Aunt Bessie Joins (An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Book 10) (11 page)

Pete made a note in his notebook and then
nodded at Bessie.
 
“Okay, so that’s
a possible motive for Richard
Teare
to
investigate.
 
Who else had a
motive?”

“You know he and Michael had a fight earlier
in the day.
 
I don’t think that
gives Michael a motive for murder, but it might be worth looking at.”

“We’re looking very closely at Michael, actually,”
Pete told her.
 
“He has a temper and
he’s admitted to being in Douglas that evening.
 
If he’s telling the truth about Mr.
Hart’s attempt to blackmail him, he seems to have given himself a fairly strong
motive.”

“Why would he lie?”

“Maybe he’s trying to distract us from
something else we’d find if we dig,” Pete said.
 
“Or maybe he’s trying to justify the
murder, to himself, if not to us.”

“Blackmail is a nasty business.”

“It is, but murder is worse.”

Bessie nodded.
 
“I don’t know anything about Natasha
Harper, except that she’s much better to work with than Christopher Hart
was.
 
Mr. Hart accused her of trying
to steal his clients when she first arrived at the castle, but she explained
that away when I asked her about it later.”

“What have I told you about questioning
suspects?” Pete asked.

“Yes, well, we were talking and it came up,”
Bessie muttered, flushing.

“I’d really rather you stayed well away from
the castle and all of the suspects until the case is wrapped up,” Pete told
her.
 
He held up a hand as she
opened her mouth to argue.
 
“I know
you can’t or won’t do that, but I want you to understand how I feel about the
whole matter.
 
Whoever killed
Christopher Hart knew what he or she was doing.
 
If the murder had happened anywhere near
Castle
Rushen
, I’d cancel ‘Christmas at the Castle’
to try to keep everyone safe.”

“Nearly everyone I spoke to thinks the
killer came from across, just to kill Mr. Hart,” Bessie said.
 
“Have you considered that possibility?”

“Of course; I’m considering every possibility,”
he replied.
 
“Getting to the island
isn’t the easiest of tasks, though.
 
If someone did come over, they’d have left a trail behind them.
 
The airlines and the ferry service keep
records of who travels and when.
 
You need a credit card to check into a hotel, et cetera.
 
If that is what happened, whoever did it
probably would have been better off attempting to kill the man in London.”

“But going through all those records takes a
lot of time,” Bessie said.
 
“Whoever
it was is probably long gone, back where they came from.”

“We have a small number of staff going
through flight, ferry, and hotel records as we speak,” he told her.
 
“We’re just lucky it’s December.
 
There’s far less to check through than
there would have been in June or July.”

The inspector drained his coffee cup.
 
“I really must get into the office,” he
told Bessie.
 
“I really appreciate
your taking the time to share your perspective with me, though.
 
And breakfast was wonderful.
 
Thank you.”

“I’m here any time you want to talk,” she assured
him.
 
“I just wish it could be all
sorted before the grand opening tomorrow night.
 
It’s going to keep us from truly
enjoying the evening.”

“I’m doing my best,” he replied.
 
“And I’ll just remind you to leave it
all to me.
 
A murder investigation
is no place for an amateur.”

Bessie nodded and bit her lip.
 
She’d helped the police with more than
one investigation in the past, including one that had been Pete’s case.
 
She wasn’t going to just sit around
while the police did their slow and methodical job, not if there was something
she could do to speed up the investigation.

“I hope you have a wonderful grand opening,
in spite of everything,” Pete said now.

Bessie walked him to the door.
 
“I’m really looking forward to it, in
spite of everything,” she told him.

“Helen and I are looking forward to
Christmas Eve, assuming I don’t have to work, of course.”

Bessie nodded and then watched him walk to
his car.
 
She wondered about the
women who fell in love with policemen, or the men who fell for policewomen, at
that.
 
It had to be difficult.
 
Police work was demanding and never-ending.
 
Bessie hoped that Helen and Pete would
find a way to make their relationship work.
 
She liked them both and thought they
were
well-suited
.

Bessie tidied up the kitchen and then waited
for her taxi.
 
She was going to do
some grocery shopping with her unexpectedly free day.
 
Her
favourite
driver, Dave, dropped her off in front of the bookstore.
 

“It looks really busy today,” he said,
frowning.
 
“If you decide you want
collecting early or you get held up, ring me directly.
 
That’s easier than ringing through the
office.”

Bessie spent a few minutes in the bookstore,
but she soon found herself agreeing with Dave.
 
It was far too crowded with Christmas
shoppers for her enjoy a leisurely browse.
 
She headed towards
ShopFast
, thinking she
might stop in a few shops along the way, but the street was full of people
rushing about, which made it difficult to look in windows.
 
ShopFast
was
also busier than normal for a Thursday morning.
 
She pushed her shopping trolley through
crowded aisles.

“Bessie?
 
How are you?” a friend asked in the
bakery.

“I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed,” Bessie
answered honestly.
 
“I just came in
for a few things, but the craziness of the crowd seems to be contagious.
 
I can’t seem to stop myself adding more
and more to my trolley.”

The woman laughed.
 
“I know what you mean.
 
Christmas is still over a week away but
I’m buying up food like the shops are going to be shut from tomorrow.”

Bessie looked down at her trolley and
sighed.
 
“I just hope I manage to
eat it all,” she said.

There were long queues at the tills, but
because she hadn’t bothered with any other shopping, she walked out of the
store more or less on time to meet Dave.
 

At home, with the shopping all put away,
Bessie had a light lunch and then decided to take a long walk.
 
When she reached
Thie
yn
Traie
, she spotted Mary
coming down the steep steps.

“I’ve been watching your cottage from my
windows all day,” Mary told her when she joined her on the sand.
 
“I was sure you’d be out for a walk
before too long.
 
The weather is too
perfect to miss.”

Mary was right; it was a surprisingly mild
day for December.
 
“Let’s hope the
good weather continues through Christmas,” Bessie said.
 
“There will be a lot of disappointed
people if the ferries can’t sail.”

“Including me,” Mary told her.
 
“I’ve ordered a whole feast from
across.”

“Will you be celebrating Christmas at
Thie
yn
Traie
?”

“I wish,” Mary told her.
 
“We haven’t quite completed the purchase
yet, although Daniel Pierce has told us we can move in anyway, if we want
to.
 
 
He and George were business associates
for a few years and we all know how badly they want rid of the house.”

“You are definitely buying it, then?”

“Oh yes, and we’ve already started redoing
it all.
 
I’m hoping we can have
enough of it finished in time to have a small New Year’s Eve party.
 
You will come, won’t you?”

“Of course,” Bessie told her.
 
“Although New Year’s Eve parties can be
difficult.
 
You always feel rather
stuck until midnight, even if you aren’t having a nice time.”

Mary laughed.
 
“I promise you’ll enjoy yourself.
 
If nothing else, you can stay in the
library until quarter to twelve.”

“I didn’t know
Thie
yn
Traie
had a library.”

“It does.
 
I don’t know that anyone ever read any
of the books in it, but it’s very well stocked with both fiction and
non-fiction.
 
I’m going to have to
hire someone to catalogue it and then we’ll have to check that against the
catalogue from our library in Douglas.
 
I imagine we’ll have a lot of books to get rid of, once we’ve done
that.
 
You’ll have to help me find
good homes for them.”

Bessie smiled.
 
“That sounds like a wonderful job,” she
said.
 
“But you said you were
watching for me,” Bessie recalled.
 
“I hope nothing is wrong.”

“Oh, no, I was just bored,”
Mary
admitted.
 
“Natasha is hard at work on various plans, so I need to be here to
consult with her, but mostly she’s working on her own and I’m just sitting
around.”

The pair chatted for a few minutes longer
and then Bessie headed back to her cottage.
 
She enjoyed the quiet day after all of
the hard work she’d put into “Christmas at the Castle,” but after dinner she
found she was quite restless.
 
After
all of the time and effort, she was ready for the grand opening.

Chapter Six

Bessie woke up early the next day, feeling
like a small child on Christmas morning.
 
“This is silly,” she told herself as she tried to get back to
sleep.
 
“It’s only a charity
fundraiser.”

But she’d been involved in “Christmas at the
Castle” from the very beginning and she was very proud of what they’d
accomplished at Castle
Rushen
.
 
She’d never held down a paying job, but
she was sure she felt much like someone would when a huge project finally came
to fruition.
 
Giving up on getting
back to sleep, she showered and then patted on the rose-scented dusting powder
that reminded her of the man she’d loved and lost when she had been much
younger.
 
If she’d married Matthew,
she would have left the island and her life would have been completely
different.
 

“You’ve ended up exactly where you ought to
be,” she told her mirror image.
 
“Now quit talking to yourself and get moving.”

Laughing at herself, Bessie fixed breakfast
and then packed a few sandwiches into a bag.
 
She wasn’t sure she would have time for
a proper lunch later.
 
The grand
opening reception was going to be catered, but she didn’t want to be starving
by the time that was ready.

Mark was a few minutes early.
 
“I’m sorry,” he said.
 
“I couldn’t sleep last night and I ran
out of things to do to kill time this morning.”

Bessie just laughed.
 
“I know what you mean,” she replied.

“This is the biggest project I’ve done for
MNH, and having a murder happen right in the middle of it hasn’t done much for
my confidence,” he confided.
 
“I
sure hope everything goes right today.”

“It’s going to be wonderful,” Bessie
said.
 
“We’ve worked too hard to see
it all fall apart now.”

At the castle doors, the pair parted.
 
“I have a lot of last-minute paperwork
to sort through,” Mark told Bessie.
 
“Make sure you’re in the banquet room at midday, though, and bring
everyone who’s around with you.”

Bessie spent her morning wandering around
the beautifully decorated castle, checking on everyone else.
 
It seemed to her as if everyone was in
high spirits, anticipating a very successful opening night.
 
The only person who wasn’t happy was
Carolyn
Teare
.

“Oh, Bessie, thank goodness you’re here,”
she exclaimed as Bessie peeked into the room Carolyn was decorating.
 
“I’ve had ever so much trouble getting
staff down here to help with this.
 
You’ll give me a hand, won’t you?”

“For a short while,” Bessie replied, looking
around at a room that was still mostly empty, aside from a stack of boxes in
the very
centre
.
 
“It’s nearly half eleven and we all have to be in the banquet room for
midday, but I can work with you until then.”

“Excellent,” Carolyn said.
 
“If you could just decorate that tree,
I’d appreciate it.”
 
She pointed to
a large white artificial tree that was standing alone in one corner.
 
It was completely bare.
 
“There’s a box of decorations next to
it,” she said in a helpful voice.

Bessie opened the box and shook her head at
the stark black baubles that were inside.
 
She began to hang them on the tree, but was soon interrupted.

“Oh, I do think the tinsel should go first,”
Carolyn called from the corner of the room.

Bessie looked over and saw the woman sitting
on a chair.
 
She had her mobile out
and was frowning at the display.
 
As
Bessie took the ornaments back off the tree, Carolyn punched numbers on her
phone.

“Ah, hello, darling.
 
I just wanted to see how you were this
morning,” the woman cooed into her phone.

Bessie didn’t like to eavesdrop, but Carolyn
made no attempt to lower her voice as she chatted.
 
Half an hour later, Bessie knew far more
than she wanted to know about Carolyn’s marriage.
 
It had quickly become apparent that
Carolyn was talking to her husband, Richard, and from what Bessie could hear,
Carolyn sounded madly in love and deeply devoted to the man.
 
Bessie was surprised at what she heard,
given the other woman’s suggestion that her husband had murdered Christopher
Hart, but she kept her thoughts to herself as she wound black tinsel around the
tree and then added ornament after ornament in the same
colour
.

“You’ve done quite well,”
Carolyn
said when she finally put her phone away.
 
“Only another ten to go and we’ll be ready.”

Bessie stared at her for a moment.
 
“I don’t see how we’ll get another ten
done before we have to start getting ready for tonight,” she said after a
moment.

“We’ll have to get the whole committee in
here to help, that’s all,” Carolyn said with a shrug.
 

“I think most of them have other things to
do this afternoon,” Bessie pointed out.

“You’ll help, won’t you?” Carolyn
pleaded.
 
“Only Richard is quite
cross with me and he won’t let me bring my staff down to help out.
 
I was trying to make up to him, but he
won’t change his mind.
 
I simply
can’t do it all on my own.”

Since I haven’t seen you do anything, that’s
hardly surprising, Bessie thought to herself.
 
“Let’s see what happens after the
meeting,” Bessie said noncommittally.
 
“We’d better get over to the banquet room now, though.”

Bessie left the room before Carolyn could
object.
 
She wasn’t sure what Mark
had planned for their meeting, but she didn’t want to be late.
 
As she got closer to the room, her mouth
began to water.
 
Something smelled
like tomatoes and garlic.
 
She
quickened her pace.

In the banquet room, two large tables had
been set up.
 
One was nearly full
with serving platters of food.
 
The
second was covered in a linen tablecloth with wine bottles in the
centre
.

“I think just about everyone is here,” Mark
said as Bessie and Carolyn walked into the room.
 
“I just wanted to take the time to thank
each and every one of you for all of your hard work over the last month.
 
We should have allowed a lot more time
for planning, and we will in the future, but this time we managed to get the
job done and I’m grateful to you all.”

“We had a great leader,” Bessie said loudly.

“Thank you,” Mark said, blushing.
 
“Anyway, lunch today is my thank-you
gift to you all.
 
There’s plenty of
wine to go around as well, but do keep in mind that we still have a lot to get
through tonight.
 
Anyway, help
yourselves and enjoy.”

Everyone applauded lightly.
 
The charity volunteers insisted that the
committee members fix their plates first, and Bessie quickly found
herself
pushed to the front of the queue.
 
For a moment she wasn’t sure where to
start.
 
There was grilled chicken,
pasta with tomato or Alfredo sauce, grilled vegetables, salad, garlic bread,
and a huge tray of pastries and cakes for pudding.

With a very full plate, Bessie took a seat
at the empty table and let Mark pour her a small amount of wine.
 
Mary Quayle and Marjorie Stevens soon
joined her.

“I was late,”
Marjorie
said after a sip of wine.
 
“So I
came straight up here the back way.
 
Are all of the rooms ready to go?”

“We put the finishing touches on everything
this morning,” Natasha said as she slid into a chair opposite Mary.
 
“I’m really pleased with how it has all
turned out.”

“My room isn’t done,” Carolyn said loudly as
she moved to the head of the table.
 
She put her plate down and then grabbed the nearest wine bottle.
 
She poured herself a full glass of wine
and then took a large drink.
 
“I
need everyone’s help this afternoon,” she added, nearly shouting.
 
“I’ve barely started in my room.
 
I’ve only managed to get one tree
decorated.”

That would be the tree I decorated, Bessie
thought but didn’t say.
 

“I’m afraid a lot of us have other things to
do this afternoon,” Mark told Carolyn.
 
“Marjorie and I will be doing press preview tours most of the afternoon
and all of the charity representatives are meant to be at the press conference
later.”

“You can’t do press previews,” Carolyn
wailed.
 
“My room isn’t ready.”

“We can’t reschedule them,” Marjorie said
firmly.
 
“We’re relying on getting a
lot of publicity for this to sell out Christmas Eve.
 
We need the press to come through
today.”

“But what about my room?
 
What about my tribute to Christo?
 
I want it to be perfect before it’s
seen.”

“We’ll have to shut the door while the press
is here,” Mark said.
 
“At least then
they won’t see it before it’s finished.”

Carolyn frowned and drained her wine glass.
 
“But that doesn’t solve the problem,” she
said.
 
“I suppose I don’t mind if
the press can’t see it, but it needs to be ready for the grand opening.”

“I’ll help,” Michael Beach shouted from the
other end of the table.
 
“My room is
done and ready to go.
 
My car in the shop, so I took a taxi this morning.
 
I’ve no interest in paying their exorbitant
rates to get back home and then back again for tonight.
 
I was just going to wander around
Castletown
, but I can help you instead.”

“Thank you,” Carolyn said happily.
 
“Now, who else can help?”

In the end, just about everyone agreed to
spend their afternoon working on Carolyn’s room.
 
Henry offered to send one or two of the
younger members of the paid staff up with a ladder to help with hanging
things.
 
Bessie was tempted to make
up an excuse, but with everyone else helping, it sounded like it might be quite
fun, really.
 
With very full
tummies, the
group eventually made their way back
to
Carolyn’s room.

“Now, before we start, let me share my
vision,” Carolyn said from the doorway.
 
“Christo wanted to celebrate some of the things we usually shy away from,
like death and murder.
 
I don’t want
to take things quite that far with my tribute, because he was actually
murdered.
 
There will be eleven
white Christmas trees with black decorations in a circle in the
centre
of the room.
 
The walls will be draped in black crepe.
 
Instead of a nativity scene, on the
table in the
centre
of the room, we’ll have the four
horsemen of the apocalypse.”

Carolyn opened a box and held up a small
ceramic figure.
 
“He’s meant to be a
wise man, but I thought, if we put horses with him, people will understand the
symbolism.”

Bessie turned her head and bit her lip.
 
The four wise men of the apocalypse,
more like, she thought.
 
She was
just grateful that the press weren’t going to see this room.
 
Maybe they could forget to open the door
tonight as well.

No one said anything; they all just
exchanged glances and then began to assemble white Christmas trees.
 
As Bessie began to decorate one, she
heard raised voices.

“It’s close enough,” Michael was
saying.
 
Bessie looked over to see
him standing next to a very lopsided tree.
 
“Once everyone sees the apocalypse in the
centre
,
they aren’t going to care about a few crooked trees.”

“I’d like it done correctly,” Carolyn said
tightly.

“Have some more wine,” Michael
suggested.
 
“Then you won’t be so bothered.”

He picked up the backpack he’d carried in
with him and pulled out a bottle of wine and some of the paper cups that had
been provided at lunch for water and fizzy drinks.
 
He poured wine into a cup and held it
out to Carolyn.
 
“Go on, you know
you want to.”

Carolyn took the cup and took a small
sip.
 
“I still want the tree
fixing,” she said.