The Hampton Case (A Markham Sisters Cozy Mystery Novella Book 8)

by Diana Xarissa

  “Yes, and now that the local shop is going to be closed for a while, we’ll start getting into the habit of having to drive a little bit further,” Janet said. “I wonder if he’ll get any business if he does reopen.”

  “I wonder if he’s planning on reopening,” Joan said.

  “He said he is,” Janet told her.

  “When did you speak to him?” Joan wanted to know.

  Janet took a big bite of her dinner and chewed slowly while she tried to work out exactly how to tell her sister about the press conference.

  “I dragged poor Janet to Simon’s press conference,” Edward said before Janet swallowed. “We were doing some shopping in Derby when someone rang me and suggested that I should be there.”

  “Why?” Joan demanded.

  Edward grinned. “I’m afraid that’s classified,” he said. He took a sip of his wine while Joan glared at him.

  Janet shoved a bite of garlic bread into her mouth to stop herself from laughing. Once she’d swallowed, she continued. “I didn’t stay at the press conference for the entire thing,” she told Joan. “I left when Hannah Carter stormed out.”

  Joan looked at her for moment and then sighed. “Okay, I’ll ask,” she said reluctantly. “Who is Hannah Carter and what does she have to do with the fire?”

  Janet grinned and then told Joan all about the press conference and her conversation with Hannah. Joan didn’t say anything until she’d finished.

  “I can’t believe you chased after that poor woman and asked her all those questions,” she said.

  “Hannah needed someone to talk to,” Janet replied. “I was being kind.”

  “You were being nosy,” Joan corrected her. “You even told the poor woman as much.”

  “And she still talked to me,” Janet pointed out. “She was happy to have someone listen to her and I was happy to listen. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

  “You’ve probably put the girl who works at the coffee shop totally off the idea of ever getting married,” Joan said.

  “If Robert Parsons were the one doing the asking, I think she’d still be in favour,” Janet told her.

  “Everything was delicious,” Edward changed the subject. “But tomorrow night I shall be taking Janet out for dinner. I have to leave early on Monday; it’s my last chance to do so.”

  “I’m sure Janet will like that,” Joan said when Janet didn’t speak. Janet was too busy trying to swallow her disappointment at the thought of the man leaving so soon. It seemed as if he’d only just arrived.

  “Perhaps after pudding you could open the safe in the library for us,” Joan said as she began to clear the plates from the table.

  “That’s what I forgot,” Edward said. “I forgot my file on Maggie Appleton. That’s where I’ve written down the combination to the safe. I’ll have to find it when I get back to London. I promise I’ll ring Janet with it as soon as I get home.”

  Joan frowned and shot Janet a look that clearly registered her disapproval. “That’s fine,” Janet told Edward. “We’d really like to be able to use the safe, though, so the sooner the better.”

  “Yes, I know. And I am sorry,” Edward said. “I can try to open it from memory after pudding, but I don’t think I can manage.”

  Joan served thin slices of jam roly-poly with custard with tea. “Are you sure you want this?” she asked Janet as she put her plate in front of her. “You did say you had a slice of cake earlier, didn’t you?”

  Janet held on to her plate protectively as she replied. “I did, but that was only to be companionable; it doesn’t really count.”

  Joan raised an eyebrow, but didn’t argue further. After everyone had eaten and the dishes were all being scrubbed clean by the dishwasher, the trio headed for the library.

  The room at the back of the house had been the main reason that Janet had agreed to purchase the bed and breakfast. The house had been sold furnished, including the fully stocked library, and Janet had already spent many happy hours going through every book in the room. There were hidden panels behind some of the books, as well. One of the panels was stuck shut and Janet was secretly convinced that it must hold the most exciting thing yet to be found.

  The small wall safe was hidden behind a painting that nearly disappeared in its space between the rows and rows of books. The sisters had only noticed it when Edward had disturbed it on his first visit. He’d told Janet that he’d opened the safe and removed some paperwork that related to the use of Doveby House by his agency. Now the sisters waited impatiently for him to try opening the safe again. He turned the dial several times and then tried a combination. The safe remained stubbornly locked. After a few minutes, Edward shrugged.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “It isn’t the combination I thought I could remember, so you’ll have to wait until I get back to London and can check the files. I’m not going straight back to London, unfortunately, but I should be there some time in April.”

  Joan pressed her lips together tightly and then turned and walked to the library door. “I’m going to spend some time with Michael,” she told Janet. “I won’t be late.”

  Janet opened her mouth to reply, but Joan had already marched out of the room.

  “She isn’t very happy with me,” Edward said.

  “She’s just frustrated about the safe. I am as well,” Janet told him.

  “I am awfully sorry,” Edward said. He took a few steps closer to Janet and put his hand on her arm. “Can I make it up to you somehow?” he asked softly.

  Janet felt her heart skip a beat as their eyes met. Edward’s hand slid around her waist and he pulled her close. The kiss set off fireworks in Janet’s head that didn’t seem to want to stop when Edward finally lifted his head.

  “Merroowww,” Aggie said from the doorway.

  “Aggie isn’t happy,” Edward said with a chuckle.

  Janet blinked several times and then shook her head, trying to clear it. Aggie made a series of unhappy noises and then raced away.

  “Maybe she needs something to eat or drink,” Edward suggested.

  Janet nodded and then followed the kitten through the house. Aggie was standing in the kitchen, staring at her empty water bowl.

  “I fed her and filled her water before we ate,” Joan told Janet as she came out of her bedroom that was next to the kitchen. “Don’t let her tell you otherwise.”

  “Well, she can have more water,” Janet said. “And a few kitty treats won’t hurt, either.”

  “No wonder she’s so spoiled,” Joan said. “I won’t be long.” She walked out of the kitchen as Janet pulled down a box of treats for Aggie. The kitten was nearly jumping up and down in excitement as Janet poured a few into her food bowl. Once the water bowl had been refilled as well, Janet gave Aggie a stern look.

  “That’s all you get for today,” she said. “Don’t even ask for more.”

  Aggie looked up from her bowl and nodded at Janet. “I mean it,” Janet added. This time Aggie ignored her, crunching her way through her treats instead of replying.

  “She’s a character, isn’t she?” Edward asked as the pair walked back through the house.

  “Yes, she certainly is that,” Janet agreed.

  “I hope you like her. I don’t usually send live animals to women when I’m trying to court them, but sending you a kitten just felt right to me.”

  “I love her dearly, and I’m grateful you sent her. I don’t know that I’d have ever been able to persuade Joan to let me get a kitten any other way.”

  “What shall we do now?” Janet asked, stopping in the sitting room. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she blushed, suddenly worried as to what Edward might answer.

  “We could watch some telly,” Edward suggested. “Or we could talk about the suspects in the arson attack.”

  Janet grinned. “I think we should talk suspects,” she said eagerly.

  “Somehow I thought you might,” Edward laughed.

  The pair settled next to one another o
n one of the couches. Edward was a little bit closer to Janet than she felt comfortable with, but Aggie soon took care of that. They’d only just sat down when Aggie wandered in from the kitchen. She took one look at Janet and Edward and then jumped onto the couch and settled herself between the couple.

  Edward smiled indulgently at the kitten and began to scratch under her chin. After a moment, she curled up and went to sleep. “Since we have no idea what direction the police investigation is going in, we’ll have to consider the suspects we know about and hope that the culprit isn’t someone we’ve never heard of,” Edward began.

  “I don’t suppose it could have been young people just causing trouble?” Janet asked.

  “I doubt it,” Edward told her. “Whoever broke in was very careful not to leave any evidence behind. They also took the time to disable some of the smoke detectors, but not all of them. It doesn’t sound like something random to me.”

  “No, it doesn’t, not when you put it that way,” Janet agreed.

  “So, let’s talk about your new friend, Hannah,” Edward suggested.

  “You don’t think she could have had anything to do with setting the fire, do you?” Janet asked, surprised.

  “Of course she could have. She had access to the keys to the building, I’m sure.”

  “But what sort of motive did she have?”

  “Maybe she hates her husband enough to want to see him jobless,” Edward suggested. “You told me that she said she didn’t think Simon would pay anyone while the shop was being rebuilt, if he even does rebuild. Maybe she wanted to ruin Joseph’s life.”

  “Surely there are easier ways to ruin the man’s life than setting a fire,” Janet argued.

  “I know you liked her,” Edward said. “But we have to consider everyone, not just the people you don’t like.”

  “Okay, well, we can consider her, but I think she should be at the bottom of the suspect list.”

  “That’s fine. Let’s talk about her husband, then.”

  Janet frowned. “He’s apparently out of a job. That seems to give him the opposite of a motive.”

  “Unless he thought that Simon would give him a different or better job after the fire,” Edward suggested. “Or maybe Simon asked him to set the fire.”

  “We need to watch him and see what happens. If he does get a better job or something from Simon, that will make him a better suspect,” Janet said.

  “While we’re talking about Simon, we’ve already said he could have done it for the insurance money. It’s also possible that the fire is related to the planning permission issues that he’s having, although I’m not clear on how.”

  “Do you think he would have set the fire himself or hired someone to do it?” Janet asked.

  “With Simon, it could be either, I think,” Edward said. “I wouldn’t trust anyone else to deal with something like that if it were me, but he’s used to giving people orders. The more I think about it, the less likely it seems to me that he got his own hands dirty.”

  “There’s no way his wife got her hands dirty,” Janet said.

  “No, I would agree with that. If she’s involved somehow, someone else did the actual work.”

  “But who?”

  “Cynthia could have found someone random to do it, or she might have persuaded Clifton or Joseph to help her,” Edward said. “If I were Simon, I wouldn’t trust her at all.”

  “What do you know about Clifton?” Janet asked.

  “Not much. He’s been working for Simon for around two years. I’m having someone check into the backgrounds of everyone involved. I should have more information about them all tomorrow.”

  “Does Robert know you’re investigating?”

  “I’m not investigating,” Edward told her, putting his arm around her. “I’m just taking an interest in the things that are happening in Doveby Dale. Someone I’m coming to care about a great deal lives there, you know.”

  They didn’t talk much more that evening and by the time Janet went up to bed, she’d completely forgotten about the fire. She slept soundly, dreaming about handsome men who promised her adventure.

  Chapter Eight

  Janet was up early to help Joan make breakfast for their guest. Aggie scowled at her as Janet rolled out of bed.

  “You know I have to help Joan when we have guests,” Janet told her pet. “And you should be nice to Edward. Without him, we never would have met.”

  “Meerweeeww,” Aggie replied as she snuggled back down into her pillow.

  “You’re an ungrateful little pest,” Janet muttered as she headed for her en suite bathroom.

  “Good morning,” Joan said brightly when Janet walked into the kitchen.

  “You’re in an awfully good mood,” Janet said suspiciously.

  Joan laughed. “I’m making an effort to enjoy life more,” she told her sister. “Michael has been encouraging me to smile more and stop worrying so much.”

  “I knew I liked that man,” Janet replied.

  “He’s invited me to spend the day with him,” Joan continued. “I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Not at all. What are you going to do?”

  “He said something about visiting Chatsworth House and then having a picnic,” Joan replied.

  Janet raised an eyebrow. She couldn’t remember Joan ever going on a picnic in her life. “Well, have fun,” she said, trying not to make it sound like a question.

  “I’m sure I will. But first, breakfast is ready.”

  Janet was just finishing her full English breakfast when Edward walked into the room.

  “I’m late,” he said. “I’m terribly sorry. I never set an alarm because I always wake up ridiculously early, but this morning I overslept.”

  “It’s fine,” Joan assured him. “I’m going out later, but I have plenty of time to make you some breakfast first. Anyway, Janet could have made your breakfast if you’d come down after I’d gone.”

  Janet looked up from her plate and stared at her sister. Joan had always been the sister who loved cooking. While Janet could cook, she rarely did so unless Joan was out. Joan had been going out a great deal more often lately, but Janet often found that heating a frozen pizza was more to her liking than preparing herself a proper meal. If she’d absolutely had to do it, she supposed she could have made breakfast for Edward, but it would have been hard work for her. Joan was busy putting it all together now and making it seem effortless.

  “If you’d gone, I would have taken Janet out for breakfast,” Edward told Joan with a grin.

  “That might have been safer,” Joan replied, giving the man a wink.

  Janet frowned but didn’t argue.

  Joan did the washing-up while Edward ate. Janet got breakfast ready for Aggie, who still hadn’t come downstairs.

  “I’m afraid I have an appointment this morning,” Edward told Janet. “I hope to be back some time not long after lunch. Remember that we’re going out for dinner, regardless. I’ll definitely be back by five so we can go out around six or half six.”

  Janet swallowed her disappointment. “I’ll see you later, then,” she said, annoyed to hear how sad she sounded.

  Edward stood up from the table and pulled Janet close. “I wouldn’t be going if I didn’t have to,” he whispered to her. “And I’ll be back as soon as I possibly can.”

  Janet was embarrassed when he kissed her right in front of Joan, but after a moment she forgot that her sister was watching and let herself enjoy the moment. When Edward released her, Janet was relieved to see that Joan had left the room.

  “I’ll see you later,” Edward promised before he walked out.

  “If you haven’t anything to do this morning, you could go to the supermarket,” Joan told her a moment later as she walked through the kitchen on her way out. “I’ve left a list on the counter. We can survive until tomorrow, but it would easier if you went today.”

  “We’ll see,” was as far as Janet was willing to commit herself.

  Once Joan was
gone, however, Janet couldn’t think of anything else to do with herself. None of her books appealed to her and Aggie didn’t seem to want to play. Paul was at work and the two women that Janet rang to try to make last-minute lunch plans with were both out as well.

  “I may as well go shopping,” she told Aggie grumpily. “I’ll get you something different to try, shall I?”

  Aggie looked at her and then shook her head. Janet laughed. Aggie was a very fussy eater. She had her favourite brand and flavour of food and she didn’t like it when Janet changed them. Janet found her sister’s shopping list on the counter and read through it.

  “No chocolate, no ice cream and no wine,” she told Aggie. “I can’t imagine what Joan was thinking.”

  After adding several items to the list, Janet was ready to go. She had to drive past the scene of the fire to get to the large supermarket, and she found herself slowing down to inspect the damage again. Things looked very much the same today as they had the previous day, although the uniformed constable on the site was a different one. Janet thought about stopping, but couldn’t think of an excuse to do so.

  Her trip around the supermarket didn’t take very long, even with her unplanned detour down the frozen pizza aisle. “I do need something for lunch today,” she reminded herself as she added the pizza to her trolley. Yes, there were several pizzas in the freezer at home, but none of them looked as good as the one she’d found today.

  Once she’d unpacked the shopping, she made her pizza and ate it in front of the television. A knock on the front door startled her as she was cleaning up after herself.

  “Robert? What a lovely surprise,” she greeted the constable. “Do come in.”

  “Thank you,” he replied. “I can’t stay long, though.”

  “Do you have time for a cuppa?”

  “Only just,” the man said.

  Janet put the kettle on and piled biscuits onto a plate. “Joan is out all day with Michael,” she told Robert. “And Paul is at work. I hope whatever you wanted is something I can help with.”

  Robert nodded. “I just wanted to come over and see how you were, really,” he said as he helped himself to a biscuit. “The fire has a lot of people upset. I’m doing what I can to reassure people that they aren’t in any danger.”