Dorothy answered her door with a large tabby cat slung over one arm and a teacup in the other hand. ‘Hello! Back again so soon? What can I do for you two?’
‘We found an item of interest in the shop– a Loring vinyl– and we’ve had it valued.’
Dorothy’s eyes glinted with interest, and she ushered them in. The cat, whose name they learned was Gregory, trotted ahead of them and leapt up on to the windowsill.
As they sat down, Fern said, ‘It’s an original and we were wondering about the back story– how it ended up in the shop. We obviously think that Nathaniel must have given it to Matilda, but were they even together when his first record came out?’
‘His first record was released after they broke up, if I can remember correctly,’ said Dorothy.
Fern looked towards Daniel and deliberately didn’t mention the inscription. ‘Nathaniel isn’t well, so we were thinking, maybe it could be displayed in a music museum? A piece of history to honour his legacy.’
Daniel picked up the thread smoothly. ‘We heard there’s talk of a music exhibition at the Loring School of Music? Or maybe the British Library might be interested?’
Dorothy smiled. ‘That’s… thoughtful of you.’
‘We were hoping you might give us Alistair’s number, so we could talk to him about it.’
‘Of course.’ She stood and went to a drawer, rummaging until she pulled out a sticky note and a pen and wrote the number down. ‘Here you go.’
Fern took the note. ‘Thank you.’
‘Do let me know how you get on.’
As they stepped back out into the street, Daniel whistled under his breath. ‘That was easy enough. But do we really think Alistair or Nathaniel is the anonymous buyer of the shop?’
Fern shook her head. ‘More and more, I think it’s likely to be Alistair trying to protect Nathaniel’s reputation. He’s the one who came into the shop asking for the music box, after all. If it gets out that Nathaniel stole a song from Matilda, and it’s proven, Alistair could possibly lose the promised fortune when Nathaniel dies.’
Daniel nodded. ‘As Matilda’s only surviving relative, it would potentially come to you.’
‘Let’s not run ahead of ourselves.’
‘It’s him, I know it is. He’s trying to buy the shop and bury the past so it won’t surface anytime soon.’
‘But someone else knew,’ Fern said. ‘Someone who wanted us to stop him. They left the wedding dress and pointed us in the right direction. Any guesses as to who that could have been?’
‘Not yet,’ he replied as they reached the shop. ‘He’ll deny it, you know.’
Fern looked at him.
‘Alistair,’ Daniel said. ‘He’ll say he had no idea. That it was all a coincidence. That Matilda never wrote that song.’
‘But we have proof.’
‘We have a manuscript in her writing, yes, but they could have written it together.’
‘We have the record with the inscription.’
‘I doubt it would hold up, especially against a man with money, lawyers and a good reputation.’
Fern didn’t answer.
As they crossed the road, Daniel touched her shoulder. ‘Maybe it’s not about proving anything. Maybe it’s just about knowing the truth.’
‘I’ll call Alistair this afternoon,’ she said. ‘We’ll set up a meeting.’
Daniel squeezed her hand. ‘We’ll do it together.’
She smiled. ‘I like the sound of that. Do you fancy a walk? I feel like stretching my legs.’
