“Aren’t you even going to say hello?” Harriet demanded. “I’m sure you remember me. It isn’t as if you get many visitors to Doveby House, I’m sure.”
Janet counted to ten before she forced herself to smile at the woman. “Actually, we were booked with guests all summer long,” she said in the most pleasant tone she could muster. “Now we have friends visiting.”
“How nice,” Harriet sneered.
“I’m Clara Hastings,” the other woman said quickly.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Janet told her. “I’m Janet Markham and this is my sister Joan. We own Doveby House.”
“Oh, my, how lovely for you. Is it as wonderful inside as it looks from the outside?” Clara asked.
“It’s very nice,” Janet told her. “We were fortunate to receive an unexpected inheritance that allowed us to buy it.”
“You run it as a bed and breakfast, don’t you?” Clara asked. “I keep thinking one day I might ring up and book myself a one-night stay, just so I can see inside.”
“You’re welcome to come and have a look around one day, just to see the house,” Janet told her. “I’ll show you the public rooms, anyway. It’s fairly quiet right now, or it will be once our friends have gone. Ring me. I’m sure we can arrange something.”
“Oh, I’d hate to impose,” the woman replied.
“You’d be welcome,” Janet assured her, wincing slightly as she heard herself emphasise the first word. She had to hope that Harriet wouldn’t notice the slight.
“And these are our friends,” Joan stepped in. “Bessie Cubbon and Doona Moore are visiting from the Isle of Man.”
“What a ghastly place,” Harriet said.
Bessie and Doona exchanged glances, and Janet was sure she could see them both biting their tongues.
“We’ve visited there many times and like it very much,” Janet said stoutly.
“The ferries are horrible, the hotels are too expensive, and the island’s population is mostly made up of large hairy men on motorbikes,” Harriet said.
Bessie and Doona both laughed out loud. “Perhaps you came during the racing,” Bessie suggested. “There are rather a lot of motorbikes on the island during the racing.”
Harriet sighed. “It was some years ago and it wasn’t an experience I’m anxious to repeat. Anyway, what brings you here today?”
“We’re showing our friends some of the local sights,” Janet replied. “We plan to visit many of the stately homes as well.”
“Don’t waste your time,” Harriet said. “They’re all too expensive and they don’t let you see anything at all interesting.”
“I thought some of them were very interesting,” Clara said.
“When we met before, you mentioned that I should ring Gretchen Falkirk if I wanted to find out more about Alberta Montgomery,” Janet interjected, eager to change the subject. Once she’d asked about the missing woman, she and her friends could try to get away from Harriet and Clara.
“Did I? That was kind of me,” Harriet remarked.
“Do you know her well?” Janet asked.
“Gretchen is a dear friend,” Harriet replied. “We have many common interests.”
“When did you see her last?” Janet wondered.
“Oh, my, not long ago. Maybe last month one day. I often bump into her at some of the historical sites that are off the beaten track,” Harriet explained.
“Can you recall the exact date?” was Janet’s next question.
“I could, if I wanted to be bothered, but I don’t. I can’t see why it’s any of your business, anyway,” Harriet snapped.
“I went to see Miss Falkirk yesterday,” Janet explained. “She seems to be missing.”
“Missing? Nonsense. She simply wasn’t home when you visited. Not everyone is sitting at home hoping you might visit,” Harriet sneered.
“The woman who shares her house hasn’t seen her in some time,” Janet told her.
“Well, I saw her last month,” Harriet said. “Perhaps Gretchen has simply been avoiding that Beverly Osborne who lives in the flat under hers. I assume that’s whom you mean. Gretchen isn’t fond of that woman. There’s something not quite right about her.”
“Are you quite sure you saw her last month?” Janet checked.
“I told you that I did,” Harriet frowned. “I don’t like repeating myself.”
“Yes, well, I’ll just ring Robert Parsons and let him know,” Janet said. “I’m sure he’ll want to speak to you, as he’s investigating her disappearance.”
“Robert Parsons? The police constable? Why on earth is he investigating? You rang the police because the woman wasn’t at home when you wanted to see her?” Harriet demanded.
“We rang the police because no one has seen the woman since July,” Janet corrected her. “If you saw her last month, it could be important.”
Harriet frowned. “I don’t want to get involved in a police investigation,” she said.
“But you could help Robert find your friend,” Janet said.
“Yes, but, well, it’s possible I have my dates wrong,” Harriet said. “I’ll have to think about it. I’ll ring the police once I work out when I actually did see her, if it was after July, that is.”
“Does she have family anywhere?” Bessie asked.
Harriet blinked. “I’m not going to start talking about her behind her back,” she said tightly. “If Constable Parsons has questions for me, he can ask them. Unless Janet forgot to mention that you’re also with the police?”
“Actually, I am,” Doona said, not bothering to mention that she was only civilian front desk staff. “Of course I’m outside my jurisdiction here.”
“Yes, well, in that case, I don’t have to answer your questions, do I?” Harriet said smugly. “I think we’ll be going,” she said Clara. “I’ve seen quite enough.”
“But we only did half the site,” Clara protested.
“But I drove and I want to leave,” Harriet said. “Let’s go.”
“Where do you live?” Janet asked.
“Where do I live?” Clara echoed. “I’m on the outskirts of Little Burton.”
“We can give you a ride home if you want to stay and explore the rest of the site,” Janet offered.
“Oh, are you sure?” the woman asked. “I don’t want to be a bother.”
“It’s no bother,” Janet assured her. “We have to drive past Little Burton to get back to Doveby Dale anyway.”
“Well, if you’re sure, I’d really like to see the rest of the site,” the woman said, smiling shyly at Janet.
“I’ll remember this next time,” Harriet said, sounding angry.
“You always remember everything,” Clara sighed.
Harriet pressed her lips together tightly and then turned away sharply. All five women watched as she marched to the nearest exit door and pushed her way out.
“I hope I haven’t caused trouble between you and your friend,” Janet said as the door swung shut behind Harriet.
“Oh, you probably have, but that’s quite okay,” Clara replied cheerfully. “Harriet is happiest when she’s angry at someone. Within another week she’ll quarrel with someone else, and then she’ll have to ring me to complain and all will be forgotten.”
“Why are you friends with her?” Janet blurted out.
Clara looked surprised and then laughed. “That’s actually a good question, but the answer is complicated. We’ve known each other since primary school, you see. Little Burton had its own tiny primary school in those days and there were seven of us girls in the same class. We all went on through school together; we were all at one another’s weddings and those sorts of things. Now only Harriet and I are left. I suppose we’re still friends because neither of us knows anyone else.”
“Perhaps it’s time to make new friends,” Bessie suggested. “I met Doona in a Manx language class just a few years ago.”
“Really? I’d assumed you were related in some way,” Clara said. “You’re just fr
iends? I can’t imagine spending time with someone so much younger.”
“Once you get past twenty-five, age is just a number,” Bessie said firmly.
“I suppose so,” Clara said doubtfully.
“But let’s not worry about that for today,” Bessie suggested. “Let’s simply enjoy the site.”
The little group spent a happy hour going around the site comparing everything they saw with Bessie’s guidebook. When they were done, they all piled into the car for the drive back to Little Burton.
“I know Gretchen Falkirk, too,” Clara said as Janet started the car.
“Do you? When did you see her last?” Bessie asked.
“It’s been ages,” Clara sighed. “I can’t drive any longer, you see. My health has been failing and the doctors don’t think it’s safe for me to drive. That rather limits what I can and can’t do and is another reason why I spend so much time with Harriet. She’s always happy to drive. It gives her something else to complain about, you see.”
“The last time you saw her was before July, then?” Bessie checked.
“It was probably early in the year,” Clara replied. “Maybe February or March. I saw her at the pub in Little Burton.”
“What was she doing at the pub in Little Burton?” Doona asked.
“Having lunch, same as me,” Clara told her. “She was with a man I’d never seen before, so I didn’t interrupt.”
“A man?” Bessie and Janet exclaimed at the same time.
“Yes, a man,” Clara said.
“Tell us about him, please,” Janet requested.
“Oh, goodness, it was such a long time ago. Let me see. He was probably about the same age as Gretchen, somewhere around eighty, I should think. They were talking when I walked in and something about their body language suggested that they didn’t want to be interrupted. I found a table across the room and had my lunch. They were still there when I left.”
“Do you know if she has any family in the area?” Bessie asked.
“I don’t believe that she does, not anymore. She was an only child, I believe, and I don’t recall her having any other family, at least not nearby.”
“Can you think of any reason why she might disappear?” Doona wondered.
“Maybe she simply grew fed up with her life and decided to change it,” Clara sighed. “I can understand the temptation.”
Janet grinned. “So can I,” she said. “Although not as much lately as when I was teaching.”
Clara laughed. “I taught primary school before I got married. I was glad to get out of the classroom, if I’m honest.”
“Joan and I were both teachers for our entire careers,” Janet told her. “We both retired from the same primary school.”
“My goodness, good for you. I found children exhausting, even my own. We had five, over ten years, and when the last one finally started school and I got the house to myself for a few hours a day, I sat and cried from sheer joy,” the woman said. Then she laughed. “I can’t believe I just told you all that. It’s been my guilty secret for more years than I can remember.”
“None of us have ever had children,” Bessie told her. “It’s difficult for us to imagine, but it always sounds incredibly hard.”
“It was hard, but wonderful, but sometimes quite impossible,” Clara said. “I wouldn’t change anything if I could do it all again, but at the time I did doubt that I’d get through it with my sanity intact. The grandchildren, on the other hand, they’re perfect in every way.”
“If I could simply have grandchildren, I might be tempted,” Doona laughed.
“Gretchen Falkirk never married?” Bessie asked.
Clara shook her head. “I was told once that she’d had her heart broken when she was young and she’d never recovered, but I don’t know if that’s true or not. I never asked her, of course.”
“If she did want a change, where do you think she might have gone?” Doona wondered.
Clara shrugged. “I didn’t know her well, and I certainly never talked to her about anything like that. As far as I know, she’d never been far outside of Doveby Dale. She did take a holiday to Dover once, I remember that. One of her friends was going and she went along.”
“What did she think of Dover?” Bessie asked.
“She hated it,” Clara laughed. “I remember her telling me that everything was different and strange. The train was either too fast or too slow. The food was strange. The hotel beds were too hard and the pillows were too soft. She told me she never wanted to leave Doveby Dale again after that experience.”
“Do you remember when she went?” was Doona’s question.
“It would have been in the sixties, I believe,” Clara said. “A great many years ago now. The friend that she went with passed away in the eighties. And oh, my, you’re only a short distance from my house now,” she added, sitting up straighter in her seat. “I’d quite forgotten that you don’t know where I live. You might have driven right past it.”
“It wouldn’t have mattered,” Janet said. “I’m enjoying our conversation.”
“I am, too,” Clara replied. “It’s been ages since I met new people.”
“You must come and see Doveby House,” Janet told her after she’d pulled up to the woman’s house a few minutes later.
Joan handed her one of their business cards. “Ring us early next week and one of us will come out and collect you,” she said. “Janet can give you a tour and I’ll make us all lunch.”
“I’d really like that,” Clara said happily. She climbed out of the car, still clutching the card in her hand.
Chapter 8
They were back at Doveby House a short time later. “Do you think I should ring Robert and tell him what Harriet and Clara said?” Janet asked as they all walked into the sitting room together.
“He’s going to visit later,” Joan replied. “It might be easier to simply wait until he gets here.”
“If he hasn’t arrived by six, I’ll ring the station,” Janet decided after a glance at the clock. Gretchen Falkirk had been missing for several months; a delay of a few hours wouldn’t matter.
Joan got busy in the kitchen while Janet and the others settled into the sitting room with Aggie. The kitten studied all three women for a moment and then jumped onto the couch between Doona and Bessie. Both women fussed over her for a minute before Aggie climbed onto Doona’s lap and went to sleep.
“If she’s bothering you, I can put her upstairs,” Janet offered, earning herself a small scowl from Aggie, who quickly closed her eyes tightly again.
“She’s fine,” Doona replied. “I keep thinking I might like a cat, but I’m afraid I’d forget to look after one properly.”
“It is a responsibility,” Janet agreed. “I’m lucky because Joan helps with everything. Between us we manage to keep her fed, although sometimes she does get fed the same meal twice because she always pretends to be starving.” Aggie gave Janet another dirty look and then began to purr softly.
“I can’t believe anything bad about this lovely creature,” Doona laughed.
“What did you think of what Harriet and Clara said about Miss Falkirk?” Janet asked.
“I’d like to hear more about the man in the pub, but that may just be me being nosy,” Doona said. “I’m not sure it’s at all relevant to the woman’s disappearance.”
“If Clara had her dates right, that was some months before Miss Falkirk vanished,” Bessie said thoughtfully. “It’s difficult to see how it’s connected.”
“What about Harriet’s claim to have seen the woman last month?” Janet asked.
“I suspect when she reflects on it, she’ll decide it was rather longer ago than that,” Bessie said. “Either because it truly was or because she doesn’t want to be involved in the investigation.”
“I suspect it really was longer ago than last month,” Doona said. “She simply wanted everyone to think that she and Miss Falkirk were great friends who saw one another regularly.”
�
�Harriet clearly doesn’t like Beverly,” Janet said.
“No, she was very dismissive of her,” Bessie agreed.
“But she knew her, which suggests that she’s been to Miss Falkirk’s house at least once,” Doona pointed out. “I wonder why?”
“Didn’t Beverly say that Miss Falkirk never had visitors?” Janet asked.
“She did,” Bessie replied. “Although I suppose Beverly isn’t at home all the time.”
“No, but if Beverly wasn’t home when Harriet visited, how did Harriet even know about her?”
“Perhaps Miss Falkirk complained about her,” Doona suggested.
“I suppose that’s possible, which means Harriet didn’t even have to visit the house, really,” Janet sighed.
A knock on the door startled all three women.
“Robert, you’re just in time for dinner,” Janet said as she let the young policeman into the house.
“I don’t want to impose,” he said quickly.
“It’s no imposition,” Janet insisted. “Knowing Joan, she’s made enough to feed an army, anyway.”
Joan smiled at them as they walked into the kitchen. “I was hoping that was Robert at the door,” she said. “I’ve made far too much food for just the four of us.”
Because the kitchen table only had room for four, Joan insisted that they eat in the dining room. To Janet that made it feel as if it were a special occasion.
“It’s lovely in here,” Bessie said as she settled into a chair. “I think I’d eat in here every day if I lived here.”
“You have a dining room,” Doona pointed out. “We always squeeze around your kitchen table anyway.”
Bessie laughed. “That’s because my dining room table is always covered in books,” she admitted. “Maybe I’ll make the effort to clear it off one of these days.”
Over the delicious dinner the group chatted easily about nothing much. Robert told stories about his police training days, while Janet recounted a few tales from her years of teaching. Once Joan had served the apple crumble, Bessie brought up the subject everyone was avoiding.
“Have you had any luck finding Miss Falkirk, then?” she asked.
The Osborne Case Page 6
