The Donaldson Case (6 page)

“But we need
him to tell us where to find all of the suspects,” Janet pointed out.

“Maybe we can
find a way to get the information from him without him suspecting what we’re up
to,” Joan said.

Janet couldn’t
imagine how they’d manage that, but she didn’t voice her doubts to her
sister.
 
Joan was obviously finding
the whole thing very stressful.
 
The
scorched soup at lunch proved that.
 
Janet didn’t want to do anything to add to her sister’s upset.

Joan tried
Michael’s number a dozen more times during the afternoon, but with no luck.

“You don’t
suppose he’s been arrested?” she demanded eventually.

“We’ll have to
ask Robert that when he’s here,” Janet replied.

Only a few
minutes later, Robert rang them.
 
“I’m awfully sorry, but I’m not going to be able to come and see you
this afternoon,” he told Janet.
 
“I’m just too busy.
 
I’ll
stop and see you soon, though.”

“What’s he so
busy doing?” Joan asked when Janet repeated the conversation.

“Let’s go and
visit the police station and see if we can find out,” Janet suggested.

Joan turned
pale for a moment and then smiled.
 
“We can visit with Susan and pay her for the blankets that you and I
bought.”
 

The sisters
had agreed to try to sell some of the woman’s knitted creations at
Doveby
House, but aside from buying a blanket each for
themselves, they hadn’t sold anything yet.

“Exactly,”
Janet replied.
 
“And see if she
knows anything.”

Janet drove
again, parking right outside the tiny police station.
 
She took a deep breath of crisp autumn
air before walking into the former cottage that made her feel quite
claustrophobic.
 

“Good
afternoon, ladies,” Susan said from her usual post behind the small reception
desk.
 
She was, as ever, knitting
something.
 

“Good
afternoon,” Janet replied.

“We’ve brought
you payments for the blankets that Janet and I bought,” Joan told her.

“I was hoping
you’d sold out by now,” Susan said with a laugh.

“We haven’t
really had very many guests,” Joan replied in an apologetic tone.
 
“We’re still quite new to the whole bed
and breakfast thing.
 
If you’d
rather have your things back, we’ll return them.
 
I don’t know how much we’ll sell,
especially as we’re only taking a booking here and there.”

“Oh, goodness,
no,” Susan said.
 
“You keep what you
have.
 
I’ve been working up a storm
since then and I’ll soon have as much again.
 
There was a sale on knitting wool, you
see, so I stocked up.”

Janet
laughed.
 
“We have guests arriving
on Monday,” she told the woman.
 
“We’ll do our best to get them to buy something.”

“Thank you for
this,” Susan said, taking the money from Joan.
 
“I suppose I should put it away for a
rainy day, but I suspect I’ll soon be back at the shop buying up more wool.”

“We tried to
stop at the chemist earlier,” Janet said, trying to sound casual.
  
“I don’t suppose you know why it’s
shut?”

Susan
smiled.
 
“Owen, that’s the chemist,
had some surgery a while back. I gather they’re having trouble finding someone
to fill in on a regular basis, so the head office just decided to shut for a
few days until they can sort it out.”

“Really?”
Janet asked, surprised by the story she knew wasn’t totally true.

“Well, that’s
what I was told,” Susan replied.

“We should ask
Michael,” Janet said, keeping her tone thoughtful.
 
She watched the other woman’s face,
wondering if the man’s name would spark a reaction.

Susan
shrugged.
 
“I know he fills in
sometimes.
 
It was such a nice
little shop when he had it, you know.
 
It just isn’t the same now it’s part of that chain.”

The sisters
both nodded.

“Well, thank
you for your time,” Janet said, feeling discouraged.
 

“Stop by any
time,” Susan replied with a laugh.
 
“I’m always here, and always knitting.”

The sisters
were silent on their way back to
Doveby
House.
 
Janet was trying to come up with a plan,
and she knew her sister was fretting.

Chapter
Six

Back at home,
Janet was delighted to see Michael’s car parked in front of his house.

“Michael’s
back,” she said happily.

“I’ll just
ring him and see if he wants to come over early,” Joan replied.

Janet went
into the kitchen to put the kettle on while Joan was on the phone.
 
A moment later her sister joined her.

“He’ll be here
at six,” she told Janet.
 
“Although
he took a lot of persuading.
 
He’s
very upset about this whole thing.”

“I don’t blame
him,” Janet replied.
 
“You’ll have
to try to cheer him up over dinner.”

“I wish you
weren’t going out tonight,” Joan said.

Janet went
into the sitting room and played through the messages on their answering
machine and then laughed.
 
“Your
wish just came true,” she told Joan when she rejoined her in the kitchen.
 
“My meeting has been cancelled.
 
Nancy has the flu.”

Joan smiled
slightly.
 
“I’m sorry for you, but
pleased for me,” she said quietly.

Considering
her sister’s current mood, Janet decided it was the perfect night for her to
help out with dinner. They kept it simple and Janet watched carefully and
kept pots turned up or down as needed, so that by the time Michael
arrived the food was ready and nothing was
spoiled.

“I’m not
really in the mood for company tonight,” Michael said as a greeting.
 
“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be
sorry,” Janet said.
 
“You’re worried
about the mess at the shop.
 
That’s
totally understandable.”

“I’m trying to
put it out of my mind,” Michael said sadly.
 
“But I’m failing miserably.”

“So let’s talk
about it over dinner and see if we can’t work anything out,” Janet said.

Joan gave her
an angry look, but Janet ignored it.
 
She knew Joan didn’t want Michael to know they were investigating, but
they couldn’t do much of anything without some help from the man.

“I’d rather
talk about just about anything but the shop,” Michael said.

“I think
everything is ready,” Joan interrupted.
 
“Let’s eat.”

“You two sit
down and I’ll serve,” Janet said firmly.
 
Joan looked as if she might argue, but after a moment she sank down onto
one of the chairs at the small kitchen table.
 
Michael sat down next to her and sighed.

“Let me open a
bottle of wine,” Janet suggested.

While none of
the three drank often, wine sounded like exactly when they needed tonight.
 
Janet dug a bottle of red out of the
small cupboard in the corner and opened it quickly.
 
She poured and served the wine before
passing around a large bowl of salad.
 

The
conversation felt stilted at first, but gradually everyone began to relax.
 
Janet mentioned a television
programme
she’d seen a few nights earlier and the trio
settled into a chat about the quality, or lack thereof, of television these
days.
 
Janet served generous
portions while the conversation ebbed and flowed and the wine disappeared.

“I didn’t make
a pudding,” Joan said as Janet cleared the dinner plates.

“We can have
ice cream,” Janet suggested.
 
“There
are a few different types in the freezer.”

“Ice cream
sounds good,” Michael agreed easily.
 
“Do you have chocolate?”

“Chocolate or
chocolate with chocolate chips,” Janet answered.
 
“I love ice cream,” she added as he
considered the choices.
 
“There’s
mint chip as well, and vanilla.”

“Just plain
chocolate is fine with me,” he said with a smile.
 
“And not too much, as I ate an awful lot
of dinner.”

Janet spooned
several scoops of ice cream into a bowl for him, fixing herself a bowl of mint
chip and then putting a single scoop of vanilla into another bowl for her
sister.

“Thanks,” Joan
mumbled as she took the bowl and the spoon Janet offered.

“Shall I open
another bottle of wine?” Janet asked as she topped up Michael’s glass with the
last of the first bottle.

“I don’t think
so,” Joan said.
 
“I think we’ve had
enough.”

“Joan’s
right,” Michael said with a grin.
 
“This ice cream will finish me off nicely and then I’ll be ready for
bed.”

“We were
thinking of making a trip into Derby on Sunday,” Janet said, trying to sound
offhand.
 
“Is Owen still in hospital
there?”

“He is,”
Michael confirmed.
 
“Why?”

“I thought we
might stop by and see how he’s doing,” Janet said with a shrug.
 
“He always seemed like such a nice man
and I thought you said once that he hasn’t any family here.”

“He doesn’t,”
Michael agreed.
 
“He married quite
young, but his wife died only a few years later.
 
They never had children and he never
remarried.
 
I don’t suppose he’s had
any visitors, aside from the police, of course.”

Joan flinched
when Michael said the word ‘police,’ but Janet ignored it.
 
“So he might be quite happy to see us,”
she said.
 
“It seems like something
we should do for our local business colleague.”

“I suppose
so,” Michael said, but he looked doubtful.

“In the
meantime,” Janet pressed on, “I’m out of a few things and the local shop is
shut.
 
Where is the next closest
chemist shop?”

“There’s a
lovely little shop in Little Burton,” Michael told her.
 
“Ethan Bailey is actually working there
at the moment, covering for their regular man who’s taken an extended holiday.”

“We’ll have to
try to get there tomorrow,” Janet said, almost to herself.
 
“I’m nearly out of headache tablets.”

“If you can
wait, George Hawkins is covering at a shop in Derby.
 
You could get your tablets when you go
to visit Owen,” Michael said.

“I’ll just
write down the details for both shops and we’ll see how we get on,” Janet
said.
 
Michael gave her the names
and addresses for the two shops and Janet wrote them down.

“I suppose I
should get home,” Michael said after he’d eaten the last of his ice cream.
 

“Why don’t you
two watch a bit of
telly
together,” Janet suggested.
 
“I’m going to have an early night.”

She headed up
the stairs before either her sister or Michael could object.
 
From the way the conversation had gone,
Janet felt sure that Michael knew exactly what she and Joan were up to, and she
didn’t trust herself to keep quiet about their intentions if she spent any more
time with the man.
 
In her room, she
curled up with a book and read until she was tired enough to sleep.
 

The sisters
spent most
of
Friday cleaning and tidying
Doveby
House for their guests.
 
Janet didn’t ask Joan what she and
Michael had discussed the previous night.
 
She assumed that Joan would share what she felt she should.
 
By the time they sat down to their
evening meal, the house was just about ready.

“I think we’ve
earned a day off tomorrow,” Joan said as they put their dinner dishes into the
dishwasher.
 

“Let’s drive
up to Little Burton and see what Ethan Bailey has to say for himself,” Janet
said.

“That’s
exactly what I was thinking,” Joan agreed.
 

The weather
was cool but dry as the sisters left
Doveby
House the
next morning.
 
Little Burton was
only a short drive away, but they’d decided to make a day of it and explore not
only the chemist shop, but also the other shops the small village offered.

Janet drove,
easily finding a parking space in the small village
centre
car park when they arrived.

“I wonder if
they have any shops that might have artwork by local artists,” Joan said as
they walked along the short shopping street.

“This looks
like the best bet for that,” Janet remarked.
 
She was looking into the window of a
small antique and collectables shop.

Janet reached
to open the door, but it was locked.
 
“They aren’t open,” she said in surprise.

“On a
Saturday?” Joan said.
 
“Are we too
early?”

Janet read the
sign on the door.
 
“Apparently they
are only open regularly in the summer months.
 
If we want to shop, we’ll have to book
an appointment.”

Joan shook her
head.
 
“That seems a strange way to
do business,” she said.
 
“But what
do I know?”

There were
only a few other shops to explore and the sisters soon felt as if they’d
exhausted pretty much everything that Little Burton had to offer, aside from
the shop they’d come to visit.

“I suppose we
should visit the chemist shop, then,” Joan said as they stood at the far end of
the street, opposite the shop in question.

“There’s a
bank,” Janet said, pointing down a side street.
 
“Let’s try that first.”

The girl
behind the desk at the bank was very kind, but she was certain that the key
they’d found wasn’t from one of their boxes.
 
“Ours are only three digit numbers, as
well, even if the key did look like one of ours, which it doesn’t,” she said.

With nothing else
left to do, the sisters headed in to see Ethan.

“Ah, good
morning,” the man behind the counter told them.
 

Janet looked
at him for a long minute.
 
She could
instantly see what Michael had meant.
 
The man had no distinguishing characteristics.
 
He had brown hair and brown eyes and he
looked like just about every middle-aged man she’d ever met.
 

“I’ve run out
of headache tablets,” she said now.

Ethan walked
her over to the display and talked her through the various choices.
 
When Janet finally settled on her usual
brand, he led her back to the counter.

“We usually
shop in
Doveby
Dale,” Janet said as he pushed buttons
on his till.
 
“But that shop is shut
at the moment.”

“I’d heard
that,” he muttered.
 
“Some problem
with staffing, I think.”

“That’s a
shame,” Janet said, digging around in her purse for exact change.
 
“The chemist there always seems so
nice.
 
I do hope he’s okay.”

“Oh, I’m sure
Owen,
er
, Mr. Carter, will be just fine.
 
He’s had a few health problems,
that’s
all.
 
He’ll soon be back, I reckon,” he replied.

Janet took her
bag and smiled brightly.
 
She
couldn’t think of anything else to ask, so she turned and walked out of the
shop with Joan following.

“We didn’t
learn anything,” she complained to Joan when they reached the car.
 
“I’m terrible at this.
 
I couldn’t work out what to ask.”

“You did better
than I did,” Joan told her.
 
“I
didn’t say a word the whole time.”

“We’ll have to
work out what we want to ask George and Owen before we see them,” Janet said as
they began their drive home.
 

“I thought we
were going to have lunch in Little Burton,” Joan said a moment later.

Janet
laughed.
 
“I forgot,” she
exclaimed.
 
“But I’m sure there will
be a pub or something between here and home.”

Joan muttered
something under her breath, but Janet ignored it.
 
She knew her sister didn’t really like
eating in pubs, but Janet preferred them to the little
tea
rooms
that Joan
favoured
.
 
She’d genuinely forgotten about their
plans to have lunch in Little Burton, but she wasn’t sorry if it meant a nice
pub lunch rather than sandwiches at a
tea shop
in
Little Burton.

Even with
their pub lunch, they were back at
Doveby
House
before they’d expected to be.
 
“I
suppose we should finish getting the house ready if we’re going into Derby
tomorrow,” Joan said as Janet parked the car.

“I suppose,”
Janet said without enthusiasm.
 

“What shall we
do for lunch tomorrow?” Joan asked.
 
“I’m not sure I want to eat in another pub.”

“Maybe we
could try that American chain that just opened a branch in Derby,” Janet
suggested.
 
“I understand the
restaurant is quite near the hospital.”

Joan looked as
if she might object, but then she smiled
 
“If that’s what sounds good to you, then I suggest we go there,” she
said.
 
“It’s the least I can do for
you since you’re snooping on Michael’s behalf.”

Janet
grinned.
 
She wasn’t going to argue
with Joan, not when Joan was going out of her way to be agreeable.