that you’re going to be our very first customer tomorrow.” Mrs. Lloyd shifted from one foot to the other and, unusual for her, said nothing. Penny turned to her other visitor. “Hello, Florence. How are you?”
The two women exchanged a charged glance, and then Florence turned to Penny.
“We were wondering if you had a few minutes to talk to us. You must be very busy, getting ready for tomorrow, we know that, and we wouldn’t bother you now if it wasn’t important.”
She took a small step closer and lowered her voice.
“It’s about that nasty business at Conwy Castle. Evelyn wants a word with you.”
Penny glanced down the hall. “Right. Let me just see where Rhian has got to.” She walked down the hall and stuck her head into a room adjacent to the reception area.
“Rhian, I’ll just be in the quiet room for a few minutes if you need me.” Penny then returned to the reception area and gathered up the two visitors.
“We’ll just step in here.” She led them to the small sitting area, where she and Florence had spent a few minutes on the night of the spa launch party discussing her concern over Mrs. Lloyd’s increasing fondness for Harry Saunders.
“Here we are,” she said, gesturing toward the chairs and then seating herself, facing them. She clasped her hands together and leaned forward. When Florence began to speak, without any hesitation or glancing at Mrs. Lloyd for unspoken permission, Penny realized they had talked this conversation through, probably in detail, before they arrived. Who would say what and how much would be said.
“It’s like this,” Florence began. “That police officer you’re friendly with came to see us last night about the death of that awful man. Harry Saunders. There are things he doesn’t know yet, your police officer, but he’ll probably find them out. And when he does, we’re afraid that one or both of us might come under suspicion.”
Florence stopped and rubbed her nose with the back of her hand.
“Go on, Florence,” Mrs. Lloyd prompted.
“You see, the police might think I wanted Saunders out of the way because if he moved in with Evelyn, I’d have to leave. I sold the few bits and pieces I had in Liverpool, and, well, to be honest, if I did have to go, I’d be very hard pressed, on my pension, to find any kind of decent accommodation. You know all about that. We talked about the situation in this very room on the night of your spa party.”
Penny nodded as Florence glanced at Mrs. Lloyd. “Even though I’ve had a rather attractive offer of employment, I have it very good at Evelyn’s and I know how lucky I am. I like it there. It suits me. Well, suits both of us, I think.”
Mrs. Lloyd gave her hand a friendly, reassuring pat and Penny smiled.
“So you think the police might think having to move out of Mrs. Lloyd’s house gave you a motive for murder?”
“Well, from what you read in the papers, people get killed for less than that all the time. There was that story about the man who killed his dad because he ordered the wrong kind of toppings on a pizza.”
She shrugged. “But I’d had an offer of employment before Harry was killed, so I didn’t really have any reason to wish him dead. No, it’s Evelyn here we’re worried about.” She turned to her. “Do you want to tell or shall I?”
“You.”
Florence squared her shoulders.
“If you’ll remember, Penny, I knew that man was up to no good. He tricked Evelyn into giving him some money. An awful lot of money, I’m afraid, and it might look to the police like she killed him to get her money back. Or because she was angry with him.”
“Oh, let me tell her,” Mrs. Lloyd cut in, suddenly coming back to life.
“Well, if you’re going to tell her, then if you don’t mind, Penny, I’m just going to go along to the loo. I can’t bear to hear this all over again. It’s too painful.”
“Down the hall, past reception, on the left,” Penny said, and then turned her attention back to Mrs. Lloyd.
“You met Harry,” Mrs. Lloyd began. “You must have seen for yourself how he could charm the birds out of the trees.” She explained how Saunders had suggested they set up a joint account so he could invest her money and how she had waited all that snowy weekend to hear from him but he never arrived.
“And I know I’ve been a foolish woman, so please don’t ask me how I could have been so gullible because I don’t know. What’s done cannot be undone, as they say. And as you can imagine, I’m dreading all this getting out, so I hope you’ll keep this to yourself.”
Penny groaned.
“What’s the matter?”
“Oh, Mrs. Lloyd, Mrs. Lloyd. I don’t know if I can keep this to myself. You’re right that the police are bound to find out about the money during the investigation, and when they do, and they then find out that I knew about it and didn’t tell them, well, I’m not sure what my legal status would be, but I expect it could be considered obstruction of justice or perverting the course of justice or something.”
“Nonsense!” snorted Mrs. Lloyd. “You’ve been watching too many of those American crime shows, you have.”
Penny grimaced. “I’m sorry, but I really don’t know what I can do to help. The police are going to investigate every aspect of this case, anyway, you must realize that. It’s murder, after all.”
“Well, what we’re afraid of is that they’ll sort it out to their satisfaction but not to ours. I know you’re just an amateur sleuth with no credentials and not much experience, but Florence and I want you to look into it so you can get to the bottom of it. Find out the truth, like.”
“That’s right,” said Florence, who had returned in time to catch the end of Mrs. Lloyd’s account. “We know we didn’t do it. We want you to find out who did.”
Penny gave a big sigh. “Well, I must admit I have been rather wondering about it. What particularly puzzles me is what he was doing at the castle in the first place. Do you have any idea?”
She sat back in her chair as they shook their heads.
“I’ll have to think about this. With the spa just opening, the timing couldn’t be worse. So much going on. I won’t have a lot of time, you do realize that? I can’t promise anything.”
She turned her attention to Mrs. Lloyd.
“I think the best thing you can do is tell DCI Davies yourself. About the money.” She looked from one to the other. “And I don’t know much about these things, but you might also want to consult a solicitor.” She stood up.
“I’m sorry, I know this is very important to you, but you’ll have to forgive me. I do have to go. I’ve got errands to run and we’ve got simply masses to do before tomorrow.”
“Yes, of course, we understand,” said Florence, picking up her handbag. “Come on, then, Evelyn, we’ll find something nice for our elevenses, and then maybe we should think about going to the police about the, you know.” She lowered her voice. “The money.” The women walked down the hall, thanking Penny as they went.
She watched them walk slowly out the door, unsure what to make of them, and then spoke to the receptionist who had just emerged from the storage room.
“Where are those files and my bag, Rhian? I left them right here on your desk.”
“Oh, sorry, hope you don’t mind, but I moved them out of the way. I put them on your desk in your office.”
Penny hurried up the street, past the Red Dragon Hotel, through the cobbled town square and turned right down a narrow side street. She passed the butcher’s shop with its signs urging customers to order a fresh Norfolk turkey now to arrive in time for Christmas, and stopped for a moment at the bakery, its irresistible window display filled with mince pies dusted with icing sugar, mince slices, brandy butter tarts, Eccles cakes, scones, sugar cookies shaped like pigs with bits of glace cherries for eyes, Christmas cakes with marzipan icing, gingerbread men, custard tarts, and shortbread treats shaped like bells and tiny reindeer. Thinking how wonderfully inviting and creative most of the shop windows looked this year, carefully and lovingly decorated to compete in the local merchants window dressing competition that she and Victoria had yet to judge, she moved on and pushed open the door to the jewelry store.
The bell attached to the door tinkled as she entered, and the jeweler, who was working behind a glassed-in enclosure, stood up, removed a loupe from his right eye, and came out to greet her, taking his place behind the
