The Appleton Case (A Markham Sisters Cozy Mystery Novella Book 1) Read Free Page A

the ceiling.   There
were piles of old boxes lining every wall and a few pieces of broken furniture
dumped into the middle of the room.  
    Janet took a
few steps forward and then sneezed.
    “Bless you,
dear,” Joan said.   She was offering
Janet a tissue before Janet was even sure she was finished sneezing.
    “Thank you,”
Janet muttered, taking the tissue.   “It is quite dusty, isn’t it?”
    “Yes, rather,”
Joan replied.
    “But it’s a
very large space that you could use for many things,” Henry said brightly.  
    He took a few
steps forward and began to gesture towards the back wall.   “You could easily fit an en-suite
against this back wall and turn the main space into a large….”
    He was
interrupted when the door suddenly slammed shut.   Everyone jumped and spun towards it.   Henry walked over and rattled the
knob.   The door remained firmly
closed.
    “I left the
keys in the lock on the outside,” he told the sisters.   “We appear to be locked in.”
    “I suggest you
ring someone, then,” Joan said.   “In
the meantime, we can spend rather more time than necessary inspecting the coach
house.”
    Janet joined
her and they made a slow circuit of the room while Henry made a few phone
calls.
    “I have a
colleague on his way with the second set of keys,” he said eventually.   “But it will take him about twenty
minutes to get here.”
    Joan and Janet
exchanged glances.   Janet could see
that her sister was not pleased.
    “What did you
say the asking price was?” she asked Henry, hoping to distract her sister.
    He named a
price that made Janet wince.   “But
of course you’ll have the income from the bed and breakfast to help with the
expense,” Henry added.
    “It seems
quite dear, considering the amount of work the house needs.   Not to mention the deplorable state of
this coach house,” Joan said.
    “That is just
the asking price,” Henry said.   “There may be some negotiating room in there.   I believe the property has been on the
market for some months, since the previous owner’s unfortunate and unexpected passing.”
    “What happened
to her?” Joan demanded.
    “Oh, I’m not
quite sure,” Henry stammered.   “I just know….”
    “Hullo?   Is there anyone there?” a loud voice
suddenly interrupted.
    “Hello, we’re
locked in the coach house.   Can you
get us out?” Henry shouted back.
    “Oh, aye,”
came a cheery reply.   “Hang on a
minute.”  
    A moment later
the door swung open.   Henry was
quick to exit and the sisters didn’t delay in following him.
    Janet took several
deep breaths of fresh air.   She felt
as if she were covered in dust herself after being trapped in the grimy coach
house, even though they’d only been in there a few minutes.
    “Thank you so
very much,” Henry was saying to the tall man who had opened the door.
    Janet
inspected him as she waited for Henry to stop babbling so she could add her own
thanks.
    He had to be nearly
six feet tall, with dark brown hair that was clearly dyed.   There was no way he’d managed to get to
his age without going grey, she decided.   He appeared to be somewhere in his sixties and his dark eyes sparkled
with amusement as Henry continued to thank him.
    “It’s fine,”
he said when Henry paused for a breath.   “I was just going to do a bit of weeding and I heard voices.   I figured I’d better check things out.”
    “I’m just a
tiny bit claustrophobic,” Henry explained.   “I was feeling quite, um, unhappy in there.   I don’t understand how the door came to
blow shut, though, it isn’t windy.”
    “No doubt it
was the ghost,” the man told him.   “I shouldn’t worry about it.”
    “But where are
my keys?” Henry demanded, looking around on the ground outside the coach house
door.
    “I didn’t see
any keys when I got here,” the man said.   “Luckily I have my own set.   I store some of the gardening things in the coach house, you see.”
    “I’m