Monday 15 October, 10 a.m.
Diana Sutcliffe sounded curt when Chi eventually managed to speak to her, opening with the tentative, ‘I don’t know if you remember me.’
‘No.’ Her response was flat and unfriendly.
‘I work at Rosemary’s.’
‘Oh, the waitress.’ It wasn’t a great start but Chi ploughed on. ‘I think you might be interested …’
And then Diana Sutcliffe listened.
Chi had her story ready and trotted it out, word perfect: a great-great-aunt, terribly affected by the tragedy, who had bought it for her great-grandmother. But even to her it sounded thin, suspicious, amateurish and totally unconvincing. It wouldn’t fool this canny, sour, greedy businesswoman for a minute. Even if they were right and Ms Sutcliffe ran with the story, she had no doubt that when she produced the item the dealer would run rings round her. In the background she could hear the sound of an auction taking place.
‘Give me fifty … sixty I have … Seventy? No? Sixty. Sixty-five …’
She started on her spiel. ‘It was my gran’s. It belonged to her mum’s mum.’ Too late, she realized she should have been blurrier on the detail.
‘Her name?’ Her voice was razor sharp.
Chi had to improvise. ‘She shouldn’t want me to give it.’
There was a long pause. In the background the auction was still going on. She heard the gavel knock down twice but Diana was still silent while Chi fretted. They’d been worried the dealer would try and cheat them, but at least they’d counted on her giving them ready cash. The silence stretched. Maybe she was checking the internet on her phone?
Chi’s mouth was dry with anxiety. They’d pinned everything on this.
‘I need to see it before I can verify it.’
Chi tried to sound nonchalant. ‘Yeah. Of course.’
The dealer’s voice was crisp. ‘And without provenance and proper documentation the price will be affected.’
Chi could hear a distinct lack of enthusiasm in her voice.
‘Right.’ A prickling of interest began to replace the initial boredom. ‘I’m in London at the moment but I can meet you in Leek on Friday. I’ll see it then. If it’s genuine we can talk about the money.’
Chi was panicking. ‘You couldn’t make it tomorrow, could you?’
‘My …’ A mocking tone. ‘We are anxious, aren’t we?’
Well, you would be bloody anxious if you were me – with all the baggage this is dragging in.
The sarky old cow couldn’t resist adding, ‘Even I can’t fly on my broomstick and be with you tomorrow.’ And then Chi revised her opinion of her as Diana Sutcliffe added, ‘particularly with all the cash you might want. It’ll have to be Friday.’
They agreed to meet at the coffee bar on the market square. And now all they had to do was cross their fingers and wait.
Which left them both fidgety.