Free The Chalmers Case by Diana Xarissa Page A

single thought, but I appreciate your telling me that to make me
feel better.”
    Janet
grinned.   Her sister knew her too
well.   She’d never thought about the
bedside lamps that were already in her almost perfect bedroom when they bought
the fully furnished house, but if she had thought about them, she would have
felt bad that Joan didn’t have a similar set.
    “I hope you
aren’t too sad about that painting,” Joan said.   “Maybe, if we can keep the guest rooms
filled for a few months, you can buy it in the new year.”
    “Maybe,” Janet
said with a shrug.   “I’m not going
to lose sleep over it.   There’s just
something about it that I like, that’s all.”
    “I know. You
visited it twice in ten minutes,” Joan teased.
    “I went back
the second time to see what our guests were up to back there,” Janet
countered.   “And they weren’t even
there.”
    “What do you
mean?   Where else could they have
gone?”
    “Harold was
there, on his phone, but the other three weren’t in the back.   Harold tried to make excuses, but after
a moment they came out of the storage room.   You know, the one where I saw all those
half-finished canvases.”
    “So maybe they
were looking at something back there,” Joan said.
    “Or maybe
they’re all part of the art forgery scheme,” Janet said excitedly.
    “You must stop
reading crime fiction,” Joan tutted .
    “Edward rang
last night,” Janet said as casually as she could.   “He was quite interested in hearing all
about our guests.”
    “Which
suggests that he’s quite interested in what’s happening in your life,” Joan
said.   “I hope you aren’t suggesting
that he suspects them of something criminal?”
    Janet flushed
and looked out the car window.   “I
don’t know,” she said after a moment.   “You have to admit you can see Harold and Mildred being mixed up in
something unpleasant.”
    “Just because
I don’t like them doesn’t mean I think they’re criminals,” Joan said
firmly.   “I don’t like William
Chalmers, either.”
    “And I’m just
as suspicious of him,” Janet exclaimed.   “Remember how upset he was when he thought we’d sent the police to talk
to him?”
    Joan
nodded.   “I do, but that doesn’t
prove anything.   Robert Parsons will
have investigated him thoroughly, I’m sure, after that.   You just have an overactive
imagination.”
    Janet
laughed.   “I’ve been accused of
worse,” she told her sister.
    After a
moment, Joan laughed as well.   “Anyway, whatever you think of our guests, you must treat them nicely,”
she said.
    “I will,”
Janet promised.
    “And no
snooping,” Joan added.
    As they were
just pulling into the parking area in front of Doveby House, Janet was saved from replying, which was fortunate, as she had every
intention of snooping if she got the opportunity.
    Joan opened
the boot of the car and was pulling the box out of it while Janet headed toward
their door.
    “Let me help,”
a voice shouted from across the road.  
    Janet smiled
as Michael Donaldson, their other across the street neighbour , rushed across to help Joan.   He had been rather busy filling in as a
chemist in a shop in Derby for the last week, and Janet knew her sister had
missed the man.
    Joan had never
dated when she was younger, while Janet had dated a great deal, but had never
become very serious about any one man.   Now Janet was enjoying watching her sister taking baby steps into her
first relationship.   Michael seemed
like a genuinely nice man and Janet couldn’t have been any happier for
Joan.   Now she opened the door for
him as he carried Joan’s box into the house.
    “Where would
you like it?” he asked Joan.
    “Oh, just put
it in my sitting room,” Joan replied.   “I’ll come and unlock the door.”
    “You’ve taken
to locking your room?” Michael asked.
    “We have
guests,” Joan told him.  
    “I’ve missed
rather a lot, then, haven’t I?”
    “You have,”
Joan