The Appleton Case (A Markham Sisters Cozy Mystery Novella Book 1) by Diana Xarissa Page A

tried to think.   The appointment mentioned in the letter would have taken place after
Margaret’s death, so presumably the woman never made whatever
changes to her will she was planning.   
    Janet paced
around the room, wondering what Margaret had been intending.   Had Gavin known about the appointment
and killed his mother to prevent her keeping it?   Perhaps Gavin didn’t realise that his mother had already cut him out of her will.   Perhaps he thought she was going to do
that with this appointment.   Would
that have led Gavin to murder her?
    When she
couldn’t answer any of those questions, Janet switched to thinking about the
box of car parts.   Was Gavin doing
something illegal or unethical at his garage?   Was it possible that his mother was
threatening to go to the police with the box of parts?  
    Janet sighed
and sat back down on the couch.   Joan was on her mind at least as much as Gavin and his mother.   Was her sister having a good time?   Janet could only hope that Joan and
Michael would find things to talk about and have a good meal.   She looked at the clock.
    It was only
half eight and way too early to think about heading to bed.   She wandered into the library and pulled
down a book at random.   It was an
old detective story and Janet flipped through the pages, unable to actually
concentrate on the story.   A passage
caught her eye.
    The police don’t seem interested in anything
I tell them.   I think it’s time to do
some of my own investigating.
    Janet read the
lines again and then frowned.   Such behaviour was always a bad idea in these sorts of
books.   She shut the book and slid
it back onto the shelf.   There was
no way she was contemplating such an action herself.   She didn’t even know what she ought to
investigate.   She couldn’t very well
tell the police that she thought Gavin might have murdered his mother when she
had no idea how the woman had died.
    In the
kitchen, she fixed herself a cup of tea.   She pulled out a box of biscuits and frowned.   Digestives just didn’t sound good.   She wanted custard creams.   She dug though the cupboard, but there
weren’t any custard creams hiding at the back.   As she sipped her tea, she nibbled her
way through a digestive, but it wasn’t the same.  
    Five minutes
later she found herself in the car, heading to the nearby grocery store.   It wasn’t like her to be out and about
at nearly nine o’clock, but she wouldn’t sleep until her sister was home
anyway, and she’d feel much better once she’d had a few custard creams.
    She slowed
down as she passed Gavin’s garage, wondering to herself if driving past the
garage was the real reason she’d come out.   She pushed the thought from her mind and drove on to the grocery
store.   As she had no idea where the
man lived, she couldn’t snoop any further than she had, pointlessly driving
past the garage that had been dark and shut up tight.
    She pulled out
a trolley and made her way through the store, randomly selecting everything
that sounded good.   Ten minutes
later, at the tills, she giggled to herself.   Joan would have a fit when she saw all
of the unhealthy food Janet had picked out.   Janet knew that Joan would eat her fair
share of the crisps, cakes, chocolate and biscuits, however much she complained.
    “Having a
little party?” the cashier asked as she packed everything into bags.
    “Just a small
one,” Janet answered, hoping she wasn’t blushing as much as she felt she was.
    “I love these,
“ the girl said, holding up a box of cakes.   “I could eat this whole box in one
sitting.”
    “At my age, if
I did that, I’d gain ten pounds,” Janet told her with a rueful smile.  
    “Oh, I
know.   My mum keeps telling me that
I won’t be able to keep eating like I do in a few years,” the young girl said
cheerfully.   “I’m studying to be a
dietician at university, anyway, so I do try to eat healthy most of the
time.   It would easier