The Bennett Case (A Markham Sisters Cozy Mystery Book 2) by Diana Xarissa Page B

with Michael, Janet had made a late-night
run to the grocery store for custard cream biscuits.   She’d ended up filling a shopping
trolley with all sorts of snacks that she and Joan rarely ate.   A few bags of popcorn were just about
the only things left from the excursion, now.
    Janet
unwrapped a bag and put it in the microwave.   Joan got them each a cold drink while
Janet pulled out a large bowl.   The
loud popping noises that filled the kitchen made conversation impractical.   Once Janet had emptied the bag of hot,
buttery popcorn into the bowl, the pair sat down at the table.
    “You didn’t
get out separate bowls for each of us,” Joan chided, starting to get to her
feet.
    “Oh, just help
yourself,” Janet suggested.   “It’s
just us at home.   We don’t need to
be formal.”
    Janet could
see her sister’s indecision.   While
she watched Joan’s face, she reached into the bowl and grabbed a handful of
popcorn.   After a moment, Joan
picked up a few kernels herself and ate them carefully.
    “So, who do
you think is Peter Smith, assuming he’s one of the new arrivals to the area?”
Janet asked after a sip of soda.
    “Leonard,”
Joan answered firmly.
    Janet
laughed.   “You just don’t like him,”
she said.
    “I don’t like
him, but he could still be Peter Smith,” Joan pointed out.
    “I think
William Chalmers is more likely,” Janet told her.
    “Let’s discuss
them one at a time,” Joan suggested.   “We can start with Leonard Simmons.”
    “The poor
man’s only fault is that he’s keeping you and Michael apart,” Janet said.  
    “He said he
was hiding up here,” Joan reminded her.   “What is he hiding from exactly?”
    “I don’t
know.   But he seems too dull and
uninteresting to be a conman.   I
barely notice him when he’s in the room unless he talking loudly about events
from forty years ago.”
    “But that
could be an act,” Joan said.   “He
could be just pretending to be boring.”
    Janet shook
her head.   “I’m pretty sure he
really is boring,” she said firmly.   “I think he’s just an ordinary and dreary man who is currently taking
advantage of his friendship with Michael.”
    “What could he
be hiding from, then?” Joan asked.
    “His
wife?   His children?   The tax man?”
    “It’s hard to
imagine that he’s married,” Joan said pensively.   “But I suppose he might have been
attractive many years ago.”
    “There’s
someone out there for everyone,” Janet said.   “If they want to find someone, that is.”
    “Yes, well,
assuming he’s married, why would he need to hide?”
    “Maybe he
forgot their wedding anniversary or something,” Janet said with a shrug.   “I don’t know enough about marriage to
understand its finer points.   Maybe
he goes away for a week every year, just to give his wife a break from his, um,
charming personality.”
    “Did Michael
say what Leonard does for a living?” Joan asked.
    Janet frowned
thoughtfully.   “I don’t think so,”
she said after a moment.   “I don’t
think he said much of anything about the man except that he was an old school
friend.”
    “Interesting,”
Joan murmured.
    “Let’s talk
about William Chalmers,” Janet said.   “I don’t like him even a little bit and he was very upset that Constable
Parsons visited him.”
    “Yes, but
surely the constable would have arrested him if he really were Peter Smith,”
Joan replied.
    “Maybe Robert
didn’t recognise him, at least not well enough to be
certain.   I don’t think the police
can just arrest someone because he might be a conman in disguise.”
    “He is
certainly unpleasant,” Joan said.   “I wouldn’t mind him leaving Doveby Dale, either
to go to prison or just to go away.”
    “I’ll second
that,” Janet said.   She looked down
at the bowl of popcorn.   She and
Joan had been munching steadily and it now contained little more than a few unpopped kernels.   “And I’ll make more popcorn,”