everyone will be happy with our decisions,” said Penny, “but I think we’ll make the right choices.”
Victoria picked up Penny’s plate and put it on top of hers. “Tea?”
“Love some. And while you’re doing that, I’ll make a phone call.”
Victoria returned from the kitchen with a tea tray that she set on the table. She gave Penny an inquiring look.
“Bethan’ll be here any minute. To pick up the memory stick. The police have all kinds of high-tech enhancement capabilities, and they might be able to make something of them.”
Victoria poured the tea. “Do you think she’ll say anything to you about not giving the photos to them earlier?”
“I don’t think so. I just got them myself yesterday, and I thought Brian had already given them to the police.”
Victoria sipped her tea. “This case has really got me confused. So many bad things going on. Thefts, murders, I don’t know what’s important and what isn’t,” she said. “Or if things are meant to be connected to other things.”
Penny nodded. “Me, too.”
“Would it help if we go over what we know so far? I know you’re determined to find out who stole your brooch.”
“It’s more than that,” said Penny. “I think whoever stole my brooch killed Harry Saunders.”
“Why on earth would you think that? I mean, you may be right, but it seems like an awfully big leap to me.”
“Because Mrs. Lloyd’s letter opener was the murder weapon. And we know there’ve been thefts from the charity shop. Things with not a lot of value being taken. I can’t remember them all, but there was a John Lennon biography, I remember that, and a shepherdess figurine. That sort of thing. So Mrs. Lloyd’s letter opener would fit right in with that lot. But my brooch is different. It’s valuable.”
“Unless whoever took it didn’t know it was valuable. Just thought it was costume jewelry.”
Penny leaned forward. “I suppose,” she said slowly, “but it was in its case, so whoever took it knew it came from a proper jeweler, so must have known that it had some value.” She ran her fingers through her hair, shaking her head slightly and giving out a little groan. “But what are the chances that a town this size would have two thieves at work?
“I’ve just had an idea. Have you got a calendar?”
“There’s one on my laptop.”
“No, not that kind. A paper kind. Even better, go get your appointment book. You know, that little black one you can’t live without. There’s something we need to check.”
Victoria rose and picked up her handbag from the table near the door. She brought it over to the sofa, opened it, and handed Penny a thin black diary. “Here you go.”
“Right,” said Penny. “Let’s see. Saunders was killed on the Tuesday…” She ran her finger backward over the dates. “This was the big snowstorm, and here”-her finger came to rest on the Sunday of the weekend before-“this was the day Mrs. Lloyd had her open house. So anyone who was there could have taken the letter opener.”
She looked triumphantly at Victoria.
“And a day or two after the open house Florence notices the letter opener is missing. So, I think the letter opener was stolen by someone who attended that open house.” She handed the diary back to Victoria. “What do you think?”
“Maybe,” Victoria replied slowly. “Unless of course it’s Florence. Do you think…”
“Funny you should say that. I asked her a little while ago to try to remember the last time they saw the letter opener, and she never got back to me. You don’t suppose…”
As they looked at each other, the sound of the doorbell ringing downstairs startled them.
“Oh, that’ll be Bethan, come for the memory stick.”
Victoria returned a few minutes later and showed Bethan into the room.
“Hi, Penny,” she said with a broad smile.
“You’re looking awfully chipper for someone who’s just come from a murder scene,” Penny said. “What’s up?”
“We’ve just had the DNA results back from the lab on Harry Saunders,” Bethan said. “We ran his results against all others on file. It’s routine, just in case. And the lab team found a match.”
“Really?” said Penny.
“With who?” asked Victoria, almost at the same time.
Bethan shook her head slightly. “You’ll not believe this, but to the skeletonized remains of the woman found in the ductwork of your spa. And to a ninety-nine-point-eight percent certainty, that woman was none other than Harry Saunders’s mother.”
Penny and Victoria looked at each other in stunned silence.
“Could that explain what he was doing here?” asked Penny. “Was he looking for his long-lost mother?”
Twenty-two
“But Penny, you can’t,” wailed Victoria. “We’re that close to Christmas and the ladies want their manicures! You’ve got to come in. We need you here.”