The Visitors(55)

‘We did, darling. It was marvellous. And Holly here has just introduced herself, which we thought was so lovely of her.’

‘Oh that is nice of you, Holly.’ Emily turned to her with a dazzling, stretched smile and the manic glint still in her eye. ‘But don’t worry, Mr and Mrs Fenwick are quite safe in my hands now. In fact, I think Josh was just looking for you.’

Holly smiled at her prompt dismissal. Fair dues, she’d been rumbled. It was fun while it lasted.

‘Now.’ Emily clapped her hands and turned back to her clients. ‘Let me show you that wonderful Lalique vase I called you about. I think it would be the perfect piece for your stylish lounge.’

So that was her game.

Holly realised that when she’d mentioned to Josh earlier about the possibility of one of her customers returning to view the vase again, Emily had instantly determined to try and flog the item before she had a chance to add to her already impressive commission total.

Holly could read her like a book.

She watched as the three of them moved slowly across the shop, chattering on about the sublime fine dining menu at the astounding restaurant in Castlegate the Fenwicks had just tipped out of.

Some of these people were just a mine of superlatives with little substance behind them.

When Emily presented the vase, Mrs Fenwick threw her hands in the air and audibly gasped at its beauty.

No doubt the next few minutes would be spent with the two women shoehorning Mr Fenwick between a rock and a hard place in a bid to convince him to produce his battered credit card yet again.

Holly waited.

The first sign that something was wrong was when Emily took a big step back, her hands flying to her mouth. She spun around, her eyes wide and searching the store.

‘Bloody hell, what’s up with Em?’ Ben whispered, sidling up to Holly. ‘Have the Fenwicks finally refused to pay over the odds?’

Holly couldn’t help smiling at his comment, but when Emily dropped her hands, she saw that her face had totally drained of colour. Two bright spots of blusher and her vivid pink lips stood out incongruously against her pallor.

The obviously shocked Fenwicks backed away from the display pedestal a little, as if suddenly the vase had grown sharp teeth.

Holly walked slowly towards them. They had the look of wild deer that might scatter at any moment. A few other customers browsing nearby began to watch proceedings with interest.

‘Emily… is everything all right?’ she called as she neared the small group.

Emily shook her head, and then, noticing that people were watching, pushed her shoulders back, standing up a little straighter.

‘You’d better get Josh down here right away, Ben,’ she said coolly.

Ben dashed towards the stairs without a word.

‘Emily…’ Mr Fenwick glanced at his wife, who gave a small shrug of agreement. ‘To tell you the truth, we’re rather pushed for time today. We’ll get off now and you can give us a ring when there’s something else to see. I do hope everything gets sorted out.’

Emily gave him a vague nod, for once seeming quite distracted.

Martyn, the other salesman, walked over and ushered away the spectators. Emily’s eyes were fixed on Holly.

‘What?’ Holly asked. ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’

‘You’ll find out soon enough,’ Emily said, in such an unexpectedly pleasant tone that goose bumps popped up on both Holly’s forearms.





Chapter Forty-Three





Holly





‘What is it?’ Josh rushed over to Emily, a little breathless. ‘Mr Kellington’s on his way down. What’s the crisis?’

‘It appears that someone has vandalised the Lalique vase,’ Emily said with a pained look.

Josh walked over to the pedestal and bent closer to it, narrowing his eyes.

‘Bloody hell, the flowers have been damaged. How has this happened?’

‘Exactly the question I’ve just been asking myself,’ Emily said, the tip of her pink tongue shooting out and licking her lips. ‘The Fenwicks came in to view it and I’m afraid this is what they were confronted with.’ Her nostrils flared. ‘Needless to say, they couldn’t get out of the shop quickly enough.’

‘This vase is now unsaleable,’ Josh announced, his face grim. ‘It’s unlikely that a customer has damaged it walking past, because it’s behind the security rope and…’ he inspected the base of the marble pillar, ‘there are no pieces scattered on the floor as you’d expect with accidental breakage.’

‘What’s happening here?’

Everyone jumped a little at the sound of Mr Kellington’s voice booming from behind them.

‘I’m afraid the Lalique vase has been badly damaged,’ Josh said gravely. ‘Some of the flowers have been clean chipped off. It’s unsaleable and unreturnable.’

‘Was it a customer accident?’

‘I don’t think so.’ Josh shrugged. ‘It might’ve been done a while ago, because the broken bits are nowhere to be seen.’

Holly watched in trepidation as Mr Kellington’s usually pleasant expression grew thunderous. ‘What? And it’s only just been noticed? How can this have happened?’