The Osborne Case

by Diana Xarissa

  “Yes,” Beverly said hesitantly.

  “Have you been in the flat since she’s been gone?” was Robert’s next question.

  “Well, yes, but only once or twice,” Beverly said quickly. “I wasn’t doing anything wrong, just checking it, like, to make sure it was all okay. I’ve been dusting it and running the vacuum, so that she won’t come back to a mess. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

  “I’m not suggesting there is,” Robert replied in a soothing voice. “Did Miss Falkirk ask you to keep her flat tidy while she was away?”

  “Well, no, because she didn’t tell me she was going to be away, did she? I’m just trying to be helpful.”

  Robert nodded. “When we’re done talking, I’d like you to let me take a look around Miss Falkirk’s flat.”

  “Oh, I don’t know about that. Aren’t you meant to have a warrant or something if you want to search someone’s flat?”

  “I wasn’t planning on searching it as much as just checking it over,” Robert explained. “There may be some signs that she went away voluntarily, for instance if there are obviously suitcases missing, or something like that.”

  Beverly shrugged. “I don’t know if she had suitcases or not. I suppose she must have, but I never saw them.”

  “What about the kitchen? Did she leave bread on the counter or milk in the refrigerator?” Robert asked.

  “Not that I noticed, but she was going to the supermarket, so she was just probably out of everything. As I said, she only shopped once a week.”

  “Can you hear her telephone when it rings?” Robert wondered.

  “Sometimes. It depends on where I am in my part of the house. It does ring, too. Someone rings nearly every day.”

  “That might be me,” Janet said sheepishly. “I’ve been ringing at all sorts of times, trying to find the woman at home.”

  “I don’t think I’ve heard it more than once or twice a day, if that helps at all,” Beverly said.

  “Does Miss Falkirk have an answering machine?” Robert asked.

  “No. Neither of us are much for such things. We talked about it once and we both agreed that if people want to speak with us they can ring when we’re at home.”

  Janet opened her mouth to argue and then snapped it shut again. There was no point in arguing with Beverly.

  “What about post?” Robert asked.

  “Post? What do you mean?” Beverly looked confused.

  “What have you been doing with Miss Falkirk’s post?” he clarified.

  “Oh, she hasn’t had any in ages. I don’t bother keeping the advertisements, no matter if they are addressed to her or to me. I don’t think she’s had any other post in months.”

  “What did you do with the things that arrived months ago?” Robert asked.

  “I put them on the table in her kitchen,” Beverly replied. “As I said, it wasn’t much.”

  “No bills?” Robert wondered.

  “I believe those are all sent to her bank and they make all of her payments for her,” Beverly explained. “I send my rent cheque to the bank as well. When I first moved in, I didn’t even know that she was the owner of the house. I thought we were both simply renting part of it from someone else.”

  “How did you find out that she was the owner?” Robert wanted to know.

  “It came up in a conversation one day,” Beverly replied.

  Robert nodded. “Which bank?”

  “Which bank?” she echoed.

  “To which bank do you send your rent cheque?” he explained.

  “Oh, I take it to the local one. I don’t like to rely on the post. Neither does Gretchen. We used to talk about that. She does nearly everything through her bank as she doesn’t trust the post.”

  “Does Miss Falkirk have any family?” was Robert’s next question.

  “Sadly, no. Her parents died when she was still quite young, and she never married. She’d been an only child, which is unfortunate. My son was an only child, as well, but that wasn’t my fault. My husband didn’t like children, you see. Once we’d had our son my husband moved into the spare bedroom and never gave me as much as a kiss again. I found out later that he had another girlfriend on the side, but that was okay with me. He snored, anyway.”

  Janet turned a laugh into a cough. When she met Bessie’s eyes she could see that her friend was equally amused.

  “Right, what about friends?” Robert wondered. “Did Miss Falkirk have many friends in the area or elsewhere in the country?”

  “I don’t believe so. She never had any visitors, at least not that I noticed. She lived in Doveby Dale her whole life, so I don’t know how she’d have made friends elsewhere.”

  “I was thinking more of people who’d lived here and then moved elsewhere,” Robert explained.

  Beverly nodded. “I suppose that makes more sense. I used to live in York, you know. I can’t imagine that anyone I knew there will ever bother coming to visit me here, though.”

  Robert made a few more notes and then got to his feet. “I’d like a quick look around Miss Falkirk’s flat, if you don’t mind,” he said. “If you have any recent photos of her, I’d appreciate one.”

  “Photos? Oh, goodness, no. Why would I have photos of her? I don’t even own a camera. I’ve nothing much to take photos of, really. My son hasn’t had children yet and now that his wife has gone, he probably won’t.”

  Robert nodded. “I’ll just look around the flat, then.”

  Beverly got to her feet and then looked at Janet. “Are you quite sure I can trust him?” she asked.

  “Quite,” Janet said firmly.

  “And you’ll all wait here?” Beverly asked.

  “If you’d like,” Janet replied.

  Beverly nodded and then led Robert out of the room. The trio who remained behind could hear their footsteps as they climbed the stairs. From where she was sitting, Janet reckoned she could hear Robert walking through the entire upper flat. He and Beverly were back a few minutes later.

  “I’ve plenty to get started on,” he said. “I’ll be in touch if I need any more information.”

  “Yes, well, thank you,” Beverly replied. “I’m sure she’ll be back one day soon. I’m awfully sorry to have bothered you, but my friends insisted.”

  Chapter 5

  After Robert left, Janet and the others had some difficulty persuading Beverly that they needed to go.

  “Stay and have some tea and biscuits,” she suggested. “I do get dreadfully lonely, you see.”

  “We can come back and visit again tomorrow,” Bessie told her. “We’ll come in the morning, if you’d like.”

  “Oh, I would like that,” Beverly said happily. “I’ll just pop to the shops and get some extra nice biscuits for you all. Something with chocolate, maybe, as a special treat.”

  “We’ll be back around ten,” Janet told her after she and her friends had had a quick chat. “Take care until then.”

  “As I said, I’ll have to get to the shops,” Beverly replied. “What else do I need? And where have I Ieft my keys?”

  The three friends made their escape while Beverly was still looking for her keys. As they climbed into Janet’s car, Janet found herself taking deep breaths of the cool autumnal air.

  “It was dusty and stuffy in there,” she said as they pulled away.

  “It was lovely in Miss Falkirk’s flat,” Bessie replied. “It was just Beverly’s that needed a good clean.”

  “I’m not sure I understand why Beverly is keeping Miss Falkirk’s flat clean and not her own,” Doona said.

  “That is just one of a great many things that I don’t understand about Beverly,” Janet said.

  “She did seem slightly out of touch with reality,” Bessie commented. “I’m not sure that’s the right way to put it, though.”

  “She seemed confused, certainly,” Doona said. “I’m not sure she should be living on her own.”

  “That’s why I agreed to visit her again tomorrow,” Bessie replied. “I
’m going to worry about her now that I’ve met her.”

  “We can’t keep visiting her every day,” Janet said. “Joan and I are meant to be showing you all of the sights in Derbyshire.”

  “Do you think the police will do anything about her?” Doona asked.

  “I don’t think she’s breaking any laws, being confused about dates,” Janet replied. “Knowing Robert, he’ll keep a close eye on her now that he’s met her, though.”

  “I’m afraid to ask, but what do you think happened to Miss Falkirk?” Bessie wondered.

  Janet shrugged. “Let’s talk about that after we’ve explained to Joan why we’ve been gone so long,” she suggested as she parked next to Doveby House. “We only have half an hour before we’re meant to be going to dinner.”

  An hour later they were sitting at a quiet corner table in the wonderful little French restaurant near the centre of Doveby Dale. After they’d ordered a bottle of wine to share and several courses of delicious-sounding food, Janet looked at her sister.

  “I’m awfully sorry we were gone for so long today,” she said. “But we stumbled into something and we had to ring Robert.”

  “What have you done now?” Joan asked.

  “It wasn’t my fault,” Janet said quickly. “We went to speak to Gretchen Falkirk and found out that she’s missing.” She told her sister a shortened version of everything that had happened with Beverly. When she was finished, Joan sighed.

  “We were going to go to Chatsworth tomorrow morning,” she reminded Janet.

  “That’s my fault,” Bessie said. “Beverly was very upset that we were leaving, so I suggested that we visit again tomorrow. She doesn’t seem well suited to living on her own, really.”

  “I hope you aren’t planning to visit her every day,” Joan replied. “There are a great many places that Janet and I were planning to take you.”

  “I don’t expect we’ll visit her again after tomorrow,” Bessie said. “Maybe Robert will have some news for her by then, as well.”

  “I’m afraid it won’t be good news,” Doona said.

  “Maybe Miss Falkirk is simply visiting friends,” Joan suggested.

  “Surely she would have mentioned the visit to Beverly, if that were the case,” Bessie replied. “It seems unlikely that she went away voluntarily without mentioning anything to Beverly.”

  “Maybe she told Beverly and Beverly forgot,” Joan said. “From what you’ve told me, that seems possible.”

  “Maybe, but it seems a stretch to go from forgetting what day it is to forgetting that your friend told you she was going away,” Janet said. “Besides, from what Beverly said, Miss Falkirk didn’t really have anywhere to go.”

  “Perhaps she simply went on holiday,” Joan suggested.

  “Three months is a long holiday,” Doona mused. “Especially for someone who, from what we know, rarely if ever left Doveby Dale.”

  “If she didn’t go voluntarily, what do you think happened to her?” Joan asked after the waiter delivered their starters.

  “Perhaps she crashed her car,” Doona said. “Maybe she’s in hospital and can’t remember anything.”

  “Does that actually ever happen?” Joan wondered. “I mean, it happens on telly all the time, but I’ve never heard of it happening in real life.”

  “Unless she’s simply too ill to tell anyone who she is,” Bessie suggested.

  “If she was simply going to the supermarket near Derby when it happened, it shouldn’t take Robert long to find her,” Janet said. “There can’t be that many unidentified women in the area’s hospitals.”

  “I suppose there won’t be many corpses, either,” Doona said thoughtfully.

  Her words clearly startled the waiter who was clearing their plates. He dropped one and it clattered loudly, but fortunately didn’t break. Doona pressed her lips together and winked at Janet, who was trying not to laugh. Once he’d walked away, Joan frowned.

  “Perhaps this isn’t the best place to have this conversation,” she said.

  Rather than risk upsetting either her sister or the waiter any further, Janet turned the conversation to more pleasant topics. They talked about their plans for the rest of the week and worried over the weather as they ate their main courses and their puddings. It wasn’t until they were safely back at Doveby House that Janet brought the matter up again.

  “I really hope Robert doesn’t find a corpse that matches Miss Falkirk’s description,” she said.

  “Do you know what she looks like?” Doona asked.

  Janet frowned. “I’ve no idea. I’m sure Robert must have asked Beverly when they were upstairs. We’ll have to ask her tomorrow.”

  “You don’t remember hearing anything about an unidentified body in the area lately?” Doona wondered.

  “No, and I would think something like that would have been major news,” Janet replied.

  “So if she isn’t dead or in hospital, where might she be?” Bessie asked.

  “Visiting a friend or some family member that Beverly has never met,” Joan said. “I’m sure that’s all it will turn out to be.”

  “Maybe she was kidnapped,” Doona suggested.

  “Why would anyone kidnap her?” Joan asked.

  “Maybe she has a lot of money,” Doona replied.

  “She’s renting out half of her house to a stranger,” Bessie pointed out. “That suggests that she isn’t wealthy.”

  “Maybe the kidnappers thought she was someone else and kidnapped her by accident,” Doona said. “Now they don’t know what to do with her.”

  “Or maybe they killed her and dumped her body somewhere far away,” Janet said.

  Bessie shivered. “I certainly hope not.”

  “Perhaps she simply got into her car and then forgot where she was going,” Doona said. “There was a case the other day where an elderly woman drove all the way to Scotland by mistake. She’d simply started driving and not stopped.”

  “I like that idea better than anything else we’ve discussed,” Janet said. “Aside from maybe visiting friends we don’t know about, anyway.”

  “We could sit here all night speculating,” Joan said. “Or we could all go to bed and get some rest. That seems more sensible to me.”

  Janet didn’t argue, even though she didn’t want to be sensible. Bessie and Doona both seemed tired, which was natural after their long journey. Having an early night wasn’t a bad idea, really. They agreed to breakfast at eight.

  “I’m sure I’ll be awake at six,” Bessie said. “I always am. Will I disturb anyone if I go out for a walk?”

  “Not at all,” Joan told her. “I’ll probably be awake myself, but you have the keys to the front door. You’re welcome to let yourself out. Just be careful of the main road. It can be quite busy in the morning.”

  “You could go out through the conservatory into the garden,” Janet suggested. “The grounds aren’t huge, but you can walk around them as many times as you’d like without having to worry about traffic.”

  “I’ll see how I feel in the morning,” Bessie said. “Right now the gardens sound just about perfect.”

  “If I’m up, maybe I’ll join you,” Doona said. “I don’t always sleep well in strange surroundings.”

  “I hope you both sleep soundly,” Janet told them as they parted ways at the top of the stairs. “Please wake me if you find that you need anything.”

  When Janet’s alarm woke her the next morning, she worried that both Bessie and Doona might have been pounding on her door all night.

  “I slept like a rock,” she told Aggie, who simply looked at her and then went back to sleep. After a quick shower, Janet got ready for the day and then headed down the stairs. Joan was in the kitchen, getting ready to make breakfast for everyone.

  “Have you seen our guests this morning?” Janet asked her sister.

  “They’re out in the garden, having a stroll,” Joan replied. “Bessie was up and out the door by half six and Doona followed about half an hour later.”<
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  “Shall I find them and bring them in for breakfast?”

  “It’s nearly eight. I’m sure they’ll be back.”

  The words were barely out of Joan’s mouth when Janet heard voices. Bessie and Doona walked into the kitchen. They both had pink cheeks, either from the exercise or the autumn chill.

  “Good morning.” Janet greeted them both with hugs.

  “Your gardens are the perfect place for a morning walk,” Bessie said as she took a seat at the table. “It was lovely and quiet and just the right size for me. I went around four times and I still don’t think I saw everything.”

  “You must come again one day in the summer,” Janet told her. “It’s much prettier when the flowers are all in bloom.”

  Joan made breakfast for everyone while Janet toasted bread and poured glasses of juice and cups of coffee.

  “So, after we visit Beverly, we’ll have the rest of the day to see the sights,” Bessie said. “What should we do?”

  “There are some interesting ruins not far away,” Joan said. “They’re the complete opposite direction of just about everything else we’d planned to show you, so they’re probably just about right for an afternoon visit.”

  “We could get lunch at the pub near there,” Janet said, “and we’d still be home in time for you to cook dinner.”

  “I don’t want Joan to have to cook for us,” Doona interjected. “Breakfast is one thing, although I feel slightly guilty about that, too. I don’t want her making us dinner each night. We aren’t proper paying guests, after all.”

  “I don’t cook for paying guests, aside from breakfast,” Joan told her. “I love to cook for friends, though.”

  Doona shrugged. “I just don’t want our holiday to be a lot of work for you.”

  “Neither do I,” Bessie added. “I was planning on taking you both out for most meals. I wasn’t happy that you insisted on paying last night.”

  “It was your welcome dinner,” Janet told her. “I seem to recall you paying for a great many meals when we were on the island.”

  “Your trip to the island wasn’t much of a holiday, not with all the dead bodies and the fundraiser and everything,” Bessie replied.