62. The Waiver
In which Gemma Glasswing signs her name…
Gemma Glasswing crossed the depot floor to where Signe stood beside MyrtleLion. She was holding a folded sheet of paper and an envelope.
“I’m here from Brennard and Vye,” she said. “I’ve come about a crate for Consignee 3859. That’s the dispatch half of the receipt, and that’s the payment to settle the bill. Fenella Burnish sent me to check it’s arrived.”
Signe brought her glasses down from her head and read the receipt. Then she took the envelope and looked inside it without counting.
“It has arrived,” she said. “But it is damaged.”
She walked Gemma over to the crate beside the rollers. One corner slat was out of place and tufts of wool and straw were poking out of the corner. The slat moved when Signe touched it.
“It came from the studio like this,” said Signe. “If the glass is broken, the network is responsible. If the network is responsible, somebody sues the network. In 11 years nobody has sued us and I do not want it to start today.” She looked at Gemma over the top of her glasses. “You will look at what is inside, please. Then you will sign to say the crate is damaged, but the contents are not.”
“That seems reasonable,” said Gemma.
One of the women in grey jackets used a crowbar to lift the lid off and leaned it against a pallet. Gemma moved the wool and straw aside until she found the packed window and pulled it out of the crate. She laid it out on a nearby table and unfolded the padding, one corner at a time.
A woman in glass the colour of deep water looked up at her. Three keys on a ring, each one different. A purse at her belt, heavy with its contents.
Gemma lifted the panel off the table and turned it towards the light, tilting it one way and then the other. She could see the crack running fine and pale across the lower corner.
“There’s the crack,” she said. “They asked me to remove it from my copy. But it is perfectly sound.” She frowned at it. “This isn’t too fragile. You could easily reinstall it.”
“So the glass is not damaged?” asked Signe.
“Not a bit.”
Signe took a pen from her pocket, wrote Damaged crate, contents undamaged. Kvinnor Skickar bears no responsibility for the crate damage on the manifest. Then she handed the pen to Gemma. Gemma signed. She smiled at what she had written. “First time my name’s been on anything,” she said.
Gemma rewrapped the panel and laid it back in the straw. She then took her phone out of her overalls and made a call. It rang twice and was then answered.
“Fenhurst and Rhys, Fenella Burnish speaking,” said Fenella Burnish.
@EmpressaurusKitty, Gosie and the gerbils were watching from a few metres away and Fenella’s voice could be heard clearly.
“It’s Gemma. I’m at the depot. The crate is here, but it’s been damaged. A slat has come away at the corner and some of the packaging has come loose. The window is fine, though. I took it out and checked it properly, then repacked it.” Gemma glanced down at the straw. “Fenella, it’s sound. I can’t see why it needed to be copied. You could reinstall it as it is.”
There was a pause and then Fenella said, “You don’t understand these things. I am leaving for Winchester now and will install the window tomorrow.” Then she ended the call.
Gemma looked at the phone. “She hung up on me. She’s never done that to me before,” she said.
Empressaurus turned to Gosie and said, “Tomorrow.” Her voice was quiet and urgent. “The copy is going to be installed into Winchester Cathedral tomorrow, and the real window is sitting right here. If we can get the original window back to Winchester, the swap can’t happen. We can stop the fraud.”
“And the trail?” asked Gosie. “If the crate goes back to England, we will never find out where it was supposed to go.”
“@Hedgehogforshort is already following the other crate,” said Empressaurus. “They have the same consignee number, so following that crate will show us where they all go, but the chance to stop a fake window being installed won’t come again.”
Gosie looked at the crate, at Gemma still holding her phone, at MyrtleLion and the clipboard. “But how do we stop Signe sending the crate to its next destination?” she asked.
Empressaurus already had her phone out. “We call the police,” she said.
It took less than 15 minutes. Signe heard the sirens first and went to the roller door. A police car pulled into the yard, and two officers in uniform came into the depot.
Empressaurus approached them.
“We have a report of a stolen window,” said the first officer, in English. “From an English cathedral.”
“It’s in this crate,” said Empressaurus.
“How do you know it is stolen?” asked a second officer.
“It comes from Winchester Cathedral and there is an exact copy in England which will be installed tomorrow,” said Empressaurus.
“That is true,” said Gemma. “I made the copy, but I didn’t realise the original was in such good condition.”
MyrtleLion held out the clipboard. The officer read the manifest, the disclaimer Signe had written, and the signature underneath, and then looked at Gemma.
“I was asked to check the crate,” said Gemma. “That is all.”
“You will come with us, please,” said the officer, and took out her handcuffs.
Gemma looked at the officer, then at Signe, then at Empressaurus. “But this is nothing to do with me,” she said, “I only came to check the crate.”
“We will discuss this at the station,” said the officer and led Gemma Glasswing to her police car.
The first officer looked at the crate. “We’ll need to take this in as evidence,” she said and turned to MyrtleLion. “I’ll leave it to you and your team to bring it to the station.”
https://myrtlelion.substack.com/p/62-the-waiver