"My Lord, you have to do something about Kendra," Martha, the housekeeper, informed me, flushed with indignation.
I sighed quietly. Kendra and a complaint. Standard procedure. It wasn't that Kendra ever did anything really wrong. It was just that she and Martha never saw eye to eye on anything. While Martha was in her sixties and Kendra only nineteen any disagreement with what Martha wanted was seen as a direct assault upon her authority and knowledge. Kendra, on the other hand, was an intelligent young lady who knew what she was doing and didn't mind saying so.
"What has she done now?" I asked.
"It's the silver," she said and a shiver ran up my spine. That stuff was valuable and an heirloom.
"What about the silver?" I asked with a touch of ice in my voice.
"She's ruined it. All of it. I should never have asked her to clean it. I knew she doesn't do things right."
How cleaning the silver could ruin I didn't know but I suspected I was about to find out. If Kendra had ruined it Martha wouldn't need to worry about Kendra any more. I'd personally strangle her.
"Exactly what did she do?"
"She didn't use the approved silver cleaner. She used a different product and who knows what it's done to the silver."
Well neither Martha nor I knew but I suspected that Kendra knew very well. It's like I said -- she did things very well. If only her diplomatic skills were up to a par with her other abilities.
"Did you bring the product with you and a sample of the silver?" I asked hopefully.
"Naturally," she said with a sniff, taking a small bottle and a couple of pieces of silver from her pocket.
I took them from her and examined them. The silver shone, the brightest I'd ever seen it. Twisting it back and forth I couldn't see the slightest semblance of a scratch. Rather than ruined I'd have said it was better than when new. Looking over the polish I saw that it wasn't a well-known brand but I had heard of it. I'd been behind the scenes at the museum while the curators were cleaning old silver. This was what they'd been using. If the museum used it it was unlikely to be detrimental to the silver.
"Did Kendra say why she used this product?" I asked.
"She said it was a superior product. Ha! How would she know? She's just a child. I've been using my standard brand for thirty years and it has always done an excellent job."
But the silver never shone as brightly as it did now. Still I'd have to do something about Kendra. I checked my diary, determining who would be around at the various times and finally told Martha to send Kendra to see me at a certain time. With that I dismissed her and went back to my work.
Kendra arrived at the nominated and I invited her into the office, closing the door behind her. She was dressed in her standard maid's outfit but I was sure the skirt wasn't supposed to be that short. A couple of inches above the knee, if memory served, which it did very well. Also I hadn't realised that the maid's tops were quite that tight, forcing the material to stretch. However she wasn't here to discuss any shortcoming in her uniform.
"Do you have any idea why you're here?" I asked her.
"Yes. I'm here because Martha got her nose in a snit because I did such an excellent job on the silver and she hadn't expected me to."
"A good guess but that's not the reason. Tell me, did you know that the silver was due to be cleaned?"
"Yes, but.." I held up a hand to interrupt her.
"Did you know that you were the person most likely to get the job?"
"Yes."
"Did you buy that silver polish in advance knowing you were going to use it?"
A more cautious yes this time.
"Did you know that you're not supposed to buy things for the estate without prior approval?"
"Um, yes, but this was for my personal use."
"Oh? Own much silver do you?"
"You know I don't."
"I suspected but didn't really know. However, since you bought it intending to use it at work to do your official duties you effectively bought it for the estate. Make sure you see Jenkins to be reimbursed. Tell him I've authorised it."