Goodmans of Glassford Street Read Online Free PDF

day.
    ‘You’ll never guess what happened today,’ she’d eagerly confide. And he would listen, fascinated. Then of course he’d tell her about his day. Yes, that would be enjoyable. Maybe she would try a dating agency. Of course, there could be dangers in that. It was the suspicious detective in her surfacing again. There had been cases of women being fooled by strangers they’d met through some of these dating agencies and ending up being robbed, raped or even murdered. She tried not to think in this suspicious way, but realised it was the penalty she had to pay for being such a good detective. She was very good at her job and she knew it, as well as everyone else.
    This was the night for her karate club so, after having something to eat, she got ready, then made her way to the club. Once there, she bowed slightly from the waist as she entered the dojo. The sensei was already there, collecting fees. She hurried over and paid her mat fee, as the sensei called the class together.
    The various grades shuffled together, organising in rows with senior grades to the right. The sensei called brusquely, ‘Sei Sa’, and the class kneeled in unison. The senior student then called out, ‘ Sensei nee rei’, and as one, the class solemnly bowed heads to the floor in mutual respect. Then they sprang to their feet and immediately started into a vigorous warm-up.
    She felt totally confident now. She felt she could tackle anything or anyone.

5
    Sam Webster felt pleased and proud as he left the meeting. Mrs Goodman had praised him and his work, and rightly so. His toy department had become famous all over the country for its marvellously innovative toys. Mr McKay had echoed everything Mrs Goodman had said. His secret, of course, was the little old guy down in South Castle-on-Sea, who was a genius of an inventor. Sam had found him quite by accident when he had taken a wrong turning on his way to visit a toy wholesaler in South Castle. He found himself in a dead-end street and his attention was caught by a dingy shop front with a man working on a machine in the shadow beyond the grimy window. Sam decided it must be a workshop, not a retail business. On closer inspection, he felt intrigued by what the man was working on. It looked like some kind of robotic man. He’d felt excited as he watched and eventually he went inside. It turned out that the man made toys as a hobby. He just enjoyed inventing things and he didn’t need to earn a living doing it. Long ago he had inherited money from his father. He wasn’t interested in money. He was a real eccentric and Sam had blessed the day he’d found him. It had taken a bit of persuading and every ounce of charm he could muster to get the man to sign a contract to make toys for Goodmans.
    ‘Think of all the pleasure you’ll give to children’ was one of his lines. ‘Think how you’ll stimulate children’s curiosity and imagination’ was another. ‘You owe it to them,’ he kept stressing.
    So the inventor came up with each original model and then each model went into limited production. Another great thing about the deal was the fact that, because the inventor wasn’t interested in money, costs could be kept to a minimum and profits were sky-high. No wonder Mrs Goodman et al. were so pleased with him.
    A lot more than a good business deal resulted from the visit to South Castle-on-Sea. The B. & B. on the seafront that he’d booked into was owned by a very tasty lady, who had taken an immediate shine to him, and had invited him to share her bed, as well as providing an excellent breakfast. Of course, he supposed he wasn’t a bad-looking guy. He was six foot four in height, with jet-black hair and dark eyes. His impressive appearance always helped in the business side of the job. It could also get him perks like Viv in the South Castle B. & B. He never went too far, of course. By that, he meant he was not like a sailor with a girl in every port. He succumbed to the occasional