The Moody Case

by Diana Xarissa

  Robert made a few notes in his notebook and then got to his feet. “I’m not sure interesting is a strong enough word,” he said. “I’m going to go and ring a few people. I don’t know how or why you keep stumbling into these things, but it’s uncanny.”

  “When we were on holiday in the Isle of Man, I stumbled over two dead bodies,” Janet told the man.

  “Yes, John Rockwell rang me and told me all about it. At least that closed the case on the charity scam.”

  “Yes, although it was quite a sad ending, really.”

  Robert nodded. “I’d have much rather seen those two in prison and being made to pay restitution.”

  Janet walked Robert to the door. Once he was gone, Janet found that she felt much better. She curled up with a book and read until her stomach began to growl.

  “So much for never eating again,” she told Aggie as she made herself a sandwich. Aggie looked up at her from her food bowl and then shrugged.

  After she’d eaten, she popped a bag of microwave popcorn and settled into the television lounge to watch telly. Joan came home only a short time later.

  “I hope that isn’t your dinner,” she said to Janet from the doorway of the television lounge.

  “I had a sandwich first,” Janet assured her. “How was your day?”

  “It was very nice spending some time with Michael. We had lunch at a little café just outside of Derby and then went and did some shopping. Michael insisted on taking me to dinner at a lovely little Italian restaurant. I may never make spaghetti Bolognese again after having had theirs. It was delicious.”

  “So is yours, and it’s one of my favourites, so you mustn’t mean that. I am glad you had a nice day, though.”

  “What did you do with the day?”

  Janet grinned. “It’s been interesting,” she said, using Robert’s word. Joan sat down next to her sister while Janet told her everything that had happened.

  “My goodness, I’m not sure that interesting is the right word,” Joan said when Janet was finished. “It seems as if Robert thinks there might be something criminal going on.”

  “It does, doesn’t it?”

  “But what?”

  Janet shrugged. “I’ve heard about people who deliberately hit other cars and then made exaggerated insurance claims. Maybe it’s something like that.”

  “Does that mean that Mr. Moody hit us on purpose? Surely he should have been eager to exchange insurance details if that were the case?”

  Janet shrugged. “I don’t know enough about how it works, really. Hopefully Robert will explain it all once he’s done investigating.”

  “If there actually is anything illegal going on.”

  “If there isn’t, I do think that it’s odd that our two guests know Mr. Moody.”

  “Yes, I’d agree with that.”

  “And I’m curious about the woman who was with Mr. Cole. If he has a wife, why isn’t she staying here with him?”

  Joan shrugged. “Maybe we should ask him about her when he gets back tonight.”

  “I’m not sure we should,” Janet said with somewhat uncharacteristic reluctance. “In case he truly is involved in something criminal.”

  Joan nodded. “I think you’re right about that. Let’s just hope Robert can get everything worked out before the two men leave tomorrow.”

  “Have either of them said anything about what time they’re leaving?”

  “No, but I didn’t ask. They were both told when they arrived that they needed to check out before midday. As long as they do that, we should have time to get things ready for our new arrivals.”

  “Who is arriving tomorrow, then?”

  “Two couples, one from London and the other from Edinburgh. I spoke to the wives in both instances and they both sounded perfectly pleasant.”

  “Hello?” a voice startled both women. A moment later Mr. Weaver appeared in the doorway. He looked upset.

  Chapter 10

  “Good evening,” Joan said. “I hope you enjoyed your day out.”

  The man blinked and then nodded slowly. “Yeah, it was great,” he said. “I’m just going to have an early night. I’ll be down by eight. Maybe I could get some coffee before I head for home.”

  “Of course you can,” Joan assured him. “I can make you some breakfast, too, if you’d like.”

  “No, no; I will take a few more of those cereal bars if you have them, but that’s all I need.”

  “We do have more,” Joan replied.

  He nodded and then shrugged. “I liked it here. I’d like to come again one day. I’ll ring you.”

  “Don’t let me forget to give you the details for the bed and breakfast in Little Burton,” Janet said. “Just in case we’re fully booked the next time you want a holiday out this way.”

  “Yeah, that would be great,” he said. He looked as if he wanted to add something, but after a minute he nodded at them and then turned and left the room.

  Janet and Joan exchanged glances. “He seemed upset,” Joan said.

  “Yes, he did. I wonder why.”

  Janet switched the telly off and she and Joan moved into the sitting room. Mr. Cole hadn’t been back to the house late any night, so they were fairly certain that he’d arrive soon. They weren’t wrong. Janet had only just opened her book when the front door opened.

  “Good evening,” Mr. Cole said as he strode into the room. The sisters barely had time to do much more than smile in reply before the man disappeared up the stairs.

  “That was rather rude,” Janet said as she got up to check that the door was properly locked.

  “He’s not under any obligation to chat with us.”

  “Aside from it being the polite thing to do.”

  “He didn’t look very happy. Perhaps he and Mr. Weaver are both still upset about whatever they were discussing at lunch.”

  “Maybe. I wish I knew how Robert was getting on. You don’t think we should try to keep the two men here tomorrow, do you?”

  “No, not at all. I’m sure Robert will be able to track them down if they leave. We’ve no reason to keep them here. They’ve both paid for their stay and been model guests, really.”

  “I’ll still be happy to see them both leave,” Janet said.

  “Yes, well, I won’t be accepting any more bookings from Mr. Weaver. I don’t know how you feel about Mr. Cole.”

  “I’d rather not have him to stay again, either. I can’t give you any good reason why not, except that he makes me uncomfortable.”

  “That’s good enough for me,” Joan told her. “I’ll add him to the list as well.”

  Janet nodded and then she headed up the stairs. Aggie was already asleep on her pillow, so Janet got ready as quietly as she could. She fell asleep wondering whether their guests were criminals or not.

  Because the guests were due to depart the next day, Janet made herself get up early. There were many little jobs that had to be done to clean up from the current guests and get the rooms ready for the next lot. Both sisters always hoped that their guests would leave nice and early on their departure days, but it didn’t always work out that way.

  As Janet walked out of her room, she nearly bumped into Mr. Cole, who was pulling his large suitcase down the short corridor.

  “Oh, hello,” Janet laughed. “Good morning.”

  “Good morning,” he replied curtly, stepping back to allow her to walk down the stairs in front of him. He carried his bag down the stairs and then headed for the front door.

  “I believe my account is paid in full,” he said at the door. “I’ve left the keys on the nightstand in my room. I’ll be going now.”

  “Joan, Mr. Cole is going,” Janet called as loudly as she could.

  Joan rushed into the room as Mr. Cole reached for the doorknob.

  “Thank you for staying with us,” Joan said. “Are you certain you wouldn’t like some coffee or anything before you go?”

  “Quite sure, thank you,” the man said. He unlocked the door and then p
ulled it open.

  “Good morning,” Robert Parsons said from the doorstep.

  Mr. Cole glanced back at the sisters and then smiled tightly at the uniformed constable. “Good morning. I was just leaving, so if you’ll excuse me?”

  “Actually, if you’re Noah Cole, you’re one of the reasons I’m here,” Robert said. “I’m going to have to ask you come down to the station with me. I just have a few questions for you.”

  “I’m sorry, but I’m terribly busy. Perhaps another time,” Mr. Cole replied. He pushed past Robert and rushed down the stairs towards the car park.

  Janet crossed to the door in time to see two uniformed constables stopping the man.

  “Take him down to the station, please,” Robert told them. “I’ll be there shortly to speak with him.”

  “You can’t do this,” Mr. Cole blustered.

  “I can formally arrest you, if you’d prefer,” Robert said.

  “No, no, that’s not necessary. I’m happy to answer your questions; it simply isn’t a convenient time, that’s all.”

  “I’m afraid it is convenient for me,” Robert replied. “I’ll see you at the station in a short while.”

  Janet watched as the man was loaded into a marked police car. His suitcase was put into the boot and then they drove away.

  “Should I ask what’s going on?” Janet asked.

  “I can’t tell you much right now, except that my preliminary investigation has raised some suspicions,” Robert replied. “I also need to speak to Mr. Weaver. Do you expect him down soon?”

  “He said he’d be leaving around seven,” Joan told the man. “He should be down any minute now.”

  “I’ll just wait outside,” Robert said. “That way you can conclude your business with him before I speak to him.”

  Mr. Weaver came down a few minutes later. He filled a travel mug with coffee and then dragged his suitcase to the door. “I’ll ring you soon to see about Christmas or maybe a week in the new year,” he told them. “Thank you for the details for Little Burton. Maybe I’d enjoy staying there nearly as much as I have staying here, but Doveby House will always be my first choice.”

  “That’s very kind of you to say,” Joan told him. “Thank you for staying with us.”

  Janet opened the door and then tried to look surprised to find Robert standing just outside. Her efforts were wasted on Mr. Weaver, though, as he was too busy staring at Robert to notice her.

  “Good morning,” Robert said. “Cecil Weaver? I have a few questions for you, if you don’t mind.”

  “I don’t suppose it really matters if I do mind,” the man sighed. “Let’s go.”

  Janet shut the door behind the man and then looked at Joan. “They’ve both left their cars in our car park.”

  “There should be just enough room for our new arrivals, assuming everyone parks sensibly,” Joan replied.

  The sisters spent the morning getting the guest rooms ready for the two couples who were arriving after lunch. They turned up almost together, and once they were shown to their rooms, both couples headed back out to start exploring the area.

  “I think we could do with a day off,” Janet said as she sank down on a couch after both couples had gone.

  “I’m sure we could, but I hate to turn away bookings. People like to get away for an entire week or even longer in the summer, not just odd days here and there. I’m afraid our Sundays are going to be full of people coming and going for the next few months.”

  “At least we don’t have to get up early on Mondays any longer,” Janet said.

  During the quieter months, the sisters had often had weekend-only guests who opted to leave very early on a Monday morning when heading back to work or school. Janet always got up to help her sister with breakfast whenever that happened.

  The new guests all proved to be exactly what the sisters had hoped, perfectly pleasant. They took their breakfasts at sensible times and returned to Doveby House at a reasonable hour each evening.

  On Wednesday, Mack rang.

  “I just wanted to let you know that your car is ready to be collected,” he told Janet when she answered. “I would have had it done yesterday, but I spent a lot of time talking to the police.”

  “We’ll come and collect it later today,” Janet told him, frowning as she put the phone down. She was really going to miss the little red car she’d come to think of as hers.

  Robert arrived just after lunch, before the sisters left for the garage.

  “I just wanted to give you an update,” he told them over tea and biscuits. “In the next few days the Derby police will be announcing that they’ve broken up a large insurance fraud scheme.”

  “Really?” Janet asked. “We thought that might be what was happening.”

  “It’s what we usually call ‘crash for cash,’” Robert told her. “There were several people involved, and we’re expecting to press charges against both of your guests and Mr. Moody.”

  “If Mr. Moody was trying to get insurance payouts he didn’t deserve, why didn’t he want to give us his insurance details?” Janet asked.

  Robert smiled and then laughed out loud. “It isn’t really funny,” he said after a moment, “but it seems that Mr. Moody, who was involved in seven car crashes in the past six months, really did hit your car entirely by accident.”

  Janet chuckled, and even Joan grinned at the news.

  “The group had a set procedure for causing and then filing claims for each accident, and the accident with you two wasn’t at all according to the plans. He really didn’t want to file another insurance claim, either, especially under the circumstances,” Robert explained.

  “How do such schemes even work?” Janet wanted to know.

  “Several of the members of the group would all get into a car and then cause an accident. They were fairly skilled at making it difficult to determine which car was at fault, but even if they were found to be at fault, the insurance company had to pay out. One or more of the passengers would make a claim for a whiplash injury. They had a local doctor on the payroll, as well.”

  “That’s horrible,” Joan exclaimed.

  “They also worked with a garage in Derby that would exaggerate the damage and bill the insurance companies for repairs they never made,” Robert added.

  “I knew I didn’t like any of them,” Janet said. “I suppose Mr. Cole’s wife was also involved?”

  “She’s also being questioned, certainly. It helps that the group had something of a falling-out that day in the café. From what I can determine, everyone was angry with Mr. Moody for having had a real accident, but they were also upset with Mr. Weaver because he’d been drinking heavily. As they are all angry with one another, they’re all talking and blaming everyone else for everything that happened.”

  Joan tucked a few biscuits into a bag for Robert and then the sisters walked him to the door.

  “Thank you for letting us know what’s happening,” Janet said. “Once things are a bit quieter, you should try the café up the road once in a while.”

  “Todd and Ted insisted on feeding me when I went in to discuss what had happened over that lunch on Saturday,” Robert replied. “The food was very good.”

  “And Stacey, their waitress, is lovely,” Janet told him.

  “I remember her from when she worked at the coffee shop next to the station. She seems nice.”

  And she’s crazy about you, Janet thought. If the man didn’t properly notice the girl soon, she might just have to say something a bit more direct.

  Once Robert was gone, Joan gathered up her handbag. “Come on, then, we need to go and get our car back. I’m really looking forward to it.”

  “I’m not,” Janet said firmly. The drive to the garage didn’t seem to take any time at all. “Maybe we could talk about buying a second car,” Janet said as she parked the little red one. “Mack said he could give us a good price on this one, for example.”

  Joan sighed. “I know you really love this little c
ar,” she said, “but it isn’t really practical for what we need.”

  “But you would have the practical car. This one would be mine and mostly just for fun,” Janet said. “Of course, you’d be welcome to drive it if you wanted to, and it would be a useful backup if you had car trouble or anything,” she added quickly.

  Joan smiled at her. “Let’s go and see what sort of price Mack reckons is a good one, shall we? We’ve never purchased a car secondhand. I’ve no idea what to expect.”

  Janet tried hard to keep her hopes in check as she followed Joan into the garage. Mack was in his office, frowning at his desk.

  “If I’d known how much paperwork there was involved in this business, I might have opened an ice cream shop,” he told them as a greeting.

  “That would have been nice, too,” Janet smiled.

  “Right, here’s what you need to sign for me, then, for the insurance and everything,” he said, handing Janet a small stack of papers. She signed everywhere that he indicated while he flipped pages and then made neat piles of them.

  “Here are your keys back, then,” he said when she was done. “Your car should be good as new.” He handed the keys to Joan.

  Janet took a deep breath. “You said, when we borrowed it, that you could give us a good price on the little red car. If we were considering buying it, how much would it be?”

  “I’m afraid that car has sold,” Mack told her.

  Janet felt her heart sink. Joan put her hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. Before Janet could open her mouth, Mack spoke again.

  “I assumed you knew,” he said. “You just signed all the paperwork.”

  “What do you mean?” Janet demanded.

  “The car was purchased and put into your name. I simply assumed you knew all about it. The insurance was all arranged and paid for as well. From the look on your face, I gather this is news to you.”

  Janet nodded. “You can say that again. I don’t understand.”

  “It was all arranged by phone, with the paperwork rushed through. I’m not sure I even know who arranged it. As I said, I simply assumed you were behind it or at least knew about it.”