Aunt Bessie Solves

by Diana Xarissa

  “Because he’s a horrible person. He broke Jeanne’s heart, but that wasn’t enough for him. He had to murder her as well. I know he found Jeanne annoying, because she rang him once in a while for little favours, but he’d been married to her when he got another woman pregnant. In my book that made him responsible for her when she needed help.”

  “But he didn’t agree?”

  “Oh, I don’t think he minded much. No, it was that girlfriend of his that minded. It wasn’t bad enough that she’d seduced him and managed to get him to get her pregnant. She used to carry on something awful whenever he went over to help out poor Jeanne, as I understand it, anyway.”

  “But you never thought that she might have killed Jeanne?”

  “Oh, no. She wouldn’t have had the nerve. I reckon she just nagged Kenny into it. Not that he would have needed much nagging, mind. Like I said, he was tired of her and all of her demands.”

  “It’s all terribly sad,” Bessie said. “What about other men in Jeanne’s life? Could any of them have wanted to kill her?”

  “Oh, I doubt it. She had a few short relationships after she and Kenny split, but she never really got over Kenny, as far I could tell. Whenever another relationship ended, she was quick to ring Kenny and get him around for something, that’s for sure. Although, once I met Howard, she started ringing him instead.”

  “Howard?” Bessie echoed.

  “Yeah, my third husband. I reckon he’s going to stick around, too. It only took me three tries to find a good one.”

  “When did you start seeing Howard?” Bessie asked.

  “Oh, a few months after my second divorce. I met him at ShopFast in the frozen food aisle. He was buying some frozen pizzas and I asked him which ones were best for just one person. He said maybe we should just share one, instead of both of us eating alone. We’ve been together ever since.”

  “And he was friendly with Jeanne?” was Bessie’s next question.

  “Oh, aye, because she was my dearest friend, you know? She used to ring him up to help her with little projects around her flat when she couldn’t reach Kenny or whatever other guy she was seeing at the time.”

  Bessie finally gave in and forked up a bit of cake. “And you didn’t mind?” she asked before she put the bite in her mouth.

  “Mind? Why would I mind? Like I said, Jeanne was my dearest friend. I usually went with him, and we’d take care of Jeanne’s little problem and then have a few drinks together, or whatever.”

  Bessie swallowed the surprisingly edible bite. “And you and Howard are still together?”

  “We got married, didn’t we? Not long after Jeanne passed, actually. Howard was pretty shaken up by her death, and he decided he wanted to make our relationship more official. We’ve been living happily ever after ever since.”

  Bessie took another bite of cake while her mind raced. John hadn’t mentioned anyone called Howard. Was it possible that the man was missed during the initial investigation, or had he been eliminated from suspicion? She looked over at Andrew, who was just now cautiously trying his cake. “Did Howard have any theories on who might have killed Jeanne?” she asked Mabel.

  “He was with me. He always reckoned it was Kenny. He’d seen Kenny shouting at Jeanne more than once, same as me.”

  “What about Jeanne’s job? Was there anything about her job that seemed odd?”

  “Besides her boss, you mean?” Mabel asked.

  “Her boss?” Bessie repeated.

  “That woman, Amanda McBride. She was a snobby witch, although I’d spell it with a b if I had to spell it.”

  “Really?” Bessie said.

  “Oh, yes. She used to shout at Jeanne something terrible whenever Jeanne was even a minute late. Jeanne had some car trouble for a few weeks and the woman nearly let her go because of it. My Howard ended up taking Jeanne into work a few times to help her out. It was awful.”

  “What about Nick Grant?” Bessie asked.

  Mabel smiled. “Ah, he was gorgeous, was Nick. I’d have liked to get to know him better, but he was already married and not the type to spend time with a woman like me, anyway. I always thought Jeanne could have had a chance with him, but she always said she wasn’t interested.”

  “And he was married,” Bessie said.

  “Yeah, but that wouldn’t have stopped him from going after Jeanne if she’d given him any encouragement. I mean, he wasn’t going to leave his wife or anything, but I’m sure he’d have been good for a few nice presents, and maybe a holiday somewhere fancy as well.”

  Bessie bit her tongue and then decided to finish her cake instead. It wasn’t anywhere near the best Victoria sponge she’d ever eaten, but it wasn’t terrible, and she was hungry. She washed it down with another sip of the unpleasant tea and then looked at Andrew. He’d finished his cake as well.

  “I don’t suppose we should take up any more of your time,” he said to Mabel. “If you remember anything about Jeanne or her death, you should ring the police and let them know.”

  “I remember everything about Jeanne, but I told the police all of it when it happened. I hope the police aren’t going to start asking questions again. It was very upsetting the first time and I don’t fancy doing it all again.”

  “They’ll only ask questions because they want to work out what happened to Jeanne,” Bessie told her. “You do want them to find her killer, don’t you?”

  “Yeah, of course I do, but, well, maybe after all this time it would be better if they just left things alone.”

  The café door swung open. A tall man who looked around fifty stood in the doorway. He was wearing dirty jeans and a stained T-shirt. His hair was plastered to his head and he looked as if he needed a shower. He glanced at Bessie and Andrew and then focussed on Mabel. “We need to talk,” he said curtly.

  “Yeah, sure, honey,” Mabel said, jumping to her feet. “We can talk in the kitchen. Paul is on his break.”

  “I’m going to guess that that was Howard,” Bessie whispered as the pair left the room.

  “That seems a safe guess,” Andrew replied. “I wonder why John didn’t mention him when he told us about the case.”

  “I didn’t like him.”

  “I’d like to learn his surname.”

  Bessie nodded. That was something to ask Mabel when the woman returned. Several minutes ticked by with no sign of either Mabel or the man. “Maybe we should check on Mabel,” Bessie said eventually.

  “That might be a good idea,” Andrew replied with a frown. He got to his feet and headed for the kitchen door. Just before he reached it, it swung open.

  “Mabel asked me to give you this,” the man told Andrew, handing him their bill. “She isn’t feeling well. She’s gone to lie down before the dinner rush.”

  “Is she okay?” Bessie demanded, getting to her feet.

  “She’s fine. Just tired, that’s all,” the man said. “You can pay me,” he added with a smirk.

  “I’m Inspector Andrew Cheatham,” Andrew said in his most serious tone. “And you are?”

  “Just helping out Mabel by getting you to pay your bill,” the man replied.

  “I’m happy to pay the bill. I just want to be sure that Mabel is okay,” Andrew told him.

  “She’s fine. Like I said, she’s gone home to lie down. She’ll be back here in an hour or so. You can check on her then.”

  “I think I’d rather check on her now,” Andrew replied.

  The man shook his head. “I’m sorry, I get that you’re a policeman and all, but I don’t understand what the problem is. I came to talk to my wife about a private matter and she got upset. I sent her home and told her that I’d take care of her customers. Why are you giving me such a hard time about this?”

  “We’re just worried about Mabel,” Bessie interjected. “She was already upset when you arrived. We were talking about Jeanne Stowe’s death.”

  “Jeanne Stowe?” the man sounded surprised. “I haven’t heard that name in over five years, I’m sure. She was
Mabel’s closest friend. No wonder she was upset when I got here. Why were you talking about Jeanne?”

  “There was an article in today’s paper about her murder. Apparently, the police might be reinvestigating the case,” Bessie replied.

  “That would be good news. I’m sure Mabel would love to see the killer found and locked up. She’s never really forgiven herself for not being with Jeanne that night,” the man told her.

  “Why would she have been with Jeanne that night?” Bessie asked.

  “They were meant to be going out for a meal, but, well, Mabel and I hadn’t been going out together for long and I asked her to have dinner with me instead. Mabel rang Jeanne and cancelled their plans at the last minute so that she could be with me. When the body was found, Mabel was really afraid that it was going to turn out to have been suicide. She would have blamed herself,” the man explained.

  “You knew Jeanne. Who do you think killed her?” Bessie tried the question.

  “Me? I’ve never really given it much thought,” the man replied. “When it happened, I was really busy trying to help Mabel get through it. Who killed Jeanne? It’s a good question. Mabel always insisted that it was Kenny, but I don’t know about that. I never thought he was strong enough. He didn’t even have the nerve to stand up to her and tell her to stop ringing him all the time. I mean, he would tell her to stop, but then the next time she rang, he’d drop everything and rush over to help her. I still don’t know why that girlfriend of his put up with it.”

  “Maybe she killed Jeanne,” Bessie suggested.

  “I like that idea,” the man said with a grin. “Kenny divorced Jeanne for Sandra, but even that wasn’t enough, so Sandra killed her. It would make a great plot for a television show, but I don’t think that’s what really happened. Sandra was worse than Kenny, really. She never could stand up to either of them. She hated Jeanne for making Kenny rush around to help her, and she hated Kenny for going. I think if she were going to snap and murder someone, it would have been Kenny, though.”

  “What about other men in Jeanne’s life?” Bessie asked.

  “Well, there were certainly plenty of them,” the man laughed. “I mean, she’d barely left Kenny and she was already seeing some guy called Ron. They had lots of problems, though. Then she was with James for a while. He was a good guy, but they still fought a lot. I found out all of this later, of course. I didn’t start seeing Mabel until only a few months before Jeanne died. She’d already ended things with James by that time, but I got to hear all about him, Ron, and Kenny. Jeanne used to spend a lot of time at Mabel’s flat complaining about her exes.”

  “Whom was she seeing just before she died?” was Bessie’s next question.

  “I don’t know if she was seeing anyone or not. I think she was more or less just playing the field, not getting serious about anyone at that point,” he replied. “She said something one day about some guy from her office. Rick or Nick or something like that.”

  “Did she now?” Andrew asked.

  “Yeah, she did. It wasn’t like she was seeing him, but more like she’d been with him, if you know what I mean. But she wasn’t exactly the shy and retiring type when it came to men. She slept with just about every one of my friends when she met them.”

  “I didn’t catch your name,” Andrew said.

  “Oh, sorry. I’m Howard, Howard Miles. Mabel and I have been married for a few years now, but she still uses her maiden name. I suppose after two divorces she decided that was easier than changing things again.”

  “Could you give me the names of these friends of yours who were involved with Jeanne, as well, please?” Andrew asked.

  Howard looked startled and then shook his head. “I don’t want to get my mates into any trouble, you know. I mean, they’re all married men now, and some of them were married back then. They don’t need to be caught up in an old murder investigation.”

  “If they were involved with the victim, they should have been questioned when Jeanne was killed,” Andrew told him.

  “It wasn’t like they were actually involved with her, though, I mean not long-term or anything. Jeanne was just, well, she liked men a lot and she was really good at attracting them. She was really demanding once she got her hooks into a guy, though. I’d seen that firsthand and I warned my mates before I introduced them to her. They all just had a little fun and then let it go, if you know what I mean.”

  Bessie shuddered. She felt sorry for Jeanne, but she simply couldn’t understand the woman’s behaviour. No one deserved to be murdered, though, no matter what.

  “The police can speak to your friends very discreetly,” Andrew said. “Their wives won’t even have to know.”

  “I’ll have to think about that,” Howard said. “You can talk to Max, though. Max Rogers. He’s single and he’ll probably think it’s funny, being questioned about an old murder case. He and Jeanne got real friendly real fast and then split up within like a week. There’s no way he’ll be able to help with the investigation, but that’s true for all of my friends.”

  “I appreciate that name, anyway,” Andrew said. “One of my colleagues from the Ramsey station will probably be in touch to get more.”

  Howard flushed. “I’d really rather not, that is, I can’t…” he trailed off and sighed. “I’ll talk to my friends. Maybe some of them will come forward on their own now that they know the case is being reopened. It wasn’t that many guys, anyway, maybe three, and I gave you Max’s name.”

  Andrew nodded. “And now I just need a word with Mabel and we’ll be on our way.”

  “With Mabel? I told you, she’s gone home,” the man protested.

  “You must live close by, then,” Andrew suggested.

  “Yeah, we do. But I don’t want you bothering Mabel. She needs to rest for a bit before she comes back to work.”

  Andrew exchanged glances with Bessie. When the man had first walked out of the kitchen, Bessie had been convinced that he’d done something awful to Mabel, but now that they’d talked for a while, she was feeling less certain. As the trio stood and stared at one another, the door to the kitchen swung open again.

  “Are you still here?” Mabel demanded. “You haven’t been bothering Howard about Jeanne, have you? The poor man comes to talk to me about something and you start badgering him about Jeanne?” She crossed the room to Howard and put her arms around him. “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “I’m fine. They’re still here because they were worried about you,” he told her.

  “Worried about me? I went home to get my headache tablets and grab a bite to eat. Worried about me? What did they think had happened to me?” Mabel asked.

  “I think they thought I hit you or something,” Howard said.

  Mabel laughed. “He knows better than to try that. I’d hit him back and he’d be well sorry.”

  Howard laughed. “Don’t I know it.” He turned to Andrew. “As you can see, Mabel is absolutely fine.”

  “I’m sorry, but in my line of work we see a lot of domestic abuse. I was just exercising an abundance of caution,” Andrew told him.

  “It’s fine. I suppose I should be grateful that the police look after people. Anyway, now that you know that Mabel is fine, maybe you’d like to get back to your investigation and we’ll get back to our lives.”

  Andrew nodded. He pulled out his wallet and took out a handful of notes. After handing them to Mabel, he turned and offered Bessie his arm. She took it and the pair made their way out of the café. Neither spoke as the walked back to Andrew’s car and climbed inside. As Andrew pulled away from his parking space, Bessie glanced back at the café. Mabel appeared to be crying in Howard’s arms.

  “That was interesting as well,” Andrew said once he’d found his way back out of Port St. Mary.

  “It certainly was. I didn’t like Howard at all at first, but he grew on me,” Bessie admitted.

  “Yes, and he and Mabel seemed quite happy together, really. I almost felt bad for thinking that he’d do
ne something to her in the kitchen. But only almost. I’m not sure I believed anything he said, anyway.”

  “I wondered if he and Jeanne ever got together,” Bessie said. “If she was as generous with her favours as he suggested, I mean.”

  “Mabel did say that Jeanne rang him all the time to do little jobs around her flat. Mabel didn’t seem to be jealous, but I’m not sure why she wasn’t.”

  “I would have been, in her place,” Bessie said after thinking about it for a moment.

  “We’ll have to share everything that we’ve learned with John,” Andrew said. “I think we should do it soon, as well.”

  “I’ll ring him and see if he’s available tonight,” Bessie suggested. “Maybe I can persuade him to bring pizza or something with him when he comes over.”

  “I was just going to suggest stopping somewhere on the way home for something. I’m starving over here.”

  “But you have your phone call to get back for,” Bessie reminded him.

  “I know,” he sighed, “and I’m looking forward to talking to Lukas. I’m just hungry.”

  “On a positive note, the Victoria sponge wasn’t bad.”

  “No, it was certainly edible, but it didn’t really feel as if it were an indulgence, either. When I eat cake, I want to feel guilty afterwards.”

  Bessie laughed. “I know what you mean, but maybe you don’t feel guilty because we didn’t have any lunch.”

  “Maybe. Why don’t you ring John and see if he can meet us at your cottage at half five. If he can bring food, any food, I’ll be in his debt forever.”

  “I’m sure he’ll be agreeable, if he isn’t busy.” He wasn’t busy, and by the time Bessie put her mobile back in her bag, everything was arranged.

  “John will be at Treoghe Bwaane with pizza, garlic bread, and something for pudding around half five. He’s going to invite Doona and Hugh to join us as well,” she told Andrew.

  “It will be nice to see Doona again,” he replied. “I feel as if I know Hugh because I’ve heard so much about him. It will be nice to finally meet him.”