The Bennett Case (A Markham Sisters Cozy Mystery Book 2) (8 page)

“It’s fine,”
Janet agreed.
 
She wasn’t really
hungry.
 
Her mind was on too many
other things.

“I’ll make a
steak and kidney pie for later,” Joan said.
 
“Is Edward going to be joining us?”

“I don’t
know,” Janet snapped.
 
“He certainly
didn’t tell me his plans.”

Joan patted
her arm.
 
“Never mind.
 
I’ll make two pies so we’re sure to have
plenty.
 
If it’s just the two of us,
I can freeze the second one for a rainy day.”

After their
lunch, Joan got to work on the pies while Janet made her way back to the
library.
 
She spent several minutes
twisting and turning the dial on the wall safe that they’d discovered,
occasionally attempting to open the door.
 
It was a pointless exercise and she knew that, but she couldn’t stop
herself from trying.

The letters in
the desk seemed to be calling to her, teasing her and tempting her to read
them.
 
She felt a curious mix of
curiosity and dread whenever she thought about the letters from Edward.

They may not
even be from Edward Bennett, she told herself, as she headed towards the
desk.
 
Edward is a common name,
after all.
 
She sat down in the desk
chair and pulled open the bottom desk drawer.
 
The folders were right where she’d left
them, and she quickly found the one that she was looking for.
 

“Here goes
nothing,” she muttered to herself as she opened the folder.

Half an hour
later she shut the folder and pushed it away from her.
 
While the letters were less explicit
than she’d feared, it was clear from reading them that Edward and Maggie had
been
lovers
.
 
What she couldn’t be certain of was whether this Edward was Edward Bennett.
 
All of the letters were simply signed “Edward”
or even just “E,” which was no help.
 

They were
fairly short and said little more than how much Edward missed Maggie and what
he was planning to do with her when he saw her again.
 
If the author had deliberately tried to
avoid providing any information about
himself
, he
couldn’t have done a better job of it.

Already
feeling uncomfortable about reading someone else’s private correspondence,
Janet opened the next folder and read through some far more graphic notes from
someone called Simon.
 
There were
only a few of them, but the content left her blushing.
 
They also gave her a surprising amount
of information about Simon.
 
While
the letters weren’t long, Simon managed to mention his job (dentist), where he
lived (Bristol), and with whom he lived (his wife, who didn’t understand
him).
 

Janet felt
struck by the contrast between Simon’s correspondence and Edward’s.
 
She sighed and shook her head.
 
Maybe she was creating something from
nothing.
 
The Edward in the letters
might not be the Edward who was staying with them anyway.
 
She put all of the folders back in the
bottom desk drawer and stood up.
 
She’d be better off helping Joan fix dinner than sitting here snooping
through Maggie’s past.

Chapter
Eight

Joan already
had the pies in the oven, so Janet decided to curl up with a book for a short
while.
 
She felt unsettled and a bit
cross with the world.
 
By the time
Joan called her down from her room for dinner, she was feeling a bit more like
herself.
 
She’d lost herself in one
of her
favourite
classic detective stories and now
felt as if Sherlock Holmes would be most welcome at the moment.
 
No doubt he’d be able to open the
library safe and spot Peter Smith with no difficulty whatsoever.

When Janet
joined Joan in the kitchen, the two pies had just come out of the oven.

“They look
wonderful,” Janet said.
 
“And they
smell even better.”

“I am rather
pleased with them,” Joan admitted.
 
“The crust has browned quite nicely.
 
I wasn’t sure about this oven, but it
does a very nice job.”

“Something
certainly smells good,” a voice boomed from the front of the house.

The sisters
exchanged glances.
 
Edward had a key
to the front door, but the voice sounded like Michael’s, and he did not.
 
A moment later, all was revealed as
Edward, Michael and Leonard all appeared in the kitchen.

“I was coming
up the walk just as Michael was about to knock,” Edward explained.
 
“I figured I might as well let them in.”

Janet glanced
at Joan.
 
From the look on Joan’s
face, Edward’s decision hadn’t been a good one.

“Of course,”
Janet said loudly before her sister could speak.
 
“We’re always happy to see Michael.”

“And his
friends,” Joan added icily.
 
“I
thought you two had plans for today.”

“We changed
our minds,” Michael said.
 
“We
decided we’d rather stay closer to home.
 
I came over to see if you both wanted to join us for dinner.”

“As I’ve just
finished cooking, it’s a bit late for that,” Joan replied.

“I see that,”
Michael said.
 
“And I smell it as
well.
 
Those pies smell beautiful.”

“Thank you,”
Joan said shortly.

Janet could
tell that the compliment had done little to soften her sister’s annoyance with
the man.
 
Of course, the polite
thing to do would be to invite them all to stay for dinner, but Janet was
hesitant to upset her sister further.
 
She glanced at Joan and raised her eyebrows.
 
For a moment it seemed as if Joan was
going to pretend not to understand the unspoken question, but then Joan sighed
deeply.

“We’ve plenty
if everyone would like to stay for dinner,” she said in a grudging tone.

“Thank you
kindly,” Michael said.
 
“We’d love
to, wouldn’t we, Leonard?”
 
Leonard
grunted something that didn’t exactly convey enthusiasm.

“Am I invited
as well?” Edward asked, taking Janet’s hand to get her attention.

“As Joan said,
we have plenty,” Janet replied, pulling her hand away and ignoring the tiniest
bit of regret as she did so.

“You’d better
get yourselves settled in the dining room,” Joan said.
 
“Janet and I will serve.”

“I’ll help,”
Michael said.
 
“It’s the least I can
do.”

Joan opened
her mouth and then snapped it shut.
 
“In that case, Janet, you go and get everyone settled in the dining
room.
 
Michael and I will serve.”

Janet led
Edward and Leonard into the dining room.
 
Janet quickly laid the table with cutlery from the sideboard and then they
all took seats.
 
Leonard sat across
from Edward, who’d taken the chair next to Janet’s once she’d sat down.

“Maybe we
could go down to the pub for a drink after dinner?” Edward asked Janet.

“I think, after
this lovely meal, I’ll be too tired to go out,” Janet replied.
 
Determined to change the subject, she
smiled at Leonard.
 
“I do hope
you’re enjoying your visit with Michael,” she said brightly.

“It’s fine,”
he muttered.

“What have you
two been doing?” Janet asked.

“Not much,”
the man said with a shrug.
 
“I’m
here to get away from things at home.
 
I’m not much for sightseeing or whatever.”

“But there are
some lovely old castles and stately homes in the area,” Janet told him.
 
“You should at least visit Chatsworth
and Hardwick.”

Leonard
shrugged.
 
“I’m happier just keeping
to myself,” he said.

Janet was
trying to think of something else to discuss when the door to the kitchen swung
open and Michael entered with several plates full of food.
 
He put one down in the front of Janet
and then served Edward and Leonard before returning the kitchen.
 
Only a moment later he was back with
plates for himself and Joan.
 
Joan
followed with tea for everyone.

“I hope you
don’t mind.
 
It was easier to plate
everything in the kitchen,” Joan explained as she took her seat.
 
No one objected.

For several
minutes the room was mostly silent as everyone enjoyed the delicious pies.
 
Joan had added salad to each plate as
well, and Janet noticed that Edward was the only man who ate his.
 

As everyone
finished eating, Michael insisted that Joan remain seated while he cleared away
the dirty dishes.
 
He was back with
a plate of biscuits a moment later.
 
Janet tried to make conversation again as everyone sipped tea and nibbled
biscuits.

“That was very
good,” she told her sister.
 
“And
your lemon biscuits are the perfect final course.”

“Thank you,”
Joan replied.

“Everything
was wonderful,” Michael said, beaming.
 
He patted Joan’s hand.
 
“I’ll
take you somewhere for a meal to thank you properly one day soon.”

“We’ll see,”
Joan said, pulling her hand away.

Michael
frowned.
 
“Just as soon as Leonard
has gone, we’ll go to your
favourite
place,” he said
firmly.

“Thanks,”
Leonard muttered.

Michael shook
his head.
 
“You know what I meant.”

“I did, and
I’m sorry if I’m in the way,” Leonard replied.
 
“You know things are, well, difficult,
right now.
 
I’m sure I won’t have to
hide up here forever, though.
 
Just
a few more days, I hope.”

Michael
nodded.
 
“You’re welcome for as long
as you need to stay,” he told his friend.

“Ta,” Leonard
said before he piled another six biscuits on his plate.

“Joan, I hope
I’m welcome a little bit longer, as well,” Edward said now, with a smile.
 
“My plans changed rather suddenly and
I’d like to stay a few more nights.”

“Of course you
can,” Joan said.
 
“You’re more than
welcome.”

An awkward
silence followed Joan’s pronouncement until Janet couldn’t take it any more.

“I’ll just get
started on the washing up,” she announced, getting to her feet.
 
“No, you visit with our guests,” she
told her sister.
 
“You’ve done all
the hard work so far today.”

“And I’ve done
nothing but eat,” Edward said with a chuckle.
 
“I’ll give you a hand,” he told Janet.

Janet frowned
to herself as she carried her biscuit plate into the kitchen.
 
She was trying to avoid Edward.

In the
kitchen, the pair soon had the dishwasher loaded up and ready to go once the
final pudding plates had been added.
 

“I wonder what
or who Leonard is hiding from,” Edward remarked as Janet began hand-washing the
pie tins.

“What do you
mean?”

“He said
something about not hiding up here forever.
 
I just wondered what happened that he
needs to hide at all.”

Janet
shrugged.
 
“Maybe he forgot his
wife’s birthday,” she suggested.
 
She’d been thinking the exact same thing, but she didn’t want Edward to
know it.
 
The last thing she wanted
to discuss with Edward was the missing conman, since it was still quite
possible Edward himself was the man in question.

The pie tins
didn’t take long to wash, but by the time she’d finished them Joan had brought
in the rest of the dishes.
 

“Leonard and
Michael have gone,” she told Janet.
 
“Michael did mention that he might stop over later tonight, though.
 
Apparently there’s something on the
telly
that Leonard never misses, so Michael might just
leave him to it and come over for a
cuppa
while it’s
on.”

Janet smiled at
her sister, who was clearly in a better mood.
 
“Hopefully Leonard will be heading home
soon,” she said to Joan.

“Indeed,” Joan
murmured.

Joan set the
dishwasher running and the trio walked out of the kitchen and into the sitting
room.

“It’s too a
nice an evening to stay inside,” Edward said.
 
“Let’s take ourselves down to the pub or
something.”

“I have a few
things I need to do around here, and then Michael might be stopping by,” Joan
said.
 
“You two go, though.”

A knock on the
door interrupted Janet’s flustered attempts to get out of the trip.
 
She rushed over and threw the door open.

“Mr.
Chalmers?
 
What can we do for you?”
she asked, surprised to see the man back on their doorstep.

“I was just
visited by a police constable,” the man said angrily.
 
“What do you mean sending the police to
my store?
 
He asked all sorts of
incredibly prying questions.”

“We didn’t
send the police to your shop,” Janet said firmly.

“As you’re the
only people I’ve spoken to about my new business, it must have been you,” the
man retorted.
 
“This constable
person knew far too much about me.
 
You must have told him everything I said when I was here.”

“Do you have
something to hide?” Edward asked, coming up behind Janet.

“Who are you?”

“I can’t see
why that’s any of your business,” Edward said smoothly.
 
“But the name is Edward Bennett.
 
And you are?”

“William
Chalmers,” the other man replied.
 
“In
answer to your question, I’ve nothing to hide, but I also don’t want everyone
in town talking about my new business.
 
Not yet, anyway.
 
It’s going
to take some time to get everything arranged exactly right before I can open.
 
If another, similar shop were to open
between now and then, it would be catastrophic.”

“Perhaps you
shouldn’t be going around telling people about it, then,” Edward suggested
mildly.

“I’m not,”
William replied hotly.
 
“I told two
people.
 
I certainly didn’t expect
them to call the police about it.”

“We didn’t
call the police,” Janet protested.
 
“Constable Parsons was here to see us about something else and we
happened to mention your visit, that’s all.
 
We certainly didn’t send him to question
you and we haven’t mentioned you at all to anyone else.”

“Yes, well,
see that you don’t talk about me,” the man said haughtily.
 
He turned on his heel and stomped back
down the steps.
 
Edward and Janet
watched him walk to the small car park and climb into a fairly new estate
car.
 

Janet winced
as the man accelerated out of the car park at high speed.
 
He turned onto the main
road,
nearly striking a car that was coming towards him.
 
Janet shook her head and then shut the
door.

“What an
unpleasant man,” she said.

“Another man
who’s hiding something,” Edward commented.
 
“Or hiding from someone.
 
He
was very upset that the police came to speak to him.”

“I almost wish
we had sent Robert Parsons to see him,” Janet remarked.
 
“I do hope he doesn’t come back again.”

“Don’t let him
in,” Edward said sternly.
 
“I don’t
trust him.”

And I don’t
trust you, Janet thought sadly.
 

A ringing
noise startled them all.
 

“My mobile,”
Edward explained as he reached into a pocket.
 
He disappeared down the corridor with
his phone in hand.
 
A few moments
later he was back.

“Sorry, we’ll
have to do the pub another day,” he told Janet as he headed for the door.
 
“Something’s come up rather suddenly.”

He was out the
door and down the steps before Janet could reply.

“Well, that
was rude,”
Joan
said as Janet shut the door behind
Edward.

“It was,
wasn’t it?” Janet said thoughtfully.
 
“He keeps pointing out how other people are hiding things and then he
behaves mysteriously himself.”