Murder at Midwinter Farm: A completely unputdownable cozy British mystery novel by Helena Dixon

Author:Helena Dixon [Dixon, Helena]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2025-11-24T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Mr Pettifor took his leave shortly after tea was finished. Robert and Alice also left as they had promised to visit Alice’s parents to allay her mother’s concerns about the house.

‘Thank you for asking Mr Pettifor to tea. He seems such a nice man and my mind feels a bit easier now. I just hope as I can calm Mother down. She’s been having conniptions ever since she heard about Mr Crabtree’s body being found,’ Alice said as Kitty showed her friend and her fiancé out.

‘I’m sure Robert will help you to reassure her.’ Kitty kissed her friend’s cheek and waved them off from the step.

Once their guests were gone, Matt helped Kitty to clear the table. They then set about washing all of the crockery so that Mrs Smith would arrive to a clean and tidy kitchen early the next morning.

‘Phew, that was a lot of information.’ Kitty handed her husband a tea towel.

‘It certainly was. Mr Pettifor appeared a nice gentleman and at least now Alice feels a little happier knowing the history of their house,’ Matt agreed as he waited for Kitty to wash the first of the plates.

‘It’s all so strange though, don’t you think? The way this business about the jewel thefts keeps cropping back up.’ Kitty looked thoughtful as she plunged the delicate teacups into the sudsy water.

‘It’s hard to know after all these years if that’s something that may have become muddled up with Thomas Crabtree’s disappearance simply because the two events were close together. Plus, our Mr Crabtree was known to be a wrong’un and neither case has been solved.’ Matt dried the saucers and stacked them neatly back on the shelf in the dresser.

‘I see what you mean. At least we know the background more fully now about why Crabtree was not discovered straight away or in subsequent years. It’s only since Robert acquired the farm and started to clear that area ready for the siting of the telegraph pole. If he hadn’t done that it may have been a lot longer before anything came to light. I don’t suppose anyone had cause to move anything there before.’ Kitty placed another pile of clean crockery on the small draining board.

‘No, the subsequent tenants obviously left everything as it was. I’d like to know what William Crabtree was doing though prowling around the farm and peering in through the letter box. There seems little doubt in my mind that it was him. Mr Pettifor said he had left home some eighteen months to two years before his father vanished. Then there has been ten years of other tenants in the house as well as other short vacant spells. So why now? What was he looking for?’ Matt frowned and clinked the cups together drawing a look from Kitty.

‘Don’t break my china. Those were a wedding present from your parents,’ she reproved.

‘Sorry.’ Matt grinned at her as he apologised.

‘I don’t know. The only thought I had is that Robert has been renovating the place and somehow that might be why,’ Kitty suggested.

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