The Appleton Case (A Markham Sisters Cozy Mystery Novella Book 1) (3 page)

The sisters
had both been very frugal during their working years.
 
Aside from a short holiday each summer
break, they’d spent little on anything other than necessities.
 
Their current cottage, while small, was
in an area that was increasingly in demand.
 
With their recent inheritance and what
they had saved over their long working lives, they wouldn’t need to worry about
keeping the bed and breakfast full of guests.

“Buying a bed
and breakfast just seems like a rather surprising thing to do, that’s all,”
Janet said after a moment.

“So?
 
Let’s be impulsive for once,” Joan
replied.

Janet stared
at her sister for a long time.
 
“I
can’t believe you just said that.”

“No, I can’t
quite believe it myself.”

The sisters
talked for some considerable time about the proposed move.
 
Janet had always like their little
cottage, but
Doveby
House was much larger and would
be far more comfortable.
 
The chance
to have her own en-suite was enough to tempt her away from their current
home.
 
She was tired of sharing
their single bathroom with her sister.

“How did you
even come to find out about
Doveby
House?” she asked
Joan.

“I was in town
the other day and I walked past the estate agency on the high street,” Joan
replied.
 
“I always glance in their
windows to see if there’s anything interesting on the market.
 
Doveby
House
was in the
centre
of the commercial property section,
looking exactly like something out of a BBC drama about village life.”

“Or an Agatha
Christie mystery,” Janet interjected.

“Exactly, it’s
the perfect seventeenth-century manor house and it’s within our budget.
 
I couldn’t resist having a look at it.”

“I’m still not
sure about actually running it as a bed and breakfast,” Janet said with a
frown.

“I suppose we
wouldn’t have to,” Joan replied.
 
“Although I think it would be fun and interesting.
 
I would much rather run it as a bed and
tea, though, if such things existed.
 
I hate getting up early in the morning, even though I love to cook and
bake.
 
I’d be much happier fixing a
fancy tea for our guests every afternoon than making them breakfast.”

Janet
laughed.
 
“We could advertise it as
the world’s first bed and tea establishment and see how many guests we get,”
she suggested.

“Let’s start
by putting in an offer,” Joan replied.
 
“We’ll worry about the finer details later.
 
I’m more than a little worried about the
previous owner’s son.”

“I’m more
concerned about the ghost,” Janet said.
 
“I can’t believe you didn’t ask Stuart about the ghost.”

Chapter
Three

After some
additional discussions, the pair agreed to put in a rather low offer on
Doveby
House.
 
While they waited to hear back about that, they asked Henry to give them
another tour of the property.
 
Janet
was determined to find time to chat with Stuart Long this time around.

“But what’s
going on?” Joan asked as she pulled into the car park at
Doveby
House the next morning.

Henry was
standing on the small front garden.
 
He was waving his arms and seemed to be shouting at a large man whose
back was to the car park.
 
Joan and
Janet were quickly out of the car.

“You had your
day in court,” Henry was saying.
 
“If you want access to the property, you’ll have to contact the
Doveby
Trust.
 
They own it now, at least until these ladies buy it.”
 
He gestured towards the Markham sisters,
who were approaching cautiously.

The man who
turned to face them was scowling.
 
He
looked to be in his forties and was of medium height and nearly as wide as he
was tall.
 
He seemed to be made of
solid muscle and Janet found her steps faltering as he glared at her.
 
His jet-black hair seemed to match his
eyes.
 
She noticed that his fists
were clenched as she stopped and grabbed her sister’s arm.

“You aren’t
buying me mum’s house,” the man told them.
 
“You’ve no right.”

“They’ve every
right, I think you’ll find,” Henry said, his voice only quavering slightly as
the man glanced back at him.
 
“The
courts have already decided the case.
 
Doveby
Trust owns the property and they’ve
just accepted an offer from these two ladies.”

Janet and Joan
exchanged glances.
 
While she was
glad to hear that their offer had been accepted, Janet couldn’t help but wish
she’d been told under different circumstances.

The man drew a
deep breath and then smiled tightly.
 
“Look, ladies, I don’t mean to argue with anyone,” he said.
 
“I’m Gavin Appleton, Margaret’s
son.
 
Here’s the thing.
 
My mother left some very personal things
in that house.
 
Things she meant for
me to have.
 
All I want is a chance
to go in and get them.
 
I only need
five minutes, maybe ten, and then I’ll be out of your way forever.
 
What do you say?”

“The property
isn’t ours yet,” Joan answered in a firm voice.
 
“I’m sure if you contact
Doveby
Trust they’ll be able to make those arrangements for
you.”

“Except they
won’t,” the man said.
 
He shook his
head.
 
“I’ll admit I may have
shouted at the woman in charge a little bit.
 
It was such a
shock,
mum leaving the property to them and not me.
 
But that doesn’t excuse my
behaviour
,
I’ll admit that now.
 
Anyway,
they’ve made it clear that I’m not welcome at their offices and they certainly
won’t let me in the house.”

“Yes, well,
I’m sorry to hear that, but it really doesn’t concern us,” Joan told him.
 
Janet hid a smile as she saw her sister
give the man her very best serious teacher look.
 
Stronger men than this one had backed
down from that.
 

“Once you’ve
purchased the property, you’ll let me have a minute, won’t you?” he said plaintively.
 
“It’s just that mum died so suddenly,
you see.
 
She meant to give me some
things and she never had the time.”

The catch in
his voice might have impressed Janet if she hadn’t noticed how keenly he was
watching to gauge their reaction to it.
 

The sound of a
car door shutting had them all turning towards the car park.
 
The man walking away from the police car
had an amused look on his face.
 
He
didn’t look much older than eighteen, with short brown hair and hazel
eyes.
 
He was tall and looked physically
fit, but Janet couldn’t help but think that Gavin could knock him out with a
single punch.

“Now Gavin, I
thought we’d agreed that you’d stay away from
Doveby
House,” he said when he reached the small group.

“Aye, we did
at that,” the man replied, looking down at the ground.
 
“I just want my things.”

“Yes, but the
courts have decided that they aren’t yours.
 
Everything in your mother’s house was
given to the trust and it’s their right to do what they like with it,” the
policeman replied.

“That don’t
make it right,” the other man snapped.

“He has my
keys,” Henry said in an angry voice.
 
“He must have locked us in the coach house yesterday and stolen them.”

“Gavin, do you
have Mr.
Fitzsimmon’s
keys?” the policeman asked.

“I found
them,” Gavin told him, reaching into his pocket.
 
“I was just walking through the garden,
looking at the house, and I tripped over them.”

“You stole
them yesterday,” Henry accused him.

“If I stole
them yesterday, I’d have let myself in last night and found what I’m looking
for,” Gavin shot back.

“Perhaps you
could give us a list of the things you’re after.
 
If we come across them, we could get
them to you,” Janet found herself offering.

“Nah, never
mind,” the man said, turning away.

“Now Gavin,”
the policeman said in a stern voice.
 
“The lady made you a good offer.
 
Why don’t you tell her what you’re so desperate to get your hands on and
see if she can find it for you?”

“Ah, it was
just letters and stuff,” the man said with a shrug.
 
“It doesn’t much matter, I guess.”

“Give the lady
your contact details,” the policeman suggested.
 
“If they find any letters with your name
on them, they can send them to you.”

The man
hesitated for a moment and then shrugged again.
 
He reached into a pocket and pulled out
a business card, turning it over in his hand and then handing it to Janet.
 

She read it
slowly.
 
“Gavin Appleton,
Doveby
Dale Garage.”

“If your car
needs fixing, stop by,” he told her.
 
Then he turned on his heel and stomped off towards the car park before
anyone else spoke.

The policeman
sighed as they watched him drive away.
 

“Sorry about
that,” he said to Henry and the sisters as Gavin’s new sedan disappeared in the
distance.
 
“He’s not supposed to be
coming here, but he doesn’t seem to want to listen.”

“I found him
trying to get the front door open,” Henry told him.
 
“He had my keys.
 
The ones that went missing yesterday.”

“I have to
believe that he’d already have been through the house if he’d found them
yesterday,” the policeman said.
 
“He
may well have really just tripped over them this morning.”

“What’s he
after?” Janet asked.

Both men
shrugged.
 
“It certainly isn’t
letters,” the policeman told her.
 
“I’m Robert Parsons, by the way.
 
I’m the village constable, but I’m only here part of the time, as I also
cover the next village.
 
Usually one
constable is more than enough between the two places, but Gavin is making me
work hard at the moment.”

The sisters
introduced themselves.

“Well, ladies,
it’s nice to meet you, and welcome to
Doveby
Dale.
 
I hope this is the last I
ever see of you,” Robert said, smiling.

“Indeed,” Joan
said crisply.
 
“I can’t imagine us
needing a police constable in the future.”

“I’ll just
give you my card, in case you are bothered by Mr. Appleton any further.”

The sisters
each took one of his cards before he headed back towards his car.
 

“Sorry about
that,” Henry said as they turned to look at him.
 
“I believe I mentioned yesterday that
there were some difficulties with the previous owner’s son.”

“You did,” Joan
said.
 
“I do hope it’s all sorted
now.
 
Did you say our offer has been
accepted?”

“It has,” the
man confirmed.

Janet and Joan
exchanged glances.
 
They hadn’t
really been expecting the trust to agree to their low offer.
 
They’d thought that reaching an agreement
would take rather more time.
 
Now it
seemed as if they were about to own a bed and breakfast, ready or not.

They took
their time going back through the property.
 
Janet found herself seeing it with
different eyes, as they had now agreed to purchase it.
 
By the time she’d made two complete
circuits of the home, she was very happy with the decision she and Joan had
made.

“It’s just
about perfect,” she told Joan as they joined Henry in the conservatory.
 
“I think I love everything about it.”

“Yes, well,
we’ll need to do a great deal of painting and decorating,” Joan said.
 
“And we’ll have to recover some of the
furniture.”

“I love my
bedroom just the way it is,” Janet said.
 
“I don’t want to paint it or change any of the furniture.”

“We’ll have to
get rid of your current bedroom furniture, then,” Joan pointed out.

“Or we could
use it in one of the other bedrooms, where the furniture isn’t as nice,” Janet
said.
 
“Let’s not worry about that
for today.
 
I want another look in
the coach house and then I want to meet the
neighbours
.”

Henry let them
into the coach house and then remained outside while the two women had a quick
look around.

“What did you
want to see in here?” Joan asked after a moment.

“I don’t
know,” Janet admitted.
 
“I just felt
as if I wanted another look.”
 
They
both headed towards the open door just as the light went out.

Joan grabbed
Janet’s arm.
 
“I didn’t think that
single bulb was providing that much light,” she said as they both stood still
in the suddenly very dark room.

“No, it seemed
quite ineffectual until it went off,” Janet agreed.
 

The pair moved
cautiously towards the open door that seemed brightly lit compared to the
darkness within the space.
 
Janet
tripped once on a broken piece of furniture and Joan slipped on a piece of paper
that managed to get under her foot, but eventually the two made it more or less
unscathed to the door.

Henry was
sitting on a bench in the garden, talking on his phone, apparently unaware of
the situation.

“Did you turn
off the light?” Joan demanded of him when he jumped up.

“Turn off the
light?
 
In the
coach house?
 
Why would I do
that?
 
You were still in there.”

“Well, someone
turned it off,” Joan told him.
 

Henry walked
over to the door and found the light switch.
 
He pushed it and the bulb inside the
coach house flickered on again.

“I was sitting
right here the whole time,” he told the sisters.
 
“No one has been anywhere near that
door.”

Joan looked at
Janet and rolled her eyes.
 
Perhaps
young Henry was feeling bored and had turned off the light to hurry them along,
Janet thought.
 

“You can lock
everything up now,” Joan told the man.
 
“We’re just going to have a chat with the
neighbours
.”

“Did you want
me to come along?” Henry asked as he locked the door to the coach house.

“Of course
not,” Joan told him.

Doveby
House sat at the end of a very short road.
 
It branched off from a rather busier
road that came off of the main road through
Doveby
Dale.
 
There were a few houses
scattered along that busier road and quite a few along the main street.
 
Doveby
House,
itself, was almost alone on its short street.
 
Only a single semi-detached property sat
opposite it.

Joan and Janet
made their way to the semi and knocked on the door to house number one.
 
After a few moments, the door opened and
Janet found herself smiling at a rather handsome gentleman.
 
He appeared to be in his mid-sixties and
was only a few inches taller than the sisters.
 
His completely
bald
head
was covered in a smattering of freckles and his brown eyes were
warm.

“Ah, good
morning,” he said brightly.
 
“I take
it you’re the ladies who might be buying
Doveby
House?
 
Very kind of you to drop
by.”

“Yes,” Joan
answered for them.
 
“We’ve just had
our offer accepted.”