The Green Case (A Markham Sisters Cozy Mystery Novella Book 7) Read online

  The Green Case

  A Markham Sisters Cozy Mystery Novella

  Diana Xarissa

  Copyright © 2016 Diana Xarissa

  All Rights Reserved

  Author’s Note

  I can’t believe this is the seventh Markham Sisters novella. They seem to be adding up very quickly! I suggest that you read the stories in alphabetical order so that you can follow the characters as they develop, but each story should stand on its own if you would rather not do so.

  As ever, this book starts with part of Janet’s letter to Bessie Cubbon, whom the sisters met in Aunt Bessie Decides, the fourth book in my Isle of Man Cozy Mysteries series. The excerpts from Janet’s letters provide quick introductions and conclusions to the novella. You don’t need to read the Bessie books to enjoy this series.

  As the stories are set in the UK, I use English spellings and terminology. A glossary and some notes designed to help readers outside the UK with terms that might be unfamiliar is included in the back of the book. The longer I live in the US, the greater the likelihood of Americanisms sneaking into the text, although I do try to eliminate them.

  This is a work of fiction and all of the characters are fictional creations. Any resemblance that they may share with any real person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. The sisters live in a fictional village in Derbyshire. Although some shops or businesses may bear some resemblance to real-life businesses, that is also coincidental.

  Please get in touch with any comments, questions, or concerns. I have a monthly newsletter that provides updates on new releases. All of the information about subscribing to the newsletter or getting in touch is available on the About the Author page at the back of the book.

  Table of Contents

  Author’s Note

  Acknowledgments

  Letter to Bessie, part one

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Letter to Bessie, part two

  Glossary of Terms

  Other Notes

  The Hampton Case

  By the Same Author

  About the Author

  22nd February 1999

  Dearest Bessie,

  As requested, I have enclosed a photo of my dear little Agatha. The camera brings out her playfulness, which means all of the photos I took are somewhat blurry, but this was the best one. She is a great joy to me and although I haven’t had her long, I can’t imagine how I ever got on without her.

  It’s been another busy month at Doveby House. You may remember that I mentioned young Paul Nichols who is working for William Chalmers at the antique store. He was driving back and forth from Derby every day, and that wasn’t convenient for anyone. William suggested that he might be more comfortable here and Joan was happy to agree to let him stay for a month or more.

  January and February have been rather quiet otherwise, and I know Joan is grateful for the extra income he brings in. He’s proving to be an excellent guest as well. He’s very quiet and polite and Aggie is very fond of him as well.

  We did have a bit of excitement recently, however. I’m sure it’s in the news as much on the Isle of Man as here, how often older women get taken advantage of by unscrupulous con men. Perhaps that’s what made me so suspicious.

  Chapter One

  “Are you sure you don’t mind my going out tonight?” Janet checked with her sister.

  “Of course not. You go and have fun with your friends,” Joan replied.

  “I can shut Aggie in my room, if you’d prefer,” Janet offered.

  “Oh, that would be cruel to the poor little thing,” Joan said. “She loves having the run of the house.”

  “I know, but it wouldn’t be for long.” And I know you don’t like my tiny kitten, she added silently.

  “No, she’ll be fine. I’m sure Paul would miss her if she were shut up in your room, anyway.”

  Janet nodded. Her kitten Aggie, short for Agatha Christie, had developed a very close friendship with their long-term guest, Paul Nichols, and whenever Janet couldn’t find the small animal, she only had to find Paul. More often than not, Aggie would be curled up on his lap, purring contentedly.

  “Is Michael coming over?” Janet asked.

  Joan nodded. “I’m going to make us dinner and then we’ll watch some telly. I won’t even notice you aren’t here.”

  Janet knew her older sister was right. With her boyfriend, Michael, there, Joan probably wouldn’t notice Janet’s absence. Janet still wasn’t used the idea of her sister having a boyfriend after all these years. Janet had had a few suitors when they’d been younger, but Joan hadn’t. It was strange to them both that now, when they were both retired from a lifetime of teaching primary school, that Joan was the sister with the boyfriend, not that Joan would ever call the handsome, retired chemist by that particular title.

  “I’ll go up and get ready, then,” Janet said. She climbed the stairs to her spacious bedroom on the first floor. Aggie was lying in the centre of her bed and she opened one eye as Janet opened her door.

  “You don’t mind if I go out, either, do you?” she asked the kitten. Aggie yawned and then stretched. She shook her tiny head and then jumped down off the bed. After winding her way back and forth through Janet’s legs a few times, she stood patiently while Janet scratched her behind the ears and petted her soft body. When she grew bored with the attention, Aggie walked to the door and meowed loudly.

  Janet opened the door and watched as her pet raced out of the room and down the corridor. After chasing up and down the hall several times, Janet listened as Aggie bounded down the steps. A soft thud let her know when Aggie had reached the bottom of the stairs. Knowing there was food and water for her in the kitchen, Janet shut her door and turned her attention to getting ready for the night ahead.

  Unlike Joan, she didn’t have plans with a handsome member of the opposite sex. Instead, she had her monthly meeting of the Doveby Dale Ladies’ Club. It was Joan who had first suggested that at least one of them should join the group, but it was Janet who’d gone to a meeting and agreed to keep attending. When the sisters had first purchased Doveby House, the seventeenth-century manor house that they were attempting to run as a bed and breakfast, Joan had insisted that they should get as involved as possible in village life.

  Janet had quite enjoyed the meeting that she’d attended some months earlier, but every meeting since had been cancelled, some at the very last minute, due to illness or scheduling conflicts. One of the reasons Janet didn’t mind planning to attend tonight’s event was her secret belief that the meeting would still be cancelled.

  Aggie was just new enough that Janet didn’t really like the idea of leaving her home alone. She wouldn’t be alone, of course. Joan and Michael would be there, as would Paul, once he’d finished work for the day, but Janet had never owned a pet before and she took her responsibilities for this one very seriously. That Aggie had been a gift from a man she was interested in was another consideration. She couldn’t imagine how she’d explain it to Edward Bennett if something awful happened to the kitten.

  She tried on two different dresses and finally settled on a third. Her grey hair, cut in a sensible bob, was easy enough to style, but sometimes she wondered if she ought to try something different with it. Maybe, if she cut it very short, people would stop telling her and Joan how much they looked alike. She didn’t
really agree with them, even though they both wore the same hairstyle and had the same blue eyes. They were even of a similar height, but where Joan was all straight lines and sharp angles, Janet was softly rounded curves. As Joan was the one of the pair who did all the cooking and baking, Janet often thought it was unfair that she was the one who seemed to gain weight from enjoying Joan’s efforts.

  She applied a bit of makeup, more out of habit than anything else, and spritzed on some of her favourite perfume. “You’ll have to do,” she told her reflection. The face in the mirror didn’t look terribly impressed, but Janet just shrugged and found her jacket. February in Derbyshire wasn’t warm and was usually wet.

  “I’m off, then,” she told Joan when she found her in the kitchen, working hard on dinner for herself and Michael.

  “They haven’t cancelled yet?” Joan asked. “I did make enough for three, just in case.”

  Janet laughed. “I think we might actually manage a meeting this time,” she told Joan. “But don’t be surprised if I’m back in twenty minutes, either.”

  “I hope you have fun,” Joan told her. “You could do with making some friends.”

  Janet nodded. While she didn’t regret their move to Doveby Dale, she did miss some of her friends and former work colleagues with whom she used to have an occasional lunch or cinema trip. Doveby House was only about an hour away from the small cottage they used to own, but that was too far for old friends to simply drop in.

  She let herself out and walked across the small porch on the front of Doveby House. She could hear Joan locking the front door behind her. Doveby Dale seemed like a very safe small village, but in January there had been a handful of break-ins in the area, and even though the culprit was safely behind bars, both sisters were still being extra cautious about locking doors.

  The practical saloon car that the sisters shared made Janet frown as she climbed behind the steering wheel. Joan was always the more sensible of the sisters, and Janet found herself thinking that the car was far more Joan’s style than her own. Neither sister had ever been extravagant with money, which was one reason why they’d been able to afford to purchase Doveby House after adding in a small and completely unexpected inheritance, but now Janet began to wonder how much a smaller and somewhat more fun car might cost.

  She entertained herself on the short drive to Little Burton by studying all of the other cars she saw. It was only when she found herself slowing down as she drove past the small garage that Mack Fenton owned on the outskirts of Doveby Dale that Janet realised she was quite serious about car shopping. There were only a few cars parked outside the small garage and Janet didn’t think any of them would suit her.

  “You haven’t the extra money to spend anyway,” she reminded herself. Running Doveby House had turned out to be somewhat more costly than either sister had anticipated. January and February were quiet months for tourists, and the sisters had been getting a bit nervous when their income from the bed and breakfast came to a stop after Christmas. Having Paul staying with them on a long-term basis meant that they could pay their bills without worry, but it didn’t allow for luxuries like a second car.

  Wondering if her sister might be persuaded to trade their current car in for something more interesting, Janet nearly missed the entrance to the car park for the small restaurant she was looking for.

  “Why the Doveby Dale Ladies’ Club is meeting in Little Burton, I’ll never know,” she muttered to herself as she switched off her ignition.

  The village of Little Burton was only a short distance from Doveby Dale. The two small communities shared a grocery shop that was situated between them, as well as two primary schools and a single high school. They also shared one police constable, Robert Parsons, who was responsible for keeping the peace in both villages. He split his time between two tiny police stations, and Janet was surprised to see that the Little Burton station was right next to the restaurant where she was having dinner. She’d never done much more than drive through Little Burton and she’d never made any effort to locate the building before.

  Lights were on in the building, and Janet wondered if Robert was working late or if he had a civilian assistant here as he did in Doveby Dale. As she slowly walked towards the entrance to the restaurant, the lights suddenly went out in the station. She stopped and watched as the door to the building swung open and Robert walked out.

  “Good evening,” she called, changing direction so that she could say hello to the man who frequently visited the sisters. Robert was of medium height with a trim build. He had brown hair and matching eyes that always looked quite serious, even when the man was just chatting about the weather.

  “Ah, good evening, Janet,” the young constable replied. “But what brings you to Little Burton? I hope you weren’t coming to see me.”

  “No, not at all,” Janet assured him. “The Doveby Dale Ladies’ Club is meeting here tonight.”

  “Are they? You’d think they’d meet in Doveby Dale to help support the restaurants and cafés there, wouldn’t you?”

  Janet shrugged. “I didn’t have anything to do with the choice,” she told him.

  “I hope you have a lovely evening,” Robert said. “The food is excellent here. I often eat here when I’m working in Little Burton.”

  “Is there anything that’s especially good?” Janet asked.

  “The fish and chips are superb,” he told her.

  “Oh, that does sound good,” Janet exclaimed. “Thank you.”

  “I haven’t been in to see you ladies in a while. I’m going to have to drop in one day this week.”

  “You know you’re always welcome,” Janet said. “I hope you aren’t allergic to cats.”

  “You’ve acquired a cat?” Robert asked.

  “Yes, it was a gift from a friend,” Janet told him, feeling herself blushing.

  “I’m not allergic, but I’m also not a huge fan of cats,” Robert said in an apologetic tone. “I’m sure yours is lovely, though.”

  “Agatha is wonderful, but she can be a bit territorial, that’s all. She’s only a kitten, though, so you needn’t worry about her.”

  “I understand young Paul Nichols is staying with you at the moment,” Robert said. “How’s that working out?”

  “It’s going very well,” Janet replied. “He works every day, so we barely see him after breakfast, and the extra income is handy during our quiet season.”

  “And he gets along with your kitty?” Robert asked.

  “He and Aggie are the best of friends,” Janet said, feeling annoyed with herself when she realised that she sounded a bit jealous.

  “Very good. Enjoy your evening, then,” Robert said.

  “Thank you so much,” Janet replied. “I’ll tell Joan to expect you soon.”

  Robert nodded. Janet turned and walked back towards the restaurant entrance while Robert headed for his car. As she pushed the entrance door open, Janet turned back and waved to the man, who was driving slowly away.

  The interior of the restaurant was dark, and Janet stood in the doorway for a moment letting her eyes adjust.

  “Get you a drink, love?” a voice called from behind the bar.

  Janet smiled and took a few steps towards the man, who was looking at her while polishing glasses.

  “Oh, a dry white wine, please,” she said.

  The man nodded and found a large bottle under the bar. He filled a glass for her and put it on the bar.

  “I’m meeting friends for dinner,” she told him. “Can I just add this to my dinner bill?”

  “Whatever you like, my dear. We’re easy,” he told her with a wink.

  Janet grinned at him. He was in his mid-forties with a potbelly and a shiny bald head. If she’d been twenty years younger she might have thought he was flirting with her; now she just assumed he was being friendly. No doubt that was good for business.

  “I don’t know if my friends are here yet or not,” she said hesitantly. She glanced at the clock. Thanks to her short
conversation with Robert, she was about ten minutes late.

  “If they’re a bunch of lovely ladies around your age, they’re in the dining room,” the man told her. He tilted his head to the left and Janet looked in that direction. At the end of the bar was a door with a small sign that said “Dining Room” tacked to it.

  “Thank you so much,” Janet said, turning and heading towards the door.

  She pushed the door open and smiled as she recognised the women she’d met a few months earlier. They were all sitting around the only occupied table in the room. As she crossed to them, Janet tried to remember what she knew about each of them.

  Nancy Johnson was the unofficial leader of the group. Like Janet, she was a retired schoolteacher who had never been married. She wore her grey hair very short and had a no-nonsense approach to everything that Janet had found rather intimidating when they’d first met.

  She was sitting next to Martha Scott. Martha had been a nurse for many years until her own ill health had forced her to take early retirement. Consequently she was the youngest of the group, being a few months shy of her sixtieth birthday. Her grey hair was long and she wore it in a tight bun. Janet’s first impression of her had been that she was shy, but Janet had amended that by the end of the first meeting, deciding that she was actually simply overpowered by the larger personalities in the group. As far as Janet knew, Martha had never been married.

  Speaking of larger personalities, Harriet Thomason was sitting across from Martha. Harriet had recently been widowed and complained frequently about being left on her own with three children to support. As the children in question were all in their thirties and none of them lived less than an hour away from Doveby Dale, Janet wasn’t certain what Harriet was complaining about. Harriet also had long hair and wore it in a bun, but hers was untidy and needed frequent adjustments.

  The last of the foursome was Edna Green. She was also a widow, but her husband had died some years ago. She’d barely spoken at the last meeting, but Janet had managed to work out that she had at least two children of whom she was very fond. Like Janet, she wore her hair in a practical bob, and Janet found herself liking Edna the most out of the foursome.