The Chalmers Case

by Diana Xarissa

  Janet wandered into the kitchen and put the kettle on. She could hear her sister and Michael chatting together as she dug out biscuits and put them on a plate.

  “Come and see what you think,” Joan called after a few minutes.

  Janet walked into Joan’s small sitting room. Joan was in her bedroom, looking happily at her new lamps.

  “They’re perfect,” Janet exclaimed.

  “They really are,” Joan said.

  “I put the kettle on,” Janet told the others. “Let’s have tea and biscuits.”

  “Just a few biscuits,” Joan cautioned. “It’s nearly time to start dinner.”

  “I thought maybe I could take you out,” Michael said to Joan. “To make up for being away so much lately.”

  “We’re doing evening meals for some of our guests,” Joan explained. “I can’t leave Janet with that much work.”

  Michael looked so disappointed that Janet almost found herself offering to deal with Harold and Mildred herself.

  “Why don’t you join us for dinner here?” Joan suggested, saving Janet from making an offer she was certain to regret later.

  “I don’t want to make even more work for you,” Michael protested.

  “It won’t be,” Joan assured him. “I’m making spaghetti Bolognese. It isn’t any trouble to throw in a bit more pasta and a few extra tomatoes and herbs.”

  “If you’re sure, I’d love to stay,” Michael said happily.

  “I’m quite sure,” Joan said firmly.

  “I’ll leave you two to get on with the cooking, then,” Janet said. “I’ll take my tea and biscuits to the library.”

  She didn’t really feel like cleaning, but she wanted to give her sister and Michael some privacy. After drinking her tea she cleared another shelf and gave it a half-hearted wipe while nibbling on a biscuit. While she was dusting each book to return it to the shelf, she stumbled across a book she’d never read by an author she knew she liked. Knowing her sister was busy with Michael, she sat down and began to read. Before she knew it, Joan was calling her for dinner.

  “No sign of the guests, yet?” Janet asked as she joined her sister and Michael in the kitchen.

  “No, but everything is ready, so I thought we might as well eat. If they turn up while we’re eating, we can take turns serving them,” Joan replied.

  The food was excellent and Janet was delighted when they finished without interruption.

  “I know you offered to stay up tonight,” Joan said when Janet had finished loading the dishwasher. “But Michael and I want to watch a bit of telly and catch up. You can head up to bed if you like.”

  Janet thought about arguing, but there was no point in both of them sitting up until the guests arrived home. She headed to bed, curling up with her book until she could barely keep her eyes open. The guests still weren’t back when she finally switched off her light and snuggled under the duvet.

  Chapter Eight

  On Saturday, when Janet woke up to her alarm, her first thought was that their guests must have stayed out all night. She showered and dressed quickly and then headed down to the kitchen, where Joan was already fixing breakfast for herself and Janet.

  “Did the guests come in last night?” Janet asked, feeling confused.

  “They did,” Joan confirmed. “And Michael escorted them to their rooms. I believe they were all a good deal more quiet last night than they had been the previous evening.”

  “They were indeed,” Janet said. “I never woke up.”

  “That’s good,” Joan said. “They were both back fairly early as well, so I got a good night’s sleep. I’m feeling much better today.”

  Janet wondered how much of Joan’s good mood was due to the hours she’d spent the night before with Michael, but she chose not to tease her sister. She was so happy for Joan that it seemed cruel to joke about it.

  The sisters chatted about the weather as they ate their breakfast. They were just finishing when they heard someone coming down the stairs. A minute later, all four of their guests crowded their way into the kitchen.

  “Good morning, all,” Janet said cheerfully. “I hope everyone slept well?”

  “Yes, fine, thanks,” Mildred replied. “But now I’m starving. Can we have the full English breakfast this morning?”

  “Of course,” Joan replied. “Why don’t you all go and sit in the dining room. Janet can bring in coffee, tea, and juice for you.”

  “Full English for everyone?” Janet checked as she poured coffee for everyone.

  A chorus of “yes, please” sent her back into the kitchen. Joan was hard at work. Janet started making toast and filling toast racks.

  “Thank goodness we already ate,” Janet commented. “Although everything smells so good, I feel as if I could eat it all again.”

  Janet carried very full plates of food in to their guests and then refilled coffee cups. Back in the kitchen, she helped Joan with the washing up. When she went back into the dining room, the guests were all getting to their feet and collecting their things.

  “We’re all off to see the sights,” Nancy told Janet. “We’re going to show Mildred and Harold a few of our favourite places, as they’ve never been to the area before.”

  “That’s very kind of you,” Janet replied. “You seem to have good weather for it, anyway.”

  “Yes, it’s meant to be sunny all day,” Nancy said happily.

  Janet walked the foursome to the front door and made sure the door was locked behind them. She jumped when she turned back around and found her sister standing right behind her.

  “I didn’t hear you there,” Janet exclaimed.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  “I was just wondering if the police station is open today. We still haven’t gone to talk to Susan about her knitting.”

  “I’d forgotten all about that,” Joan said, shaking her head. “We really ought to do that today if we can. I need to go grocery shopping as well. I thought Mildred and Harold were leaving today, but they asked if they could stay one more night, which means one more round of dinner and breakfast for them.”

  “Let’s go now and get the errands run,” Janet suggested. “I’d rather be home when the guests get back.”

  “Yes, I agree,” Joan replied.

  The local police station was housed in a tiny cottage and going inside always made Janet feel slightly claustrophobic. She didn’t know how Susan could work inside the tiny building.

  “Ah, the Markham sisters,” Susan, a curvy forty-something blonde, said brightly when Janet and Joan walked into the tiny reception area. “Robert said you might be stopping one day this week.”

  Susan put down the project she was knitting and stood up. “I’ve been sitting still too long,” she confided as she stretched.

  “We wanted to talk to you about selling some of your knitted items at Doveby House,” Joan said.

  “Oh, I wish you would,” Susan replied. “I loved the extra bit of income and I have to find some way to get rid of my things. Poor Robert has had all of the hats, jumpers and blankets he’ll ever need and far more than he actually wants.”

  Janet laughed. “I’m sure he appreciates your hard work.”

  “It’s just that I have so much quiet time while I’m here,” she explained. “There has to be someone in the office for a certain number of hours each week, but there isn’t enough work to keep me busy during those hours. I used to read, but knitting is far more productive. Besides,” she added with a sheepish grin, “I used to hate getting interrupted when I was reading. The knitting is much easier to put down.”

  “I know what you mean,” Janet told her. “Everyone always seems to interrupt at the very best part in the book.”

  “I have a couple of boxes of things here for you to look at,” Susan said eagerly. She pulled out and opened several boxes, lifting out blankets, scarves, hats and sweaters and piling them onto the small table against the wall.

  “These are all lovely,” Joa
n said.

  Janet inspected one of the blankets. At one time she’d done quite a bit of knitting herself, so she knew exactly what she was looking for. The quality of Susan’s work was excellent.

  “You do wonderful work,” she told the woman. “I might have to buy one or two things for myself.”

  “I’ll give you a discount,” Susan offered. “Or maybe you could just choose your favourite and you could have it as long as you tell all of your guests how much you love it.”

  The sisters laughed. “Oh, I’m happy to pay you for a blanket,” Janet told her. “And I promise to tell everyone who stays with us about it as well.”

  “I understand you have a couple staying with you at the moment,” Susan said as she began returning items to their boxes.

  “Two, actually,” Joan corrected her.

  “Really? I must tell Robert,” Susan said. “Tell me about your new arrivals, then.”

  Joan told the woman about the Harrisons. “They seem very nice indeed,” she concluded. “Even if they’ve developed a strange relationship with the Stones.”

  “What’s strange about it?” Susan asked.

  “That they’re friendly with each other at all, really,” Janet said. “They don’t seem as if they’d have very much in common.”

  “Perhaps both couples are just feeling out of place in unfamiliar surroundings,” Susan suggested.

  “The Stones are meant to be visiting with William Chalmers,” Janet replied. “I wonder how he feels about them going off to see the sights with total strangers and leaving him to run his shop on his own.”

  “I don’t think he needs all that much help,” Susan told her. “It doesn’t seem to me that he’s all that busy.”

  As the row of shops that included the antique shop wasn’t far from the police station, Susan would have easily been able to keep track of the customers who were coming and going.

  “I hope business improves,” Joan said.

  “I just hope Mr. Chalmers can keep himself out of trouble,” Susan replied.

  “What do you mean?” Janet asked quickly.

  Susan flushed. “I shouldn’t be talking about that,” she said, shaking her head.

  “Should we be worried about Mr. Chalmers?” Joan demanded. “If he’s doing something criminal, I think we ought to know about it.”

  “He got himself into some trouble in London,” Susan said, clearly reluctant to discuss the issue. “All of this is public record, if you know where to look. Apparently some of his antiques weren’t exactly as described. He claimed it was all a big misunderstanding, and anyway, he paid his fines and did a short stint in prison. He came up here to start over.”

  “And we should do whatever we can to support him,” Joan added.

  “Yes, indeed,” Susan replied faintly. “I really shouldn’t have said anything. Please don’t repeat what I’ve told you. As I said, it’s all public record, but it isn’t exactly common knowledge.”

  “We won’t say anything,” the sisters said in almost perfect unison.

  Joan and Susan talked their way through pricing the knitted items and agreed that the sisters would get ten per cent of the sale prices.

  “I hope we’ll be back soon to get more from you,” Joan said as Susan helped them load several boxes of her work into their car.

  “I hope so, too,” Susan said. “Although Robert will just be glad that those are out of the office. I’ve many more boxes full of finished items at home, anyway. Let me know if you need more.”

  “We’ll let you know when we need more,” Joan corrected her.

  Susan smiled at the words and then went back into the police station while the sisters climbed into their car.

  “We should have told her about the paintings in the back of the antique shop,” Janet said.

  “Why?”

  “Because then Robert could investigate.”

  “The man sells artwork,” Joan said. “It doesn’t seem strange to me that he has a few unfinished paintings in his back room.”

  “But someone was working in there,” Janet said. “Even though he told us he doesn’t sell work by local artists.”

  “Just because someone was working in his back room, doesn’t mean they are a local artist,” Joan pointed out. “I think you’re just looking for a bit of excitement like in all the books you read.”

  “Bessie seems to get caught up in murder investigations all the time. I don’t see why you don’t think William might be doing something criminal. I haven’t accused him of murder or anything like that. Just a little bit of art forgery.”

  Joan shook her head. “Bessie is a dear woman who has had a terrible run of bad fortune lately. I can’t imagine how terrible it must be to keep finding dead bodies and discovering people you know are murderers. But sometimes I think you’re just looking for something out of the ordinary so you can tell Bessie that our lives are just as exciting as hers.”

  Janet opened her mouth to reply and then shut it again while she thought about what Joan had said. She didn’t envy Bessie Cubbon, the friend they’d made on a recent trip to the Isle of Man. There was such a thing as too much excitement, and it seemed as if Bessie was having rather more than was good for one person at the moment. But Janet didn’t think she was being unreasonable in suspecting William Chalmers of doing something illegal in his new shop.

  “I still don’t like the man,” she said loudly.

  “I don’t like him either, but that doesn’t mean he’s a criminal.”

  “Susan told us he’s a criminal,” Janet reminded her sister.

  Joan shook her head. She’d driven them back to Doveby House and now she parked the car.

  “There was no point in going grocery shopping with the car stuffed full of Susan’s things,” she told Janet. “Let’s unload them and then one of us can go back out.”

  Janet pulled the first box from where it was tucked in the backseat. Joan was doing the same on the other side of the car.

  “Here, let me help,” Janet heard Michael calling from behind her.

  “I’ll lend a hand as well,” Stuart added as he appeared from the garden. “I was just looking for an excuse to take a break from trimming hedges, anyway.”

  The women were happy to let the men carry the boxes into the house for them. It took them several trips, and Joan had the kettle on before they’d finished.

  “Come and have a cuppa, then,” she told them after they’d brought in the last box.

  “Just a quick one,” Stuart said.

  “I was just heading out to do some grocery shopping,” Michael told Joan. “So I’ll want to make it quick as well.”

  “Why don’t you go with Michael and do the shopping and I’ll start figuring out where we want to display Susan’s items,” Janet suggested after they’d all enjoyed tea and biscuits.

  “I thought we could use the long table against the wall in the sitting room,” Joan told her. “It’s not being used for anything else.”

  “I was thinking the same thing,” Janet replied. “I’ll just pull out a few examples of each item and try my hand at making a proper display. I’m sure you’ll change everything once you get back, though.”

  Joan laughed. “Let’s see how you do,” she said.

  Janet noticed that she didn’t rule out changing everything, which didn’t surprise her. Joan would have her own ideas about how things should be displayed and it was unlikely they matched Janet’s.

  Regardless, Janet enjoyed the next hour. She carefully selected what she considered the very nicest examples of each of the different items that Susan had provided. After pulling out the blanket that she wanted for herself, Janet carefully arranged the display, folding and refolding things until she was satisfied with the results.

  There was an old typewriter in the corner of Joan’s small sitting room. Now Janet put some paper in it and carefully typed up a list of prices for the items on display. She knew she’d seen some old picture frames in the carriage house, so she headed out
there to find one that could hold her neatly typed list.

  Stuart was still working in a corner near the building.

  “I’m sure I saw some pictures frames in a box in the carriage house,” she told him as she walked past.

  “There’s at least one of just about everything in a box in there,” Stuart told her cheerfully. “The door’s unlocked because I’ve been going in and all out day.”

  Janet pushed the door open and switched on the overhead light. It took a moment to come on and did little to help dispel the gloom in the large and windowless space. There were boxes piled up all around the room and Janet sighed as she glanced around. Once she finished with the library, the carriage house was her next priority. There could be treasure in some of the boxes, she reminded herself. She wasn’t fooled by the thought. What the boxes were most likely to contain was many, many years worth of accumulated junk.

  On previous visits, she and Joan had peeked inside a few boxes and had found nothing even remotely interesting. Of course, now that she wanted one, the old picture frames had suddenly acquired a much higher status in her mind. Shaking her head at her thoughts, she headed into the corner where she thought the frames had been. She was just leaning over what she hoped was the right box when the light went out. A moment later the door blew shut and Janet found herself alone in the dark.

  Chapter Nine

  “Hello? Stuart? Can you hear me?” she called, not daring to move in the cluttered room.

  Her words seemed to echo around the space. She heard a noise from behind her and looked around, but couldn’t see anything. Her eyes were struggling to adjust to the darkness when the door suddenly swung open.

  “Janet? Are you okay?” Stuart called from the doorway. He reached out and switched the light back on.

  “I’m fine,” Janet told him. “But I don’t know what happened.”

  “I told you before, there’s a ghost in the carriage house,” Stuart replied. “He or she is harmless enough, but I can’t tell you how many times the ghost has turned off the lights and shut me in here.”

  “I’m just glad you were around to rescue me,” Janet said. She quickly bent down and grabbed the first frame she touched. “I’m sure this will do,” she said without even looking at it. She nearly ran out the door and back into the autumn sunshine, with Stuart trailing behind her.