Muriel Ashton was the sister of Harry Ashton, newly-appointed paper-pensioner at The Kabin in 1988. Muriel paid a visit to The Kabin to "inspect" Mavis Riley, who Harry had taken out to dinner which according to Muriel was very out of character. Muriel was a spinster who, having lived with Harry since his wife's death, and been close to Harry since their parents' early deaths, was threatened by Mavis, but in fact the dinner had only been a gesture of thanks for getting Harry the job.
The conversation between Muriel and Mavis was stilted, with Muriel giving awkward replies to Mavis's questions, but she did settle Mavis's worries that Harry was spending what little money he had on her by telling her that Harry dabbled in stocks and shares but didn't give the impression of being wealthy as he didn't throw his money around. She left with a damning "compliment" - that she wouldn't blame Mavis for taking advantage of a stroke of luck coming so late in life!