The Hampton Case (A Markham Sisters Cozy Mystery Novella Book 8)

by Diana Xarissa

  As they ate, Aggie came in and looked around. She rubbed her head against Janet’s leg, earning a quick scratch for her trouble. Edward smiled down at her.

  “Hello, there,” he said, holding out a hand. Aggie sniffed at him for a moment and then allowed him to pat her head very briefly.

  “She’s warming up to you already,” Janet said happily.

  “Don’t be surprised if she ignores you once Paul gets home,” Joan told him. “Paul is her favourite person.” She took a sip of her drink and then glanced at her sister. “After Janet, of course,” she added hastily.

  Janet frowned. She knew that Aggie loved Paul, but she hated it when other people pointed it out.

  “Do you know anything else about the fire?” Janet changed the subject away from the kitten, who was now sniffing Edward’s shoes.

  “Not really. The road around the shop was partially closed, and they were only letting single cars through at a time. I sat there for over half an hour waiting for my turn, so I got a good long look at the damage, but I’m not an expert in fires.”

  “You’ve no idea what caused it?” Joan asked.

  “No, but there were several members of the Derby Constabulary there along with a man that I think I recognised. If I’m right, he is an expert in fires.”

  “You aren’t suggesting the fire was set deliberately?” Joan asked.

  “At this point, I’ve no idea,” Edward replied. “I’m sure the police and the insurance company will do a thorough investigation, though.”

  “Why would anyone want to burn down a small grocery shop?” Janet asked. “They don’t have any real competition around here. Unless someone is thinking about opening a grocer’s and wanted to get rid of the one that’s already here?”

  “Arson is usually more complicated than that,” Edward told her. “As I said, I’m no expert, but I do think that insurance fraud is one of the most common motives behind it. I believe most fires are started by accident, however. Perhaps an employee failed to properly extinguish his cigarette before he left for the evening, or something like that.”

  “I know they had some problems with the electrics a few weeks ago,” Janet said. “One of the freezers kept tripping a circuit breaker or something. They had to sell all of their pizzas at a huge discount because they had to switch off the freezer they were in.”

  “Is that why we have half a dozen frozen pizzas cluttering up our freezer?” Joan demanded.

  “Didn’t I tell you the whole story?” Janet asked, knowing that she’d deliberately avoided doing so because she’d been hoping Joan might not notice the small stack of pizzas that she’d hidden in the back of the freezer.

  “No, you didn’t,” Joan said dryly.

  “Anyway, maybe they had bigger problems than they’d realised,” Janet said.

  “I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough,” Edward said. “In the meantime, this is excellent, Joan.”

  “Oh, thank you,” Joan said, blushing.

  After lunch and after they’d all eaten a handful of Joan’s homemade biscuits, Janet loaded the dishwasher while Joan tidied the kitchen. Edward sat at the table and sipped his tea while they worked.

  “I feel incredibly guilty sitting here while you two are working so hard,” he said after a minute. “Isn’t there something I can do to help?”

  “You’re a paying guest,” Joan reminded him.

  “Yes, but I hope I’m also a friend,” Edward replied.

  When someone knocked on the door a moment later, Joan laughed. “There you are,” she said. “You can go and see who is at the door. We aren’t expecting anyone.”

  Edward was back a short time later with Constable Robert Parson on his heels.

  “Good afternoon, Janet and Joan,” Robert said. “I can’t stay long, but I would appreciate a few minutes of your time, if you can spare it.”

  “We always have time for you,” Joan told him. “Sit down and have some tea and biscuits. The kettle has only just boiled.”

  She made him tea while Janet filled a plate with biscuits and put it in the centre of the table. Edward had sat back in his place, and Joan topped up his teacup while she was pouring drinks for herself and Janet. When they were all sitting together around the table, Edward grinned.

  “Is it okay if I stay?” he asked. “I don’t want to pry into anything that doesn’t concern me.”

  “With your connections, sir, I suspect you already know what I’m going to say,” Robert told him.

  “What’s wrong?” Joan asked.

  “There was a fire overnight at the supermarket,” Robert told them.

  “Yes, Edward mentioned it,” Janet said. When Robert raised an eyebrow, she continued. “He drove past it on his way here,” she explained.

  Robert glanced at Edward who nodded but didn’t speak. After a moment Robert continued. “I don’t know how much was obvious from the outside, but the fire investigator has determined that the fire was set deliberately.”

  Janet and Joan both gasped, but Edward didn’t look surprised.

  “But why?” Joan asked.

  “That’s what we’re trying to work out,” Robert said. “At the moment, we’re collecting information, and a crime scene team is going over the site. I’m asking anyone with any information to please come forward.”

  “You can’t think that Janet or I know anything about it,” Joan said.

  “Not directly,” Robert replied. “But I know you shop there regularly. I thought you might have overheard something or seen something that might be useful.”

  Janet looked at her sister and then they both shrugged. “I can’t think of anything,” Janet said after a moment. “Everyone who works there seems pleasant enough, except for the manager, of course.”

  “You don’t like the manager?” Robert asked, pulling out a notebook and making a note in it.

  “Does anyone like him?” Janet retorted. “He’s grumpy all the time, and even though the customer is meant to always be right, he never believes anyone when they say something is supposed to be on sale or whatever. I’ve seen him get into shouting matches with little old ladies over the price of asparagus before.”

  Robert nodded. “What about you, Joan?” he asked. “What do you think of Joseph Carter?”

  “He’s very disagreeable,” Joan said. “And he looks shifty as well.”

  “I’m sure he dyes his hair,” Janet said.

  “That isn’t a crime,” Edward pointed out.

  “No, but it tells you what sort of person he is,” Joan said firmly.

  “Have you seen him arguing with customers as well?” Robert asked Joan.

  “Oh, yes, and I go to the shops far less frequently than Janet,” she replied. “Just last week he was arguing with Harriet Thomason about the sell-by dates on the milk. He still wanted full price for a pint of milk that had that day’s date as its sell-by date, and Harriet wasn’t having it.”

  “I don’t blame her,” Janet said. “They discount milk at the big supermarket when it still has a day or two to go.”

  Robert was scribbling rapidly in his notebook as the sisters spoke. Now he looked up at them. “Can either of you think of any reason why anyone would have set fire to the shop?” he asked.

  “It had to be over something considerably more serious than milk,” Janet said. “I can’t even imagine what it might have been.”

  “Insurance fraud?” Edward suggested.

  “That’s certainly something we’re considering,” Robert told him.

  “Who owns the shop?” Edward asked.

  “Simon Hampton,” Robert replied.

  Janet and Joan both nodded, but Edward shook his head. “The name means nothing to me,” he said. “Who is Simon Hampton?”

  “He owns quite a few things in the area,” Robert told him. “Including the parade of shops in Doveby Dale and a similar one in Little Burton.”

  “And is he less grumpy than this Joseph Carter?” Edward wondered.

  “I’ve never met
him,” Robert said. “But I have an appointment with him this afternoon. We’ll see.”

  “I wish we could do something to help,” Janet said as Robert got up to leave. “It’s a little bit scary, the thought that someone out there is starting random fires.”

  “I doubt this was random,” Robert told her. “Ring me if any of you think of anything that might help,” he added as they all walked with him to the front door.

  Once she’d pushed the door shut behind the man, Janet looked over at Edward. “I wish we could help somehow,” she said.

  “Should we do a little investigating of our own?” Edward asked.

  Chapter Four

  “No,” Joan said firmly. “This is a police matter. We should stay well away from the whole thing.”

  “I’m a trained investigator,” Edward reminded her. “We’ll stay on the periphery and just see what we can find out without upsetting anyone.”

  “You’re as bad as Janet,” Joan said. “Why don’t you two go visit some stately homes or see some of the sights of Derbyshire?”

  “That’s an idea,” Edward said. “Shall we go and see some sights?” he asked Janet with a wink.

  Janet nodded. She hurried up the stairs to run a brush through her hair and add a fresh coat of lipstick to her lips before she rejoined Edward in the sitting room. Joan was folding and refolding the knitted blankets that were on display on a table in the corner. Robert’s receptionist at the station, a lovely woman called Susan Gardner, made them, and the sisters did their best to sell them to their guests. Susan did beautiful work and the blankets were proving very popular, something that made Janet, Joan, and Susan all happy.

  “Behave,” Joan said in her sternest teacher’s voice.

  “Yes, we will,” Janet replied. She waved at Joan and then quickly followed Edward out of the house. Feeling slightly like a child who’d just been pulled out of school unexpectedly for the day, she slid into the passenger seat of Edward’s gorgeous luxury car and sighed.

  “So, shall we go and see some historically significant sight that your sister would approve of, or would you like to drive over and take a look at the fire scene?” Edward asked from behind the wheel.

  “Fire scene,” Janet said after a moment’s hesitation. Historical sites would probably be a good deal more romantic, and she didn’t want Edward to think she was morbid or nosy, but she really wanted to know what was going on in Doveby Dale. Edward winked at her and put the car into gear.

  The drive was a fairly short one. When they arrived, it seemed as if most of the emergency personnel had gone. A long line of police tape ran around the entire building, but only a single uniformed constable was visible. Edward pulled his car into the car park and he and Janet looked at the shop.

  “From the front it doesn’t look too bad,” Janet said. “But from here you can see that the entire back of the building has been burned away.”

  The young constable walked over and tapped on Edward’s window. “Good afternoon,” he said.

  “Good afternoon,” Edward replied. “We were hoping to do some shopping, but it doesn’t look as if that’s going to be possible.”

  The other man shook his head. “They’re going to be shut for a long while, I think,” he said. “There’s a big supermarket down the road, along the way to Derby.”

  “Yes, well, we just needed a few things. Maybe we’ll leave it for another day,” Edward said. “What will they do with all of the food in there?” he asked.

  “That’s what everyone wants to know,” the constable replied. “The shop’s manager and owner want to go in and clear out everything that is still in a saleable condition, but the fire inspector won’t let anyone go inside until he’s finished investigating.”

  “So where is he?” Edward asked.

  “Oh, he’s in there somewhere,” the constable replied. “With a helper from the crime scene team. They’re going through everything at least twice, I reckon.”

  “I heard a rumour that it was arson,” Edward said. “They can’t be too careful if that’s the case.”

  “Yeah, I suppose not,” the constable shrugged. “Anyway, if you don’t mind, you really should move on.”

  “No problem,” Edward said. “Sorry to have bothered you.”

  “It’s no bother,” the man replied. “I don’t have anything else to do.”

  As the young man walked away, Edward drove in a very slow circle so that he could exit the car park. Janet twisted in her seat so that she could get the best possible view of the damage.

  “It must have burned for some time before anyone noticed,” she commented as Edward pulled out into traffic.

  “I wonder if their smoke detectors were working properly,” Edward said. “And I wonder if they had sprinklers in place.”

  “If they did, you’d have thought they would have prevented the damage,” Janet said.

  “If they had working smoke detectors, you’d have thought they would have discovered the fire earlier,” Edward said thoughtfully.

  He drove down the street and then turned and turned again. Eventually he pulled to a stop on the street right behind the shop. Janet could see the building from the opposite side now. The damage was only just visible between the houses.

  As Edward idled for a moment, someone walked out of one of the houses and began to climb into a car on the drive. Janet jumped out of Edward’s car and quickly crossed to the person. It was a woman of around sixty, with long grey hair in a tight bun.

  “Martha?” Janet called. “I didn’t realise you lived here.”

  Martha Scott, one of Janet’s friends from the Doveby Dale Ladies’ Club, got back out of her car. “Janet? What brings you here?” she asked.

  “We were just driving past,” Janet said, blushing as the lie left her lips. “I mean, we were trying to get a few things at the shop, but clearly that wasn’t possible. My friend isn’t from around here and he made a wrong turn when we left the shop’s car park. But what happened at the shop?”

  Martha shook her head. “I woke up around four because I could hear an alarm ringing somewhere. By the time I realised that it was the smoke detectors in the supermarket, someone had already rung the fire brigade. They did their best, but they couldn’t save much of the storage section, anyway.”

  “It looks bad,” Janet agreed. “But the front doesn’t look damaged at all. What will they do with all of the food?”

  “They’ve had to cut the electricity,” Martha told her. “So all of the things in the freezers and refrigerators will have to be discarded. I suppose the other things, if they haven’t suffered any water damage, will be able to be saved.”

  “You can’t see how bad the water damage is from here, though,” Janet said.

  “No, but from what I could see this morning, the fire company dumped a ton of water into the place. I imagine anything in a cardboard box will be ruined.”

  Janet sighed. “What a horrible day for the poor man who owns the shop,” she said.

  “Oh, Simon Hampton will have plenty of insurance, don’t you worry about that,” Martha told her. “Assuming he didn’t set the fire himself, he’ll be just fine once all the dust has settled.”

  “I don’t know him at all,” Janet said.

  “Count your blessings. He’s not a nice man.”

  “Oh, dear, perhaps I should do my shopping elsewhere even if he does reopen here,” Janet said.

  “Oh, he isn’t that bad,” Martha told her. “He’s just wealthy and obnoxious, probably no different from anyone else who owns a lot of property. I just don’t like him because he wants to buy my house and I don’t want to sell it to him.”

  “Why does he want to buy your house?”

  “He wants to expand the shop,” Martha explained. “Although maybe the fire will put him off the idea. I can hope, anyway. He’s been trying to buy up the entire street, but so far no one has agreed to sell to him. A few of my neighbours are simply holding out for more money, but there are one or two of us wh
o love our homes and don’t want to move simply to suit that man and his plans.”

  “I don’t blame you,” Janet said. “As you say, maybe he’ll change his mind now that half his shop is gone.”

  “I doubt it,” Martha sighed. “As I said, no doubt the insurance will have to pay to rebuild the place, and he’ll probably argue that while he’s rebuilding, he ought to just go ahead and expand. The local government is in favour of the idea. I was told it would be good for the local economy if he expands.”

  “But what about what’s good for you?” Janet asked. “Why can’t he expand in the another direction?”

  “Maybe if we all keep holding out, he’ll decide to try. But I need to go. I have a doctor’s appointment soon.”

  “I hope everything is okay,” Janet said, feeling concerned.

  “Oh, I’m fine,” Martha assured her. “Just a routine visit.”

  Janet returned to Edward’s car and the pair sat and watched as Martha drove away. As Edward turned the car around and they made their way back to the main road, Janet told him everything that Martha had said.

  “So Simon Hampton is trying to buy up all of the houses on the street,” Edward said thoughtfully. “I’m not sure your little local grocer’s warrants that large of an expansion.”

  “No, I don’t understand it, either,” Janet said. “No one uses the local shop for all of their shopping. It’s too expensive. I can’t see the prices going down once he’d finished the expansion, can you?”

  “No, quite the contrary,” Edward said. He drove slowly from Doveby Dale into Little Burton as they talked. He pulled to a stop in the car park for the small row of shops in the centre of the small village. “They don’t seem to be doing much business here today,” he remarked.

  “Everything looks shut,” Janet said. “I think they’re busier in the summer months, though.”

  Edward nodded and then pulled back out into the road. “Shall we do some sightseeing, then, or would you prefer something else?”

  “I live here,” Janet replied. “I can see the sights whenever I want. We should do what you want to do, as you are the one who is only here for a short time.”