Word of the day from Susie Dent: DOWFART (18th century Scots) One who is feeble, idle and entirely ineffectual.
Well as even my two regular readers seem to abandoned me, there seems little point writing anything? So here is my latest short story
The Man in the Hat
“You know what they say George, if you want to get ahead get a hat!”
George frowned and looked at his companion with undisguised contempt. “Your pithy sayings are becoming tiresome Henry”
Henry laughed “Well suit yourself I have other fish to fry” He laughed again and left the room.
“Good riddance” He called after him
George had been grumpy for days and his patience was wearing thin. Normally he was happy to take Henry’s gentle chiding with good grace but his current mood had dulled his normal good humour.
If he did not discover where the painting was soon he was in trouble and the search had not been going well. What had appeared to be a relatively simple task had become frustrating and George’s demeanour had soured.
As an art historian George had been involved in many projects where a painting had to be tracked down but this one was proving to be more difficult than most. His client was not an easy one and she had taken his lack of progress badly and insisted he double his efforts. She was paying and she wanted a result!
The painting had been in her family for many years until a relative had mistakenly given it away with some other items that were being cleared from her house. Unfortunately it was some time after that she had discovered it was missing and by then it was too late, retrieving it from the charity that had collected it.
Records at the Salvation Armies depot were accurate and well kept and George was optimistic he could find the painting quite easily. He was quickly disappointed and the trail went cold. The man who had purchased it for the princely sum of £25 had died shortly after and his belongings had been auctioned by the house clearance company. The records at the auction were not so well kept. They were only interested in selling fast and clearing out, they cared little for who had bought items and most did not fetch much more than £50.
George tried to get a list of people who had attended as by law they were supposed to sign in but that proved useless as they had only paid lip service to keeping it.
One of the staff had given a pretty good description of the man who bought it but without a name or address the information was very little to go on.
George was frustrated and a further fractious conversation with his client had not helped.
He was leaving his office when a man approached the reception desk with a wrapped up painting under his arm. This was not unusual, people arrived with paintings everyday. His company specialised in authenticating works of art and George spent most of his time inspecting pictures for that reason. He was just pushing the door open when he noticed something in the reflection of the glass. He turned and stared at the man, who wore a battered broken felt hat with a red indian feather tucked into the brim, George excitedly went over to him “Excuse me but I wonder if I might be of assistance?”
Stay well
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