The Moody Case

by Diana Xarissa

  “I may know, but I don’t care,” Janet snapped. “I hope he stays in Oklahoma forever.”

  Joan looked as if she wanted to say something, but she was stopped by the sound of their telephone ringing.

  “I’ll get it,” she told Janet, who was still sitting in front of the tumble dryer trying to decide if she wanted to scream or cry.

  Chapter 6

  “That was Mack,” Joan told Janet a few minutes later. “He didn’t get as much done on our car as he’d hoped because he had to go and help clear up the accident in Little Burton. He’s going to stay late tonight to try to get us an answer as to how much work the car will need.”

  “Did he say anything about the accident?”

  “No, but then I didn’t ask him anything, either.”

  Janet sighed. She wasn’t in any hurry to get their car back, really, not while she had her little red coupe, but she was curious about the crash in Little Burton. It would have been nice to know more about it before she spoke to Robert, for instance.

  “Have you tried remembering the combination?” Joan asked Janet as she finished emptying the tumble dryer.

  “Yes, and I can’t. I didn’t even pay that much attention when he was telling me the numbers. I just wrote them down. Truthfully, I didn’t think they were going to work anyway. One of them was twenty-seven, but that doesn’t really help.”

  “Do you remember how many numbers there were?”

  “Four, and the first one was a single digit number. Later, when I’m less upset, maybe I’ll try to remember more, but for right now, I’m too angry with myself to think straight.”

  Joan looked as if she wanted to argue, but then she smiled at her sister. “As you say, it probably wasn’t the right combination anyway. Edward hasn’t been terribly reliable on the subject. Don’t give it another thought.”

  Janet nodded, but she knew that she wouldn’t be able to put the matter out of her mind. “I’m going to ring Robert. Maybe talking to him will be a good distraction.”

  Janet rang the police station, and Susan Garner, Robert’s receptionist, secretary, assistant, et cetera, answered.

  “I’m awfully sorry, but Robert is out at the moment. I can have him ring you back, if you’d like,” she told Janet.

  “It’s not anything urgent,” Janet told her, “but I would like to speak to him. He’s welcome to visit and have cake or biscuits, if he’d prefer.”

  “Maybe I should pay you a visit,” Susan laughed. “I could bring you a few more blankets as an excuse.”

  “You’re always welcome. We could use more blankets, actually. We’ve sold a few in the fortnight, although I doubt either of our current guests will be buying any. We have some money for you, though, and we’d love to see you.”

  “I’ll have to see if I can fit it into my schedule. I’m glad the blankets are still selling, actually. I was worried they might not be as popular in the summer months.”

  Susan was an avid knitter, and she provided the bed and breakfast with a steady supply of blankets, hats, and scarfs. The sisters kept a large display table in the sitting room and sold the items for the woman. Janet and Joan kept ten per cent of the sale price, and all three women were delighted with how successful the enterprise was proving.

  “We haven’t sold any hats or scarfs lately, so we’ve taken most of them off the display, but the blankets seem as popular now as they were in the winter,” Janet told her.

  “Well, I still have several boxes of blankets at home. I’d love to get rid of all of them. Think how much more knitting wool I could buy!”

  Janet laughed. “If you keep knitting, you’ll never get rid of everything.”

  “I know, but knitting is my favourite way to pass the time. It’s usually so quiet here that I get a lot done. It’s been a bit busier this last year or so, though. Still, it’s swings and roundabouts. No doubt it will quiet back down again soon.”

  “I hope so.”

  When she heard the knock on the front door a few hours later, Janet was pretty sure she knew who’d be standing on their doorstep when she opened it.

  “Robert, come in,” she said, taking the man straight to the kitchen.

  Joan was mixing up flapjacks, so Janet put the kettle on and filled a plate with biscuits before she joined the man at the kitchen table.

  “How are you?” she asked.

  “Oh, I’m fine. Busy, as usual, but otherwise fine.”

  He didn’t look fine. He looked unhappy, but Janet didn’t want to pry. Instead, she offered him the plate of biscuits. Once he’d eaten a few, he seemed to brighten up a bit.

  “Susan said you wanted to speak to me,” he said after he’d washed his biscuits down with some tea.

  “I’m not sure I should have bothered you, really,” Janet said. “I was just worried about Mr. Cole, that’s all.”

  “Mr. Cole?”

  “He’s one of our guests at the moment. I was sure I recognised him at the accident in Little Burton earlier today,” Janet explained.

  Robert flipped through his notebook. “Ah, yes, Noah Cole. He was a passenger in one of the cars that was involved in the accident. I took so many names at the scene that I’d forgotten his.”

  “I didn’t realise that he knew anyone in the area,” Janet said thoughtfully. “Who was driving the car?”

  Robert shook his head. “That isn’t information that I’m able to provide,” he said, clearly regretfully. “You’ll have to ask Mr. Cole about that. As far as I know, both he and his wife are absolutely fine, at least.”

  “His wife?” Janet and Joan said together.

  Robert looked surprised. “She isn’t staying here with him?”

  “No, she is not,” Joan said.

  Robert looked at his notes again. “He didn’t tell me that he was staying here, actually. He and his wife gave me an address in Clowne.”

  “Let me check the address he gave me when he booked,” Joan said. She went into her bedroom and came back a moment later. She read off the address she had in her notes.

  “Yes, that matches what he told me,” Robert said.

  “How very odd,” Janet said.

  “It is rather odd, but perhaps the couple are having difficulties and decided to separate for a short while. That might not be something he wanted to discuss with me while I was taking down the accident report.”

  “That seems the most likely explanation, I suppose,” Janet said.

  “Was there anything else?” Robert asked after he’d finished off a few more biscuits.

  “No, not really,” Janet shrugged. “You’ve no reason to suppose the accident today was anything other than an accident, I hope.”

  Robert shrugged. “It’s sometimes hard to be certain, but the insurance companies involved will probably both do their own investigations. All I can do is pass along the information that I got at the scene.”

  Janet walked Robert to the door. “Thank you for coming over. I hope I didn’t waste too much of your time.”

  “I never feel as if I’ve wasted my time when I come here,” he told her, “and now I’ve had so many biscuits, I won’t need any dinner, either.”

  Janet laughed and then shut the door behind the man. She’d had more than a few biscuits herself, but she still planned on having dinner just as soon as Joan had it ready. After dinner, the sisters settled in the sitting room to wait for their guests.

  “How can we ask Mr. Cole about his wife?” Janet asked Joan.

  ‘We can’t,” she replied.

  “Maybe I could ask him if he’s ever been married,” Janet mused. “I could say I was wondering because of Mr. Weaver’s sad story.”

  “Or you could just mind your own business.”

  “Yes, I suppose I could, but what fun would that be?”

  Joan rolled her eyes and then picked up her book. Janet did the same with the romance she was reading. For many years Joan had been something of a snob when it came to books, reading only classics. Janet had finally persuaded
her older sister to try reading a few murder mysteries, beginning with Agatha Christie, who wrote classics of her own, and then slowly encouraging her to try different authors. In spite of that success, Janet didn’t think she’d ever get Joan to read romance novels.

  “Ah, good evening, ladies,” Mr. Weaver said as he walked into the house a few hours later. “How are you both this evening?”

  “Fine, thank you,” Janet replied. “Did you enjoy your day?”

  “It was very satisfactory, thank you,” he replied, “but I’m going to have a very early night tonight. I didn’t sleep especially well last evening. Good night.”

  He walked quickly out of the room. A moment later the sisters could hear him walking up the stairs.

  “He didn’t stay to chat,” Janet remarked.

  “Perhaps he’s embarrassed about last night,” Joan suggested.

  “Do you think he remembers enough about it to be embarrassed?”

  “Perhaps he doesn’t remember anything, which worries him.”

  “Maybe.” Janet read another chapter and then yawned. While she generally loved romance novels, this one was entirely too predictable. She wouldn’t have minded so much, but the heroine seemed to complain an awful lot. It was hard to imagine why the hero seemed to be falling in love with the woman who moaned about anything and everything that happened on every single page. I’ll give it one more chapter, she decided. If it doesn’t improve, I’ll change this book out for something else.

  The front door opened again before she’d read more than a few pages of the next chapter.

  “Good evening,” she said to Mr. Cole.

  He looked at her for a minute and then nodded. “Good night,” he said perfunctorily. He strode across the room and was gone before Janet could do much more than mutter a suitable reply.

  “You may as well go to bed, then,” Joan suggested.

  “Yes, I may as well,” Janet sighed. “He didn’t even give me a chance to try to speak to him.”

  “Perhaps you can try again in the morning.”

  But by the time Janet went downstairs the next morning, both men had already left for the day.

  “Did you manage to give either of them any breakfast?” she asked her sister.

  “Not today. They each said a polite ‘good morning’ to me and then went on their way.”

  She made Janet a full English breakfast and then the sisters worked together to clean and tidy the kitchen before they dealt with the guest rooms. The phone interrupted their work.

  “I’m really sorry, but I’m going to have to replace your bumper. It will take at least a week, as I have to wait for the part to get here,” Mack said when Janet answered.

  “As long as we can keep the little red car, that’s okay with me,” Janet told him.

  Mack laughed. “I thought you might feel that way. Has Joan tried driving it yet?”

  “She insists that she doesn’t want to drive it, but maybe she’ll change her mind if we have it for another week.”

  “I’ll keep you informed on my progress,” he promised.

  “Mack needs another week,” Janet told her sister when she rejoined her in Mr. Cole’s room.

  “That’s not terribly convenient,” Joan sighed.

  “Did you need to go somewhere? You know you can use the red car or I can take you, whichever you prefer.”

  “I may see if Michael is busy,” Joan said thoughtfully. “It might be nice to spend some time with him, even if it is at the grocery shop.”

  “I’m sure you’d both enjoy that. No doubt he’s really missing you since we’ve been so busy.”

  “He keeps telling me he is, anyway. And I miss him, oddly enough.”

  “Why is that odd? He’s a lovely man.”

  “Yes, but I never had a man in my life before, and I never felt as if I were missing out on anything because of that. Now that I have Michael, though, I can’t imagine my life without him.”

  Janet smiled. “I’m really happy for you,” she said, firmly squashing her jealousy. She had William Chalmers and Edward Bennett in her life, even if neither of them was exactly a proper suitor. Anyway, she was truly happy for her sister, even if she was the tiniest bit jealous.

  “I don’t mind,” she told Aggie a few hours later, after Michael had collected Joan. “They’re going for lunch and then to the supermarket outside of Derby. That’s hardly a romantic day out.”

  “Merroowww,” Aggie replied.

  “And I’m perfectly capable of making myself some lunch. Maybe I’ll have a sandwich, or maybe I’ll have some soup. What do you think?”

  “Meeoooowww.”

  “Yes, you’re right. Soup is too much work. A sandwich will do. I’m sure Joan will make us both something nice for dinner, as she’ll feel guilty about going out this afternoon. I wonder if she’ll bring Michael back, though. It might be nice to see him, I suppose.” She sighed and then wandered into the kitchen feeling just slightly out of sorts. When the phone rang some time later, she was quick to answer it.

  “I just wanted to make sure that we’re still good for Friday,” William Chalmers said when Janet answered. “I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to it.”

  “I’m looking forward to it as well,” Janet told him.

  “I thought we might have dinner in Little Burton. There’s a nice pub near the new antique shop. We could park at the pub and then walk over to the grand opening, if you don’t mind a bit of a walk.”

  “I don’t mind at all. It just means we won’t be able to buy anything too large at the grand opening.”

  “I don’t plan to buy anything. Are you looking for any large pieces of furniture?” William asked.

  “Not at all,” Janet laughed at the man’s slightly hurt tone. “If I were, I would only ever buy whatever I needed from you, anyway. It was just a random comment.”

  “That’s okay, then,” William said. “I’ll collect you around four. I’m going to shut the shop at half three on Friday. I doubt anyone will notice.”

  “I thought maybe you’d be busier in the summer months than you had been previously.”

  “Oh, I’m definitely busier, but Friday afternoons are usually slow. Saturdays and Sundays are my busiest days. Anyway, I’ve had a few big items sell this month, so I can afford to take half of an afternoon off.”

  “Good for you. I’ll see you around four on Friday, then,” Janet said. She was feeling slightly better when she put the phone down.

  Michael did join them for dinner and Janet was happy to find that she enjoyed the man’s company a great deal. After dinner, he and Joan went to the television lounge together, so Janet took herself off to her room. She read the rest of her romance, grimacing every time the heroine moaned about something, but smiling in spite of herself as she read the happily-ever-after ending.

  Chapter 7

  Janet didn’t get a chance to ask Mr. Cole any questions before Friday afternoon. Both he and Mr. Weaver seemed to be almost avoiding the sisters, as they left early each morning and returned home to head straight to their rooms each night. Joan still refused to drive the sporty little car that Janet continued to enjoy all week.

  “Do you think William would let me drive us in my car?” she asked Joan as the pair waited for William in the sitting room.

  “You could ask him, I suppose, but surely you’d rather let him drive. I’d have thought that you’d want a glass of wine with dinner.”

  “That’s a good point,” Janet admitted. “A glass of wine would be nice.”

  “William seems the type of man who would prefer to drive when taking a woman out anyway.”

  “You’re probably right about that, too, which is an argument for my insisting on driving, actually.”

  Joan laughed. “You’ll have to weigh up the pros and cons, I suppose.”

  Janet was still thinking about it when William knocked on the door a short while later.

  “For you,” he said with a small bow as he handed Janet a large bouqu
et of flowers.

  “I can put them in water for you if you’d prefer to get going,” Joan offered.

  “We probably should. I’m hoping that the grand opening will be busy so that we can get in and out fairly unnoticed,” William told her. “It’s rather awkward, our going to size up the competition, as it were. I expect it should be busier now than it will be closer to six.”

  “Off you go, then,” Joan said. “I hope you have fun.”

  “I don’t expect the antique shop to be fun, but I have high hopes for dinner afterwards,” William said. He offered Janet his arm and then escorted her out of the house and down the stairs.

  “I hope you like the car,” he told her as they approached the house’s car park.

  “Where did that come from?” Janet asked, staring at the lovely antique car that was parked next to hers.

  “I bought it many years ago,” he told her. “It’s been in storage in London almost since the day I bought it. I finally decided that I should either start driving it or sell it.”

  “It’s gorgeous,” she sighed as he opened the passenger door for her.

  “I think so, too, but I’m still not sure if I’m keeping it or not.”

  “Really?”

  “I thought I’d drive it for a few days and then make a decision. If I’m going to keep it, I’ll want to drive it regularly and get some use out of it. That, of course, will lower its value, should I decide to sell it later.” He glanced over at Janet and then shrugged. “I shouldn’t bore you with all of this. I put a number of things into storage over the years. They were meant to fund my retirement, but now that I’m getting older, I don’t much like the idea of retiring. As I don’t expect to live forever, I feel as if I need to start working out what to do with some of the larger items.”

  “It’s a beautiful car,” Janet said, “but it’s missing a few modern conveniences, isn’t it?”

  He laughed. “It’s missing power steering and power brakes, for one thing. That makes driving it a lot more work than my much newer car. I may have to keep it just for special occasions, if I do decide to keep it.”