“Hello, Rebeccah.”
“Oh, it’s you. I can probably guess what this is about. You’d better come in, then.” Rebeccah Roberts opened the door wider and stood to one side as Penny entered. She found herself in a narrow hall and the two women experienced an awkward moment as Penny squeezed past her.
“Come through.” Rebeccah gestured toward a door that led to a small sitting room. The main feature was an electric fireplace with a slate surround and scrolled detailing supporting the mantel piece. Penny reckoned that the slate work was original and at one time the fireplace had burned coal. Several cardboard boxes, taped shut, sat against the walls. Two cabinets, their shelves bare, flanked the fireplace and Penny guessed that the contents were now in the boxes. Following Penny’s gaze, Rebeccah commented, “Mum lived here and then Glenda moved in with her when her marriage broke up. Now it falls to me to get rid of all their stuff. I can’t afford to keep this place. It’ll be up for sale soon.”
“I’m sorry for your losses,” said Penny. “Your mother and your sister so close together. That’s hard.”
“Well, thank you, but I don’t suppose you’ve come about that,” said Rebeccah. “I expect you’ve come about the hand cream. I heard you were asking questions about it.”
Penny made a small shrugging gesture with a slight turn of the head that was both dismissive and acknowledging.
“Naturally we were very disappointed and upset to find that smelly rubbish being passed off as our beautiful product. We worked really hard to get that formula and to develop our product for market. I’m sure lots of counterfeiters don’t care that selling knockoff goods is just plain theft, but really, if Glenda was behind this, and I don’t know that she was, I would have expected better from her than ripping off people she knows.”
Rebecca glared at her with a cold contempt.
“It wasn’t my doing. Mum started the stall when dad died and she had to find a way to support us. That’s just how we got by. And then Glenda got involved, started ordering stuff for it, and then she became a supplier to other stalls as well. At first, it was all legitimate, but then she got in with some people in Manchester and next thing you know, the knockoffs were on offer. And I know this doesn’t make it right, but everyone who goes to the market knows the place is full of knockoffs. Do people really think you can buy a curling iron for ten pounds that sells for fifty pounds in the shops? Or a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes for forty pounds? Of course the stuff is dodgey, but for crying out loud, that’s why folks come to the market. They’re after bargains, aren’t they?
“But I don’t need you coming round here to give me a lecture on knockoffs, so if that’s why you’re here…”
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to upset you. But you can see my point, can’t you? Our livelihoods depend on our reputation. Anyway, that’s not why I’m here,” Penny said.
She explained that the organizers of the St. David’s Day concert wanted to acknowledge Glenda’s contribution and described the offer to include an acknowledgement in memory of Glenda in the program.
“I can talk to Peris and see what he thinks,” Rebeccah said. “Personally, I think a mention in the program would be nice. Yeah, Glenda would have liked that.”
“We’d also like to give you and Peris complimentary tickets,” said Penny, opening her handbag and offering them to Rebecca. “We hope you’ll come. If you decide not to go, would you mind either returning the tickets to me or passing them on to someone who will go? We want to make sure every seat is filled.
“Glenda booked a rather expensive guest performer. Well, expensive for us, that is. Karis Edwards, her name is. Used to be the lead singer in The Characters. Maybe you’ve heard of them. They were pretty big back in the day. Apparently she’s a bit of a diva and there’ll be problems if seats are empty.”
For the first time, Rebeccah’s posture relaxed and her face softened.
“I loved The Characters! I know it was all a bit daft, but I was about the same age as a couple of them.”
Sensing an opening, Penny moved in.
“Well, I’m sure we can arrange for you to meet Karis, if you’d like that,” she said. “Peris, too, of course, if he wants to, although The Characters were long before his time.
“There’ll be a reception after the concert in the café, but you might prefer to come to the dress rehearsal the night before. There’ll be more time then and fewer people about. You’re more likely to get her all to yourself.”
Rebeccah’s face edged toward a smile. “And again I’m very sorry about your mother and sister, Rebeccah. I’m sure both deaths came as a great shock to you.”
Rebeccah moved uneasily in her chair. “I knew Glenda, but not very well,” Penny continued. “She used to get her hair cut at our salon.” Rebeccah nodded politely. “But I knew your mother better. She was a friend of an old friend of mine who died almost two years ago. My friend left me her cottage so I had to go through all her things.” She tipped her head at the boxes, “Just like you’re doing. It’s not easy. You rake up all those old memories and you have to deal with all of it whether you feel up to it or not. It’s a lot of work and it can be quite emotionally draining. I found it easier to do it with someone who could be more objective. So I was glad when a friend stepped in to help me.”
Rebeccah’s eyes brimmed with tears and she looked away. She took a swipe at her eyes with her sleeve and recovered her composure. Penny leaned forward.
“They’re not just things, though, are they? It’s not just stuff. Objects hold memories and it can be very difficult to let go of them.”
Rebeccah’s face fell and she looked down at the floor.
“Not in my case,” she said. “I’m glad to be rid of them. Peris and I have taken what we want and everything else will be auctioned or donated. And then this place will be sold.”
“I see.”
“And I’ll be giving up the stall. I never particularly liked doing it and I wasn’t very good at it. It takes a lot of bluffing. You’ve got to have a special knack for it.” She paused for a moment at the sound of the front door opening. “Oh, that’ll be Peris.” A moment later he slouched into the room, glared at Penny, then shot his aunt a questioning look. No one said anything, and Rebeccah continued. “Anyway, Glenda was quite good at it. Enjoyed chatting up people. Saw every punter as a challenge. And she didn’t have any qualms about selling them knockoff goods.”
“What are you talking about Mum with her for?” Peris asked.
“The stall,” Rebeccah said. “I was just telling Penny here how good your mother was at selling. Had the gift of the gab, she did. But she didn’t work the stall very often anymore. Busy with other things.”
Peris laughed. “That’s why it was so funny when that punter kicked off and started shouting at her about the air freshener!”
“Somebody yelled at her?” Penny asked. “What did he say?”
“Oh, it was nothing,” Rebeccah said. “A mix-up, that’s all.”
“He said the air freshener gave his son a bad reaction,” Peris said. “The kid had asthma or something and landed in the hospital. To hear him going on about it, you’d think the kid just about died.” He laughed. “Poor Mum. She wasn’t normally even on the stall and she didn’t sell the air freshener. She was just on the receiving end of his big rant.”
“Well, parents do tend to get riled up if they think someone’s hurt their child,” said Penny. “That’s understandable.”
“I’ll be in my room if you want me,” said Peris. A moment later they heard him thumping up the stairs and then the sound of a door closing with a little more energy than was required.
“I was wondering if you know anyone who might have wanted to harm Glenda,” said Penny.
“The police already asked me that and I told them no.”
“Did you tell them about this man who shouted at her?”
“No, I didn’t. I wasn’t on the stall that day. Peris told me about it later.”
“Any idea who this man could be? Has anyone else complained about any of the products Glenda supplied?”
Rebeccah shook her head. “Haven’t a clue who he is. We do get a complaint every now and then, but we don’t take them seriously and we don’t do anything about them. It’s a market stall, not Selfridges. What you see is what you get. We don’t do refunds or exchanges and to be honest, we don’t give a toss about customer satisfaction or any of that crap.”
“Really.” Penny stood up. “Interesting way to do business. Well, I’d better be on my way. I’ll be in touch about arrangements for the dress rehearsal and as I said, both of you would be more than welcome.” She handed Rebeccah a document. “I almost forgot. Here’s the acknowledgement of Glenda’s contribution we drafted for the program. Can you please go over it, and let me know if it’s all right. You’ll need to let me know by Wednesday at the latest so we can get the program to the printer in time.”