Charlotte Dean Mysteries Collection

Chapter 14

Against all odds, Charlotte fell asleep as soon as she returned to bed and slept until dawn. She lay there for a while watching the sky go through all the hues of blue from dark to light, getting her mind ready for the day ahead. Open the shop after a quick check everything was perfect. Water the pine trees—hers as well as the one in the window. Sweep the pavement.

Oh, and pick up the cigarette butt in the alley. Charlotte couldn’t stand the things being thrown on the ground where an unsuspecting animal might pick it up and become ill. Sid did it deliberately as soon as he knew she’d seen him. He was a dirty man on many levels. Butts, poor hygiene, and probably in his ethics.

Charlotte slipped out of bed and stretched, pushing the thought of the police officer away. Instead of lingering over coffee, Charlotte dressed and grabbed a shopping bag. She’d thought of a few things to add to her stash and wanted to have a look at the roundabout in daylight.

She went there first. No other shops were open yet, apart from the supermarket, but a couple of traders waved to her from behind their windows. It was nice to know her way around, and the doubts of her first week here were eroding. From the corner, Charlotte stared at the roundabout. Cars going through went particularly slowly as their drivers gaped at the empty space where the huge tree once stood. The mess was as she remembered.

Sid had done nothing. Nothing, other than act like a creepy-cop by standing opposite her residence. In between cars, Charlotte crossed onto the roundabout to look at the tyre tracks. Something made her take some more photos, quickly, so nobody saw what she did. Then, she crossed to the other corner and headed for the supermarket.

Charlotte found a Christmas star small enough for her tree, and a gingerbread house kit. The latter was a complete impulse buy and she grinned.

Much as she was enjoying the customers, Charlotte’s stomach turned a bit when the book club ladies followed each other through the open front door.

Octavia looked her up and down and sniffed. Charlotte remembered Rosie’s instructions to smile and kept smiling. If Octavia had an issue with her, then that was the other woman’s problem.

Marguerite didn’t even look Charlotte’s way, but Glenys rushed over. “Did you see? Our beautiful Christmas tree is gone! Gone in the middle of the night!”

“I know.”

“How do you know?” Octavia appeared from nowhere. “What do you know about it?”

Smile.

Smile.“I was at the supermarket earlier and saw the cars going so slowly around the roundabout. Quite shocking someone would do such a thing.”

“Oh? I’d have thought you’d have heard something. Gone to check it out.”

Was Sid sharing everything with his wife? “How may I help you ladies this morning?”

“We want to place an order.” Glenys said. “We’ve decided to go with the book from the other day for our next meeting, so need a few copies.”

“Of course. I’ll get the orders book.” Charlotte took off for the counter. The ladies were over in the thriller and mystery corner when she caught up with the open book. “How many copies shall I order?”

“We’re talking! Kindly don’t interrupt.” Marguerite turned her back.

Charlotte considered dropping the book on Marguerite’s foot but took it back to the counter. No smiling though. Rosie might be a saint, but Charlotte wasn’t. She tapped on the computer to find the book to order. It had a longer than normal lead time due to the holidays and its popularity. That would make Marguerite even happier. Not.

She was right.

“Two weeks! We need those copies on the second of January. Not a day later.”

Charlotte’s fixed smile was back. “And if they happen to arrive in earlier, we’ll let you know. Unfortunately, the wholesaler closes for a week at this time of year so all I can do is request these as urgent.”

Octavia leaned over the counter. “I doubt that’s all you can do. You’re probably not even doing it right. How could you? You’re not really qualified for this kind of work. Are you?”

“She most certainly is!” Rosie was just inside the door, her face furious. “Octavia, kindly let me pass.”

Octavia’s jaw dropped, and she stepped to one side. Rosie pushed herself around to Charlotte’s side of the counter and put her hand on Charlotte’s arm. “Let me say this once and then we’ll move on. Charlotte is here because I want her to be here. She brings skills and a passion for books which has already made a positive impact to the bookshop. When I’m not here, Charlotte is in charge and I would take it as a personal favour for you all to respect that.”

Warmth rose inside Charlotte. Nobody had ever stood up for her like that. Octavia’s face reddened, Marguerite scowled, and Glenys nodded. Well, well, well.

Rosie removed her hand from Charlotte’s arm and tapped the keyboard. “Right, so the earliest you’ll get these books is January seven. Perhaps next time you might need to plan ahead if there are any holidays. Wholesalers are entitled to a break the same as anyone.”

She lifted her chin to stare at the three ladies. Charlotte stayed still and quiet. Rosie was a fireball in a controlled, polite way. One by one, the ladies looked away.

“Do you still wish for the order to be placed?” Rosie asked.

Octavia pulled her handbag closer to her body and huffed as she stalked out of the shop. Marguerite followed without a word or glance. But Glenys grinned at Rosie, then at Charlotte. “Please do order the books. We’ll put our first meeting back a few days to accommodate the delivery. Thank you, Charlotte.” Then she toddled after the others.

Charlotte sank onto a stool. “Oh, my goodness.”

“That’s all you have?” Rosie shook her head. “I am so annoyed with those women. Well, maybe not Glenys, but those other two!”

“What if they don’t come back? I don’t want you losing customers because of me.”

Rosie turned a serious gaze on Charlotte. “Any customer who cannot behave in a civil manner can go. As much as I like trading, the customer is most certainly not always right!”

“Thank you.”

“No. Thank you for keeping your cool and looking after my interests in the face of such rudeness. Really, I don’t know where Octavia and Marguerite get their entitlement from. Ever since Marguerite married Sid, she’s turned into a mean woman.”

“I imagine marriage to Sid would do that. Coffee?”

Over steaming cups of coffee and a break between customers, Charlotte filled Rosie in on the events of the night. She left out a bit. No point worrying Rosie about Sid’s odd behaviour, nor Charlotte deliberately hiding from him.

“So, two young men. One called Darro. A dark ute and a trailer. Surely Sid can find them based on that description?”

“I didn’t exactly tell him. There’s something else. He pulled me over yesterday near the Christmas Tree farm.”

Rosie put down her cup and turned concerned eyes to Charlotte. “Why?”

“For existing. First, he wanted to breathalyse me and when there was no trace of alcohol, he inspected the car from top to bottom. Then he spent ages in his patrol car with my licence. And naturally there was nothing to find so he gave it back and let me leave. But in the interim, someone sped past and a stone chipped my windscreen. Do you know who might repair it?”

“Oh dear. I do. There’s a nice mobile man so I’ll find his number for you. Whether he is around or already having a holiday I don’t know.” Rosie searched on the computer. “Did you get a Christmas tree?”

“I did! It’s a bit dried out and sad but I’m going to nurture it back to health.”

“Was it busy up there?” Rosie wrote down a phone number and name on a notepad. “Here you go, give Ivan a call.”

“Thanks. There were people coming and going the whole time I was there. I met Abbie and Lachie.”

“How is Abbie? That baby is due next month.”

“She’s lovely and seemed well, not that we spoke for long. She knew all about me.”

“Small towns.”

“So I’m learning. Lachie is very cute. He calls his mother Mrs Forest and insisted on carrying the tree to the car. I got the feeling though that they don’t have a lot. For Christmas.”

“Darcy’s father left him with a lot of debt, so I imagine money is tight. I do hope they have a good week. As bad as the Christmas tree thefts are, it might generate some income for them.”

A family wandered in and Rosie greeted them. Charlotte folded the paper from the notepad. Esther and Doug had replaced their artificial tree with one of Darcy’s. What would happen with the one from the roundabout?