Aunt Bessie Finds (An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Book 6) (15 page)

I should just give the entire room to a charity shop, Bessie
thought to herself as she headed into her own bedroom.
 
Or maybe a museum, she sighed.

After spending most of the day pottering around doing nothing much,
Bessie decided to walk to the restaurant.
 
She left early to allow herself plenty of time to get there and walked
at a leisurely pace, stopping to chat with friends and acquaintances as she
passed them along the way.
 
It
seemed as if everyone in
Laxey
was outside, enjoying
the sunshine, as she made her way towards
La
Terrazza
.

Doona was just pulling into the car park when Bessie arrived, and
Bessie greeted her with a quick hug when she emerged from her car.

“I feel as if I haven’t seen you in ages,” Doona said.
 
“I made a booking and requested a quiet
corner so we can catch up.”

The pair
were
well-known in the small
restaurant and even though there were many people waiting for tables, the host
was quick to show them to a small table in the back corner of the room.
 

“Andy’s still making our puddings,” he told them as they took their
seats.
 
“But only for a few more
weeks.
 
He’s off to culinary school
across before the first of September.”

“We must save room for it, then,” Bessie said with a smile.
 
Andy Caine, Anne’s son, had been the
primary beneficiary of the family’s recent good fortune.
 
Bessie knew he was planning on taking a
two-year course that covered everything from cooking and baking to restaurant
management and taxes.
 
If everything
went to plan, he was hoping to open his own restaurant on the island when he
finished the course.

With drinks and food ordered, Bessie sat back and smiled at her
friend.

“I’m going to miss seeing you regularly,” she said with a small sigh.

“Tell me what’s going on,” Doona suggested.

Bessie brought her friend up to date, first explaining about the
flat rental and then telling her about
Bahey’s
newest
revelations.

“It all sounds odd to me,” Doona said when she’d finished.
 
“Maybe Bahey is imagining things.”

“Maybe, or maybe there are perfectly logical explanations for
everything that feels slightly odd.”
 
Bessie shrugged.
 
“Whatever,
Bahey is getting herself all upset about it.
 
I’m hoping I can figure enough out to
help put her mind at rest.
 
She
loves her little flat and I would hate for her to move just because of a few
odd experiences.”

“I think moving is a pretty big thing to do, just to set a friend’s
mind at ease,” Doona said.

Bessie shook her head.
 
“I’m not really moving,” she replied.
 
“I’m just going to stay in Douglas for a
while.
 
It’s more like an extended
holiday.”

“Where you take all your furniture with you,” Doona said dryly.

“Oh, I’m not taking my furniture,” Bessie said, chuckling as Doona
gave her a confused look.
 
“I was
planning on going shopping for some inexpensive new pieces, just for the flat,
but I think I’m going to borrow at least some of what I need from Mary Quayle.”

“Mary Quayle lends furniture?” Doona asked, looking even more
befuddled.

Bessie smiled.
 
“Apparently
George likes to redecorate quite frequently and when he does, Mary puts all of
the old furniture and things into storage.
 
She said she
can’t
bear to get rid of things
that often aren’t particularly old and haven’t been much used.”

“I want to be that rich,” Doona said with a sigh.
 
“Imagine redecorating whenever you feel
like it.
 
I had to save up for a
year to replace my three-piece suite.”

Bessie laughed.
 
“As
some of my furniture pieces are considerably older than you, I quite
agree.
 
Although if I were that
rich, redecorating would come well below some other things.”

“Like what?” Doona demanded.

“The first thing I would do is build an extension for a massive
library,” Bessie told her.
 
“And
then I’d fill the shelves with books on every subject imaginable.
 
Whatever I felt in the mood for, I’d
have a whole shelf of books about it.
 
I’d add a few incredibly comfortable chairs and a fireplace and I’d
probably never leave the room.”

Doona laughed.
 
“That
sounds lovely, and just like you,” she said.
 
“I do enjoy a good book, but I’d rather
have a fancy bathroom, with a huge tub with jets and whatnot and a big built-in
vanity where I could fix my hair and makeup.”

“Perhaps we should both be playing the lottery,” Bessie teased.

“I do,” Doona told her.
 
“I won ten pounds last week.”

They both laughed.
 
“Well, that might pay for a few tiles for your dream bathroom,” Bessie
suggested.
 
“You should put your
winnings away and try to add to them every chance you get.”

“Too late,” Doona said replied.
 
“I treated myself to a box of champagne
truffles and ate them in the tub last night.”

“Well, at least you got some pleasure from the windfall,” Bessie
said.

The food was as delicious as ever and both women thoroughly enjoyed
every bite.
 
Dessert was sticky
toffee pudding with cream for Bessie, while Doona had a mini
Bakewell
tart.

“I don’t know why Andy’s going away to school,” Doona said as she
scraped the last crumbs from her plate.
 
“He’s already a genius with puddings.”

“But I need to learn how to make more than just sweets if I’m going
to have my own restaurant someday,” the man himself said.
 
Neither woman had noticed his approach,
but now Bessie stood up to give him a hug.

The handsome young man hugged Bessie back tightly.
 
“I hope you enjoyed your meal,” he said
after he let her go.

“It was delicious as always,” Bessie assured him.

The trio chatted for a just a minute before Andy had to get back to
the kitchen.

“It’s always such a pleasure to see him,” Bessie said after he’d
gone.
 
“I’m going to miss him when
he’s across.”

“And when you’re in Douglas,” Doona pointed out.

Bessie frowned.
  
“Yes, of course,” she muttered.

Doona insisted on driving Bessie home, even though it wasn’t dark
yet.
 
“Let’s sit on the rock and
chat,” she suggested when she’d parked.

It seemed a good idea, but the beach was rather crowded with
families from the area as well as the people staying in the holiday
cottages.
 
Bessie and Doona perched
on the large rock and stared down the beach.

“Is it always this loud?” Doona asked after a moment.

Bessie nodded.
 
Several
teenagers were playing music on large radios and they seemed to be having a
contest to see who could get their machine to play the loudest.
 
Large family groups were having picnics
and playing games and seemed to cover nearly every inch of the sand in front of
the rental cottages.
 
Several games
involving balls and flying discs were taking place, and more than one such
object flew past Bessie and Doona as they watched the chaos.

“It can get pretty loud,” Bessie replied as a very tall teenaged
boy dashed past them to retrieve a ball.
 
He shouted back at his friends as he threw it in their direction.

“Maybe a month in Douglas isn’t such a bad idea,” Doona said a
moment later, after they were both forced to duck when a flying disc whizzed
past their heads.

“It’s sounding better all the time,” Bessie replied as a large and
grumpy-looking woman stomped over and retrieved her disc.
 
She gave Bessie and Doona a dirty look
as she splashed past them on her way back to her family.

“I guess I should have tried to catch it and throw it back to her,”
Doona said, shaking her head.

“She needed the exercise,” Bessie whispered in reply.

“This isn’t any fun,” Doona said a moment later, as a group of
small children began a game of tip all along the beach around them.
 

“Let’s go inside,” Bessie suggested, climbing carefully down from
her seat.
 
The pair walked quickly
up the beach, trying to stay out of the way of the game.

“Okay, I think I’m beginning to see the appeal of the Douglas
flat,” Doona said with a laugh as she sank into a chair at the table in
Bessie’s kitchen.

“I am rather beginning to think of it as a holiday,” Bessie told
her.
 
“You know my life has been
quite stressful lately.
 
I think I
need a holiday.”

“I’m not going to disagree with that; it’s the strange happenings
that are worrying me,” Doona replied.
 
“I still think Bahey should be talking to the police.”

“Maybe,” Bessie said.
 
“But it won’t hurt for me to have a little poke around.
 
I won’t do anything stupid, just talk to
the
neighbours
and maybe the building manager.
 
If I start to suspect that there really
is something wrong, I’ll ring the police right away.”

“I want you to ring me every night,” Doona said sternly.
 
“I want daily updates.”

“I think I can manage that,” Bessie said.
 
“Although I hate when you fuss.”

“I’m not fussing,” Doona told her.
 
“I’m just keeping an eye on you.”

And there’s another advantage to the temporary move, Bessie
thought.
 
She knew Doona meant well,
but her friend had a tendency to treat her like a small child at times.

After Doona left, Bessie got ready for bed slowly.
 
The beach was still noisy, as childish
shouts were slowly replaced with more adult party sounds.
 
She settled into bed with a book and
read until she felt tired enough to sleep regardless of noise.
 
After a restless few minutes, she slept
well.

Tuesday morning was sunny and bright and Bessie enjoyed her morning
walk on the beach.
 
The only sour
note was the pile of discarded drinks cans and crisp packets and the like that
were scattered behind a few of the cottages.
 
Seagulls were diving on and off the
sand, chasing down the crumbs that remained in the waste.
 
Surely people ought to know better than to
leave such a mess, she thought to herself as she walked.

When she got home, she made a quick call to Thomas
Shimmin
.

“I know it isn’t your fault,” she told him.
 
“But the beach is covered in rubbish and
the gulls are dragging it everywhere.
 
I don’t know what you can do about it, but I thought you should know.”

“I’ll be right over,” he assured her.
 
“I have a very strict clause in my
rental agreements about rubbish on the beach.
 
I’ll do a spot inspection and fine
anyone who has left a mess, as well as get them to clear it up.”

“I hope they won’t think I put you up to it,” Bessie said worriedly.

“No worries about that,” he replied.
 
“I’ll tell them the
Laxey
Commissioners have complained.
 
They
won’t have any idea what that means.”

Bessie laughed and hung up feeling better.
 
Thomas was a good man and if she ever
did decide to sell her cottage, she would give him first refusal.
 
Bessie stayed off the beach for the rest
of the morning, concentrating on clearing up a bit of research work that she’d
been neglecting.
 
By midday, when
she sat down for lunch, the beach was spotless.
 
Mary knocked on her door just as she was
finishing the washing up.

“Bessie, how wonderful to see you again,” Mary gushed after she’d
given Bessie a hug.
 
“I can’t tell
you how happy I am that you might be willing to take some of my furniture for
me.”

“I’m not sure about that,” Bessie said cautiously.
 
“You should let me pay rent for it or
something.”

Mary laughed.
 
“I
wouldn’t have the first idea what to charge you, and anyway, I certainly don’t
need the money.
 
Honestly, it’s such
a small
favour
as far as I’m concerned; you really
mustn’t worry about it.”