Gladys (Postern of Fate)

In the novel Postern of Fate, Gladys is a shop assistant at Simmonds, a dress shop in Hollowquay and an acquaintance of Beatrice who is employed by Tuppence Beresford as a cleaner.

Beatrice had purchased a coat from Gladys at Simmonds which she thought was very good value. On returning home, she found that instead of £3.75 which she paid, the label actually said £6.00. Feeling that this is not right, Beatrice returned to Simmonds and wanted to pay the additional amount owed. But Gladys told her this could not be done as she had already written the sale up. If she brought the matter up, she could be accused of carelessness or taken to task for charging the wrong price and that could result in her getting the sack. Gladys became so upset that Beatrice was forced to leave the shop and seek Tuppence's advice on what to do.