I had about an hour’s wait until Joe was picking me up again, so I just wandered along the High Street. I looked at some stuff which the Hospice shop had out on the pavement and then I found myself drifting into the shop. Two smartly dressed women in their mid-forties were going through a large bag of clothing, sorting it into other bags with the occasional piece going on to a coat hanger on a clothes rail. I wandered around picking up a few choice pieces of porcelain but there was nothing of any real value. Some old Victorian photos caught my eye on the picture wall but as I neared them it became apparent that they were just repro's. Several randomly sized images and pictures were hanging on this makeshift gallery, surrounded by enough holes in the wall to make it look like woodworm. One or two original oil paintings of the type which seem to be mass produced these days were scattered in amongst lots of prints. To the right was a fairly large Lowry print in a nice looking old frame. As a huge Lowry fan, I was drawn over to it and stood gazing at it for a few seconds. I was slightly puzzled as I didn't recognise it. A lot of Lowry's pictures have been printed thousands of times and are regularly seen all over the world, cropping up all the time in every junk and charity shop nationwide. This one was not familiar to me at all, however and I moved up for a closer look. There in the bottom right hand corner was the unmistakable signature. I looked closely at the picture and it didn't look like a print. Although I would need a magnifying glass to confirm, and although it was behind glass I felt a little flutter of excitement. If this was indeed a painting, although provenance may be a problem, there were only two possibilities. Either it was a genuine and original Lowry or it was a fake. I knew there had been many fakes of the artist’s work but you could usually tell, because the figures never showed the detail with quite the same imagery as the genuine article. This one had the familiar matchstick figures going about their daily business but they seemed to show the same degree of animation and vibrancy that the genuine article displayed and which the fakes usually so sadly lacked. Trying to maintain my cool with an air of disinterest, I sidled across to one of the ladies. 'Is it alright if I get the print down to check the frame,' I enquired. The one kneeling on the floor, looked up at me as if to size up my intentions. Her busy face dissolved into a smile. 'Yes Luv,' she said. 'Careful with the glass though.' 'Will do,' I said, turning back to the pictures. I reached up and lifted it down spinning it's back into my eager gaze. Very dirty and a faded framers label from Birmingham, dated 1936. The distinctive and dank smell of an old cellar. You can't fake that. This was a good quality but plain frame, just the sort of thing you would have used on an original in those days. Let the picture do the talking. Lowry had no real fame at that stage and its availability as a print would have been unlikely. 'How much do you want for it,' I said turning back to the assistant who had now stood up and was sorting the clothes on her rail. She turned to me with a slightly perplexed look. 'Ohhh..... I should think er... ten pounds.' 'Ten pounds,' I said, slightly incredulously. 'I was thinking more like two.' She hesitated. 'Well, give me five then. It is a large one' Priced by the square inch, he'd turn in his grave. 'Deal,' I said, suddenly feeling cheap. It is a charity shop. I took it across to the counter and laid it down. 'We often get these prints in you know, if you leave your phone number I can ring you when we get one if you're a collector.' 'No, that’s fine,' I cut in quickly, horrified that I might be dragged down here every time a Lowry poster came in. ' I, errr.... only want it for the frame.' 'Oh, I see. Bit plain if you ask me.' 'That’s what I like.' I thrust the five-pound note into her hand and made my escape. 'Thanks.' As I exited the shop I was suddenly racked with guilt. I resolved there and then that the Hospice would get a substantial donation if the painting proved to be as valuable as I thought it was.