The Norman Case

by Diana Xarissa

  Janet nodded. “My sister, Joan, and I are available if you need anything. What time would you like breakfast?”

  The couple exchanged glances.

  “Eight,” Bridget said at the exact same time as her husband said “Nine.”

  Janet smiled. Perhaps the couple didn’t want to eat together.

  “Nine is too late,” Bridget told Roy. “Especially if we’re going to the warehouse in Derby that William told us about. He said the place opens at nine.”

  “But it’s open all day. We’re on holiday. We don’t have to be at the shops the moment they open,” the man replied.

  “But it’s so much more fun when we are,” Bridget replied. “Let’s have breakfast at eight tomorrow, anyway. Later in the week, after we’ve done all of our shopping, we can have some later mornings.”

  Roy nodded. “But only if you promise I’ll get to lie in at least twice this week.”

  “I promise,” Bridget beamed. “So breakfast at eight, please.”

  “Full English, or do you prefer something else?” Janet asked.

  “I’m not much of a breakfast eater,” Bridget frowned. “Do you have cereal?”

  Janet listed the four different types of cereal that Joan always kept on the kitchen shelves. In their experience thus far, everyone was happy with at least one of them.

  “Oh, any of those will do,” Bridget said. “A bowl of cereal with milk will be more than enough breakfast for me.”

  “I’ll have a full English breakfast,” Roy said. “It will be a rare treat.”

  “You might not feel that way by the end of the week,” Bridget suggested.

  “Or maybe I’ll get so used to it that I’ll start demanding it at home, too,” he shot back.

  “You can demand anything you like. I won’t be making it,” his wife laughed.

  “Do you need anything else tonight?” Janet interrupted the friendly banter.

  “Directions to somewhere we can get dinner,” Roy said. “We had lunch at the coffee shop near the shops in Doveby Dale and it was, well, not terribly filling. I want a good meal tonight.”

  “There’s an excellent French restaurant in the village. The food is wonderful, but it’s more of a special occasion place, really. Just up the road, we have a little café. They do wonderful and very filling food at reasonable prices,” Janet told him.

  “Café,” Bridget said. “I’m too tired to change into fancy clothes tonight.”

  “Add the French restaurant to our list of things that I want to do,” Roy told her.

  “That’s two things and we’ve only just arrived,” Bridget said.

  “As your list has about twenty things on it, I think we’ll manage mine,” he replied.

  “I’ll just leave you two to get settled,” Janet interrupted. “My sister and I are in the kitchen if you need anything.”

  The pair were squabbling about the unpacking as Janet left the room and shut the door.

  “I take it our other guests have arrived,” Joan said when Janet rejoined her in the kitchen a minute later.

  “They have,” Janet confirmed.

  “What are they like?”

  “Argumentative, but in a friendly way,” Janet replied. “Remember the guests we had in July that were forever disagreeing with one another? Sort of like that, but in a much nicer way.”

  Joan shrugged. “I don’t understand couples like that. If Michael and I fought at all, I’d probably stop seeing him.”

  “You two never fight?”

  “Why would we?”

  Janet stared at her for a minute. “I don’t know. I just assumed that all couples fight, at least sometimes.”

  “Do you and Edward fight?”

  “Well, not really, but then, I never see him. We might fight the next time that he rings, as I’ll have a chance to talk to him about the car, though.”

  “Yes, you must get that sorted.”

  “Anyway, the Fosters seemed to be doing it affectionately. I gather they’re mostly here to shop. They brought an empty suitcase to fill.”

  “Surely they’d be better off in Derby for shopping. Are they looking for anything special?”

  “Bridget wasn’t specific. Apparently she just likes to shop. They’ve already been into Doveby Dale and been to William’s shop. Bridget said they’ve put some things on hold there until they’ve had a chance to see what else they find.”

  “I thought they came up from London. Surely there are enough shops in and around London to keep her happy?”

  “You’d have to ask her about that.”

  Joan shrugged. “It isn’t really my business. If she wants to shop all day every day during her stay, that’s up to her.”

  The sisters chatted about nothing much while Janet mashed the potatoes and Joan cooked the vegetables. When they sat down to eat a short while later, Janet smiled at Joan.

  “Everything looks wonderful, and I can smell the crumble baking. I’m going to try to stop complaining so much about the bed and breakfast.”

  “I hope you do, but only because you aren’t disliking it as much as you did initially.”

  After dinner, Janet remembered her promise to ring William.

  “WTC Antiques.”

  “Hi, William, it’s Janet.”

  “Hello, hello. I was just talking about you,” he replied.

  “Oh, dear, I’m not sure I like the sound of that.”

  William laughed. “It was all good things, of course. I had three different couples in the shop today who mentioned you, actually.”

  “Really? Tell me more.”

  “There was a lovely couple where the woman had some mobility issues. Her husband trotted all over the shop, fetching and carrying dozens of things to and fro for her to look at.”

  “That would be the Conners.”

  “If you say so. They didn’t introduce themselves, but they did mention that you’d told them about my shop. Then there was a younger couple where the wife wanted to buy everything she touched.”

  “Those are the Fosters.”

  “Yes, they did introduce themselves. They also put about half my stock on hold until they’ve had a chance to see what they can find elsewhere. I’ve told them to try the shop in Little Burton and also suggested that they visit Stanley’s warehouse.”

  “I believe they’re going there tomorrow,” Janet said, “but what if they find everything they want there and end up not wanting any of your things?”

  “I’m not worried about it. Mrs. Foster fell in love with many of my more unique items. She’ll be back for some of them at the very least.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “If not, the third couple bought enough to make up for it.”

  “Oh? Who were they?”

  “The name on the credit card was Trevor Norman. He and his wife spent an hour and a great deal of money here. They mentioned as they were leaving that they were staying at Doveby House. But then, so did the Fosters and the Conners. Have you added a third guest room somehow?”

  “No, we haven’t. The Normans opted not to stay, which was just as well, as they’d actually booked October, not September. As they were fairly unpleasant, I was happy to see them go.”

  “They were rather unpleasant here, too, but since they spent a lot of money, I won’t complain.”

  “It sounds as if you had a busy afternoon, then,” Janet said.

  “I did, which makes me all the more eager to have a morning off tomorrow. I hope you’re ringing to tell me that you’ll be joining me?”

  “That is exactly why I’m ringing. I’ll be ready around eight, unless you’ve changed your plans.”

  “No, eight sounds good to me. Do you think you might have time for lunch before you have to be back?”

  “Let me see how things go in the morning,” Janet said. “Both sets of guests seem very nice, but if they leave their rooms a mess I’ll be eager to get back to help Joan with the cleaning and tidying.”

  “I’ll leave a sig
n on the shop’s door that says I’ll be open at one o’clock,” William said. “If we’re back in Doveby Dale by midday, we can have a quick lunch at the café, if you’ve time. If not, I can open the shop early. No one will complain.”

  Janet laughed and then put the phone down. She was looking forward to tomorrow, but they still had guests to wait up for tonight.

  Chapter 4

  Both couples were back at Doveby House before nine that evening. After exchanging pleasantries with the sisters and one another for a short while, they all headed up to their rooms together. Floyd and Vera let the Fosters go up the stairs before them.

  “It just takes me an extra minute or two,” Vera said apologetically. “I do get there in the end.”

  Joan gave the Conners five minutes to get to their room and then followed behind them. Janet went along as well, taking herself off to bed nice and early.

  “I just wanted to make certain that you have everything you need,” Joan told Floyd when he opened their door.

  “Oh, yes, and Vera is very happy with the room,” Floyd replied.

  “Good night, then,” Joan said. As she walked away, Floyd shut their door.

  “The Conners have asked for breakfast at seven,” Joan told her sister as Janet opened her bedroom door.

  “I’ll make sure I’m down by half six,” Janet replied.

  “You’re going out at eight, are you?”

  “Yes, William should be here around eight. You don’t mind, do you? You’ll have to get breakfast for the Fosters on your own, but leave the rooms until I get back to help with the cleaning and tidying.”

  “We’ll see. A lot will depend on the state in which the rooms are left, of course.”

  Janet nodded. In the months that they’d been running the bed and breakfast, they’d seen everything from rooms that still looked spotless to rooms that had been left filthy, with everything in between. Some of their nicest guests had been the messiest, as well, which meant Janet was a little bit worried about their current visitors.

  “I’ll see you in the morning,” Joan said. “Sleep well.”

  Janet nodded and then let herself into her room. Aggie was curled up on the bed. She looked up and then yawned.

  “I know you’re bored,” Janet told her, “but I don’t want poor Vera Conner tripping over you. It’s best if you stay up here at the beginning and ending of every day. They’re having an early breakfast, so you’ll be able to get downstairs at your usual time tomorrow.”

  The kitten nodded at Janet and then shut her eyes. Janet was ready for bed a few minutes later. “I shouldn’t read,” she told the sleeping animal. “I need to get up early, after all.”

  Aggie didn’t reply, so Janet let herself read a single chapter in her current novel before switching off the light and snuggling under the covers. Her alarm went off far too soon after she’d shut her eyes.

  “Let’s buy a bed and breakfast,” Janet muttered to herself as she headed for the shower. “It will be fun, Joan said. It would be a lot more fun if it were a bed and lunch.”

  “Good morning,” Joan said a short while later when Janet joined her in the kitchen. “I’ve done you a full English breakfast in case you don’t get lunch until late.”

  Janet grinned. Sometimes having the bed and breakfast was a good thing. Joan had very rarely made them a proper breakfast in their former cottage. She’d always said it wasn’t worth all the fuss and bother when things like porridge were better for them. Janet, who hated porridge, never agreed, but as she didn’t want to make her own breakfast every morning, she’d rarely complained.

  Floyd came down at seven. “Good morning, ladies,” he said. “Vera is right behind me. She just needed a bit more coffee this morning than I did.”

  “Your breakfast is nearly ready,” Joan told him.

  “Excellent. You can go ahead and put it on plates whenever it’s ready. Vera won’t mind if it’s been sitting for a minute or two before she gets here,” Floyd replied.

  Janet hid a grin. Joan would rather not feed her guests than leave food sitting out. Luckily for everyone, Vera arrived before Joan began serving.

  “I don’t believe I’ve ever slept better,” she said as she settled into a chair. “I’m already incredibly fond of Doveby House. You may have trouble getting me to leave on Sunday.”

  After they’d eaten and left for the day, Janet helped her sister with the washing-up and then headed up the stairs to check the Montgomery Room. She opened the door and smiled. If not for the suitcase next to the bed, she wouldn’t have been certain that the room was even occupied. Someone had even made the bed. There were two toothbrushes in the holder in the en-suite, but otherwise the room was spotless. The couple had even neatly refolded their towels and hung them back on the towel rail.

  “You could skip their room altogether and no one would ever know,” Janet told her sister when she rejoined her in the kitchen. “I know you won’t, but I won’t feel at all guilty if you go up and run a duster and the vacuum around their room while I’m out. You’ll only be going through the motions. The room is perfect already.”

  “What about the flowers?”

  “They still look good, and someone topped up their water, as well.”

  Joan nodded. “I always appreciate guests who are respectful of our property. As you say, I’ll dust and vacuum because I always do, but it’s nice to know that everything is already tidy.”

  The Fosters hadn’t come down yet by the time Janet spotted William’s car pulling up outside.

  “I know you want a lamp for your bedroom. Don’t get carried away and buy a lot of other things,” Joan cautioned her sister as Janet grabbed her handbag and headed for the door.

  “I’ll be good,” Janet promised.

  “Good morning,” William said brightly as Janet opened the door to his knock. “Are you ready to go?”

  “Yes, and I’m excited to see what we can find,” Janet told him.

  He offered his arm and escorted Janet to his car. Once she was tucked into the passenger seat, he moved around and slid behind the steering wheel. “Stanley is expecting us. He doesn’t open until nine, but he’s agreed to let us in early if we arrived before opening.”

  “That’s nice of him.”

  “He’s actually a very nice man, even if he can be a bit loud and intimidating when you first meet him.”

  The drive didn’t take long, although traffic did get busier as the pair got closer to Derby.

  “I don’t miss living in a big city,” William sighed as they sat at a traffic signal.

  “I’ve never lived in a big city, and I don’t feel as if I missed out on anything.”

  “It’s nice being able to walk to shops and restaurants, but the trade-offs are traffic when you do want to drive somewhere and noise.”

  “Whereas we have to drive just about everywhere but it’s lovely and quiet in Doveby Dale.”

  “And you don’t mind driving, not with your new car,” William suggested.

  “I am enjoying the car a great deal. Joan and I have always owned sensible cars in the past.”

  William chuckled. “Many people would consider your new car a fairly sensible one.”

  “It doesn’t feel that way to me, not at all, and I know Joan doesn’t think it’s all sensible, but whatever anyone else thinks, I love it and I enjoy driving it. So, no, I don’t mind having to drive everywhere in Doveby Dale.”

  William pulled into the car park for the huge warehouse that Stanley Moore owned. The front door was locked and the large red sign on it read “Closed.”

  “We probably need to go around to the back,” William suggested when their knock went unanswered.

  “Lead the way,” Janet replied.

  “Ah, there you are,” a voice said a moment later as the pair were walking around the outside of the building.

  Janet stopped and smiled at the man who was walking towards them. He must have come out of one of the small buildings that were scattered around the place
.

  Stanley Moore was a heavyset man in his fifties. Always casually dressed, today his outfit seemed even more relaxed than usual. Janet had a sneaking suspicion that what the man was wearing was actually pyjamas, even though that seemed unlikely

  “Come on back to the front and we’ll go in that way,” he told them. “I’m a little bit behind schedule today. The wife is away visiting her sister, and that always causes me no end of trouble.”

  “I thought causing trouble was what she did when she was here,” William teased.

  Stanley laughed loudly. “It is, of course, but I’ve even more trouble when she isn’t around, for some reason. I suppose I’ve just grown too used to her, that’s all.”

  He stopped at the front of the building and dug around in his pocket. “I’m sure I have the keys here somewhere,” he muttered. “Ah, here we are.”

  Inside the vast warehouse, Janet and William spent an hour or so carefully following Stanley as he led them on a circuitous route around all of the things that were piled just about everywhere in the space. William found a number of the items that he was looking for, but Janet couldn’t seem to find the perfect lamp for her bedroom, even though Stanley had a large selection.

  “She’s very particular, isn’t she?” he asked William after Janet had rejected everything he’d shown her.

  “I prefer to think of myself as discerning,” Janet said. “It sounds better.”

  Both men laughed. “I’ve three estate sales this week. I’ll keep my eyes open for something I think might suit you,” Stanley promised as they all made their way back through the shop.

  “I’d appreciate that,” Janet replied.

  As they reached the front door, Janet realised that someone was knocking on it. “It seems you have customers,” she said.

  “Oh, bother. The wife always opens up,” he said with a sigh. “I hope they haven’t been waiting long.”

  “We were just about to give up,” Trevor Norman snapped as Stanley opened the door.