The Ellsworth Case (A Markham Sisters Cozy Mystery Novella Book 5) (8 page)

Lynne looked over at Charles and he shrugged
at her.
 
After a moment, he replied.

“We’ll get it sorted in the morning,” he
said.
 
“It’s too late to try to find
a garage tonight.”

“There isn’t one in
Doveby
Dale at the moment,” Janet told him.
 
“We had a little repair shop, but it’s no longer open.”

“I guess we’ll have to try Little Burton or
maybe just get the car towed back to Derby,” Lynne said.

“I might be able to tinker with it a bit,”
Charles muttered.
 
“Get it going
enough to get us home, anyway.”

“I hope that doesn’t mean you’re planning to
leave early,” Janet said.

“Oh, we might just have to,” Lynne
replied.
 
“We’ll have to see what
tomorrow brings.”

“I’m ready for bed,” Charles announced, standing
up from the table.
 
“Good night.”

He left the room quickly, leaving Janet and
Joan staring after him.
 
Lynne
swallowed the last of her tea and then disappeared after him, muttering
something inaudible at the sisters as she left.

“That was strange,” Joan said.

“They were strange,” Janet retorted.
 
“I’m not sure I believe that they had
car trouble.”

“But if they didn’t, why did they walk back
from town?”

Janet shrugged.
 
“I wish Robert had seen that,” she
said.
 
“Maybe we should ring and
tell him about it.”

“I don’t know,” Joan said.
 
“It isn’t like they did anything
wrong.
 
Even if they didn’t have car
trouble, there’s nothing that says they can’t walk here from town if they want
to.”

“It just feels odd to me,” Janet
replied.
 
“Like they’re hiding
something.”

The sound of the house’s front door opening
stopped their conversation.
 
Janet
quickly made her way to the front of the house.
 

“And again it’s all my fault,” Paula was
shouting at Peter as Janet entered the sitting room.
 
“Everything is my fault, isn’t it?”

“That isn’t what I said,” Peter replied, his
voice slightly calmer than his wife’s.
 

“You didn’t have to say it, I know you
thought it,” she snapped back.

“Your mind reading talents are impressive,”
he replied dryly.

“Did you have a nice evening?” Janet asked
loudly.

Paula gasped, and both of them turned to
look at Janet.
 

“I’m sorry,” Paula said, her eyes filling
with tears.
 
“I just, that is,
everything is so overwhelming right now.”
 
Her eyes moved from Janet to Peter and back again.
 
“I think I need some sleep.”

“We can make you a
cuppa
,
if you’d like,” Janet offered.
 

“No, I’m okay,”
Paula
replied.
 
“I’ll see you in the
morning.”

She headed up the stairs, leaving Peter
behind.

“I’m awfully sorry,” he told Janet.
 
“We’re both under so much stress.
 
We’ll try harder to behave.”

Janet smiled at him.
 
“Would you like a
cuppa
?”
she asked.

He hesitated for a moment and then shook his
head.
 
“I’d love one,” he said.
 
“But I really need to be with
Paula.
 
She needs me.”

Janet watched as he walked up the stairs,
and then she went back into the kitchen.

“They’re certainly not happy with one
another,” Joan remarked as Janet helped her tidy the space.

“No, they really aren’t,”
Janet
agreed.
 
“I wonder what they’re so
worried about.”

“Yes, well, that isn’t our business,” Joan
replied.

“Unless it’s to do with the counterfeit
money,” Janet said.
 
“They might
still pay with fake notes.”

“Robert said they had a suspect and were
ready to make an arrest,” Joan reminded her.

“Maybe Peter and Paula are the suspects,”
Janet said.
 
“You never know.”

Joan shook her head.
 
“That seems highly unlikely,” she
replied.

“But it is possible,” Janet insisted.
 
“Of course, it’s also possible that
Charles and Lynne are the ones.
 
Maybe they saw the police at their car and ran away,” she suggested.

“Really, you must stop suspecting our guests
of criminal
behaviour
,” Joan said sharply.
 
“I think you need to stop reading all
those detective stories and start reading something that will improve your
mind.”

“My mind is just about as improved as it can
be,” Janet said.
 
“It’s just
tired.
 
Good night.”

Joan replied in kind and Janet headed to
bed.
 
Upstairs, she could hear both
sets of guests talking loudly in their rooms, but she couldn’t make out any
words, not to suggest that she was standing outside their rooms with her ear
pressed to the doors or anything.
 
She got ready for bed and then curled up with an old
favourite
by Agatha Christie.
 
Already knowing
who the killer was didn’t dampen her enjoyment of the story one bit.
 
She read far later than she should have,
but still managed to drag herself out of bed in time to help her sister with
breakfast the next morning.

Chapter Eight

The next morning at eight Joan and Janet
were working in the kitchen when they heard the front door open and close.
 
Janet quickly made her way to the front door
and pulled it open.
 
She watched as
Charles and Lynne disappeared up the road, walking quickly.

“So I guess they don’t want breakfast,” Joan
remarked when Janet told her what she’d seen.

“Maybe they have a tow truck scheduled to
pick up the car or something,” Janet said.
 

“They could have at least told us,” Joan
replied.
 
“Watch them come back in
an hour and want breakfast then.”

“We’ll have to see, won’t we?” Janet said.
 
“I’ll burn their toast if they do, okay?”

Joan smiled.
 
“I know I need to learn to stop
stressing about such things,” she admitted.
 
“But I do wish our guests would make
more of an effort to stick to a convenient schedule.”

“They are on holiday,” Janet pointed out.

A few minutes later they heard the door
again.
 
Janet wasn’t sure what to
expect as she checked the sitting room.
 
This time she was just able to see the back of Peter and Paula’s car as
it drove away up the road.

“Just me for breakfast today,” she told
Joan.
 
“I’m sure I can eat at least
two breakfasts, though, if that helps.”

Joan laughed.
 
“What a kind offer,” she said.
 
“But I think just one breakfast will be
plenty for you.”

The buzzer for the back door off of the
conservatory sounded as Janet was taking her last bite.
 
Joan was eating more slowly, so Janet
got up.
 

“I’ll go; you still have half your breakfast
to finish,” she told her sister.
 

Stuart Long, the
neighbour
from the other side of the semi-detached house across the street was standing
at the door.

“I just wanted to ask if I could store a few
things in the carriage house,” he told Janet.
 
“Mary wants to do a big clear out when
she gets back.”

“Is she away?” Janet asked.

“Yes, she visiting her oldest and his family
for a few days.
 
When she gets back,
she’ll want to start cleaning and decorating for Christmas, and she’s
determined to do things differently this year.
 
She wants me to get rid of a bunch of
boxes of my things from years ago, but, well, it’s difficult.”

Janet nodded, even though she wasn’t sure
she understood.
 
“I suppose you can
store some boxes in the carriage house,” she said.
 
“You already use it for the gardening
things, anyway.”

Stuart was a retired gardener who had loved
his job.
 
Now he looked after the
extensive gardens at
Doveby
House for the sisters in
exchange for a small salary and a great many biscuits.
 

“Just make sure your boxes are clearly
marked,” Janet told him.
 
“I want to
start going through the boxes in the carriage house soon.”

Stuart nodded.
 
“I’ll label them,” he told her.
 
“And I’ll stack them all in one place,
as out of the way as I can.
 
Thank
you.”

“It’s no problem,” Janet told him.

“It’s just, well, some things I think my
daughter might like one day,” he said as he turned away.
 
“Things from her mother and the
like.
 
Mary doesn’t, that is, she’s
not, I mean...” he trailed off.
 
“Thank you again,” he said after a moment.

Before Janet could reply, he was walking
away.
 
She shook her head and
returned to the kitchen, wondering again about how people made their marriages
work, and why they bothered.

“You don’t mind if Stuart stores a few boxes
in the carriage house, do you?” she asked Joan.

“I suppose not,” Joan replied.
 
“We aren’t using the space at the
moment.
 
As long as we can tell his
things from ours, I guess I don’t care.”

Janet nodded.
 
“I told him to label everything,” she
assured her sister.

With their breakfast out of the way and no
guests to cater for, Janet decided to spend some more time in the library.
 
She was heading there when she stopped
short.
 

“Joan,” she called as she watched the scene
in the garden.
 
“You might want to
see this.”

Joan had been working on her Christmas
puddings, but she quickly joined Janet.
 
“What on earth...” she exclaimed.

Stuart was pushing a wheelbarrow laden down
with boxes and bags.
 
Every time he
moved forward a few feet, something fell off and he had to stop, and every time
he stopped, the entire wheelbarrow looked as if it might topple over.
 

“I think I might give him a hand,” Janet
said, heading for the door.
 

“Do let me help,” she said as she reached
Stuart.
 
He was picking up a bag and
struggling to balance everything else at the same time.

“Maybe you could just follow me and pick up
the things that fall off,” he suggested.

Janet smiled and fell into step behind
him.
 
By the time they reached the
carriage house, her arms were full with several bags that she’d collected on
the short journey.
 
“But what’s in these?”
she asked.
 
“They’re big and
awkward, but not very heavy.”

Stuart shrugged.
 
“My wife, that is, my first wife did
lots of crafts and sewing and things.
 
There are bags and bags of fabric and knitting wool and the like.
 
I think my daughter might want it all
one day, once she’s ready to settle down.”

Janet watched as Stuart carefully stacked
several boxes against one wall of the building.
 
Then he piled the bags on top of the
stacks.
 
“Just the screen printer to
go and I’m done,” he told Janet cheerfully.
 

She stood and watched him push the
wheelbarrow back out of the room.
 
He was back a few minutes later with a large box.
 
“I’m sorry, but what did you say that
was?” she asked.

“It’s some sort of silkscreen printing
machine,” he told her.
 
“I don’t
really know what it does or how it works, but my wife used to print shirts for
herself and others.”

“I see,” Janet said slowly.
 

“Thanks again,” Stuart told her as he locked
up the carriage house behind them.
 
“The next time my daughter visits, I’ll try to persuade her to take a
few things home with her.”

“You don’t think you could use a silkscreen
machine to print money?” Janet asked Joan when she returned to the house.

“No, I don’t think you could,” Joan told
her.
 
“They wouldn’t sell them to
the public if just anyone could print money on them, would they?”

Janet shrugged.
 
“Maybe not,” she said after a
moment.
 
“But I still think it’s
interesting that Stuart is suddenly hiding that machine in our carriage house.”

“I do hope you aren’t suggesting that he’s
the counterfeiter and now he’s hiding the evidence in our carriage house,” Joan
said sharply.
 
“We could get into a
lot of trouble with the police if that’s the case.”

“I’m sure it isn’t,” Janet said.
 
“It’s just odd.”

“I thought you were going to work in the
library,” Joan said pointedly.

“I was, but now I think I’d like to pop into
town and visit with William,” Janet said.
 
“I’d really like to have a word with him about his art.”

“Would you now?” Joan asked in a suspicious
voice.
 

“Yes, I would,”
Janet
said.
 
“I’m hoping that Karen won’t
be around.
 
She can’t be there all
the time.”

“I suppose I’ll come as well,” Joan
said.
 
“If he is ready to talk about
selling us some paintings, we’ll have to agree on a fair price.
 
And maybe, if Karen is there, you can
distract her while I chat with William.”

The sisters made the short trip into town.
 
Janet couldn’t help but look around the
small car park as Joan parked their car.
 
“I don’t see the Walters’s car here anywhere,” she remarked.

“Maybe they got it towed,” Joan
replied.
 
“I don’t see that it’s any
of your business.”

The antique shop looked empty as the women
entered.
 
For once, the loud buzzer
didn’t sound as the pushed the door open.
 

“Maybe William is in the back,” Janet
suggested.
 
She crossed towards the
doorway to the back, but stopped when she heard voices.

“You’d better do exactly what I say,” a
woman shouted.
 
“Or you’ll be
sorry.”

“Don’t be angry, pet.”
 
Janet
recognised
William’s voice as he tried to placate the woman.

“But you aren’t listening to me,” the woman
shot back.
 
Janet was sure now that
it was Karen Holmes who was shouting at William.
 

“I am listening, but I’m not prepared to...”

Janet wasn’t sure what he wasn’t prepared to
do, as just then Karen began to shout over him.
 
Janet found herself blushing brightly as
some very
colourful
language met her ears.
 
After glancing over at Joan, who was
still standing near the door and either couldn’t hear or was pretending not to,
Janet sighed deeply.

“Knock, knock,” she shouted as loudly as she
could.
 
“William?
 
Are you in the back, then?”
 
While she was shouting, she shuffled as quietly
as she could back towards the front door.
 
She heard a shocked exclamation from the back, and then William and
Karen appeared it the doorway.

“Ah, Janet and Joan, what a lovely
surprise,” William said smoothly, glancing nervously at Karen.

“Hello,” Karen said.
 
“How nice of you to drop in.”
 
Her tone was bright with artificial
cheer, but Janet fancied that she looked angry.

“It’s so lovely to see you again,” Janet
gushed.
 
She walked over to
Karen.
 
“I wasn’t sure if you were
still in the area or not,” she said.

“I am, although I really need a new place to
stay,” Karen told her.
 
“I don’t
suppose you have any room available at your place?”

Janet tried to look suitably disappointed as
she replied.
 
“I’m so sorry, but
we’re full up at the moment,” she said.
 
“We don’t have any openings until the new year.”

“Yes, you and everyone else, it seems,”
Karen told her.
 
“I suppose it’s my
fault for changing my plans at the last minute.
 
I didn’t expect to meet someone special,
you see, and that’s changed everything.”
 
Karen looked over at William, who was now chatting with Joan, and winked
at him.
 
Janet might have been more
impressed with Karen’s words if she hadn’t heard them arguing just a few
minutes earlier.

“Do you know anything about armoires?” Janet
asked, steering Karen towards the large piece at the back that her sister had
admired previously.

“Only a little bit,” Karen replied.
 
“But I’m happy to share what I know.”

While Janet and Karen opened and closed
drawers and cupboards, Joan and William disappeared into the back room.
 
After only a few minutes, Karen began to
look nervous.

“I should get William for you,” she told
Janet.
 
“He’s the expert.”

“Oh, don’t bother him,” Janet said
airily.
 
“I’m not ready to buy
anything today, anyway.
 
I just
wanted a better look.
 
How much is
that wardrobe?”
 
She pointed to a
huge wardrobe in the far corner of the room.
 

“I’m sure I don’t know,” Karen replied.
 
“Let me get William for you.”

“Oh, come on,” Janet said, linking arms with
the woman.
 
“Let’s go and check it
out.
 
I’m sure you’ll be a big help
to William if you learn all about the various pieces that are for sale.”