Page 65 of The Bookshop Ladies

‘Hmm, I’m really glad about that.’ Robyn tried to smile, but it all felt as if the air had been pulled from her thanks to the missing book. ‘I don’t think the police really have any chance of finding it, do you?’ she looked from one to the other.

‘You never know, I think you’re in good hands with Detective Pretty,’ Fern said, because that’s what they’d started to call Will since he’d left them the evening before.

‘Since when did we begin to think some man could sort out our problems?’ Joy bent down to pat Dolly as the old tortoise lumbered around their feet.

‘Well, what do you think we should do, see if we can get a female detective?’ Fern said because it was exactly the sort of thing Margot would have been looking for.

‘I think…’ Robyn looked down at Dolly too. ‘I think maybe we should ask Dolly to help us…’

‘Dolly wasn’t here, even if she could tell us who stole it.’

‘No, but she could help us get the word out.’ Robyn was smiling for the first time since she’d discovered the book was missing.

‘A social media campaign?’ Joy’s eyes lit up at the idea of it. ‘Brilliant.’

‘I still don’t see how…’ Fern stopped.

‘Dolly has put this bookshop on the map.’ Joy leant down and patted her shell again. ‘Since we started posting photos of her next to books and in various positions around the shop the TikTok and Instagram follows have gone through the roof. People adore her.’

‘Who’d have thought?’ Fern said. She’d always been fond of the old girl, but she secretly believed Dolly, with her scaly skin and droopy eyes – well, she was endearing, but hardly a pin-up. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever understand this new generation; I really don’t.’ She shook her head. ‘Whatever happened to supermodels?’

‘Dolly is better than any supermodel, Mum. All we have to do is put up a photo of her with the book, I have one somewhere…’ Robyn was flicking through the photos on her phone.

‘You really need to get out more,’ Fern said and she was only half joking.

‘Maybe it’s a long shot, but it’s definitely worth a go,’ Joy said when Robyn showed them the photograph.

‘I took it before I knew the book was of any great value, I just thought it might be nice to publicise the children’s hour.’ She rolled her eyes now.

They worked on the wording for far longer than Robyn expected. It had to be snappy andreal. ‘Attention-grabbing, I think is the phrase,’ Robyn said and she looked at Joy to check she had it right.

‘You should probably let Will know before we post it,’ Joy said, her finger hovering over the send button.

‘Sure.’ Robyn knew she was right, she just hoped he wouldn’t be awkward about it.

‘It’s a great idea, it can’t hurt, but…’ Will said when she told him. ‘Just brace yourself for the scammers, fraudsters and lunatics, okay?’ She had a feeling he was preparing her for the worst. ‘Actually, I was going to swing by later, just to see…’ He hadn’t any news, Robyn knew it without having to be told. ‘Well, to see how you are.’

‘Lovely, I’ll see you then,’ she said breezily and then caught her mother’s eye watching her. ‘What?’

‘I didn’t say a word,’ Fern said, but she smiled as if she was keeping a secret that made her fit to burst.

Within seconds of the post going live there was interaction. Likes began to flood in immediately on both channels followed quickly by comments ranging from emojis to all sort of requests and more oohs and ahhs than most mothers garner for newborn babies probably.

‘That’s amazing,’ until now, Fern had never seen the point in social media.

‘It has its uses,’ Joy said.

‘Now, the question is, will it help us find our Alice,’ Robyn said, putting her phone down to let the vast numbers of users and a humble tortoise work their magic.

44

The following day, it felt as if the phone never stopped pinging. ‘Your detective was right about the amount of spam the post has picked up.’ People had even started to ring the bookshop, which took a bit of initiative since the phone number hadn’t been in directory enquiries for years.

‘Yes, but they’ve also got the word out,’ Robyn said, even though she looked frazzled having spent most of the morning responding to various comments.

At lunchtime, Joy offered to field the landline. If you were to believe half the callers, it seemed a great many people had once ownedAliceand had it stolen under mysterious circumstances over the years from the most unlikely places.

‘Chancers!’ Fern shook her head.

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