Gwennie shook her head.
“It wasn’t me, Miss Penny. You must have been dreaming. Trixxi and I had our walk at seven thirty, just like we do every morning, and then we came here.”
At the mention of a walk, Trixxi looked up at Penny with large, hopeful brown eyes and wagged her tail as Gwennie ran hot water into the sink and reached for the washing-up liquid. Penny hurried into the sitting room toward the desk where she had left her phone, but just as she picked it up, a small figurine caught her eye. As she took in the little shepherdess, holding her crook as a cuddly lamb peeked around her ruffled blue skirt, a rough voice barked out, “Switch that phone off and put it down.”
She turned slowly to see Glynnis Bowen emerging from the kitchen, her left arm roughly around Gwennie’s waist, and her right hand holding the tip of the carving knife to Gwennie’s ribs.
Twenty-seven
“You heard me. Switch it off and put it down,” Glynnis ordered. Penny put the phone down beside the shepherdess figurine and then turned to face Glynnis.
“Glynnis. Please, let Gwennie go. She’s done nothing to you.”
“Of course I can’t let her go,” Glynnis said. “She’d go straight to the police, and I’ve had enough of them for one day, thank you very much.” She laughed, a strained, high-pitched, desperate kind of noise.
“Oh, yes, they’ve taken Huw in for questioning.” She practically spat out the name.
“Huw?” exclaimed Penny. “Why on earth? But he’s not…”
Glynnis gave her a cold, dark stare. “Yes, Penny? He’s not what?”
Penny said nothing.
“He’s not the murderer, is that what you were about to say? Well, he’s just confessed.”
“Why are you here, Glynnis? What do you want from me?”
“Do you know, that’s a good question. I’m not sure. But I do know you and I are going to have a long overdue chat.”
“Let Gwennie go,” Penny repeated. “She’s done nothing.”
Suddenly Glynnis released her grip.
“She can sit down in that chair over there,” said Glynnis, gesturing with the carving knife, “but she’s not going anywhere.” Gwennie turned her pleading meerkat eyes to Penny, who nodded. “You, though, you stay right where you are. And don’t move.”
Penny watched as Gwennie sat gingerly in the chair nearest the desk and then turned to Glynnis.
“You’ve already killed two people, Glynnis, don’t make it any worse for yourself. We both know Huw won’t stand up under questioning, and it won’t take the police long to figure out he didn’t do it, so he’s lying to protect someone, and the only person that could be is you.”
Glynnis glared at her with mad, glittering eyes.
“No, Huw couldn’t have done it. It’ll all unravel, Glynnis. You’ll see.”
“What makes you so sure the police won’t believe him?”
“Well, I worked out that whoever stole the items from the charity shop also stole my brooch and Mrs. Lloyd’s letter opener. What are the chances there’d be two thieves at work in a town this size? But what really got me thinking was that business about putting a valuable diamond brooch on top of the Christmas tree in the charity shop. That was whimsical. Creative.”
Glynnis smirked.
“Huw’s a banker. He’s logical. He likes everything orderly. He likes things to add up and balance out. From what I know of him, that just isn’t something he’d do.”
“So you’ve got it all worked out, then, have you?”
“Most of it,” said Penny. “When I saw the John Lennon book that you gave Florence, I knew you’d given it to her. It was on the list of items gone missing from the charity shop along with the plate you gave Brian. Why did you give those things away, Glynnis? Was there part of you that wanted to get caught?”
“Caught? No? What would I want with them? I had no need of them. I just took them. I liked stealing things. It was exciting. But nothing was as good as taking your brooch! Now that was fun. And speaking of giving things away, I hope you noticed I left you a little something.” She nodded at the table where the little shepherdess sat. “Left it there for you this morning. A little calling card, if you like.” She smirked.
“How did you get in?” Penny asked, filled with revulsion at the idea of Glynnis walking around her home, picking up a book here, a picture there, touching her things.
“It was easy,” gloated Glynnis. “Not much of a lock on that back door. I would have thought with a policeman for a boyfriend you’d have something a little better.”
I will now, thought Penny grimly.
Glynnis sighed. “We might as well sit down.”
She turned to look at the sofa behind her, and in that moment Gwennie snatched up the mobile phone from the desk and slipped it into her apron pocket. Penny gave her a slight nod and the hint of a smile.
“I think you were having an affair with Harry Saunders, and I know you killed him, but I don’t know why.”
“You’re right. I was in love with Harry Saunders,” said Glynnis, her eyes misting over. “He was exciting and rich. We couldn’t wait to be together. Oh, I knew all about his dalliance with Mrs. Lloyd, but that meant nothing to him. He was just being kind to an elderly woman. Giving her a bit of a thrill. It was me he loved. He told me so, over and over, and I could see it in his eyes. I was going to leave Huw, and Harry and I were going to have a wonderful life together in San Francisco, where he’s from.”
“He told you he’s from San Francisco, did he?”
“The Golden Gate Bridge, Chinatown, Fisherman’s Wharf. It was going to be wonderful.” She paused. “And then Huw had to go and ruin everything.”
Despite herself, Gwennie leaned slightly forward.
“He insisted on showing up at Conwy Castle that day we were having our outing. That was the day Harry and I were going to make our final plans to leave all this behind. And then Huw, so jealous and controlling, had to come along to the art club outing. I think he was suspicious of Harry and wanted to confront him. Nobody wanted Huw there. Least of all me.”
She sat back in her chair, the carving knife resting lightly across her knees.
“So when I saw him standing on the parapet, something just came over me and I still had Mrs. Lloyd’s letter opener in my bag and I felt this great surge of anger and I pushed it into him and over he went.” She choked back tears.
“Except it wasn’t Huw-it was Harry,” she sobbed. “The man I loved and I killed him by mistake.”
She looked from one to the other.
“I know you’ll think me the biggest fool, but in the heat of the moment, I panicked and I thought he was Huw.”
“I can see that,” said Penny. “They were both about the same height and wearing those green anoraks that just about every man in the area wears. So it was a case of mistaken identity.”
Glynnis nodded.
“And Brian?” asked Penny. “You were worried there might have been images on his computer that could have incriminated you?”
“That’s right. So at least I took care of those.”
“No, you didn’t, actually. The police have copies of the photographs Brian took that day, and if there’s anything on them that points to you, they’ll find it. And don’t forget they have all that high-tech digital enhancement gadgetry.”
Penny glanced at Gwennie, who was now sitting very straight in her chair.
“So you see, Glynnis, it’s over now. I can see how desperate you are. Don’t make things any worse than they already are. Let’s have Gwennie make us a cup of tea. Would that be all right? If she went into the kitchen and made some tea for us?”
Glynnis, who seemed to have collapsed within herself, nodded, and Gwennie rose slowly and walked toward the kitchen, giving her apron pocket a little pat as she passed Penny.
“No matter what you think, Glynnis, Huw must love you very much to do what he did for you,” Penny said, anxious to keep Glynnis talking now that Gwennie was safely out of t
he room.
“Oh, he loves me all right, in his boring, predictable way.”
“But you must have known what he was like. Why did you marry him?”
“Well, I had to marry somebody, and eligible men aren’t exactly thick on the ground around here. I’m not the independent kind of woman that you are. I needed a husband and he was the best on offer at the time. I knew I’d always have a roof over my head, so I settled for that. I knew I wasn’t in for an exciting time.”
She gave Penny a venomous look. “There was someone once, until you came along.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. Remember Tim?”
“Tim? But that was so long ago.”
In her early years in Llanelen Penny had fallen in love with a local police constable, who had drowned in the River Conwy while rescuing a child. Thinking back on it, and knowing what she knew now, a terrible sensation crept over her.
“You didn’t have anything to do with his drowning, did you?”
“Of course I didn’t. I loved him. We were going to be married until you came along. And when he met you, it wasn’t long until he dumped me.”
“He did mention that he’d had a girlfriend, but I never dreamed that was you. And anyway, he said that relationship was over before he met me.”
Glynnis gave a little snort. “That’s what he told you, was it? Well, it wasn’t over, and maybe we’d still be together if you hadn’t ruined everything. I could have been happy. I might have had children.”
She leaned forward. “So you see, Penny,” she said, emphasizing her rival’s name with bitterness, “you took all that away from me. If I’d been going to kill you, I would have done it years ago.”
She slumped back in her chair, limp and drained, the carving knife still resting on her knees. A moment later she sat up and glared at Penny. “I’m not stupid, you know. Of course the police are on their way, and they’ll be here any minute. But you know what? I don’t care anymore. You’re right. It’s over.”
As they sat in suffocating silence, Penny could feel the wild beating of her heart start to subside and return to normal. A few moments later they heard quiet voices in the kitchen, and then Gareth Davies quietly entered the room followed by Sergeant Bethan Morgan and Chris Jones, who had opened the Conwy Police Station door to Penny just a few nights ago. At a nod from Davies, Jones slowly reached down and grasping its blade, picked up the carving knife.
“All right, Glynnis, we’re going to take you into custody for questioning,” Davies said. “Do you have anything to say before we go?”
She looked wildly around the room and then asked, “What’s going to happen to Huw?”
“We’ll hold him for a bit longer while we continue the investigation, and then we’ll see,” said Davies. “He might be charged with wasting police time. Depends.”
Davies gave a few instructions to his officers and they left, taking a docile Glynnis out the front door, which another officer had been guarding in case she tried to make a run for it.
Davies returned and wrapped his arms around Penny.
“All right, love?”
Gwennie appeared in the doorway and cleared her throat.
“I’ve left out some food for you, sir, in case you’re hungry. There’s salad and cold turkey and bread rolls. It was a pity you and your sergeant had to miss lunch, but what can you do? I guess when duty calls, you have to go.”
Davies smiled. “I guess you do.”
“Oh, there’s just one more thing, Miss Penny. I’m going to spend the night at my sister’s. She and her husband always invite a few of the neighbours round on Christmas night, and being true Welsh, they just can’t help themselves and the singing starts, and wonderful to hear, it is. But you know my sister’s view of animals. She’s that house-proud, neither fur nor feather allowed past her front door. So if you wouldn’t mind, I’m going to leave Trixxi here for the night with you. She’s had her dinner, her water bowl’s full, and I’ve made up a bed for her in the kitchen beside the Rayburn, just the way she likes it. I’ve left her lead by the back door. She’ll want a walk about eight, but other than that, she won’t be any bother.”
“She’ll be just fine with us, Gwennie, don’t you worry.”
Penny and Gareth exchanged a quick glance and he nodded.
“Gwennie, would you like Inspector Davies here to drive you home?”
“Thank you, but no. My sister wouldn’t want the neighbours seeing a police car at the house. Begging your pardon and no offense meant, but she and her husband are much too respectable for that, thank you all the same.” She looked from Penny to Gareth and back to Penny.
“Well, then, if there’s nothing more you’ll be needing this evening, I’ll be off.” As Gwennie pulled on her gloves, the telephone rang. Excusing herself, Penny answered it. She listened for a moment, exchanged a quick greeting with the caller, and then held out the receiver to Gwennie. “It’s for you.” As Gwennie approached to take the call, Penny tapped Gareth’s arm.
“You must be starving. Let’s see what Gwennie’s left for you.”
A few moments later Gwennie joined them in the kitchen, looking thoughtfully apprehensive.
“That was Mr. Emyr.” Penny nodded. “Yes, he was calling to say he’s been approached about the Hall and he’s decided to sell it. He says he expects a quick sale, as the buyer is motivated, was the word he used. Yes, motivated. He says he’s going to be traveling more and will live the rest of the time at the house in Cornwall.” She looked from Penny to Gareth and finally to Trixxi, who was seated at Penny’s feet. “I don’t need to tell you that the Hall has been my whole life. I’ve never worked anywhere else, and my mother before me worked there her whole life, too. We took care of the family and we took care of the house.” She shook her head. “How many times we dusted that banister, washed those floors…” Her voice trailed off, unable to keep up with her thoughts.
“So it looks as if I will be accepting that position you offered me at the spa, Miss Penny. I’ll start in the new year, I expect.”
“Well, we’ll be lucky to have you, Gwennie. You’ll start a new chapter in your working life with us.”
Gwennie accepted the envelope Penny held out to her and then turned to go. And then she bent over, gave Trixxi a pat, and was gone, watched by a loving pair of Labrador eyes.
* * *
“Well, Florence, all in all, I’d say our Christmas was quite a success, wouldn’t you agree?” remarked Mrs. Lloyd as she put her feet up. She had a glass of sherry on the table beside her, and she and Florence were settling in to watch the first episode of a new serial on television, involving the upstairs and downstairs lives of an aristocratic old family in a magnificent stately home.
“Yes, very successful,” agreed Florence. “In fact, one of the nicest Christmases I’ve had in years. Certainly one of the most eventful. I enjoyed every minute of it.”
“You did a wonderful job with the food and organizing everything,” Mrs. Lloyd said.
“Evelyn, I wasn’t born yesterday. When you start in with the compliments I know you’re angling for something. So just come right out with it. What is it?”
“Ah, well, yes. It’s just that I was wondering what you were planning to do about that job offer in Liverpool. You see, what with me losing all that money from Harry Saunders, things will be a little tight from now on, so I was hoping you’d be staying on here as I could do with the rent money. I am sorry to have to be so blunt, Florence, but that’s the way it is, I’m afraid.”
“That’s all right, Evelyn, I quite understand. I’m very settled here now. I like the people, so I’m going to stay. There doesn’t seem much point in going back to Liverpool.” She turned to her companion. “But I think I’ll do a bit more in the new year. You’re right. I should get out and about more. I thought I might offer to teach old-fashioned cooking skills at the community centre. With all the ready meals and cooking not being taught to young girls anymore, it’s getting to be a lost art.
”
“That’s a lovely idea, Florence. I’m sure it’ll be very popular. Especially with the young mums.”
“Well, maybe not as popular as the dancing classes, but we’ll see. By the way, I was reading the travel section in the newspaper and they had a story about America. I couldn’t remember. Where did that Harry Saunders say he was from?”
“Palm Beach,” said Mrs. Lloyd. “Or was it Palm Springs? Palm something or other, I can never remember. Someplace we’ll never go, anyway.”
She took a sip of sherry. “Which reminds me-”
“The program’s about to start,” Florence interrupted, “and I like to see it from the very beginning. We have to be quiet now.”
Mrs. Lloyd did as she was told.
* * *
Penny unclipped the lead from Trixxi’s collar as Gareth locked the kitchen door behind them.
“I think she enjoyed her walk,” said Penny, taking off her coat. “That’s the great thing about keeping a dog. It gets you out and about.”
Gareth raised an eyebrow.
“You do know where this is going, don’t you?” he asked. “With the Hall being sold and Emyr traveling, there’s a good chance Trixxi’s going to need a new home. And it won’t be with Gwennie at her sister’s place. You heard what she said.”
“Neither fur nor feather.”
“So, how do you feel about having her?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to think about that. What do you reckon?”
“I really liked the sound of what you said.”
“What did I say?
“You told Gwennie, ‘She’ll be all right with us.’ I liked the ‘us’ part.”
Penny smiled up at him. “What would you like to drink? Some wine? Beer?”
Davies hesitated.
“I know,” said Penny. “How about cocoa?”
“I like the sound of that, too.”
* * *
With warm mugs of cocoa on the table in front of them, Penny and Gareth sat together on the sofa.
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