Ned looked at her with a confused expression on his face, as if he was trying to figure out where Penny was going with her inquiry. ‘Do you mean, did I write my name on the albums?’

She nodded, her heart fluttering with the assurance that Colin was correct.

‘No,’ Ned answered matter-of-factly.

Waiting for him to explain further, Penny felt her stomach drop when she realised that there was nothing else to say. He hadn’t written his name on his albums. And Penny realised that Colin must be wrong after all, that the albums Arthur and Wally had were not her dad’s.

But then Ned spoke again. ‘I would have never been so stupid as to write on a record, that is, I would have never been so stupid to write on a record cover. I would have never done that. There are betters ways to claim your property.’

Perking up, Penny tilted her head. ‘How?’ she encouraged.

Ned gave a small smile. ‘Easy. I would have turned the album over and placed a small red sticker on the back top right-hand corner, and then I would have put my initials on it and the date I acquired it. That’s what I would have done, Penny. And in fact, that’s what I did do. With my albums.’

Penny’s heart began to beat faster again. ‘Oh Dad, that’s fantastic news! Colin was right! Come on, grab your coat. We have to go down town.’

Looking taken aback by Penny’s change in gears, not to mention her request to just get up and go, Ned frowned. ‘What for?’ he asked. ‘And Elle has the car so we’d have to walk. Anyway why all the fuss, Penny? What’s all this about?’

‘Darn.’ She’d forgotten about the car. But she knew she couldn’t wait; she was too excited. She wanted to surprise Ned, but she supposed the only thing that was going to make him trek all the way down the coast road to Main Street was full disclosure.

‘Would you want to go if I told you that we found your entire album collection?’

Ned looked puzzled. ‘What? My collection?’

‘Complete with little red initialled stickers,’ she finished simply.

‘Who found the collection? What’s going on?’ Ned pressed urgently. ‘Where?’

‘Colin found them down in Ryan’s Antiques. Why didn’t you tell me you’d sold them to Arthur?’

Ned appeared thoughtful for a moment before answering the question with gusto. ‘I assumed he’d have sold them on years ago. He really held onto them . . .’ He was shaking his head. ‘And he never said a word.’

Chances were Arthur had forgotten about them, as according to Colin it was Wally who’d located a box of ‘old vinyl’ out the back.