The Ellsworth Case (A Markham Sisters Cozy Mystery Novella Book 5) (7 page)

“I suppose I should let you go, then,”
Edward said.
 
“You’ll be eager to
check out those drawers.”

“I am, rather,” Janet admitted.
 
“But I do enjoy talking to you,” she
added impulsively.

“I’m very glad to hear that,” Edward
replied.
 
“Ringing you is a special
treat for me.”

“Do let me know if you’re coming to
visit.
 
I do hope we aren’t booked
when you finally get some time off.”

“I can always stay in Little Burton, I
suppose,” Edward said.

Janet laughed.
 
“You might like it better there.”

“No chance of that.”

After Janet put her phone back in her pocket,
she hurried to the kitchen.
 
“William found the key to the
tantalus
,” she
told Joan, who was just pulling a cake from the oven.
 
“I wouldn’t let him open the drawers,
and I can’t believe I forgot all about it when I was telling you about the
visit because I was so caught up in wondering about the notes Karen had given
me.
 
Anyway, I’m dying to see what’s
inside those drawers.”

“Let’s take a look, then,” Joan suggested,
pulling off her oven gloves.

In the sitting room, the
tantalus
was exactly where Janet had left it on the side table.
 
Janet dug the key out of her pocket and
carefully turned it in the lock.
 
Joan
leaned forward as Janet slowly pulled out the top drawer.
 
It was empty.
 
Janet sighed and then tried the next
one.
 
It was also empty.
 

“Third time lucky,” she muttered as she
pulled open the bottom drawer.

“Empty,” Joan said softly.

“Never mind, the
tantalus
itself is probably worth something,” Janet said, trying to cheer
herself
up.

“I’m sure it is,” Joan agreed.

“Maybe we should take it to Derby and have
it valued as well, when we take the coins,” Janet suggested.

“I wouldn’t want to part with it,” Joan
said.
 
She shook her head.
 
“I don’t know why.
 
It isn’t like me, but there’s something
about it that I really like.
 
I
can’t imagine selling it.”

“I don’t want to sell it, either,” Janet
agreed.
 
“So I suppose we don’t need
to know what it’s worth.
 
We’ll have
to find somewhere special to put it, though.
 
I’m not sure I want it in here.
 
I’d be really upset if a guest
accidently damaged it.”

“It wouldn’t be fair to put it in either of
our bedrooms,” Joan said thoughtfully.
 
“We could keep it in the library for now, as we aren’t allowing guests
in there, but eventually we’ll have to move it.”

“It will look wonderful on the desk in
there,” Janet said.
 
“As you say, at
least for now.”

“How is the classifying and sorting going?”
Joan asked.

“I was interrupted.
 
Edward rang.”

“And what did Edward want?”

Janet frowned.
 
“I’m not entirely sure,” she admitted.
 
“But he did seem interested in learning
all about our guests again.”

“Maybe he’s working on the counterfeiting
case,” Joan suggested.

“You know, he never once mentioned that at
all,” Janet replied thoughtfully.

Chapter Seven

Joan made a fairly light evening meal and
both sisters enjoyed a generous serving of Victoria sponge.
 

“Are you going to see Michael tonight?”
Janet asked as she finished the washing up.

“He has a meeting in Derby,” Joan
replied.
 
“He’s actually staying the
night there, as it won’t finish until late.”

“So shall we pop some popcorn and watch some
telly
?” Janet suggested.

“I’m not sure we should have popcorn after
all that cake,” Joan protested.

“Popcorn is mostly air,” Janet retorted.

A knock on the front door interrupted the discussion.
 

“Robert?
 
This is a nice surprise,” Janet said as
she let the young policeman into the house.
 
“I do hope none of the notes we gave
Susan were counterfeit.”

“No, no, not at all,” Robert replied.
 
“They all checked out just fine and
Susan was delighted to have made a sale, as well.”

“That’s good to hear,” Janet told home.
 
“To what do we owe this pleasure, then?”

“I was just in the
neighbourhood
and I thought I would check in with you,” Robert replied.

“And I just baked a cake,” Joan said from the
doorway.
 
“Do come and have a piece
before Janet and I eat the whole thing ourselves.”

Janet nearly laughed out loud when she saw
how happy the young man looked at Joan’s words.
 
He cleared his throat.
 
“Oh, I don’t want to impose,” he began.

“It’s no imposition,” Janet assured
him.
 
“We can’t eat an entire cake
between us, but Joan can’t help but bake.
 
You’ll be doing us a
favour
if you eat a very
large slice.”

Robert protested a bit more, but Janet could
tell his heart wasn’t in it.
 
She
knew the poor man lived alone and that his family was all in Yorkshire.
 
He probably didn’t get homemade goodies
very often, except when he visited
Doveby
House, of
course.

In the kitchen, Joan put the kettle on for
tea and then served a large slice of cake to the man.
 
She and Janet sat down with their tea
and joined him while he dug into his treat.

“This is really delicious,” he said after a
few bites.
 
“My mother isn’t very
good at baking.
 
She likes to cook
and her roast dinners are very good, but she doesn’t eat cakes or puddings
herself, so I guess she isn’t really interested in making them.”

“Next week Joan will be starting the
Christmas baking,” Janet told their visitor.
 
“She makes her own mincemeat for the
pies and she’s had the Christmas puddings started for ages.”

Robert grinned.
 
“I’ll have to find an excuse to drop in
closer to Christmas, then,” he said.

“Oh, you’re more than welcome any time,”
Janet assured him.

“And you aren’t having any guests over
Christmas, right?” Robert asked.

“No, at least we aren’t planning on having
any,” Joan answered him.
 
“We have
two couples here at the moment, but the next booking I’ve taken is for the
second week of January.
 
Janet and I
will both appreciate the break, I think.”

Janet nodded.
 
“Having guests is interesting, but I
don’t really fancy spending my Christmas with a bunch of strangers.”

“Yes, I can see that,” Robert agreed.
 
“What about your current guests?
 
What are they like?”

Janet glanced over at Joan.
 
Was the man just making conversation or
was he suspicious of their guests?
 
There was no way to tell, and Janet couldn’t quite bring herself to ask
outright.

“Charles and Lynne Walters seem like a very
nice couple,” Joan said after a moment.
 
“I’d guess they’re in
their
sixties and that
they just wanted to get away for a few days.”

“Do you know where they’re from?” Robert
asked.

“Derby,” Joan replied.

“Interesting.
 
I’d have thought, if you wanted a
holiday, that you’d want to get at least an hour or more away from home.”
 
Robert shrugged.
 
“Maybe that’s just me, but if I were
that close to home on my holidays, I think I’d keep popping back for extra
socks or to check in with work.”

“Our other guests are from Derby as well,”
Janet told him.

“Are they now?
 
Do they know one another?”

The women exchanged glances.
 
“They didn’t seem to when they met at
breakfast,” Janet said.
 
“I
introduced them, but whenever I was in the room they didn’t act as if they’d
met before.”

“Peter and Paula Ellsworth are a good deal
younger,” Joan said.
 
“I’m not sure
she’s thirty yet and he can’t be much past it.
 
They seem somewhat better off as well.
 
Her handbags and shoes are all designer
brands and his watch is an expensive one.”

Janet looked curiously at her sister.
 
She hadn’t
realised
that Joan had paid that much attention to their guests.
 
It also surprised her that Joan
recognised
designer bags and shoes.

“They seem nice enough,” Joan added.
 
“But they both seem to be under a great
deal of stress.
 
I hope their
holiday helps.”

“Any idea what’s bothering them?” Robert
asked.

“None at all,” Joan replied.
 
“It isn’t our business to pry,” she
added, glancing at Janet.

Janet flushed, knowing the comment was
directed at her.
 
She had no
intention of prying, but if she overheard something interesting, well, she’d
share it with Robert if it
was
relevant.

“You must promise to let me know if you have
any concerns about your guests,” Robert said.
 
“Not just these guests, but at any
time.
 
There is always a small risk,
when you open your home to strangers, that you might welcome someone with
criminal intent.”

“Like our guests last month,” Janet said.

“Well, yes,” Robert agreed.
 
“I would hate for anything to happen to
either of you or to
Doveby
House.”

“Thank you for your concern,” Joan
said.
 

Janet could tell from her sister’s tone that
Joan was annoyed.
 
Both sisters
appreciated Robert’s concern, but wished he’d have more faith in their
abilities.
 

“That was delicious,” Robert said after he’d
swallowed his last bite of cake.
 
He
washed it down with tea.
 
“I really
should be going, I suppose,” he said, sounding reluctant.

“You must come back and visit again soon,”
Joan said as she cleared his plate and cup.
 
“You know you’re always welcome.”

“Oh, I’ll be back, and probably sooner than
you think,” Robert said with a laugh.
 
“I haven’t had a homemade mince pie in years.”

The sisters both laughed.
 
“I’ll make sure I put a few away for
you,” Joan promised.

The trio walked towards the front door.
 
“I stopped in WTC Antiques the other
day,” Robert said casually.
 
“It
seems as if William has a new friend.”

Janet sighed.
 
“I assume you mean Karen Holmes,” she
said.
 
“She and William seem to have
become close quite quickly.”

“She’s very young to have been widowed, I
thought,” Robert said.
 
“From what
she said, her husband left her quite comfortably off, at least.”

“Yes, she seems to have plenty of money,”
Janet said.
 
“She’s the one who
bought Susan’s blanket when she was here the other night.”

“Why was she here?” Robert asked.

“She came with William to look at a
tantalus
that we found in the library,” Janet told the man.

“I see,” Robert said thoughtfully.

“You don’t think she’s the counterfeiter, do
you?” Janet demanded.

Robert shook his head.
 
“The police in Derby seem to think
they’ve found the person who is supplying those notes,” he replied.
 
“I’m told to expect an arrest any day
now.
 
No, I just wondered what she
sees in William.
 
She’s quite a bit
younger than he is, isn’t she?”

“He’s an attractive man,” Janet said.
 
“Not my type,” she added quickly, “but
maybe he’s Karen’s type.
 
Do you
know anything about her husband?
 
I
think she said his name was Lester.”

“Not a thing,” Robert replied.
 
“But I haven’t done any digging,
either.
 
I do try not to pry into
people’s lives unless I have a reason to do so.”

Janet grinned.
 
No doubt Robert had access to all sorts
of information about every person in the entire United Kingdom.
 
If she was given the same sort of
access, she knew she’d be unable to resist the urge to see what she could learn
about everyone she met.
 
As it was,
she had to rely on local gossip and the small area newspaper for the little
details about the other residents of
Doveby
Dale that
she found so interesting.
 
She’d not
even met most of them, but she still found herself fascinated by things like
house prices and marriage and birth announcements.
 

“I’ll have to ask her about the man the next
time I see her,” Janet said.
 
“I’d
love to know more about him.”

“You really mustn’t pry,” Joan scolded.
 
“I’m sure she won’t like talking about
him.
 
He did pass away, after all.”

“She didn’t seem that broken up when we met
her,” Janet pointed out.

“Still,” Joan replied, shaking her head.

Robert grinned at them both.
 
“Thank you again for the tea and the
lovely cake.
 
I’ll stop back with an
update when the counterfeiter is safely behind bars.”

As she let Robert out, Janet was surprised
to see Charles and Lynne Walters rapidly approaching the house on foot.
 
She stood in the doorway, waiting to let
them in if they were heading for
Doveby
House.

“Oh, thank you,” Lynne gasped as the pair
dashed up the steps.
 
Charles was
right behind her and he glanced back towards the road before rushing
inside.
 

“Are you okay?” Joan asked.
 

They were both flushed and Lynne seemed to
be struggling to catch her breath.
 
She held up a hand and took several deep breaths.
 
Charles watched her, his face anxious.

“I’m fine,” Lynne said after a moment.
 
“Although I think I need some water.”

Janet glanced at Joan.
 
She didn’t mind getting the woman a
drink, but she didn’t want to miss anything else Lynne might say that might
explain the couple’s strange
behaviour
.

“Why don’t we all go into the kitchen,” Joan
suggested.
 
“You can have some water
and I’ll put the kettle on as well.
 
A cup of tea might help as well.”

“It can’t hurt,” Charles said heartily.

Janet gave Lynne a glass of water and then
put out a plate of biscuits while Joan fixed the tea.
 
Charles and Lynne sat at the kitchen
table, seemingly glaring at one another while Lynne sipped her glass of water
slowly.

“I do hope everything is okay,” Janet said
politely as she joined the couple at the table.

“It’s fine,” Lynne snapped.
 
She took a deep breath.
 
“We, um, well, we had a bit of car
trouble, you see.
 
We had to leave the
car and walk back, which we weren’t expecting.”

“You should have rung for a taxi,” Janet said.
 
“There are a few taxis in
Doveby
Dale and Little Burton.
 
You shouldn’t have had to wait long.”

“I just hate to spend the money,” Lynne
replied.
 
“It didn’t seem like a
long walk, really.
 
But it
definitely felt like one.”

Janet nodded.
 
“But what about the car?” she
asked.
 
“Did you have it towed
somewhere?”