Page 58 of A Curious Ending

Abby could not contain herself and actually clapped her hands. She coughed. ‘Are we?’ she said, trying to mask her delight.

‘Yes we are,’ Lara grinned. ‘My mum’s going to come and help Becky in the shop,’ she did not look at Abby as she said this, ‘and then she’s going to stay over so she can have supper with us… with me,’ she corrected.

‘Perfect,’ Abby said simply. ‘What are we going to be doing in London?’

‘We’re going to do some serious shopping. If I have to go to this god-awful ball I’m going to make sure I look as good as I possibly can.’

‘Bravo,’ Abby responded, clapping again.

Lara reached down into the basket by her feet. ‘I’ve also booked a meeting with my old school friend, Fiona, who works at the V&A museum. I’m going to ask her about Meissen china as ceramics is her area of expertise. I thought I’d show her this.’ From her basket, Lara pulled a delicate china tea caddy. It had a Chinese bridge scene on the front and the lid was decorated with colourful birds. It was the extra item she had popped in her basket when choosing her vases from under the sink.

‘I wondered when you were going to get around to showing me that,’ Abby said serenely.

‘How did you know?’ Lara demanded. Before Abby could reply she answered for her, shaking her head, ‘I know. It’s a knack.’

Abby just laughed. ‘Lara McGregor, I said it was a fool who would underestimate you, and I stick to it.’

Chapter 29

The following morning was a busy one. The largest flower order of the week had to be unpacked, plus the plant order needed to be brought in. As it turned December during the week, festive orders were starting to come in and even more stock was required. This meant a mountain of work and as there was no sign of Becky, Lara had to work twice as hard. As if to give Lara moral support, Abby appeared early in the morning, once again wearing a shop apron. Lara just wished that Abby’s support did not consist of issuing a series of imperious commands from her perch by the workbench.

Lara was at the back of the shop when Becky finally arrived.

Abby called to her, ‘Oh, I think you need to see this, Lara.’

Becky was standing, hesitating in the doorway. ‘I wondered if this would do for when you want us to look a bit more special and Christmassy?’ Becky was dressed in black riding boots, black tights, a short black skirt and a black jumper. Her dark hair had been recently cut into a shorter, sharper version of her normal style and she was wearing the most glorious shade of scarlet lipstick that Lara had ever seen. She looked stunning.

Lara found she wanted to cry. All she could say was, ‘You look perfect, Becky.’

Becky touched her hair nervously. ‘Kate suggested I go for a more sophisticated cut. It took longer than we thought. Sorry I’m late.’

Lara just reiterated, ‘You look fantastic, Becky.’ And the two women grinned at each other.

Abby let out a little contented sigh and reached for her linen and lace handkerchief.

After this, Monday and Tuesday flew by and Abby and Lara hardly had a moment to themselves. Lara had an inkling that since her ‘fall’ at the theatre, Abby was sticking particularly close to her and she was secretly glad of it.

Becky and Lara had a happy time hanging garlands around the shop and carried in a small Christmas tree for the window. Abby’s assistance was, as usual, more verbal than physical, but she liked to think she had played a significant part in the proceedings. When the last pinecone was in place, Lara looked happily around her. There was a table full of Amaryllis the colour of red velvet, there were large china bowls of snowy orchids and on the shelves stood baskets filled with roses, lilies, holly, ivy and tulips. The scent of oranges, cloves and cinnamon from arrangements and wreaths filled the air. Becky had dressed the Christmas tree as she had suggested and now suspended from the branches were a multitude of different flowers. Outside the shop, pine wreaths were hung ready for customers’ doors. Some were decorated with traditional tartan bows, some with candy canes and Christmas stars, and others with navy ribbons and dried orange slices. Abby’s favourite was one that was made entirely from smoky-grey eucalyptus. It had two silver bells at the top and an enormous bow at the bottom made of cerise, shot silk.

The only customer of note during this time was Dr Patil, who came in to enquire after Lara’s arm. She conducted this conversation in an undertone as she had not told Becky about her ‘accident’. When he left, Lara stood out in the square giving Abby the chance to follow the doctor to the churchyard, where he stood for some moments in silence beside Lady Porter’s grave. He did not leave any flowers or any messages.

On Tuesday afternoon Pinky Porter walked past the shop. Lara got the impression that Pinky wanted to get by as quickly as possible without looking in their direction. And she might have done so if it hadn’t been for Monty who dragged her to the window, where he stood barking happily at Abby, his tail thumping the buckets of flowers. Abby was delighted to see her old friend and stood by the window calling endearments to him. Pinky meanwhile found herself staring directly at Lara through the glass. She looked away quickly but not before Lara had seen the expression on her face. It was one of embarrassment certainly, but Lara also thought she saw fear in her eyes.

What with the shop work and Lara insisting on some time alone to clean up for her mother’s visit, it was not until Abby and Lara were on the 8.15am train to London on Wednesday morning that they had the opportunity for a proper conversation. Lara chose a block of two seats and she took the outside one. She put one of her earphones in and hoped that if people saw her talking they would assume she was on a call. Abby had dressed for the occasion in a duck-egg blue silk redingote with long sleeves and decorated with hussar trimmings. The bodice was fastened with a broad belt and pearl buckle and as she walked there were glimpses of her cream silk gown underneath. She wore a ­duck-egg blue hat with extravagant cream ostrich feathers and, to complete the outfit, Abby had added cream gloves, cream half boots and a minuscule gold reticule. Lara had made an effort too. She was wearing slim-fitting Black-Watch tartan trousers, black suede ankle boots, a pale tangerine shirt and black leather jacket. It was the first time in months she hadn’t worn jeans.

‘No apron today then?’ Lara asked Abby.

‘It is in my reticule,’ Abby lied.

Abby had not been on a train for many years and she was thoroughly enjoying herself. For the first fifteen minutes of the journey Lara could get no sense out of her whatsoever, as she had her nose pressed almost to the window. The last time Abby had travelled by train things had been quite different. There had been closed-in carriages and a restaurant car with full silver service. This brought the notorious Major Norton to Abby’s mind, which in turn brought her back to the task in hand.

‘I think we need to consider each of our suspects and discuss motive and opportunity, and also what we have learnt about them so far,’ Abby suggested in a tone that brooked no argument. ‘Shall we start with Mr Jason Honeybourne, as I always like to get the worst over with first?’

Lara nodded and thought about the antique dealer for a while, then keeping her voice low and her head down she started, ‘Well, we know he has an interest in Lady Porter’s china and he may have been sniffing about for other things. He has part of the tea service, but we don’t know how he got hold of this. He has bought and sold pieces for Lady Porter in the past, Mrs M certainly doesn’t trust him, and nor do I,’ Lara concluded. Abby smiled at Lara encouragingly, so Lara continued, ‘I’m not sure any of this is motive for murder though and he would have had less opportunity than, say, the family. Although we think he still has a key to the house and Thomas has seen him sneaking around. And Richard thinks he may have been getting money out of his mother. Maybe he was blackmailing Lady Porter, and like Dr Patil said, she wouldn’t put up with that for long. You also said he was faking some of his antiques to make them look older. So maybe she found out about that too.’

‘There is without doubt something very unsavoury about Mr Honeybourne. But I believe we will have a better understanding of motive once we know the likely worth of the tea service,’ Abby suggested. ‘Now, let’s turn our attention to Dr Patil.’

Lara accepted that her role was to be Watson to Abby’s Holmes, and took up the thread. ‘I think he did love Lady Porter and that this may have gone on for years, even back in Nottingham,’ Lara said.