Page 89 of The Mad Marchams

“They were married for two years and had just divorced when Brigitte died in a car accident in France.”

Josie took a hasty sip of tea. “She’s a fashion icon.”

Colin raised his eyebrows. “If you say so. Personally, I remember her as the bringer of chaos to this house. The only good thing she left us with was the twins.”

“That might be true, Colin,” Josie said. “But Brigitte’s whole persona and image is a very big deal on social media these days. Selling this collection with her name attached to it would bring international interest and substantially impact the prices the items will sell for.”

“I’ll have to ask my father if he’s okay with that,” Colin said immediately.

“That’s absolutely fine,” Josie let out her breath. “There are handbags in there that must have been specially commissioned for her by Hermès, because I’ve never seen anything like them.”

“Is that good?” Mabel asked. “Not to be all brash and American, but have you any idea how much the whole collection must be worth?”

Josie smiled. “Well, for example, there are at least two Hermès Birkins that would sell for around two hundred and fifty thousand pounds each.”

The entire table gasped.

“Each?” Colin blinked at her. “That’s half a million. Who’d pay that much for a bloody handbag?”

“You’d be surprised,” Josie said. She got out her phone and showed them a photo of one of the bags. “Firstly, it’s made from exotic leather—alligator or crocodile I think—and the hardware is pure gold, and secondly, I don’t think she ever used it because the plastic stickers are all still intact.” She showed them another picture. “The second one is similar but has diamonds set in the palladium hardware.”

“It’s hideous,” Colin said.

“It is not,” Mabel and Josie spoke at the same time.

Mabel smiled. “I wouldn’t want it, but I do like the shape and all the sparkly bits.” She squinted at the second picture. “Are they real diamonds on there?”

“Can’t you buy yourself one?” Colin asked as he took her hand. “I thought I was marrying up.”

“I could.” Mabel smiled fondly at him. “But I’m currently focused on restoring your crumbling house.”

“I wouldn’t mind. I like you to have nice things,” Colin said.

“You’re so sweet,” Mabel cooed at him as Freddy pretended to choke on his cake.

“A conservative estimate of the whole collection including the bags, the shoes and the fashion, could be in the region of two to three million pounds,” Josie said. “If we were able to add Brigitte’s name, it could be much higher.”

Belatedly, Mabel remembered to close her mouth, which was still full of cake.

“Blimey,” Freddy breathed. “Who’d have thought all that old tat would be worth so much money?”

“If Dale hadn’t connected me to you, Josie, I might’ve dumped everything at the charity shop in the next village,” Mabel said.

Josie shuddered. “I’m glad you didn’t.” She smiled at Colin. “I’ve taken hundreds of pictures and notes. When I get back to London, I’ll write you up a full report with an inventory of suggested prices, and we can take it from there.”

“Thank you,” Colin said, his voice rather distant. “I look forward to hearing from you.”

Josie stood up and Mabel joined her.

“I have to catch a train. Freddy said he’d take me to the station. Thank you so much for having me.” Josie beamed. “It’s been one of the most exciting days of my career. I can’t wait to tell my boss all about it.”

“I’ll see you out,” Mabel said.

When Mabel returned to the kitchen everyone was still sitting around the table staring at each other like zombies.

“Well,” she said brightly. “That went better than I thought it would.”

They all turned to look at her and nodded in unison.