The Jackson Case by Diana Xarissa

Author:Diana Xarissa [Xarissa, Diana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: cozy mystery
Published: 2017-09-14T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

Janet stared at Mary, too stunned to speak.

“All of the money?” Joan asked.

“Apparently. They had everyone pay in cash if they could. The idea was to present a huge cheque on Monday to the charity, and Norman said they could only do that if everyone paid in cash.”

“I remember Stuart saying that, but I never imagined that there was anything criminal behind it,” Janet said.

“But Stuart was just as much a victim as everyone else,” Mary wailed.

“Of course he was,” Joan said firmly. “He put a great deal of time and effort into the evening.”

“And he paid for a lot of things out of his own pocket. Norman said he’d reimburse him, but he never did.”

“Oh, dear,” Janet said. “I hope it wasn’t too much money.”

“It was more than we can comfortably afford to lose,” Mary told her. “He paid for renting the space and he paid for forty bottles of wine. He also gave some money to Todd and Ted towards the cost of the food.”

“Poor Stuart,” Janet murmured.

“And now he’s practically being accused of being involved in the theft,” Mary said.

“I’m sure that’s not the case,” Joan said.

“He’s been dragged down to the police station,” Mary told her. “And he’s the one who reported the problem.”

“Maybe you should start at the beginning,” Janet suggested.

“Why don’t we sit down with some tea and biscuits,” Joan said in a soothing voice.

“Yes, all right,” Mary said. She followed the sisters into the kitchen and sank down in the first chair she reached. Sighing deeply, she put her head in her hands and didn’t move until Joan put a teacup in front of her some minutes later.

“Here we are, then,” Joan said. “Tea and biscuits.”

Mary took a chocolate digestive and nibbled her way through it, with frequent sips of milky tea. When it was gone, she sat back and smiled weakly. “I needed that,” she said. “I didn’t get any breakfast.”

“I can make you some breakfast,” Joan offered.

“Oh, no, I can make do with some more biscuits,” Mary said. “I’m causing enough trouble as it is.”

“So what happened?” Janet asked, impatient to hear the story.

“I left the party early last night,” Mary said. “I had a headache and I wasn’t going to bid on anything anyway, so I didn’t stay long. Stuart rang when it was over to tell me that he was going to help with the tidying and taking down all of the decorations, and that he’d be home in an hour or so. I decided not to wait up for him.” She stopped and took another biscuit.

“They were still clearing up when we left,” Janet told her, mostly to fill the awkward silence as the woman ate.

“So I went to bed. Stuart came in about two hours later, exhausted but happy. They’d raised much more money than they’d hoped for, mostly due to some very wealthy businessmen from Derby who were invited by Fred Arnold, I gather.”

“They paid ridiculous prices for things,” Joan said. “We didn’t get a chance to buy anything at all.

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