Aunt Bessie Invites (An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Book 9) (11 page)

Bessie laughed.
 
“I was just feeling rather the same
way,” she confided to her friend.
 
“I’m ever so glad you’re here.”

The friends hugged and then Bessie led Doona
into her sitting room.
 
“If I fix
tea now, we’ll just start eating biscuits and ruin our dinner,” she said.
 
“Let’s sit in here instead and just
chat.”

“What should we talk about?” Doona asked
after she’d settled into a comfortable chair.

“How was work today?” Bessie asked.

Doona wrinkled her nose.
 
“It was pretty busy,” she said.
 
“Joan was back to help, but I still feel
as if I spent nearly the whole day on the phone.”

“Are you still getting rung by people who
think they’ve recognised the watch?”

“Yes, although it seems as if everyone is
giving us the same name now, at least.”

“Jacob Conover,” Bessie said.

“That’s the one,” Doona agreed.
 
“Did you know him?”

“I wouldn’t say that I knew him,” Bessie
said slowly.
 
“I’d certainly met
him, but only once or twice.”

“I really don’t want to talk about work,”
Doona said with a sigh.
 
“John is
being, well, distant.
 
The phones
won’t stop ringing and I don’t think Joan likes me.”

“Oh, I’m sure that’s not the case,” Bessie
said in a reassuring voice.
 
“How
could anyone not like you?
 
Just give
her some time to warm up, that’s all.”

“I’m hoping she won’t be here much longer,”
Doona said.
 
“I miss having my desk
all to myself.”

Bessie nodded sympathetically.
 
“I’m sure things will quiet down soon.”

“They were quieter by this afternoon,” Doona
admitted.
 
“I think John will
probably send Joan back to Castletown tomorrow, unless something else comes
up.”

“Are you all ready to see your solicitor on
Friday?” Bessie changed the subject.

“I suppose so.
 
We’re meeting in Doncan’s office so that
he can make sure everything is being done right,” Doona told her.
 
“The police investigation into Charles’s
company is still ongoing, but Doncan seems to think that some money should be
coming my way very soon.”

Doona’s second husband, Charles Adams had
recently been murdered.
 
Bessie had
been surprised to learn, during the course of the investigation into his death,
that he and Doona were still married.
 
The only good thing to come out of the whole incident was the news that
Charles had named Doona as his heir.
 
Now Bessie was hoping that her closest friend was in line for a small
fortune.

“That is good news,” Bessie exclaimed.

“I’m waiting to see how much I get before I
get too excited,” Doona commented.
 
“I suppose even a few hundred pounds will help pay for Christmas, and if
it’s much more, maybe I can pay down my mortgage with some of it.”

“I’m glad you changed your mind about
keeping the money,” Bessie said.
 
When Charles had first been killed, Doona had insisted that she didn’t
want anything from him.

“After everything he put me through, I
suppose I should get something,” Doona said.
 
“I still feel uncomfortable about
accepting it, but if I don’t, all of the money goes to his cousin in New
Zealand.
 
Charles never even met the
man, so I suppose I deserve it more than he does.”

“Of course you do,” Bessie said firmly.
 
“We just have to hope that it turns out
to be a huge fortune.”

Doona shook her head.
 
“I wouldn’t know what to do with a huge
fortune,” she said.
 
“I’d be over
the moon if I got enough to pay off my mortgage and have a holiday somewhere.”

“And maybe a new car?” Bessie suggested.

“Oh, that would be nice,”
Doona
agreed.
 
“Something little and cute
and sporty would be great, rather than the sensible sedan I have now.”

“And some new clothes?”

Doona laughed.
 
“I think you’re having fun spending my
imaginary funds.”

Bessie laughed with her.
 
“You’re right,” she said.
 
“Spending your money is great fun.
 
I think you should buy Thie yn Traie and
then we could be neighbours.”

“I can’t imagine Charles was worth as much
as that,” Doona told her.
 
“Thie yn
Traie must be on the market for many hundreds of thousands of pounds.”

“I just wish someone would buy it,” Bessie
said.
 
“It’s so sad seeing it
sitting empty.”

“It was empty most of the time anyway,
wasn’t it?”

“Yes, I know it was, but it didn’t feel
empty when I knew the Pierce family would be back soon.
 
Mr. and Mrs. Pierce loved the island.”

“Maybe they’ll change their minds about
selling if it doesn’t sell soon,” Doona suggested.

“After everything that happened here, I
doubt it very much,” Bessie told her.
 
“If they ever do decide to come back to the island, I would think they’d
want to stay somewhere other than Laxey, anyway.”

Doona nodded.
 
“How are the plans for Thanksgiving
going?” she asked.

“I’m still waiting to hear from a number of
people,” Bessie said with a frown.
 
“I’m going to have start chasing some of them, I think.”

“Well, I’m coming for sure,”
Doona
said emphatically.

“I’m counting on that,” Bessie replied.

A knock on the cottage door interrupted the
conversation.

Chapter Six

Bessie rushed to let John and Hugh in.
 
They were both carrying boxes full of
delicious smelling food.

“I ran out of time to get something for
pudding,” John said apologetically, as he put his box on the counter.
 
“I just brought some vanilla ice cream.”

“Everyone sit down and get started and I’ll
just throw together an apple crumble,” Bessie said.

“Oh, no, you mustn’t,” John told her.

“It will take no more than five minutes,”
Bessie insisted.
 
“By the time
you’ve opened the boxes and filled your plates, I’ll be ready to join you.”

Hugh gave Bessie a quick hug and then
grabbed the peeler from a drawer.
 
While Bessie found what she needed for the crumble, Hugh peeled and
sliced several apples.
 
Within a few
minutes, the pudding was ready for the oven.
 
John and Doona had the food laid out and
their own plates fixed.
 
Hugh
insisted that Bessie take what she wanted before he filled his own plate with
generous portions.
 
Doona found
drinks for everyone and they all sat down together with the delicious smell of
warm apples and cinnamon just beginning to fill the air.

“How is Grace?” Bessie asked Hugh as
everyone began to eat.

“She’s good,” Hugh told her.
 
“And very excited about Thanksgiving.”

“And how is the new house?” Bessie asked
John.

“It’s just about ready for the kids,” he
replied.
 
“I’ve been putting the
finishing touches on their bedrooms after work every night and I think they
will both be pleased when they see how they came out.”

“What colours did you choose?” Bessie asked.

“I let the kids do the choosing,” John
said.
 
“Thomas went for a sort of
medium blue that should work well as he gets older.
 
Amy decided on a light grey that seems
way too grown-up for a twelve-year-old girl’s bedroom, but it matches the
bedding she had me buy her and it looks very nice.”

“You’ll have to invite me over so I can see
it all,” Bessie said pointedly.

John flushed.
 
“I am sorry,” he said.
 
“I’ve been meaning to have a small
get-together with friends so you can all see the new house, but I only just
finished all of the painting last weekend and I’m still tidying up from that
mess.”

Bessie patted his hand.
 
“You should have invited us all over
when you first started and handed us paint cans and brushes,” she told
him.
 
“We all would have been happy
to help.”

John smiled at her.
 
“Thank you,” he said.
 
“It never occurred to me to do that, but
in a weird way, I’m glad I did it all myself.
 
That house feels like home to me more
than any other place I’ve ever lived, at least as an adult.”

“I did all the painting and decorating
here,” Bessie said.
 
“And I know
exactly what you mean.
 
Even if I
did end up with a much brighter pink in my bedroom than I’d intended.”

“I love your bedroom,” Doona said.
 
“It’s bright and cheery.”

“That’s why I’ve never changed it,” Bessie
replied.
 
“And it reminds me of when
I was much younger and somewhat more girly as well.”

“Once we get this current case sorted out,
I’ll have you all over,” John promised.
 

“Except then some other case will come up
and you’ll get swamped again,” Bessie retorted.
 
“Don’t wait; invite us around soon.”

John laughed.
 
“Okay, okay, you win.
 
I’ll have you over later this week or
early next week.
 
Just give me a day
or two to hide all of the painting supplies.”

“So what’s going on with the case?” Bessie
asked after she’d cleared away the dishes.
 
The crumble wasn’t quite ready, but she put the kettle on to make tea to
go with it.

“I’ve been in touch with Jacob’s sister, Jane,”
John told her.
 
“She’s coming over
to the island if the body is positively identified as Jacob.”

“What’s she like?” Bessie asked.

“She was quite, um, that is, you have to
make allowances, under the circumstances,” John said.
 
“She seemed quite upset.”

“I gather, therefore, that she hasn’t had
any contact with her brother since he was meant to have left the island,”
Bessie said.

“Jane released a statement to the island’s
press this afternoon.
 
It should be
in the papers tomorrow, so I can tell you that she hasn’t heard from her
brother since before the time he was known to have been here.”

“That’s interesting,” Bessie replied.

“What’s even more interesting is that she
didn’t even know Jacob was on the island,” John said.

Bessie and Dooona both gasped.
 
The oven timer interrupted the dozen
questions Bessie wanted to ask.

“I’ll get that,” Hugh said.
 
He jumped up and switched off the
timer.
 
Then he carefully took the
apple crumble out of the oven.
 
While Bessie asked questions, Hugh served everyone generous portions of
crumble and ice cream.

“Where did she think he’d gone?” Bessie
asked.

“Apparently he left home intending to travel
to Liverpool,” John told her.
 
“The
last letter they had from him mentioned having a week in Anglesey and then
moving on to parts of Wales.
 
She
had no idea that he’d actually gone from Liverpool to the island.”

“So if the family did file a missing person
report, they filed it in the wrong place,” Bessie said thoughtfully.

“They did file one.
  
Actually, they reported him
missing several times in several different locations.
 
I’ve requested copies of the police
reports from a number of places across.
 
I can’t imagine there will be anything helpful in them, but they’re a
place to start.”

“What else did she tell you?” Bessie asked.

“She’s convinced that the watch proves it’s her
brother,” John said.
 
“She’s
positive that it’s that unique and that he would never have parted with it.”

“So she’s coming over once the body is
positively identified,” Bessie said.

“She is, and I expect she might want to meet
you.
 
She said she’s eager to talk
to anyone who remembers her brother.”

Bessie nodded.
 
“Of course, I’d be happy to meet her,”
she said.

“This is delicious,” Doona interrupted.
 
“I can’t believe you threw it together
that quickly.”

“Hugh was a big help,” Bessie replied.
 
She glanced down at her plate and was surprised
to find that she’d nearly finished her large serving.
 
She’d been so caught up in the
conversation that she’d forgotten to taste it.
 
Now she focussed on enjoying her last
three bites.
 
“It is really good,”
she said when she’d cleared her plate.

“You mean it was really good,” Doona
laughed.

Hugh insisted on clearing up while Bessie
and John talked.
 
Doona gave Hugh a
hand with the washing-up.

“So, let’s see this list,” John suggested.

Bessie handed him the sheet of paper with
her notes.
 
“I’ve given you as much
information as I have about each of them,” she told the man.
 
“The first dozen were in my diary as
having been seen with Jacob.
 
The
other six are women who were about the right age and might have gone out with
the man, but I don’t know that for sure.”

John read down the list.
 
“Some of these women have rung the
office to identify the watch,” he told Bessie.
 
“I suppose we’ll have to try to find
them all and see what they can tell us.”

“It seems an almost impossible job,” Bessie
remarked.
 
“It was such a long time
ago.”

“I don’t suppose we can find a way to link
this to Grant Robertson?” Doona asked.
 
“He’s already wanted for murder and a bunch of other things.”

“I don’t remember any connection between
Jacob and Grant,” Bessie told her.
 
“Though I suppose anything is possible.”

“At this point, I’m not ruling anything out,”
John said.
 
“We aren’t even certain
that it’s Jacob that we’ve found, after all.
 
While we’re waiting for the body to be
formally identified, I’ll be doing everything I can to find out what happened
to Jacob Conover.
 
If it isn’t him
we’ve found, I’d certainly like to ask him a few questions.”

John went through Bessie’s list with her
name by name.
 
He occasionally added
to the notes she’d provided, and then he summarised everything.

“You’ve given me eighteen names altogether,”
he began.
 
“Seven of the women are
still on the island, although only two are in Laxey, counting Fenella
Faragher.
 
There isn’t much I can do
with the four who are deceased.
 
At
this stage, at least, I’ll cross them off.
 
We may need to talk to their families later in the investigation, but
I’m hoping not to.”

“I doubt they’d be much help,” Bessie
said.
 
“I can’t believe any of the
women involved told their families anything about a man they once went out with
very briefly.”

“You’re probably right,” John said.
 
“Let’s hope we solve the case before we
get desperate enough to try asking them.”

“What about the ones who’ve moved across?”
Bessie asked.
 
“I’ve given you all
of the information I have about them, but I’m pretty sure most of them still
have family here who could help you track them down.”

John nodded.
 
“We’ll have to have someone talk to as
many of
them
as possible,” he said.
 
“Unless we get a lucky break in the next
few days.”

“And there are two that I can’t tell you
anything more about,” Bessie said.
 
“Anna Long and her family came over from somewhere in the Lake District
and they only lived in Laxey for six months, as far as I remember.
 
I didn’t really get to know them at all
and I only really remember them because I made a note in my diary that Anna and
Karen Corlett got into a shouting match about Jacob in the middle of the
market.
 
Anna and her family moved
not long after that, and I’m certain they left the island, but I’ve no idea
where they went.”

“And Susan Black?” John asked, reading the
name off Bessie’s list.

“Her parents were missionaries.
 
They came to the island for a short
holiday that summer and then left again for some third-world country.
 
I noted in my diary that I was surprised
to see Susan having dinner with Jacob, as I didn’t think her parents would
approve of him.”

“But did they disapprove so much that they
killed him and hid the body at the Clague farm?” Hugh asked.

“I highly doubt it,” John said.

“I can’t imagine,” Bessie added.
 
“They were incredibly devout and
dedicated people.
 
Anyway, I can’t believe
they’d have had any motive.”

“Perhaps Jacob broke Susan’s heart,” Doona
suggested.

“Even if he did, murder is a huge leap,”
Bessie replied.
 
“And I can’t
believe that she did more than go out with him once or twice.
 
Surely that isn’t enough to break
anyone’s heart.”

“If she’d been sheltered by her parents,
maybe,” Doona said.
 
“He might have
been her first boyfriend.”

Bessie shrugged.
 
“Anything’s possible,” she muttered.

“But that’s a good point,” Hugh said.
 
“We always talk about means, motive and
opportunity.
 
At this point, we have
no idea how he died, so we can’t really talk about means.
 
As for opportunity, I suppose we’ll have
to assume anyone who was on the island at the time had opportunity, at least as
a working hypothesis.
 
That leaves
motive.
 
What possible motive was
there for killing a man who was moving away?”

After he’d finished speaking, Hugh sat back
down.
 
All four friends looked
around the table at one another.
 
Bessie finally broke the prolonged silence.