The Chalmers Case Read Online Free Page A

try to find some for us,” Joan told her.   “Weren’t you paying attention?”
    “I thought I
was, but after I saw what he’s keeping in his back room, I wasn’t sure I
understood.”
    “Don’t tell me
you were snooping!” Joan exclaimed.  
    “I was looking
for a loo,” Janet said defensively.
    “Really?” Joan
asked.
    Janet
sighed.   She tried hard not to lie
to her sister.   “No, not
really.   I was just curious what was
behind the door.”
    “You’re lucky
he didn’t catch you being nosy,” Joan told her.   “He would have been furious.”
    Janet thought
back to how disagreeable William had been the first time they’d met him.   She shuddered as she realised how close she came to really angering him.   “I just took a quick peek,” she told Joan.   “And he’d have only been angry if he’s
hiding something.”
    “And is he
hiding something?”
    “I don’t
know,” Janet said with a shrug.   “It
sort of seems like it, though.”
    “And you’re
waiting for me to ask, aren’t you?” Joan demanded.   “Okay, what did you find behind the
door?” she asked in a tight voice.
    “It looked
like an art studio,” Janet replied.   “There were a bunch of half-finished pictures on easels, and paints and
supplies all around the place.”
    “Why would
William want an art studio in the back of his store?” Joan asked.
    “Maybe he has
a team of artists making forgeries in there,” Janet suggested.  
    “Maybe you’ve
been reading too many books about such things,” Joan retorted.   “It seems more likely one of his artist
friends is using the space to make pictures for the store.   I didn’t pay any attention to the names
of the artists on the pictures that were for sale, did you?”
    “No,” Janet
admitted.   “But why would he have so
many unfinished works?   Surely
artists do one painting at a time.”
    “As I’m not an
artist and can’t draw a straight line even with a straight edge, I’m not the
one to ask about that,” Joan said.   “Anyway, it isn’t any of our business what he’s doing back there.”
    Janet sat back
in her seat and frowned.   There was
something suspicious going on in that store.   If Joan wanted to ignore it, she could,
but Janet was determined to find out more about what was happening in WTC
Antiques, with or without Joan’s help.
    Back at Doveby House, over a cup of tea, Joan quickly made a list
of what needed to be done before they welcomed their guests on Wednesday.   As she filled first one and then a
second sheet of paper with chores, Janet remembered why she wasn’t eager to
start running the bed and breakfast.  
    “I’ll just go
and do some more work in the library,” she told Joan, getting up from the
kitchen table.
    “You go and do
that,” Joan said, clearly distracted by her list making.   “But once I’ve finished the list, you’ll
have to stop and help with that instead.   We can just lock up the library while the guests are here, so it won’t matter
if you leave a mess in there.   The
rest of the property has to be spotless, though.”
    Janet shut the
library door and quickly began to pile books against it.   With the contents of two shelves stacked
behind it, Joan would struggle to get the library door open when she came to
get her younger sister.   Janet knew
she was being childish, but Joan’s list had been nothing but tidy this and
clean that, which was never Janet’s idea of fun.
    Joan had never
embraced Janet’s habit of adding small incentives to her to-do lists.   There was nothing Janet liked better
than crossing off a chore and finding “have a scoop of ice cream” as the next
item on the list, but Joan didn’t see it that way.  
    Now Janet
grabbed the furniture polish and went to work on the two shelves she’d just
cleared.   There didn’t seem to be
any additional hidden panels.   Janet
had just returned the last of the books to the second shelf when Joan pushed
the door