The Ellsworth Case (A Markham Sisters Cozy Mystery Novella Book 5) by Diana Xarissa Page A

area or not,” she said.
    “I am, although I really need a new place to
stay,” Karen told her.   “I don’t
suppose you have any room available at your place?”
    Janet tried to look suitably disappointed as
she replied.   “I’m so sorry, but
we’re full up at the moment,” she said.   “We don’t have any openings until the new year.”
    “Yes, you and everyone else, it seems,”
Karen told her.   “I suppose it’s my
fault for changing my plans at the last minute.   I didn’t expect to meet someone special,
you see, and that’s changed everything.”   Karen looked over at William, who was now chatting with Joan, and winked
at him.   Janet might have been more
impressed with Karen’s words if she hadn’t heard them arguing just a few
minutes earlier.
    “Do you know anything about armoires?” Janet
asked, steering Karen towards the large piece at the back that her sister had
admired previously.
    “Only a little bit,” Karen replied.   “But I’m happy to share what I know.”
    While Janet and Karen opened and closed
drawers and cupboards, Joan and William disappeared into the back room.   After only a few minutes, Karen began to
look nervous.
    “I should get William for you,” she told
Janet.   “He’s the expert.”
    “Oh, don’t bother him,” Janet said
airily.   “I’m not ready to buy
anything today, anyway.   I just
wanted a better look.   How much is
that wardrobe?”   She pointed to a
huge wardrobe in the far corner of the room.  
    “I’m sure I don’t know,” Karen replied.   “Let me get William for you.”
    “Oh, come on,” Janet said, linking arms with
the woman.   “Let’s go and check it
out.   I’m sure you’ll be a big help
to William if you learn all about the various pieces that are for sale.”
    “Well, yes, I suppose so,” Karen
replied.   She glanced over at the
door to the back, but then allowed Janet to pull her across the room.
    Janet had just about run out of things to
say about the wardrobe when Joan and William reappeared.   She sighed with relief.   A moment later the sisters were heading
for their car.
    “I’m sure Karen thinks I’m quite daft,”
Janet said as they walked.   “I admired
every little thing about that wardrobe, from the size to the craftsmanship to
the wood, at least twice.”
    “And I didn’t even get anywhere with
William,” Joan told her.   “He
refused outright to discuss his art with me.”
    “Did he give you any reason why?”
    “He just said he wasn’t ready to tell Karen
about it,” Joan replied.   “And he
wouldn’t talk about her, either.”
    “They seemed to be having quite a large
fight when we got there,” Janet said.
    “Karen has a very extensive vocabulary,”
Joan said dryly.
    Janet laughed.   “I’ve never even heard some of those
words before,” she told her sister.
    “Yes, well, they certainly weren’t nice
words.   I wonder what they were
fighting about.”
    “I couldn’t hear enough to figure that out,”
Janet told her.   “You couldn’t get
William to tell you anything?”
    “Oh, he’d have talked all day about the
pictures in the back,” Joan told her.   “I couldn’t shut him up.   He
just kept babbling about the different artists and whatever.   I’m sure he was just trying to keep me
from asking difficult questions.”
    “But you did anyway,” Janet said with a
grin.
    “I tried,” Joan agreed.   “But I didn’t get any answers.”
    “I don’t suppose he had any news on the tantalus ?” Janet asked.
    “He said he’s sent requests to a few friends
to see if he can find out more, but it will probably be some time before he
hears back, especially as it is so close to Christmas.”
    “Karen asked if we had a room available,”
Janet told Joan.
    “Oh, goodness, I hope you told her no,” Joan
exclaimed.
    “I did,” Janet said.   “I told her we were booked up until some
time in January.”
    “Good.   I know we shouldn’t be choosy