Raisins and almonds - Poisoned Pen Press (UK)

Raisins and Almonds
‘The bell rang, I looked up from my pencil, and there was
a delivery man with a big box. It was my auction books from
Ballarat…yes. I asked him to put it in the corner and I checked
the invoice—there was something wrong with the invoice—what
was it? Ah, yes, it had a blot over the list of contents, I couldn’t
read it. You have to be careful with dispatch notes, they fudge
the orders sometimes; and if I was to sign it without checking
what was in the box I couldn’t complain if the one valuable
book was missing and all the dross was there. Dross always is,
somehow. I’ve never lost a set of Victorian sermons in my life…I
made the man wait until I checked the volumes, then I signed
it and he went away. After that there was Mrs. Johnson looking
in for her cookery book, which I sold her, then this absurd
woman and her atlas. Then the two young men and then Mr.
Michaels. Poor boy.’
‘Tell me about the carter,’ said Dot. Miss Lee ran her fingers
through her short hair and groaned.
‘He was just a carter, in gloves and boots and overalls and a
greasy cloth cap—rather stout like they often are; dark, I thought,
and gruff. But he did look at the books while I made him wait.
I really didn’t see his face, Miss Williams. Is it important?’
‘Probably not,’ conceded Dorothy. ‘What about the woman
with the atlas?’
‘Oh, my dear, she was raddled and forty if she was a day,
dressed in a rather tight dark blue suit and a perfectly absurd
hat. It was a broad black straw with half a seagull on the side
and shells all round the crown, I noticed it particularly because
I really wanted to…visit the convenience, and she was holding
me up. She was asking me such silly questions and all I could see
of her was this awful hat. She was small. About five foot.’
‘And common?’ asked Dot, who had strong views on style.
‘Oh, very. And foreign. Then two young men, friends; I
gathered that they worked in the city. They had nice suits—a
little loud perhaps. They were probably mechanics, or maybe
something horsy.’ Miss Lee’s fine nose crinkled. ‘They had a
rather…gamy smell. Then after that it was quiet and I could