“I hope you weren’t waiting up for me,” he said, his speech slightly slurred. “We didn’t mean to be out this late.”
Janet glanced at the clock and then looked back at Reuben. “It isn’t that late,” she said. Edward had been right behind Reuben. He shut and locked the door and then caught Janet’s eye and shook his head very slightly.
Reuben grinned at her. “You should have come with us. You’re probably fun after you’ve had a few drinks. You’d be just about perfect for Edward, here, wouldn’t she?” he asked Edward.
“You may be right about that,” Edward replied, grinning at Janet.
“Come out with us next time,” Reuben suggested. “Maybe, if you distract Edward, I can have some fun, too.”
“It sounds as if you had a good deal of fun anyway,” Janet remarked.
“Nah, I just had a good deal to drink. It wasn’t that much fun. What I really want to do is find a club and go dancing. I want to enjoy my freedom while I can, you know?”
Janet shivered. Was it possible that the man truly had escaped from prison? “I’m afraid I don’t know anything about clubs in the area.”
“I don’t think there are any,” Reuben sighed. “We’d have to go to Derby, and Edward doesn’t like that idea.”
“Maybe tomorrow,” Edward said. “You have to ring someone tonight.”
“I was hoping you’d forgotten about that.”
“I haven’t.”
“Is it time?”
“It will be soon.”
Reuben nodded and then dropped heavily into a chair. “So what did you do all day?” he asked Janet. “Tell me all about your life. If you and Edward are going to get together, we need to know more about you.”
Janet frowned and looked at Edward, but he’d suddenly taken an interest in his shoes. “I spent the morning talking to the police,” Janet told Reuben, hoping for a reaction. The one she got wasn’t the one she was expecting.
Reuben began to laugh. “The police? Why? I can’t believe you’ve done anything wrong.”
“There was a break-in at a property near here last night,” Janet explained, watching Reuben closely to see if he’d react to her words.
“How near?” Edward asked.
“On the next street over,” Janet explained, pointing in approximately the right direction.
Edward nodded and looked relieved. Janet had forgotten that Edward knew both Stuart and Michael. It was nice to think that he was worried about her friends.
“What was taken? Anything interesting?” Reuben asked.
“A painting. Apparently it was quite valuable.”
Reuben made a face. “I don’t know anything about art,” he said, sounding proud of his ignorance.
“The police think that the homeowners may have left a window open, or at least unlocked, on their ground floor. Joan and I have checked all of the windows here and they’re all locked now. If you do open a window anywhere in the house, please make sure that you shut and lock it before you leave the room,” Janet said.
Reuben looked at Edward. “You’re going to have to remind me, although I very rarely open windows, especially in January. Why did the homeowners have a window open? It’s cold out there.”
“Apparently they were having some work done on their kitchen and wanted to get rid of the smell of fresh paint,” Janet explained.
“I hope the police are taking a good look at the kitchen fitters,” Reuben said. “When I had my last flat painted, the guy who painted it stole a thousand euros out of my wallet.”
“How horrible,” Janet exclaimed.
Reuben shrugged. “Most painters and decorators are hardworking, honest people, but if I were with the police, I’d still start with the kitchen fitters.”
“I’m sure the local constable knows what he’s doing,” Janet said.
As Michael and Joan walked into the room, Janet wondered if her sister had told Michael to pretend that he didn’t know Edward. She was sure she could see recognition on Michael’s face as his eyes met Edward’s.
“Good evening,” Edward said. “I’m Edward Bennett and this is my friend, Reuben Rhodes. I hope you aren’t the police constable we were just discussing, back with more questions.”
Michael looked confused and then shook his head. “I’m not with the police. I’m just Joan’s, well, her friend.”
Joan blushed. “I told you we had guests,” she said to Michael. “Mr. Bennett and Mr. Rhodes are here for the week.”
“It’s nice to meet you both,” Michael said. “I’m going into the village early tomorrow morning to help Owen with his inventory, so I’m having an early night. Good night, all.”
Joan walked the man to the door, where they said awkward goodbyes while everyone else watched.
“What time would you like breakfast tomorrow?” she asked Edward after she’d locked up behind Michael.
“Eight,” Edward said. “We’ll both be down for breakfast at eight.”
“That’s a bit early,” Reuben complained.
“Nevertheless, you will be ready for breakfast at eight,” Edward said firmly. “Now, however, I believe it’s time for you to ring someone.”
Reuben frowned and then got to his feet. “I enjoyed our chat,” he told Janet. “I meant what I said. You and Edward should get together.” He turned and headed for the stairs, weaving back and forth slightly as he went.
“I’m going to have to go with him and probably stay with him for a while,” Edward said to Janet in a low voice. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
Edward had to work a bit to get Reuben up the stairs. The man seemed to be having difficulty making his legs work properly. Eventually, though, the pair disappeared from view.
“So much for talking to Edward tonight,” Janet sighed.
“Maybe he’ll be down before Reuben in the morning,” Joan suggested.
“I’ll be down at half seven, just in case,” Janet promised before turning towards the stairs.
Chapter 5
Joan made breakfast for herself and Janet while they waited for their guests to come downstairs. The two men walked into the kitchen together at exactly eight o’clock.
“Full English breakfast for both of you?” Joan asked as Janet poured them each a cup of coffee.
“Do you have headache tablets?” Reuben asked.
Janet found the bottle and shook out two tablets. She handed them to the man and he washed them down with his coffee. “I’m not very hungry,” he said in an apologetic tone.
“He’ll have the full English, same as me,” Edward said. “I can probably eat two if he truly isn’t hungry, but knowing him, if you don’t make him anything he’ll try to eat my breakfast when it’s ready.”
Janet began to make toast as Reuben sat with his head in his hands. Every time Joan clattered anything, he jumped. When the toast popped, he sighed deeply.
“I never realised how loud breakfast is,” he muttered.
“Toast,” Janet offered. She set the toast rack on the table in front of him.
He glanced at it and then took out a slice of toast. Edward spread a thick layer of butter and jam on his toast, but Reuben began to nibble on his dry. By the time Joan put their breakfasts in front of them, Reuben was beginning to look a bit better.
“Remind me not to drink so much tonight,” he told Edward as he dug into his eggs.
“You tell me that every day, but then you never listen to me when I try to remind you,” Edward replied.
“I know. I’m terrible. What are we going to do today, then? Can we go into Derby?” Reuben asked.
“If that’s what you want to do,” Edward said, sounding resigned.
“That seems better than just spending the day at the pub, although I’m not sure what we’ll do in Derby.”
“There’s a nice shopping mall,” Janet interjected.
“I don’t like to shop,” Reuben said. “Although that sounds better than spending another day wandering around other people’s houses.”
Janet laughed. “I never really thought about stately homes in that way. I suppose some of them are other people’s houses, but as they are open to the public, well, they don’t feel especially private.”
The men finished their breakfasts and then left immediately, giving Janet no time to speak to Edward at all. The two guest rooms were nearly as tidy again as they had been previously. It didn’t take the sisters long to clean them both.
“Now what?” Joan asked as they headed back down to the kitchen. “You should ring Robert.”
Janet made a face but picked up the phone.
“Robert is out of the office right now,” Susan, Robert’s assistant, told Janet. “He’s investigating another break-in.”
“Another one? What happened this time?”
“This one was in Little Burton,” Susan told her. “The only thing taken was a small sculpture. The owners bought it a few years ago at a car boot sale and it was just sitting on their mantle. Robert suspects that it might have been worth a good deal more than the owners realised.”
“Unless the burglar just thought it had value. Maybe the burglar was wrong.”
“Maybe, or maybe it has some weird sentimental value to the thief. Until Robert finds him or her, we can only speculate.”
“Were they having work done on their kitchen, too?” Janet asked.
“No, but they’d just had a new bathroom fitted last month. They used a different company to the one doing the kitchen in Doveby Dale, but Robert is looking at the various contractors and suppliers that the companies may share.”
“He must be really busy, then. Just ask him to ring me when he has a minute, but there’s no rush,” Janet told her.
“I’ll add you to the list of people who want to speak to him,” Susan replied. “He should be back in the office this afternoon.”
After Janet put down the phone, she told Joan what Susan had said. “That seems to let Reuben off the hook, anyway. He wasn’t in a fit state to drive to Little Burton last night,” she said when she was done.
“Unless he was simply pretending to be drunk,” Joan suggested. “You still need to talk to Robert about the man.”
“Maybe Robert will have the case solved before he rings me back. You don’t suppose we have anything of value lying around here that we don’t know about, do you?” she asked.
“I’m sure the estate agent who sold us the house said that everything inside had been evaluated by an antiques dealer. We probably should have asked for a copy of the valuations. I’m sure some of the furniture is probably worth something.”
“Yes, but that’s rather too large for a casual burglar to grab. I was wondering about the little statues and figures along the window ledges and shelves.”
“Let’s take a closer look at everything, then, shall we?” Joan suggested.
It didn’t take them long to work out that nearly all of the pieces that were scattered around the house were fairly modern and practically worthless.
“I never really looked closely at some of these,” Janet said as she inspected a particularly ugly small vase that had been tucked into a corner on a window ledge in the dining room.
“I’ve grown so used to dusting around them that I barely notice them anymore.”
“What about this?” Janet asked, holding up a carved figure.
Joan shrugged. “It doesn’t look modern, anyway.”
“It’s nice, too. Maybe it has some value.”
“You should take it to William,” Joan suggested.
Janet frowned. It felt very much as if William had been avoiding her lately. Now that Edward was here, though, she felt as if she’d rather not see William. She turned the small figure over in her hand and then sighed. “I want to find out what it’s worth more than I want to avoid William,” she admitted.
“Why don’t you pop over there now?” Joan suggested. “I’ll make lunch while you’re gone.”
Janet glanced at the clock. She thought about arguing that they could have lunch before she went, but now that she’d decided to visit the antique shop, she really wanted to get the visit over with. It only took her a moment to comb her hair into place and add a touch of lipstick to her lips.
“I’ll be back as quickly as I can,” she told Joan on her way out.
The drive into the village centre didn’t take long. Janet parked her car in the car park for the small row of shops and headed straight to the antique shop. The buzzer loudly announced her presence, but Janet couldn’t see anyone in the shop as she walked through the door.
“Ah, Janet, hello,” Amanda said brightly as she rushed out from the shop’s back room. “How are you today?”
Janet frowned. The woman’s odd accent, the result of a childhood spent in the UK and an adulthood spent moving around the US, annoyed her. In truth, everything about the woman, from her long blonde hair, to her slender figure, to her generous divorce settlements that were often mentioned, annoyed Janet. “ Is William here?” she asked.
“He’s with a customer in the back. I’m sure I can help you, though. William has put a lot of time and effort into training me so that I can run the shop when he isn’t here.”
Janet hesitated and then let her curiosity get the better of her. “Joan and I found this little figure in a corner of the house and we were wondering if it was worth anything,” she said, pulling the item out of her bag. She’d wrapped it carefully in several layers of tissue paper.
Amanda unwrapped it and then turned it over slowly in her hands. After a full minute, she shrugged. “You were right the first time,” she laughed. “You’re going to need William. He’s taught me lots about the stuff that we sell, but I don’t know the first thing about evaluating your little friend here.”
Janet swallowed a sigh. “Do you think he’ll be long?”
The words were barely out of her mouth when the door to the back swung open and William walked out. The couple with him were older, maybe in their seventies or eighties, and they moved a good deal more slowly than William.
“I’ll see you both tomorrow, then,” William said. “We can go from there.”
“Thank you,” the woman said. “We’ll see you then.”
The pair made their way out of the shop and Janet watched as the man held open the car door for his wife. Once she was safely inside, he shut her door and then walked around to the driver’s side.
“What an adorable couple,” Janet sighed.
“They’ve only been married for five years,” William told her.
“Really?”
He chuckled. “His wife passed away about ten years ago, and she’d been married twice before and outlived both husbands. They actually met at a matchmaking event for older singles. Apparently her daughter doesn’t like him, but she retired to Australia a few years ago. He never had any children. Now they’ve decided to get rid of everything they have left and go on a cruise.”
“A cruise?”
“They’ve been doing some research and apparently they should be able to live on a cruise ship for ten years or more once they sell their house and its contents. Cruises are all-inclusive, so they’ll get gourmet meals and maid service and get to travel all over the world together.”
“What a wonderful way to live,” Amanda sighed.
“I’m going to have an auction for their furniture and other items,” William continued. “They’re selling everything except their clothes, really.”
“I should look into cruises,” Amanda said. “I wonder if I could afford to do something like that.”
“But you didn’t come here to talk about the Wagners,” William said. “What can I do for you?”
Janet showed him the small carving. He studied it for a moment and then shrugged. “It’s a nice piece, but it isn’t going to pay your way onto a cruise around the world. It’s probably worth four figures, but only just.”
“That’s more than I thought it would be worth,” Janet said happily.
“You may want to insure it,�
�� William said. “Especially in light of the burglaries that have been happening in the area.”
“I think I’ll put it in our safe for now. We may not want to keep it if it’s actually worth something, at least not in rooms that are accessible to guests. I don’t think any of them would steal from us, but I can see something getting broken very easily.”
“I wouldn’t leave this piece anywhere where guests could come across it,” William agreed. “If you decide you want to sell it, let me know. I’m sure I can help you get a good price.”
Janet nodded and then very carefully wrapped the little sculpture up again. “The break-ins are scary,” she said as she worked.
“They are,” Amanda agreed.
“Both couples that had break-ins shop here,” William told her. “Although, I believe just about everyone in Doveby Dale and Little Burton has come through those doors at some point since I’ve been here.”
“There isn’t much else to do in Doveby Dale,” Amanda laughed. “I knew nothing about antiques, but I came shopping here within a day or two of my arrival in the village, just to get out of the house.”
Janet laughed. “It’s a convenient location, right next to the chemist’s, too. I’m sure everyone in the area uses Owen’s shop for their prescriptions and whatnot.”
“The newsagent’s brings in a lot of foot traffic, too,” William told her. “People go there for their papers or for gum and candy. Business here has definitely picked up since the local grocery shop burned down, mostly due to people trying to get what they need from Owen or Stanley so they don’t have to drive to Derby.”
Janet nodded. Owen Carter had been managing the small chemist’s shop next to the antique shop for several years now. It had been Michael’s shop until he’d retired, after which he’d sold it to a large chain. Owen was the manager and also the only employee at the shop. Stanley Moore owned and operated the newsagent’s that was next along in the row. He was polite to everyone, but not exactly friendly, and Janet felt as if she barely knew the man, even after shopping there regularly since she and Joan had bought Doveby House.
“I hate driving to Derby,” Amanda said. “If I could, I’d never leave the village.”
The Rhodes Case Page 4