The Patrone Case (A Markham Sisters Cozy Mystery Novella Book 16)

by Diana Xarissa

  “That sounds good, although I do hope we get a little busier. This is your livelihood, after all.”

  “I can afford a quiet day once in a while,” William assured her.

  Today turned out not to be that day, however. As Janet finished going through the pile of CVs, the shop’s door opened. William was busy dealing with a young couple who were hoping to furnish a nursery in antiques when a second couple arrived. Although she wasn’t sure what she was doing, Janet jumped up to help them.

  An hour later Janet had sold two bookshelves and a small glass vase. William handled the actual sales transaction, leaving Janet to assist an older man who’d wandered in while she’d been busy with the second couple. It was nearly midday before she and William had the shop to themselves again.

  “My goodness, that was fun,” Janet told him as the door swung shut behind the man who’d purchased a large humidor to give his brother.

  “I hope it’s quieter this afternoon when we’re interviewing,” William replied. “I don’t really want to shut during the interviews, but I’d rather they not be interrupted, either.”

  “I can always do my best with the customers while you deal with interviews. If you think I did okay this morning, that is.”

  “You did very well. You sold more than I did,” William laughed. “I’ll write you a cheque for your commission on the sales before you leave.”

  “You don’t have to do that,” Janet said quickly. “It was fun.”

  “I may not have to, but I will anyway. You earned it.” He told her how much her commission would be and she blinked in surprise.

  “That’s much more than I was expecting,” she said.

  “As I said, you earned it. Use the money to treat yourself to something.”

  “I will. Maybe I won’t mention it to Joan.”

  “What about some lunch, then?”

  The words were barely out of William’s mouth when the door buzzer sounded again. The woman who walked into the shop looked around and then smiled at them.

  “I just moved to the area and I need quite a bit of furniture. I hope you can help,” she said.

  William’s eyes lit up. “Of course I can,” he said quickly. “Where would you like to start?”

  “Dining room furniture,” the woman replied.

  Of course, Janet thought, as I’m starving. She walked around the shop slowly, trying to stay away from William and his customer, while also trying not to think about food. After twenty minutes, she gave up on both things.

  “I’m going to pop over to the coffee shop and get a sandwich,” she told William, who was busy making notes as the woman pointed to things. “Do you want anything?”

  “Chicken salad,” he told her, “and thank you.”

  The coffee shop was just across the car park from the antique shop. It had been under new management for several months now and Janet had heard very little good about the place. Needs must, she muttered to herself as she pushed the shop’s door open.

  There were three other people scattered around the small dining room. No one seemed to have any food on his or her table, which was slightly worrying, but Janet crossed to the counter anyway. She read over the menu of sandwiches on offer and then sighed. No chicken salad. She’d have to guess what else William might enjoy. In the end, she had time to choose and then change her mind half a dozen times before the door behind the counter finally swung open.

  The man who’d stomped out of the kitchen glared at her. “I told you your food will be out shortly,” he snapped.

  “But I haven’t ordered yet,” she replied, feeling confused.

  “You ordered tea and a toasted teacake,” he replied.

  “I did no such thing.”

  He sighed. “Lady, I don’t have time for this right now. Why are you being difficult?”

  Janet shook her head. “I’m not being difficult. You seem to have me confused with someone else, that’s all. I just arrived and I want to order some sandwiches.”

  A bell sounded from somewhere behind the grumpy man. He spun around and disappeared into the kitchen.

  “He’s confused you with me,” a voice at Janet’s elbow said.

  Janet looked over at the woman and shook her head. “How is that possible?” she asked. The woman was maybe forty-five, with brown hair that was pulled up into a professional-looking twist. She was wearing a dark blue business suit with matching heels. In contrast, Janet’s grey hair had been worn in the same short bob for more years than she wanted to remember. Her eyes were bright blue and she was wearing black trousers and a red jumper. “We look nothing alike,” she added.

  The woman laughed. “He’s probably only eighteen. All women over forty probably look alike to him.”

  Janet frowned as the man came back out of the kitchen with the other woman’s teacake.

  “Here,” he said, holding it out towards Janet.

  “I believe that’s mine,” the other woman said, “but what about my tea?”

  “Yeah, it’s coming,” the man replied. He looked from Janet to the other woman and back again. “Did you want something?” he asked Janet.

  She swallowed a sigh. “Two ham and cheese toasties packaged up for takeaway, please,” she said.

  “We don’t do takeaway,” he told her.

  “May I have the sandwiches and a few pieces of foil?” Janet asked, trying to keep her voice pleasant.

  “Foil?”

  “Yes, then I can wrap them up to take with me.”

  “We don’t do takeaway.”

  Janet counted to ten and then decided it wasn’t worth the effort. She spun on her heel and walked away.

  “Hey, what about your tea?” the man called after her.

  She walked as slowly as she could back to the antique shop, using the time to clear her head. As she pushed open the door, her stomach rumbled. She was going to have to go somewhere else and get herself and William something to eat, she decided.

  William was still busy with his customer, so Janet headed back outside. Her little red coupe was parked in the car park, and it only took a few minutes for her to drive to the café near Doveby House. Todd and Ted, the couple who ran the café, were wonderful, as ever. Within minutes, she was heading back to the antique shop with two sandwiches, several bags of crisps, and two cups full of hot tea. If William was too busy to eat, at least he could enjoy the tea while he dealt with his customer. His sandwich would keep. He was alone in the shop when Janet walked back in with their lunches.

  “I thought maybe you’d abandoned me,” he teased as she handed him his tea.

  “The man behind the counter in the café was unhelpful,” she told him. “Apparently they don’t do takeaway, even if I was another customer and not just the woman who’d already ordered the teacake.”

  William frowned. “Pardon?”

  She laughed and shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. This all came from the café, so I know it will be good.”

  While they ate, William told her about the woman who’d only just left. “She spent a small fortune on furniture for three rooms, and she’s coming back tomorrow to do more shopping. She’s going to send a truck on Sunday to collect everything.”

  “She paid for it all?” Janet asked nervously. While the crime rate in Doveby Dale was generally low, there had been a rush of criminal activity in the past year or so. Janet had learned to be suspicious of nearly everyone.

  “She’s paid for everything,” William assured her. “She put it all on a credit card. It was enough to warrant ringing for verification, and it all went through just fine.”

  “That’s good news. You’re having a good day.”

  “And I’m even more certain that hiring someone to help out is a good idea. Maybe you’d like a part-time job while the bed and breakfast is quiet,” he suggested.

  “I’m having fun helping out today, but I don’t want to do this every day. I’m meant to be retired, after all.”

  “As am I, really,” William laughed. “I
simply can’t imagine not working, though. I love being surrounded by antiques and meeting new people all the time. I don’t know what I’d do with myself if I weren’t running the shop.”

  Janet entertained William with the whole story behind his lunch coming from the café rather than the coffee shop nearby. By the time they’d finished their sandwiches and tea, it was nearly two o’clock.

  “Here we go again,” William muttered as the door swung open and a young man walked into the shop.

  He glanced around and then sighed. “I’m not going to meet single women in here, am I?” he asked.

  I’m single, Janet thought, but didn’t say aloud. She knew she wasn’t the sort of woman the young man was looking for, as she’d recognised him as soon as he’d walked through the door. He was still wearing the stained T-shirt with the name of the coffee shop across the front that he’d been wearing when he’d refused to allow her to order takeaway a short while earlier.

  “I’m William Chalmers,” William began.

  “Oh, great, yeah, that’s who I was told to ask for when I got here. I’m Peter Henson. I’m here about the job.”

  “Come and have a seat,” William suggested. He introduced Janet as they all settled onto the couches.

  Peter frowned at her. “You look familiar, like one of my mum’s friends or something.”

  “I’m fairly new to Doveby Dale,” Janet told him. “I doubt I’ve met your mother.”

  He shrugged. “Whatever. Tell me about the job, then.”

  William blinked and then gave the man a forced smile. “It would be part-time and with varied hours depending on my schedule. You’d get a commission based on your sales, and I’d expect you to acquire a knowledge of antiques over time.”

  “Antiques? I don’t really know much about that sort of thing. I have another job, too, so you’d have to schedule me around that.”

  “Where else do you work?” William asked.

  “I do odd jobs for my cousin,” Peter replied. “It’s different all the time, the things I do for him.”

  “That might make scheduling difficult.”

  “Yeah, it might.”

  William looked at Janet. “Did you have any questions for Mr. Henson?”

  She wanted to ask him why he’d been behind the counter in the coffee shop if he didn’t work there, but decided to take a different approach. “Do you have customer service experience?” she asked.

  “Yeah, loads,” he replied.

  After a long pause, Janet broke the awkward silence. “Such as?”

  “It’s all on my CV, isn’t it?” he shot back.

  William pulled a slip of paper out of his folder and stared at it for a minute. “You were a manager for one of the country’s largest furniture chains?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” Peter replied.

  “Tell us about that,” Janet suggested.

  “I sold furniture, yeah? I mean, that’s what you do in furniture shops.”

  “As the manager, were you responsible for human resources for the shop?” William asked.

  “Nah, corporate did all of that,” was the reply.

  “Tell us about your sales targets and how you met them,” William said.

  “Are you going to give me sales targets? I mean, how can you expect me to meet targets when there aren’t even any customers?”

  William sighed. “I didn’t say I was going to give you targets, but surely, as manager, you had some in your last job.”

  “Yeah, sometimes, but, I mean, I was always more about keeping the customer happy, rather than worrying about sales targets,” he said, smiling smugly.

  “Why did you leave that position?” Janet asked.

  “I moved back to Doveby Dale. They don’t have any shops in Doveby Dale.”

  “They have one in Derby. That wouldn’t be a terrible commute for you,” William suggested.

  “Nah, it’s too far to drive every day. Besides, I don’t have a car at the moment, so I’m not able to go too far unless my cousin takes me. That’s why I’m doing jobs for him right now.”

  William nodded. “I have several other candidates to interview. I’ll be in touch by the end of the month.”

  “Yeah? Great. As I said, I’d need you to work around my cousin some, but otherwise, it should work out.”

  “Could you give me the name and contact number for someone at your last job?” William asked. “I’m going to be checking references, obviously.”

  Peter looked at the ground and then nodded. “Sure, ring Jason Matthews,” he said, rattling off a telephone number. “He was the area manager when I was at the furniture shop. He’s doing other things now, too.”

  “Very good,” William said. “Thank you for your time.”

  He walked Peter to the door while Janet picked up the papers William had left behind. She read through Peter’s CV as William rejoined her.

  “Most of this must be fake,” she exclaimed when she was done. “He doesn’t look a day over eighteen, and according to this he has fifteen years of experience in various retail jobs.”

  “After our last candidate, I’m going to ring a few people and check some references,” William told her. “I suspect Mr. Henson hasn’t been completely honest with his CV.”

  “He was the unpleasant man behind the counter in the café,” Janet told him. “Somehow that job hasn’t made it onto his CV.”

  Chapter 3

  “I am so sorry about this morning,” the young man said as he rushed into the antique shop a few minutes after three. “I’d completely forgotten that I had a dentist appointment when I arranged today’s interview. It would have worked out anyway, except I needed a filling and they had to numb my mouth. I’m sure I sounded drunk when I rang you, but I didn’t know what else to do.”

  William smiled and held out his hand. “I’m William Chalmers,” he said.

  “Oh, goodness, I’m doing this all wrong,” the man laughed. “I’m Bradley Austin. It’s a great pleasure to meet you.”

  William introduced Bradley to Janet and then they all sat down together. Bradley was wearing a dark grey business suit. Janet knew enough to recognise good quality fabric and expensive tailoring. It didn’t seem at all as if Bradley needed a part-time job. While she tried to remember what she’d read on his CV, William carried on talking.

  “The job here is only part-time and the hours won’t be the same every week, although that’s open to discussion. I’m expecting whomever I employ to spend some time learning about antiques, as well.”

  Bradley nodded. “Of course, that’s a reasonable expectation, given the job description. I already know a good deal about antiques, actually, from previous positions I’ve held. I’m not expert, but I do know a few things.”

  “That’s good to hear. Where have you worked in the past?” William asked.

  Bradley named an antique shop in Derby that Janet had visited once with William. It was much fancier than William’s small shop, with several separate rooms, each presided over by a well-dressed and incredibly knowledgeable sales team.

  “How long were you there?” was William’s next question.

  “Just over a year,” Bradley replied. As William made a note, Bradley smiled. “It’s all on my CV, if you don’t want to bother making notes.”

  William pulled out Bradley’s CV and nodded. “We’ve been doing this all day,” he explained. “All of the candidates are starting to run together.”

  “That’s a shame,” Bradley replied. “I was truly hoping that both my CV and I would stand out.”

  “I’ve seen a few excellent CVs,” William told him. “Some of them are so outstanding that I believe they might have been somewhat exaggerated.”

  Bradley sighed. “Why do people do things like that? I’ve worked hard to earn the impressive CV I sent to you.”

  Janet swallowed a laugh. Bradley seemed awfully arrogant. Of course, William had been much the same when she’d first met him. His arrogance had been a misguided attempt to keep people f
rom finding out about his past. She wondered what excuse Bradley had for his attitude.

  “Why did you leave your last position?” she asked.

  “I felt as if I were simply a small part of a very large operation,” Bradley explained. “I worked in one room, with seventeenth- and eighteenth-century bedroom furniture, and I wasn’t really allowed outside that space. One day I want to own my own antique shop, and to do that successfully, I need to learn more about all aspects of running the business. I was never going to get that opportunity there, not with the huge number of staff they employ.”

  It was a good answer, but Bradley’s expression seemed to suggest that he was well aware that he was saying all of the right things. “I haven’t actually seen your CV,” Janet said, stretching the truth slightly. Truthfully, she’d glanced over it and then forgotten everything she’d read. “Tell me about your education.”

  “I was fortunate enough to go to an excellent local school in Chesterfield. I did a year at university after my A levels, but quickly discovered that it wasn’t for me. I didn’t want to waste years of my life sitting in a classroom. I wanted to get out and experience life for myself.”

  “I’ll never agree that getting an education is a waste of time,” Janet told him.

  “Yes, well, I’m sure it was different in your day,” he replied condescendingly. “Women didn’t have many opportunities to get an education then, did they? Most women probably got married right out of school, didn’t they?”

  “I can’t speak for most women, but I went to teacher-training college and then taught primary school for many years. I even went back to university while teaching to earn my master’s degree. I don’t feel as if one single minute of my time in classrooms, either teaching or learning, was ever wasted.”

  Bradley smiled at her. “Teaching small children to read and write must have been very fulfilling for you,” he said, his patronising tone grating on Janet.

  “It was indeed,” she told him with a fake smile. “I wish you would have had better teachers so that you could have appreciated your opportunities more.”