The Irwin Case by Diana Xarissa

Author:Diana Xarissa [Xarissa, Diana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: cozy mystery
Published: 2017-06-15T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

“Letters to her or from her?” Janet asked, feeling excited.

“It appears to be both,” Joan said. “And this may be her diary, as well.” She held up an old and worn book. Janet could see “Alberta Montgomery” written across the front in a childish-looking loopy handwriting.

“Let me see,” Janet said.

“I’m not sure we should read her diary,” Joan replied. “Or her letters, for that matter.”

“We need to find out who she was,” Janet suggested. “She must have family that would want the letters and diaries.”

“Even they won’t want the books,” Joan predicted.

Janet laughed. “You never know, people can be oddly sentimental about some things.”

Joan went through the rest of the box. It was full of piles of letters and several diaries. “I feel weird about reading them,” Joan said.

“I know, but I’m also curious,” Janet said. “Let’s pack them all up and put them out of the way for today. Maybe we can find out more about who she was and then decide whether to read them or not.”

They repacked Joan’s box and then put the books back into their box. Joan cleared a space for them in the back of her wardrobe.

“I’m not sure we’ve accomplished much,” Joan said. “We have emptied two boxes, but we’ve also simply moved two from the carriage house into my wardrobe. That might be considered a step backwards, in some ways.”

Janet shook her head. “You want to get the carriage house cleared out,” she said. “We could simply move everything in it into the main house. That would be the fastest way to do it.”

“We don’t want to clutter up our lovely home with the boxes from the carriage house,” Joan said. “You’re just looking for ways to get around going through the boxes.”

“Yes, I am,” Janet agreed.

Joan shook her head. “I really think…” she began. A knock on the door interrupted her.

“Robert, what a lovely surprise,” Janet said when she opened the door. She let the man in quickly, hoping that his visit would keep Joan from ever finishing her sentence.

“I can’t stay long,” the man warned. “I have several other people I need to talk to today.”

“Come and have a cuppa,” Joan suggested. “Surely you have time for that.”

“Only just,” Robert replied.

Joan put the kettle on while Janet filled a plate with biscuits. It wasn’t long before the three were settled in around the kitchen table.

“So, what can we do for you?” Janet asked the man.

“I wanted to thank you for letting me know about the problem that William Chalmers had,” Robert began. “I haven’t been able to track down the gentleman who’d wanted to purchase the painting, but I’m working on it.”

“Do you think his card was stolen as well?” Janet asked.

“At this point, I’m reserving judgment,” Robert replied. “It just seems an awful coincidence.”

“There were two declined credit cards at the supermarket this morning,” Janet said. “I don’t know if you know about them?”

“I don’t,” Robert sighed. “And I don’t know if that’s unusual or not, either. I’ll need to ring their local constabulary and have them send someone over to talk to the manager.

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