The Zachery Case (A Markham Sisters Cozy Mystery Book 26)

by Diana Xarissa

  “Do you think Harold will get upset when he hears that you’ve been talking to Gavin?”

  “He might, but he also might never bother to talk to Gavin himself. We’re getting ahead of the evidence, of course. The body might have been there for years before Maggie even bought the house.”

  Janet frowned. “I really want to work out whom we’ve found.”

  “So do I and, unlike Inspector Colbert, I don’t have any other cases that need my attention.” He pulled out his mobile and began to press buttons.

  Janet turned and went in search of her sister, who was in the kitchen, making a rhubarb pie.

  “Inspector Colbert is back with a team. They’ll be in and out of the carriage house all day,” Janet said.

  Joan made a face. “I was rather hoping he’d have solved the case by now. Did he give you any indication as to when we might be allowed back into the carriage house?”

  “He said it could be a few days. Edward is going to see if he can find out more.”

  “Is he working with Inspector Colbert on the case?”

  “Not exactly.”

  Joan raised an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”

  “It means Inspector Colbert suggested that Edward should simply enjoy his retirement and leave the case to him, but Edward doesn’t agree.”

  Joan smiled. “I suspect Edward will do a better job of investigating than Inspector Colbert, anyway.”

  “I quite agree,” Janet said. “We’re going out now, maybe to visit a stately home or something. We’ll be back for dinner, though.”

  “I’m making beef stew, with rhubarb pie for pudding.”

  “We’ll definitely be back,” Janet laughed.

  Edward was waiting at the door for her, his mobile tucked away.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  “I am,” Janet replied.

  Chapter 6

  Edward’s mobile seemed to buzz and ring dozens of times as he and Janet played tourist. They toured two stately homes, stopping for a pub lunch in between them. It wasn’t until they were heading back towards Doveby House that the conversation turned back to the case.

  “I’ll be speaking to Gavin Appleton after dinner,” he told Janet. “I hope no one will mind that I invited Robert to join us so that he can hear the conversation.”

  “I’m not certain that Gavin will want to talk to you if he knows that Robert is listening.”

  Edward shrugged. “He doesn’t have to know.”

  Back at Doveby House, Joan was just about ready to serve dinner.

  “No Stuart?” Janet asked as she started getting drinks for everyone.

  “He wanted to go to the pub,” Joan replied. “He said he’d worked hard enough today to earn it.”

  While they ate, Janet and Edward told the others about their day.

  “Everything was delicious,” Edward said as he ate his last bite of pie. “I’m going to gain a stone in the next week if you keep cooking for me.”

  “We have dinner together twice a week,” Joan told him. “I cook for only Michael and myself the other days.”

  “That leaves me many nights each week to take Janet for meals elsewhere,” Edward said.

  Janet laughed. “I can cook once in a while.”

  “Robert should be here soon,” Edward said as everyone cleared the table. “Once he’s here, we’ll ring Gavin.”

  “What makes you think that Gavin will know anything?” Michael asked.

  “I don’t think that he’ll know anything, but I’m hoping he might,” Edward replied. “At this point, I know nothing about how long the body had been there, so I may be wasting my time, but at least I’ll feel as if I’m doing something.”

  They settled in the sitting room and didn’t have to wait long. Robert knocked on the door only a few minutes later.

  “Good evening,” Edward said as Janet let Robert into the house.

  “Good evening. It’s nice to have you back in Doveby Dale,” Robert replied.

  “It’s good to be back,” Edward said, squeezing Janet’s hand as she sat down beside him.

  “Can you tell us anything about the investigation?” Janet asked as Robert took a chair opposite her.

  He shook his head. “I would if I could, but I don’t know anything. Inspector Colbert isn’t sharing his reports with me.”

  Janet frowned. “Why not?”

  “That’s a very good question,” Edward said. He pulled out his mobile and sent a quick text message to someone. “For now, let’s focus on Gavin Appleton, though.”

  “I don’t know that he’ll be able to help, even if the body did get put in the carriage house while his mother owned Doveby House,” Robert said. “He and Maggie didn’t have a particularly close relationship.”

  Edward laughed. “That’s one way of putting it,” he said. He took out his mobile and dialled a number. Everyone waited while he spoke to several different people. Eventually, he put the phone in speaker mode and set it on the table.

  “Gavin, it’s Edward Bennett. How are you?”

  “Edward? I’m doing well, actually. Prison isn’t as bad as I’d feared it might be, and I’ve been getting some extra training so that I’ll be able to find work when I get out,” was the reply.

  “That’s good to hear. I wanted to talk to you about something that was found in the carriage house at Doveby House.”

  “The carriage house? My mum put just about anything and everything in there. It was where she stored everything she didn’t want but couldn’t be bothered to get rid of properly.”

  “The current owners of the property have been clearing it out, you see,” Edward said.

  “Have they? Good luck to them. They’ll be making lots of trips to the tip, they will.”

  “Yes, I believe they have, but behind the very last row of boxes, along the back wall of the building, they found a skeleton.”

  There was a long silence before Gavin spoke again. “Pardon?”

  “They found a skeleton,” Edward repeated.

  “A human skeleton? Because Mum had a cat once and it ran away. Maybe it was exploring the carriage house and fell down behind the boxes?”

  “This was a human skeleton.”

  “Are you suggesting that Mum had something to do with it being there?”

  “I’m curious about what was in the carriage house when your mother bought the house.”

  “It was mostly empty, actually,” Gavin said thoughtfully. “There were a few pieces of broken furniture in there and a pile of old roof tiles. That was about it. I took a good look around because I thought maybe Mum could do it up as a flat for me. That was when she first bought the place and we were getting along.”

  “You don’t remember any boxes being stored in there?”

  “No, no boxes. Once Mum bought the place, she moved everything from the house she’d been living in previously. She had the movers stack all of the boxes in the carriage house until she could go through them.”

  “All of the boxes?”

  “Not the furniture or her clothes, but all of her old papers and books and whatever. The library at Doveby House was already pretty full of books, so she left hers in boxes, at least initially.”

  “So the skeleton couldn’t have been there when your mother bought the house,” Edward concluded.

  “That makes it sound as if you think my mother had something to do with the skeleton being there,” Gavin protested.

  “I don’t know what to think.”

  “My mum wasn’t the best mum in the world and she wasn’t the best person, either, but she never killed anyone.”

  “I’m not suggesting that she did,” Edward said quickly.

  “She wouldn’t have hidden a body, either. At least, I can’t imagine her hiding a body. Maybe she might have, if she’d had a really good reason.”

  “What sort of reason?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t think of any reason why anyone would hide a dead body, but someone hid the body and my mum must have
known about it.”

  “Inspector Harold Colbert may be ringing you or coming to see you,” Edward told him.

  “Harold? Why?”

  “You know him?”

  “Yeah, he and my mum had a bit of a thing for a while. I don’t think it was anything serious, but I met him at Doveby House once or twice.”

  “When was that?”

  Gavin laughed. “Years ago now, maybe late eighties? I don’t really remember. He was just one of a long list of men who wandered through my mother’s life over the years.”

  “Do you know if any of the men in your mother’s life suddenly disappeared?”

  “From my perspective, they pretty much all did,” Gavin replied. “I’d see them with Mum one day and then, a week later, they’d be gone and I’d never see them again. Sometimes they’d reappear years later, too. I didn’t pay much attention to the men in Mum’s life, really. Getting attached would have been a mistake, obviously.”

  A loud buzzing noise interrupted the conversation.

  “Ah, I have to go,” Gavin said. “It’s movie night here. Are we almost done?”

  “For now, yes,” Edward said. “I may have more questions and, as I said, Harold may be in touch.”

  “It’ll be good to talk to him again. He was a good guy. I don’t normally care for police inspectors, but he was okay.”

  “Thank you for your time,” Edward said before he put the phone down.

  “Harold did tell me that he knew Margaret Appleton,” Janet said. “He even referred to her as Maggie.”

  “If the carriage house was empty when Maggie bought the house, then the body had to have been put there while she owned the house,” Robert said.

  “Indeed,” Edward said. “That narrows the time frame for the person’s death considerably.”

  “When did Margaret buy the house?” Janet asked.

  “I believe she bought it some time in the mid-eighties,” Edward replied. “I can get the exact date, but I’m not certain it matters.”

  “I need to start pulling missing person reports,” Robert said.

  “We need more information before you can do that,” Edward told him. “We need to know the gender and approximate age of the victim.”

  “If it was hidden here while Maggie owned the house, I think we can assume it was a man,” Robert said dryly.

  Edward laughed. “Maybe the wife of one of her boyfriends came looking for him,” he suggested.

  “Maybe,” Robert said.

  “We’re talking about fifteen years or so ago, then?” Janet asked.

  “I’d say somewhere between ten and fifteen years,” Edward said, after thinking for a moment.

  “If it was one of Maggie’s boyfriends, how old would he have been? Did she prefer older or younger men?” Janet wondered.

  “Older,” Edward said firmly. “Older, wealthy, and generous. She didn’t mind if they were married, as long as they spoiled her with gifts.”

  “So the skeleton was probably a man in his fifties or sixties,” Janet said thoughtfully.

  Robert and Edward exchanged glances. “That’s probably about right,” Robert said. “Maggie would have been in her fifties, and I can’t see her going after a man in his seventies or eighties at that point.”

  “This is all rampant speculation, of course,” Edward said. “The victim could have been one of Gavin’s girlfriends or the pizza delivery man or just about anyone else. We don’t have enough to work with yet, but I’m doing what I can to learn more.”

  “Good luck,” Robert said. “I spent half an hour on the phone with Harold this afternoon and he refused to tell me anything.”

  “I don’t know that he had much he could tell you at that point, but information is starting to trickle in,” Edward said, looking up from a text message. “I’m going to ring someone. I’ll be right back.”

  He left the room before anyone could speak.

  “I can’t believe Inspector Colbert wouldn’t tell you anything,” Janet said to Robert as Edward disappeared.

  “He may not have had anything to tell me,” Robert replied. “The case is his, anyway, so it’s entirely up to him what he shares with me. I’m not involved in the investigation, so I’ve really no reason to be asking about it.”

  “Except Doveby Dale is your responsibility,” Janet argued.

  Robert shrugged. “The case has been given to Harold and it’s up to him what he shares with me.”

  Edward was back a moment later. “I’ve just spoken to the head of the crime lab in Derby. He has some preliminary results, but nothing final.”

  “At this point, I’ll take what I can get,” Robert said.

  Edward nodded. “The skeleton was a man, aged around fifty-five,” he announced.

  “Exactly as we’d expected,” Janet said happily.

  “I can work with that,” Robert said. “It would be a lot easier if we knew when he’d died, though.”

  “That’s going to take more time, although there was one interesting thing that was discovered with the skeleton,” Edward said.

  “What?” Janet demanded when he paused.

  Edward laughed. “I shouldn’t tease. It seems our skeleton was wearing a watch, and the face was smashed.”

  “So we know what time he died?” Joan asked.

  “It also had the month and date,” Edward replied. “And, if it actually got broken when the man died, it could be useful. The date showing on the watch was the twenty-ninth of February.”

  Janet tried to think. “Ninety-two was a leap year, so that means eighty-eight and eighty-four were leap years.”

  “It seems too convenient to me,” Robert said.

  Edward shrugged. “Sometimes we get a lucky break. I suggest you start going through the missing person reports from March of eighty-eight.”

  Robert nodded. “I’m not actually meant to be investigating the case, though.”

  “I’ll clear it with the head of CID in Derby,” Edward told him. “As Harold is so convinced that the case will never be solved, I can’t see him caring what we do.”

  “I think I’ll wait to start digging through missing person reports until you’ve cleared it,” Robert told him.

  Edward grinned. “I’ll ring him now, then.” He left the room again.

  “I can’t believe he’s going to ring up the head of CID in Derby,” Janet muttered.

  “They’re friends,” Robert told her. “He and Edward used to work together in the distant past. Edward knows people everywhere, though.”

  “I’m starting to understand that,” Janet told him.

  Edward was smiling when he walked back into the room. “He’s more than happy for you to see what you can find,” he told Robert. “He’s seen Harold’s reports, and apparently Harold has more or less already declared the case unsolvable. Clive was inclined to agree with him before I rang.”

  “Clive?” Janet asked.

  “Head of CID in Derby,” Edward replied. “I’ll have to introduce you one day. He’s curious about you.”

  “Me? Why?” Janet demanded.

  Edward shrugged while Robert laughed.

  “If I didn’t know you, I’d be curious, too,” Robert told her. “Edward has never seemed the type to settle down, but it’s clear that you make him happy.”

  Janet flushed. “I don’t know about that.”

  “I do,” Edward said, sitting back down next to her and taking her hand. “I never was the type to settle down, but that was simply because I hadn’t yet met you. Clive is just one in a long list of people who will want to meet you, but for the moment, I’m being selfish and keeping you all to myself.”

  Before Janet could think of a suitable reply, Robert got to his feet. “I’m going to head back to the station and start going through missing person reports. We’ve narrowed it down to a fairly short space of time, so it shouldn’t take too long.”

  “See that it doesn’t,” Edward said. “You already put in a full day’s work today.”

&n
bsp; Robert nodded. “But Stacey doesn’t finish her workday until nine. I’ll work on the missing person reports until just before nine and then go and collect her. We’re going to a late movie once she’s finished.”

  “Have fun,” Edward said.

  “I’ll let you know if I find anything,” Robert replied.

  “Let’s meet again tomorrow night,” Edward suggested. “Come at five and join us for dinner. Janet and I will cook something nice.”

  Janet wanted to protest, as she wasn’t a very confident cook, but she didn’t get a chance.

  “I’ll cook for everyone,” Joan interrupted. “It will be worth it to hear what Robert has found.”

  “I’ll help,” Michael added quickly. “I don’t want to miss anything.”

  “I’ll be here about quarter past five, then,” Robert said. “If I don’t find anything, I’ll extend the search into other leap years.”

  Edward nodded. “You could be wasting your time. It’s entirely possible that the watch was broken before the man died or in the years after.”

  “But it’s the best information we have at the moment, so I’ll work with it,” Robert said. He let himself out, clearly rushing away to start searching his files.

  “There’s nothing else we can do tonight,” Edward said. “Let’s watch some telly and have popcorn.”

  Chapter 7

  The foursome settled in front of an old James Bond movie with a bowl of microwave popcorn. As the action began, Edward chuckled.

  “What is it?” Janet asked.

  “I just find these movies entertaining,” he told her in a whisper. “They get a great deal wrong, of course.”

  “Really? Tell me more.”

  Edward shook his head. “Not now. Joan and Michael are trying to enjoy the film. We’ll talk more about my past another time.”

  Janet wanted to object, but Joan caught her eye and frowned at her. Janet grabbed a handful of popcorn and settled back to enjoy the film. Edward slid an arm around her, and once she’d finished eating, she rested her head on his shoulder. It felt oddly right and comfortable. When the movie was over, everyone headed to bed.