Page 67 of The Bookshop Ladies

‘It would only encourage more of the callers you don’t want,’ Will said kindly. It was time to call it an evening. Fern had plans to watch a documentary about an artist she’d known back in the day in college and she made moves to leave.

It was just as Robyn began to switch off the lights that the phone rang once more.

‘Hello, you’re through to the bookshop in Ballycove, how can I help you?’ She sounded tired. Fern honestly wasn’t sure how she was still soldiering on.

‘Oh, hello, glad I got you. I thought maybe the phone was broken, I was getting an engaged tone all afternoon. Are you the lassie I heard on the radio earlier?’

‘Yes, that was me, talking about the bookshop and…’

‘The original copy ofAlice’s Adventures in Wonderland?’ The man finished the sentence for her.

‘Yes,’ Robyn said. Fern was holding her breath. She had a feeling about this one.

‘I’m Harry Foley, I buy and sell antique books, well,rare andantique. Tell me, that’s not the same bookshop that old Douglas Howard had for years, I suppose?’

‘Yes, did you know Douglas?’

‘Dear me, everyone knew Douglas.’ The man stopped for a moment. ‘I always felt there might be a treasure buried in there somewhere,’ he chuckled at that.

‘Well, buried was the word, it was in a box he hadn’t got around to opening, which is a shame.’

‘That really is a shame, because if anyone knew the value of a book like that it was old Douglas. Mind you, he’d probably have squirrelled it away so thoroughly, we’d never have known about it.’

‘He was a one-off all right, but I’m afraid it looks as if it’s lost forever now.’

‘Don’t be so sure…’ the old man chuckled. ‘As luck would have it, I got a copy of that exact book into my shop first thing this morning.’

‘First thing?’

‘Yes, I barely had a chance to open the front door and it was planted on my counter. I’ve said I’ll get back to the chap, but now…’

‘Did you get a look at the man? I mean, I’d really like to track it down, if I could…’ Robyn said and she looked across at Fern, her eyes suddenly alive with hope.

‘Better than that, he left it with me for safekeeping. I told him it would take a little while to authenticate it, but to be honest, there was something about him, I didn’t take to him.’ He stopped as if trying to figure out what it was. ‘He was in too much of a rush, I think, too hurried for it to be a good thing. People with books like these, well, they tend to be moving a lot more like that tortoise you spoke about on the radio.’

‘Ah, I see,’ Robyn said and Fern thought she could see it too.

‘So, anyway, I held onto the book, but I’m not sure what I should do next, I mean, what if he comes back and I… well, I’m not as young as I used to be, me and the wife, we live upstairs, it could be very awkward.’

‘Of course,’ Robyn said and she looked around the shop, her eyes halting when they met Will’s. ‘Actually, I have the Garda detective who’s investigating the robbery here with me; maybe you could talk to him?’

‘Aye, maybe that would be best.’ The old man sighed, but even standing next to Robyn, Fern could hear the relief in his voice. It sounded as if he was every bit as happy to have reunitedAlicewith Robyn as Robyn was to know the book was safe.

For a moment, a bleak feeling fell across Fern’s shoulders. Was she the only one who had an inkling of dread about finding out who might have stolen the book? They had spent the last two days just thinking about getting it back in one piece, but it seemed only Will was concerned with how it had disappeared in the first place. Fern was sure of one thing, whoever had stolen it had come to the bookshop as a friend of the family. The chances were, it was someone close to Robyn, even if they didn’t want to say so, it was the only answer.

46

Robyn couldn’t wait to get upstairs that evening. She planned to sink into a hot bath and dive into bed in the fluffiest pyjamas she could find. The truth was, she absolutely could do without the excitement of a radio interview and a tortoise going viral on TikTok. She was completely shattered after the day.

The bath was perfect, piping hot. Her mother had a habit of collecting bath salts and bubbles every time she went into an outlet shop, so there was quite the selection of sickening scents and frothy bubbles. She settled on something that purported to be close to lavender and it certainly did the trick. Her mother passed her in a glass of wine and by the time she let the water swirl down the drain, Robyn felt like a new woman.

She’d only just crawled into bed when the doorbell rang. Downstairs, she heard Fern race to the front door, so she could get back to her programme on the television.

Robyn sank into her book, on the verge of sleep, assuming that the only caller at this hour of the night would either be Uncle Albie or Leo who had forgotten a key to the front door.

Robyn’s eyes were heavy, she was happy to leave the day and all its drama behind her when her mother pushed the door into her room.

‘It’s for you darling, your nice policeman.’ She made a funny face. Really, Robyn tried telling her to stop doing that, it was only a matter of time until Will Newsome realised that Fern was as big a matchmaker as his own grandmother. Robyn had a feeling that a man like Will wouldn’t need any help when it came to finding himself a girlfriend.

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