The Appleton Case (A Markham Sisters Cozy Mystery Novella Book 1) Read online

  “Janet? Can you hear me?” Joan’s voice sounded muffled, but even so Joan could tell that her sister was angry.

  “Yes,” she called back. “But if you’re angry, you can go away again.”

  “Of course I’m angry,” Joan shouted. “I leave you alone for a few hours and you find yourself locked inside a garage you shouldn’t have been anywhere near.”

  “I stopped to ask Gavin about the box we found,” Janet lied. “But I couldn’t find him anywhere. It’s hardly my fault that I got locked in while I was looking for him.”

  “Ms. Markham? It’s Constable Parsons. I’ve rung Gavin and asked him to come down and open up the garage for us. He should be here soon.”

  “Thank goodness for that,” Janet called back. “I’m ever so sorry to have caused all this bother.”

  “Yes, well, we’ll discuss that later,” the constable told her.

  Janet suspected he was angry as well, but she didn’t know him well enough to be certain from his tone of voice. She sighed. She was at least as angry with herself as everyone else was with her.

  The sound of another car arriving made Janet feel hopeful. Surely Gavin had to be the new arrival.

  “Ah, Constable Parsons, I’m not sure why Ms. Markham felt the need to involve you in this. I’m happy to let her sister out once she explains what she was doing here tonight.”

  Janet heard Gavin’s voice, but the initial relief she felt was replaced by fear when she heard his words.

  “I don’t think we have to worry about that, at least not right now,” the constable replied. “Let’s get the door open, shall we?”

  “As I said, you’re not really needed here,” Gavin repeated himself. “You certainly don’t need any reinforcements. Once you’ve all gone, I’ll open the door and the Markham sisters and I can have a cuppa in my office.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” the policeman said. “Open the door, please.”

  Janet could hear Gavin’s deep sigh from her side of the garage door.

  “Look, this is silly,” Gavin said. “I don’t think this is a police matter, that’s all.”

  “You’re entitled to your opinion,” the other man replied.

  “What was your sister doing here, anyway?” Gavin asked.

  “I’ve no idea,” Joan answered.

  Janet could tell her sister was losing patience.

  “Now quit arguing and open the door,” Joan added.

  Janet smiled to herself. Now everyone could tell that Joan was losing patience.

  “Yeah, sure,” Gavin muttered. “I’ll just open it a few feet and your sister can duck out. No point in opening the door all the way or anything.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Joan snapped. “Just open the door.”

  From inside the garage, Janet couldn’t make out anything that was being said for several minutes. Finally, she heard Robert Parsons speaking quite loudly.

  “Gavin Appleton, I don’t need a search warrant to search these premises if I have reason to believe that someone’s life is in danger. Janet Markham is an elderly lady who is believed to be trapped inside the building. For all I know, she’s had a heart attack from the stress of the situation and is in desperate need of medical attention. If you don’t open one of these doors in the next thirty seconds, I’ll open one myself.”

  Janet thought about calling out to reassure the policeman that she was just fine, and mostly bored, but she decided against it. Gavin was clearly reluctant to open the doors, presumably because he was hiding something and he didn’t want the police to find it.

  After a few more minutes of muffled conversation, Janet heard one of the garage doors begin to move. As it lifted, an interior light came on and Janet felt a rush of relief at being able to see once more. The garage that was opening was the furthest from where she was standing, but she didn’t rush towards the door. If Robert Parsons wanted a good look around, she’d give him every excuse to come inside the garage.

  As it happened, she needn’t have bothered. When the garage door was finally open, she could hear the policeman shouting. “Stop him!”

  Janet walked slowly towards the open door, listening intently to the commotion outside. When she reached the door, she found her sister and Michael standing to one side, both staring with shocked faces at Gavin Appleton who was on the ground with a large policeman lying on top of him.

  Robert Parsons walked over and pulled the policeman to his feet. Gavin looked up and sighed deeply.

  “You’re under arrest,” Robert told the man.

  Gavin climbed to his feet slowly, moaning and groaning the whole time.

  “I think he broke my ribs,” he complained once he was upright.

  “You shouldn’t have run,” the policeman replied.

  “No, I guess not,” Gavin said. “I mean, I haven’t done anything wrong, have I? I was just startled, that’s all.”

  “Save the story for your solicitor and the jury,” Robert suggested. “I’ll be taking you down to the Derby station for processing.”

  “Surely that isn’t necessary,” Gavin said. “I’m sure we can work something out.”

  Robert didn’t answer. Instead, he walked past Janet and into the garage. After a few moments he walked back out, shaking his head.

  “All three of the cars in your garage were reported stolen in the last twenty-four hours,” he told Gavin. “I’m sure you’ll have some sort of explanation all ready for the inspector when you get to Derby. There’s no point in wasting it on me.”

  Gavin opened and then closed his mouth. He glanced over at Janet and frowned.

  “This is all your fault,” he shouted. He moved towards her, but was held in place by another policeman. “What were you doing at my garage, anyway, you nosy old biddy?”

  “I wanted to ask you if you killed your mother,” Janet snapped at him, feeling brave because they were surrounded by police officers.

  Gavin began to laugh. After several minutes the laugher trailed off and he shook his head. “It isn’t funny, really,” he told her. “But on the other hand, the accusation is quite amusing.”

  Janet looked at her sister and shrugged. After everything that had taken place, they still didn’t know what had happened to Margaret Appleton.

  Chapter Ten

  Robert Parsons escorted Gavin to a waiting police car and then walked over to Janet, who was standing next to her sister trying to look inconspicuous.

  “I’ll be at Doveby House at nine tomorrow morning to get statements from both of you,” he said to the sisters in a no-nonsense voice. Before they could speak, he’d turned on his heel and strode away.

  “Why don’t we head for home?” Michael suggested.

  Janet smiled at him. “I’ll drive myself home. You two can finish your date. I’m awfully sorry I interrupted it.”

  “It’s fine,” Michael assured her. “At least I got a front row seat for the most exciting thing that’s happened in Doveby Dale for years.”

  Janet walked over to her car and climbed in. She sat behind the wheel for a minute, gathering her thoughts. It was all she could do to start the engine and drive sedately away. What she really wanted to do was open the boot and dig out her custard creams.

  Back at Doveby House, Janet carried her groceries into the kitchen and unpacked the bags, suddenly grateful that she’d resisted the urge to add that tub of ice cream to her selections. Joan wouldn’t have been understanding if they’d needed to clean up melted ice cream from the boot of their car.

  Now that she was so close to her treat, Janet dragged out the anticipation just a little bit longer. She fixed herself a cup of tea and then sat down at the table with it and three biscuits on a plate. Her first bite was interrupted by Joan’s arrival.

  “The kettle’s just boiled,” she told Joan before her sister could speak.

  “Lovely,” Joan replied. “And we appear to have quite a few snacks to enjoy with the tea now.”

  “That’s why I went out,” Janet explain
ed, hoping that her sister wasn’t as angry as she seemed. She hated when Joan was too calm. “I wanted some custard creams, you see.”

  “And you didn’t think it was rather late to be out shopping for biscuits?”

  “It was, but I just couldn’t get them out of my mind,” Janet said.

  Joan nodded. “Well, I hope Constable Parsons likes that excuse when you talk to him tomorrow.”

  Janet frowned. Maybe she’d better come up with something better, she thought, even though it was the truth.

  The sisters sipped their tea and Janet ate her biscuits in silence. Janet knew her sister was mad and she didn’t really blame her.

  “How was dinner?” she asked as she ran the water for washing up.

  “It was very nice,” Joan replied. “Michael is a very nice man who was very understanding when our evening was so rudely interrupted.”

  “I’m glad,” Janet said, blushing. “And I’m very sorry as well,” she added.

  “We’ll talk tomorrow,” Joan told her. “I’m tired and no doubt you are as well after your ordeal.”

  Janet was sure she could hear sarcasm in her sister’s tone, but before she could answer, Joan left the room. Janet finished the washing up and headed to bed.

  It was a much later night than normal for both sisters and Janet found herself scrambling the next morning in order to be ready when Robert Parsons arrived. She barely had time to say much more than “good morning” to her sister before she heard the knock on the door.

  “Ah, good morning,” the young policeman said tiredly when Janet opened the door.

  “Do come in,” Janet said. “Would you like some tea or coffee?”

  “I’d love some coffee if you have it,” the man replied. “I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

  Joan already had coffee brewing when Janet showed Robert into the kitchen. She’d also put out a plate full of biscuits and cakes, and the young man looked delighted when he saw it. Joan handed him a small plate and he quickly filled it with a little of everything.

  “Sorry, I didn’t get any breakfast, either. Things are quite busy at the station this morning,” he explained.

  Joan handed him a cup full of coffee and he added a splash of milk before taking a sip.

  “Ah, that’s wonderful,” he said with a sigh.

  Janet poured herself a cup of tea and then sat down at the table with him. Joan handed Janet a plate for biscuits before fixing her own tea and sitting down as well.

  “The first thing I have to make perfectly clear is that you were in great danger last night,” Robert said to Janet. “If Gavin Appleton had found you snooping around his garage, there’s no telling what he might have done.”

  “I wasn’t really snooping,” Janet said defensively. “I stopped because I saw the lights were on and I wanted a quick word with Gavin. I was hoping to get a better idea of what papers he was looking for, as we’d found so many boxes full of paperwork.”

  “Yes, well, I know exactly what he was looking for,” Robert told her. “And he wouldn’t have told you.”

  “I wasn’t to know that,” Janet said. She sipped her tea, hoping the man believed her.

  “Gavin could press charges against you for trespass if he wanted to,” he said.

  “I wasn’t trespassing,” Janet insisted. “The lights were on and the door was open. I just walked in, looking for someone, and while I was doing that someone locked the door behind me.”

  “Well, you must never do anything like that again,” Robert said sternly. “If you have concerns about someone, you must come to the police and let us handle things. I’d be even more angry if there hadn’t been such a successful outcome, of course.”

  “The cars in the garage were all stolen?” Joan asked.

  “Yes, and one of the young men who was working for Gavin has filled us in on the whole scheme. Gavin hired a number of young men and used them to modify the stolen vehicles. He usually did the actual stealing himself, apparently, but in the box of parts that you found were vehicle identification plates. Gavin was making his own and replacing the genuine ones with his.”

  “Wow, it’s like something from telly, not real life,” Janet remarked.

  “It is rather,” Robert agreed. “He started out small and at some point his mother found out what he was doing. Apparently that’s when she cut him out of her will. Anyway, lately he’d increased his little operation, bringing in more staff and stealing more cars.”

  “So he was after that box of parts,” Janet said. “That’s why he wanted to get into the house here.”

  “Not just that box of parts,” Robert told her. “Where are those boxes of papers you found?”

  Joan carried the boxes in from her sitting room. He quickly flipped through the first box, pulling out several sheets of paper as he did so.

  “Blank registration papers,” he explained, showing the sheets he’d taken to the women. “All Gavin had to do was fill in the blanks and he could claim to be the owner of each stolen car. Somehow Margaret got her hands on a large number of these and that box of parts. Gavin won’t tell us how she got them, but apparently she used to visit him at the garage from time to time before their falling out.”

  “But he didn’t kill her to get them back?” Janet asked.

  “No, Margaret wasn’t murdered,” Robert told her.

  “So how did Margaret die?” Janet demanded.

  Robert frowned. “I’m afraid I can’t answer that question,” he told her. “You’d have to ask Gavin.”

  “But he’s locked up,” Janet said with a sigh. “I know it isn’t really any of our business, but I can’t help but be curious about it.”

  “Well, rest assured that Gavin had nothing to do with it,” Robert told her. “He wasn’t anywhere near her when she died.”

  The policeman took a few photos of the wardrobe where they’d found the box of car parts and went through all of the boxes of papers, removing several more of the car registration pages.

  “These are issued by the DVLA. The Derby CID is working with them to find out how Gavin managed to get his hands on blank ones,” he commented as he slid all of the sheets into a large envelope.

  “So it was good that I was stuck in the garage last night,” Janet suggested as the man was preparing to leave. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have found the stolen cars.”

  “Actually, we’d requested a search warrant, based largely on the box you’d given me and the papers I saw when I looked through the boxes here. We were going to execute it this morning anyway,” Robert replied. He left before Janet could point out what a big help she and Joan had been in turning the box over to him.

  “I am really sorry I spoiled your date,” Janet said to Joan after Robert was gone. “I didn’t intend to.”

  “It’s okay,” Joan replied after a moment. “It was getting a little bit awkward, anyway.”

  “But you had fun? Are you going to go out with him again?”

  “I did have fun and if he asks, I will go out with him again,” Joan told her. “But he might not ask.”

  “Of course he will,” Janet insisted. “You’re wonderful and he’s just about smart enough to have noticed.”

  “After lunch we need to talk about getting the bed and breakfast up and running,” Joan told her sister as Janet headed up to her room to curl up with a book.

  Janet made a face at no one. She wasn’t in any hurry to start their business. If they had guests now, she certainly wouldn’t be able to just curl up with a book all morning.

  Lunch was over far too quickly for Janet’s liking.

  “Let’s sit in the sitting room and talk,” Joan suggested.

  Janet followed her and sank down on a couch. A moment later the doorbell rang.

  “Ah, Michael, what a lovely surprise,” Janet exclaimed, ushering the man into the house, feeling as if just about anyone would have been welcome just then.

  “I just stopped over to thank your sister for a lovely evening,” he told Janet.
“That is, thank you,” he said to Joan with a small bow in her direction.

  Joan flushed. “I should be thanking you,” she replied. “Dinner was wonderful.”

  “I understand the police have arrested Gavin,” Michael said. “Apparently he was behind a rather large car theft ring. I can’t quite believe it. Nothing that exciting ever happens in Doveby Dale.”

  “Margaret Appleton died suddenly,” Janet said. “Surely that was a little bit exciting.”

  “But she didn’t die in Doveby Dale,” Michael told her.

  “She didn’t?” Janet asked. “Do you know what happened to her, then?”

  Michael looked at each sister in turn. “You didn’t hear the story?” he asked.

  “No, no one seems to know the story,” Janet said in frustration.

  Michael chuckled. “Well, I know the story, but I suppose that’s because I know the gentleman she was with when it happened. I didn’t realise it wasn’t more widely known.”

  “What gentleman? What happened to Margaret Appleton?” Janet took a deep breath to stop herself from shouting. “Sorry, but we’ve been wondering what happened to her since we bought the house, but no one seems to know.”

  “It was a tragic accident,” Michael told her. “She was in Ibiza with a gentleman friend. I won’t give his name, as it isn’t relevant to the story, but he is somewhat younger than Margaret was.”

  “We don’t need to know his name,” Joan said. Janet just resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at her sister. She wanted to know who the man was, even if Joan didn’t.

  “So what happened?” she prompted the man.

  “They were at a nightclub just after they arrived in Ibiza. Margaret was dancing on a raised platform in six-inch heels. When the foam party started, the platform got very slippery and she fell off and landed on her head. I understand she died instantly.”

  “I’m sorry, but how old was Margaret Appleton?” Joan demanded.

  “Sixty-four,” Michael told her.

  “Foam party?” Janet said faintly.

  “Six-inch heels?” Joan murmured.

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