The Norman Case

by Diana Xarissa

  “Why don’t you talk to them in here while I go and tidy the kitchen,” Janet suggested. “Vera, would you like a cup of tea or anything?”

  Vera dropped into the nearest chair and shook her head. “I really just want to go to bed, but thank you anyway.”

  “I’ll be as quick as I can,” Robert promised.

  When Janet stuck her head into the room fifteen minutes later, Robert was alone.

  “That was fast,” she commented as she sat back down on one of the couches.

  “They were very cooperative,” he replied.

  A dozen questions sprang to Janet’s mind, but she didn’t let herself ask any of them. She was trying to think of a neutral topic to raise when the door swung open again and the Fosters entered the house.

  Bridget was frowning as she crossed the threshold. “Oh, Janet, what a wonderful, terrible day we’ve had.”

  “Oh, dear. What’s wrong?” Janet asked.

  Behind his wife, Roy laughed. “All those gorgeous homes and she wasn’t able to buy anything she saw,” he said.

  “The gift shops were nice enough, but I wanted the furniture and the paintings and the gorgeous carpets, not postcards with pictures of everything on them.”

  “So why did we spend so much in the gift shops?” Roy asked her.

  Bridget laughed. “There were some lovely things in the gift shops. Nothing was as nice as what was in the houses, that’s all.”

  Janet glanced at Robert, who looked bemused by the couple. “Roy, Bridget, this is Constable Robert Parsons. He has a few questions for you,” she said.

  Bridget gasped and took a step backwards. “Questions?” she stammered.

  “I can’t imagine why the police would need to speak to us,” Roy said stiffly.

  “It isn’t anything at all serious,” Robert said quickly. “If I could have just a few minutes of your time, I’d appreciate it.”

  “Do we need our solicitor?” Roy asked.

  Robert shook his head. “If there are questions you don’t want to answer, simply don’t answer. This is all very informal at this stage.”

  Bridget took her husband’s hand and squeezed it tightly. “We haven’t done anything wrong,” she said softly.

  “No one is suggesting that you have,” Robert told her in a reassuring tone.

  “I’ll be in the kitchen,” Janet said, getting to her feet. “I’ll put the kettle on in case anyone needs a cuppa later.”

  When she peeked back into the room a short while later, Robert was alone again.

  “I was just about to come and find you,” he said as he slipped his notebook back into his pocket. “Thank you for your hospitality tonight.”

  “You’re very welcome. I hope everything went okay with the Fosters. They seemed rather upset.”

  “Everything was fine. Some people are more intimidated by the police than others, that’s all.”

  Janet walked him to the door. As she opened it, she surprised Joan and Michael, who were kissing on the steps outside the door.

  “Goodness, I am sorry,” Janet said, flushing.

  Joan was bright red as she glanced from Janet to Robert and then to Michael.

  “Good evening,” he said cheerily. “I hope nothing is wrong.”

  “No, not at all,” Robert replied. Janet thought he looked very much as if he were struggling not to laugh as he walked down the steps towards his car.

  “Good night. Thank you for dinner,” Joan said primly to Michael before turning and striding into the house.

  “Good night, Michael,” Janet said, chuckling lightly.

  He winked at her and then turned and walked away.

  “What did Robert want?” Joan demanded as soon as Janet had shut the door.

  “He wanted to speak to both sets of guests. More things have gone missing further afield, including something quite valuable from the shop in Little Burton.”

  “The one that just opened last month?”

  “Yes, that’s the one. Apparently Mr. Hamilton-Burke is missing a rather valuable silver letter opener.”

  Joan shrugged. “After everything you’ve told me about that man, I find it hard to sympathise.”

  Janet nodded. Jonathan Hamilton-Burke had purchased the small parade of shops in Little Burton and set one of them up as an antique shop. He’d filled the shop with items he’d inherited from a relative, and he ran the shop with such incompetence that Janet wondered how he stayed in business. William had initially been worried about the added competition, but thus far hadn’t noticed a downturn in his business.

  “Anyway, Robert just spoke to each couple for a few minutes. I stayed out of the way, so I don’t know what was discussed.”

  “You didn’t listen in the doorway?”

  Janet flushed. “I would never eavesdrop on anyone’s conversations with Robert,” she said stoutly.

  Joan nodded. “That’s good to know, anyway.”

  Janet had tidied the kitchen three times after her meal with Robert, but Joan still found a few little things to rearrange as she walked through it towards her bedroom.

  “Both couples want breakfast at eight tomorrow,” Joan said. “We can both lie in for a short while.”

  “That’s the best news I’ve heard all day,” Janet said happily.

  Chapter 10

  Getting up at seven the next morning felt like a huge indulgence. Aggie seemed surprised to see Janet still in bed when the alarm went off. “I know I’m usually up by now, but our guests are having a slower start today,” she told the kitten.

  “Merrow,” Aggie replied, clearly not interested. She curled up and went back to sleep as Janet headed for the shower.

  “Full English?” Joan asked as Janet walked into the kitchen a short while later.

  “I think I’d rather have cereal today,” Janet replied.

  “I really don’t mind making you breakfast,” Joan said.

  “I know, but I’ve had a full English breakfast every day this week. Some cereal will make a nice change.” And my trousers were a bit tight this morning, but I’d rather not mention that to you, Janet added to herself.

  Joan didn’t say anything as Janet poured herself a bowl of cereal and added milk. A few minutes later both sets of guests came down at the same time, which meant both sisters were busy getting breakfast ready for the foursome.

  “We’re off to explore the shops in Derby,” Roy said as he and Bridget got up from the table. “We won’t be too late back, I don’t think.”

  Janet grinned. The look on Bridget’s face suggested that she had a different idea.

  “We’re going to visit some monastic ruins that I’ve heard about,” Floyd said. “Apparently there’s a car park near them and it’s a fairly short and flat walk from there.”

  “I hope it stays dry for you,” Janet said. She glanced out the window. The sky was a mix of dark clouds and puffy white ones. It seemed as if the weather could go either way for the day.

  Once the sisters had tidied up the breakfast dishes, they headed up the stairs.

  “I’ll do the Conners’ room, if you want to do the Fosters’ room,” Joan said.

  “Sure, why not,” Janet replied. It made little difference to her which room she did, assuming both sets of guests were still keeping their rooms clean and tidy.

  The Conners certainly were, Janet thought as she opened their door. She was wiping down the bathroom sink when Joan stuck her head into the room.

  “I can’t get the vacuum to turn on,” she said with a sigh.

  Janet joined her in the corridor and tried the machine for herself. After trying nearly every plug socket she could find, she was forced to give up. “It isn’t the plug socket,” she told Joan.

  Joan laughed. “I already knew that. I tried them all before I came to find you. Unless you have a better idea, I thought I might take the vacuum over to Michael’s and let him take a look. He’s very clever with mechanical things.”

  “Go ahead. It’s already broken, so he can�
�t make it any worse. If he can repair it, all the better.”

  Joan nodded. “If he can’t, we’ll have to go shopping,” she sighed.

  “Buying a new vacuum doesn’t sound as if it would be much fun.”

  “No, and it will probably be costly, as well. Let’s hope Michael can do something.”

  Janet went back to her work, humming softly to herself. She finished the en-suite and moved into the bedroom. Dusting didn’t take long, which meant it was time to vacuum, but she couldn’t do that. While she waited for Joan to return, she thought she should check that Joan had finished everything but the vacuuming in the Fosters’ room.

  The en-suite was spotless and Janet could smell the cleaning products that Joan had used. With nothing else to do, Janet ran a duster over the furniture, knowing full well that Joan had already done the same. She was standing in the doorway, wondering if they could get away with not vacuuming, when she noticed something powdery on the floor near the wardrobe.

  “What on earth?” she muttered as she got down on her hands and knees to see what she’d found.

  The white powder seemed to be everywhere underneath the wardrobe. Perhaps it was baby powder or something like that, Janet thought. She hesitated before she opened the wardrobe. They didn’t normally open wardrobes or drawers in occupied guest rooms, but if something had spilled inside the wardrobe, finding it seemed to be a priority. Janet pulled the door open and then sat back on her heels.

  She’d found the source of the mysterious powder. A torn packet of artificial sweetener had been caught in the door. Janet reached for it and then stopped herself. Both guest rooms had their own tea and coffee making equipment but the packet on the wardrobe floor wasn’t one that they provided at Doveby House. The last time Janet had seen that particular packet was in a bowl on the table at the café.

  “Oh, my goodness,” a voice said from behind Janet. “I can assure you it isn’t what you’re thinking.”

  Janet looked over her shoulder, and forced herself to smile at Floyd, who was standing in the doorway behind her. “A packet of sugar spilled,” she said. “We’ll vacuum it up before you get back from your outing.”

  The man nodded, but then narrowed his eyes at her. “What else did you find in the wardrobe?” he demanded.

  “Nothing,” Janet said quickly. She rose to her feet and pushed the wardrobe door shut. “I didn’t even look in the wardrobe. The sugar packet was stuck in the door.”

  Floyd took a step past her and pulled the wardrobe open again. “But, of course, Vera’s treasures are all on display if you look,” he said sadly.

  Janet couldn’t stop herself from looking. A number of items ran in a neat row across the wardrobe shelf. Janet recognised the lighthouse lamp and the small dish from William’s shop, as well as the shampoo bottle and tissue box from the chemist’s. The other three items must have been from the shops in Little Burton and Derby.

  “She doesn’t mean to do it,” Floyd said. “Truly, she doesn’t.”

  “I’m sure,” Janet replied, starting to back slowly away from the man. “I’ll just go and see what’s keeping Joan.”

  “Don’t go,” he said harshly. “I have to explain.”

  “No, no, no, that’s quite okay. I don’t need any explanations,” Janet said. She took another step back and then nearly fell over as she caught her foot on the edge of the bed. As she stumbled, Floyd caught her arm.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Yes, fine, thanks,” she replied. “I’ll just be going.”

  “Wait, please.” His eyes met hers and then he sighed. “I’m frightening you, aren’t I? I don’t mean to do that. I can assure you I’m perfectly harmless. Vera is as well, she’s just, um, slightly unwell. We thought we had everything under control, you see.”

  “I am sorry,” Janet said softly.

  Floyd nodded. “I suppose you’ll want to ring the police.”

  “Robert said that he’s mostly concerned with getting the silver letter opener back. Maybe if you give that to Robert, no one will press charges.”

  “That’s part of the problem,” Floyd sighed. “We don’t have any silver letter openers. Vera didn’t take that.”

  Janet frowned. “But she took everything else,” she said, waving towards the wardrobe.

  “Yes, I know, and I was going to return everything before we left for home, but she only takes low-value items. It’s a compulsion, you see, but one that she can satisfy with just about anything. She’s worked hard over the years to learn to recognise the value of different items and then only take the least valuable ones she can find.” He shook his head. “It sounds terrible when I put it like that, but as I said, it’s a compulsion.”

  Janet nodded. “I need to ring Robert,” she said sadly.

  “I know, but I’m worried what he’ll do when he finds out that Vera has been stealing again. She’s under the care of a good doctor, but we think her pain medications are interfering with the effectiveness of the drugs she takes to suppress her compulsions. She’d been doing so well, too. It has been years since she’s taken anything, you know.”

  “I’m sorry,” Janet said.

  “I’ll go and get Vera. We came back for raincoats, as the weather is getting worse. It isn’t a good day for touring ruins, anyway.”

  Janet rang the police station and spoke to Susan, Robert’s civilian assistant. “I’ll send him over as soon as possible,” she promised.

  He was at the door about twenty minutes later. Janet had made tea for everyone and she was just serving it in the sitting room when he arrived.

  “I’ll leave you three for your chat,” she said, handing Robert a cup of tea. She hid in the kitchen until Robert found her half an hour later.

  “We’re all done,” he said. “The Conners are going off to their ruins now.”

  “You didn’t arrest her?” Janet asked.

  Robert shook his head. “She’s returned everything that she’d taken and made a full confession. I’ve no reason to believe that she had anything to do with the stolen letter opener. She told me that she didn’t take anything from the shop in Little Burton because the owner watched them like a hawk while they were there.”

  “I’m surprised to hear that. When I was there, Mr. Hamilton-Burke virtually ignored me.”

  “He was notified about the missing items in Doveby Dale. I’m sure he’s being extra cautious now.”

  “But that letter opener still went missing?”

  Robert shrugged. “We’re looking into that,” he said.

  Joan returned just as Janet let Robert out. Michael had managed to repair the vacuum, at least temporarily, so they were able to finish cleaning the guest rooms. Once they were done and the vacuum was switched off, Janet told her sister what she’d missed.

  “My goodness. Poor Vera. I’m sure it must be difficult for her,” Joan said.

  “Yes, I sure you’re right,” Janet agreed.

  When the Conners returned to Doveby House later that day, Vera looked embarrassed as she entered the house.

  “I’m so very sorry,” she said as soon as saw the sisters. “I didn’t mean to cause all of this trouble.”

  “We’re going to cut our holiday short and return home,” Floyd said. “Vera needs to see her doctor and probably make some changes to her medications.”

  “Are you sure you can’t stay?” Janet asked. “If you limit your sightseeing to ancient ruins you should be fine.”

  Vera chuckled. “You’re right about that. The ruins we visited today didn’t even have a gift shop nearby. But that would mean we couldn’t even stop at the chemist’s if we needed something. It’s probably best if we simply go home.”

  “I’ll have to work out how much to refund you for the days you won’t be staying,” Joan said. “I’ll have to give you a cheque as we don’t normally keep much cash in the house.”

  “You don’t have to refund us,” Floyd said. “It’s our fault for changing our plans at the last minute.”
/>   “I may not have to, but I’m going to,” Joan said firmly.

  “That’s very kind of you,” Vera said with tears in her eyes. “Everyone has been very kind and understanding. I was certain that the constable was going to arrest me this morning, but he couldn’t have been any nicer about things.”

  “Robert is a good policeman and a good person,” Janet said.

  Vera nodded. “We’ll be leaving in the morning, then. If we could have breakfast for eight, we’ll leave after that.”

  Janet and Joan both tried to persuade the couple to stay, but the Conners were adamant that they needed to get home. After they went up to their room, Janet sighed.

  “I’m sorry to see them go. They’re such nice people,” she said.

  “I hope that Vera’s doctors can help her. I understand that treating mental disorders is more difficult than treating physical ones,” Joan replied.

  “We’ll have an empty room for a few days. Or are you going to ring someone from your waiting list to try to fill it?”

  “I think leaving it empty would be best. It will halve our workload for a short while, which will be a relief.”

  Janet grinned. She’d been thinking the same thing, but she hadn’t wanted to tell Joan how she felt. The next few days passed quickly, with both Janet and Joan enjoying having only one set of guests. On Sunday morning, they served the Fosters their last breakfast at Doveby House.

  “I’ve loved every minute of our visit,” Bridget said. “Now we just have to try to fit everything I bought into the two cars.”

  “You did hire a car, then?” Janet asked.

  “Yes, we collected it last night. It’s huge, so I’m pretty sure everything will fit,” Roy said. “We already collected everything from the shop outside of Derby and William offered to bring everything we bought from him here, so once we’re loaded up, we can head for home.”

  “They’re never going to fit everything in, not even with two cars,” Janet murmured to Joan an hour later. William had arrived in his delivery van and he and Roy were struggling to arrange things in the back of the hire car while Bridget looked on.