Aunt Bessie Solves

by Diana Xarissa

  “And now we’ll find somewhere to sit and watch the chaos while we enjoy our ice cream,” he said.

  There were benches nearly everywhere in the park. They settled on one near the large playground and ate while they watched the children playing.

  “I missed a lot of this with my children,” Andrew said after a few minutes. “I was always busy working. If I could go back, I’d take more time off, especially when the children were small, and really try to enjoy them. They grow up incredibly quickly, you know.”

  “I’ll take your word for it.”

  “And now it’s gone five and we should be getting back to Laxey, I suppose,” he said after glancing at his watch.

  “This was fun,” Bessie told him as they walked back to the car. “It isn’t something I would have suggested, but I enjoyed it.”

  “I’m glad to hear that. I enjoyed it very much.”

  “Do you want to come over to my cottage while I check my emails?” Andrew asked after he’d parked outside of Bessie’s cottage. “I’m really hoping for something back about the charity that inherited Betty’s fortune.”

  “If it won’t take long,” Bessie said. “The others are due in about twenty minutes.”

  “Assuming the computer cooperates, it should only take about ten,” Andrew assured her.

  Bessie sat in the small sitting area of the cottage and watched two toddlers chasing one another up and down the beach while Andrew fired up his computer.

  “Finally,” he said. “I have a reply from my friend in London. He says he’s sorry it took so long, but he wanted to make sure that he’d dug deeply enough.”

  “And what did he find out?” Bessie asked impatiently.

  “The charity is called RMSLE, which as far he can tell is just a meaningless set of initials. On the surface, it looks completely legitimate. It was established before Betty’s death, and from what my friend could discover, it’s meant to provide grants to women in need.”

  “What sort of need?”

  “That’s a good question. My friend rang the number of the charity’s main office. He left a message on their answering machine but was never rung back. He was able to dig through some of their financials, though, as some things are a matter of public record. From what he can tell, various grants are awarded every year to specific women. I don’t know most of the names, but I’m going to send a copy of this email to Lukas. I suspect he’ll recognise them. One of the names is Cindy’s, though.”

  “So Cindy is benefitting from her sister’s death, even though she killed her?”

  “It appears so. From what my friend could learn, the grants are awarded by a board of directors with sole discretion as to the use of the funds. If they want to give money to a murderer, they apparently can do so.”

  “It all sounds very fishy.”

  “Definitely. I suspect the other grant recipients may well be the other women who were on the skiing holiday.”

  “But I thought they were all dead?”

  “They are, but maybe the board at the charity doesn’t know that. Maybe Betty or Cindy, whichever sister it is, is still submitting grant requests in their names, year after year. There may not even be any board, just Cindy, writing checks to dead women and then cashing them herself”

  “What a horrible thought.”

  “Indeed. As I said, I need to forward this to Lukas.”

  While Andrew typed away at his keyboard, Bessie tried to think. If the charity had been set up before Betty’s death, what was her connection to it? How much advanced planning had gone into Cindy’s murder, assuming it was Cindy, not Betty, who’d been killed?

  “Right, we should get back to your cottage. Your friends will be arriving soon,” Andrew said as he shut his laptop. “I may pop back over in an hour and see if I have a reply, though.”

  “I hope you get one. And I hope Lukas has found Cindy. I suspect she belongs behind bars.”

  “I think you’re right. It’s all turning out to be more complicated than I’d expected.”

  John was standing at Bessie’s door when they reached it a few moments later.

  “I’m sorry, I was just checking emails,” Andrew explained as Bessie unlocked the door.

  “Any news on your case?” John asked.

  “Yes, although I’m not sure what it tells us,” Andrew replied.

  “Why not save it for when everyone is here,” Bessie suggested.

  “Hugh is bringing dinner,” John said. “Apparently, Grace is nesting, and part of that includes cooking and baking all day, every day. When she heard about tonight’s gathering, she insisted on making us a chicken casserole and a bread and butter pudding.”

  “How kind of her,” Bessie said. She repeated the sentiment to Hugh when he arrived a short time later with pans full of the promised food.

  “It isn’t kindness, it’s hormones,” Hugh laughed. “She’s been cooking and baking all week. We have three cakes, five trays of flapjacks, and a huge box of biscuits taking up space in the kitchen. I’m going to start bringing things to work to share with the other guys soon. I can’t possibly eat all of it and for the first time in months, Grace isn’t hungry.”

  “It won’t be too much longer now,” Bessie said soothingly. “Make sure you build up your strength. I saw Bill Martin today at Onchan Park. Liz just had the baby, and he looked completely done in.”

  “Oh, great,” Hugh replied. “I’m already not looking forward to the first few weeks. We’ll get through it, I suppose, but I expect it will be difficult.”

  “It will, but it’s totally worth it,” John told him. “When they get to be teenagers, they can start helping around the house and maybe even cooking a meal now and then.”

  “How are Thomas and Amy?” Bessie asked.

  “Settling in at school, but slowly,” he replied. “If Sue thinks she can just drag them back to Manchester whenever she decides to return, she has another think coming, though. They’ve been through too much already this year. I’ll fight her as much as I have to in order to keep the children here for school.”

  Bessie wasn’t sure how to respond to that. John looked far angrier than she’d ever seen him before. A knock on the door came at just the right time.

  “I’m sorry I’m late. I thought I’d run a few errands, and of course they took far longer than they should have. I hope I haven’t missed anything,” Doona said in a rush as she entered the cottage.

  “You haven’t missed anything,” John told her. “I was just telling Bessie that I’m determined to keep the children here for the rest of the school year. Sue still hasn’t given me a definite return date. That isn’t fair to Thomas and Amy.”

  Doona looked at John for a minute and then smiled at him. “It’s been fun having them here. I’m glad they’re going to get to stay longer,” she said.

  John nodded. “You’ve been a huge help with them so far. I really appreciate everything you’ve done. I’m going to try not to keep taking advantage of you, though.”

  “You haven’t been taking advantage,” Doona told him firmly, “and I haven’t minded helping. If I start to feel as if you are taking advantage, you can be sure I’ll tell you.”

  “I hope you will,” John replied.

  “Maybe we should eat,” Hugh said, after an awkward silence.

  “The casserole smells wonderful,” Bessie said. “I can’t wait to try it.”

  Hugh brought an extra chair in from the dining room while everyone else filled plates. Bessie poured drinks and then they all sat down together to eat.

  “It’s every bit as good as it smelled,” Bessie said after a few bites. “Grace is a very good cook.”

  “She is, and I’m getting quite spoiled,” Hugh replied. “She’s hoping to stay home with the baby for a few years. I’m looking forward to coming home to lovely meals nearly every day.”

  “Maybe not when the baby is very small,” Andrew said. “When my wife had our first, she kept trying to keep everything going at home as well, a
nd it was far too much for her. I was too busy to pay attention until one night when I got home from work and found the baby crying, dinner burning, and my wife on the verge of a breakdown. Make sure Grace knows she doesn’t have to be Superwoman.”

  Hugh nodded. “Her mother said the same thing. She’s already promised to come up and help whenever Grace wants her, but knowing Grace, she won’t ask. I thought I might tell her mum to just come and stay with us for a few weeks. I like her a lot, so I won’t complain if she’s at the house all the time.”

  “I’m sure you and Grace will find a way to make it work,” John said, “but do take advantage of every offer of help that you get. People won’t offer nearly as much with baby number two.”

  Andrew laughed. “That’s very true, and by the time my wife had our third, even her mother had grown tired of babies. By that time we were quite used to listening to them cry, though, so it didn’t seem to matter as much.”

  Bessie and Doona exchanged glances. “Sorry you missed out?” Doona whispered to Bessie.

  “Not even the tiniest bit,” she whispered back.

  “I want Grace’s recipe,” Bessie said after she’d taken her first bite of the bread and butter pudding. “It’s better than mine.”

  “It’s my mother’s recipe, actually,” Hugh said. “My mother isn’t much of a cook, but she has lots of recipes. I’ll have Grace copy it for you, as Mum’s given Grace most of them.”

  “I’d like a copy, too,” Doona said. “Bread and butter pudding is a favourite of mine because it’s fairly quick and easy, but mine isn’t this good.”

  “Maybe it just tastes better because we didn’t have to make it,” Bessie suggested.

  Everyone laughed as Bessie took another bite. “No, it definitely has something special about it,” she said.

  When everyone had cleared their plates, Doona collected them all and began to run water for washing up. Bessie put the kettle on so that they could have tea while they talked.

  “That was truly delicious,” Andrew said. “I’d forgotten how good home cooking can be. I generally eat in restaurants or simply make myself ready meals, as I’m on my own.”

  “I was doing much the same before the kids came to stay,” John said. “Now they take turns making dinner for all of us. Some of the meals have been, well, interesting, and a few have been completely inedible, but mostly they’ve done really well. I’d like the recipes for both dishes if Grace doesn’t mind. I’m sure my kids could manage them and they were good.”

  Hugh nodded. “Grace will be flattered to be asked.”

  A few minutes later Doona had the washing-up done and Bessie had the tea made. They all sat down together again.

  “I suppose it’s time to talk about murder,” John said.

  Chapter 14

  “Should I start?” Andrew asked. “I’ve heard a bit more about my case.”

  “Go ahead,” John replied.

  Andrew told them all about the charity that Betty had set up before the skiing holiday. “It certainly seems odd,” he said when he was done. “I’ve asked Lukas if he recognises any of the names of the women who’ve been given grants over the years. One of the names was Cindy’s, however.”

  “Do you have any idea how much money we’re talking about with these grants?” Hugh asked.

  “Cindy was given five hundred thousand pounds in July,” Andrew replied.

  “Wow!” Doona gasped. “That’s a pretty hefty grant, especially when she killed the woman who set up the charity. I’d love to know how the board makes its decisions.”

  “It’s possible that the board is only one or two people, and Cindy may be on the board herself,” Andrew said. “The charity was set up in Switzerland and it’s administered from there. They’re big on privacy there.”

  “I’m surprised you’ve found as much as you have,” John said.

  “My friend is very good at digging into things. I’m sure he’ll have more information for me soon,” Andrew replied.

  “It seems to me that Betty set the charity up knowing she was about to kill Cindy and take her place,” Doona said. “That’s the only thing that makes sense, really.”

  “And if the other grant recipients were the women from the skiing holiday, maybe she killed them so that they couldn’t take any more of the money,” Hugh suggested.

  “It seems as if she was paying them for their silence,” Bessie suggested.

  “And they kept quiet for the years she was in prison, anyway,” Andrew added.

  “Have you found the third girl, then?” John asked.

  Andrew chuckled. “I forgot we haven’t spoken since Dorothy was found,” he said. “Yes, she’s been found, or rather she was never found. She and her fiancé were in a plane that crashed years ago. The bodies were never recovered.”

  “How awful,” Doona shuddered.

  “Did you tell Lukas that we think that Betty’s mother might in danger?” Bessie asked, recalling the conversation with Pete.

  “I did. Hopefully, he’ll find a way to warn her that she needs to be extra careful until he locates her daughter,” Andrew replied.

  “So thirty years ago, five women went on a skiing holiday, and now only one of them is still alive,” John said. “One was murdered and the other three met with tragic accidents. The one who is still alive seems to be benefitting financially from the murder victim’s charity. The whole thing sounds as if it’s the plot of a late-night movie.”

  “As I told you in the beginning, the case has always bothered my friend, but he’d never followed up on it. Now that he has, he’s sorry he didn’t do so sooner, but at least maybe now he’ll be able to get to the bottom of what really happened thirty years ago,” Andrew said.

  “What if Dorothy didn’t really die?” Bessie asked. “Is it possible that she faked her own death? I can’t see why she would have, I’m just asking.”

  “I suppose it’s possible, as the bodies were never recovered, but that isn’t that unusual under the circumstances. Maybe she faked her own death to get away from Betty,” Andrew suggested.

  “I would, if I’d found out that Abby and Flora were both dead,” Doona said.

  “Lukas is looking at all three deaths as possible murders, but there’s only so much he can do after all this time. More importantly, he’s looking for Cindy, who is probably Betty,” Andrew said.

  “And now we should talk about Jeanne,” John suggested.

  Bessie topped up everyone’s tea and put some biscuits on the table. Even thought they’d all just eaten, everyone took a few before Bessie sat back down.

  “We talked to Kenny and to Max Rogers,” Bessie said. She gave them all a brief rundown of the two conversations and then answered John’s questions.

  “And I talked to James Poole,” John said.

  “You did? I don’t suppose he solved the case for you?” Bessie asked hopefully.

  “Unfortunately, he didn’t, but he was interesting to talk to,” John replied.

  “What did he have to say about Jeanne?” Andrew wanted to know.

  “He told me that they’d been together for about a year, but that it wasn’t really anything serious,” John replied. “They met through a mutual friend, Howard Miles.”

  “But I thought Howard said that he didn’t meet Jeanne until he took up with Mabel,” Bessie said. “Maybe I’m remembering incorrectly.”

  “If you are, I’m remembering incorrectly as well,” Andrew said.

  John nodded. “I have the notes from when you spoke to Howard, and when you repeated the conversation, that’s what you told me he’d said. I’m going to have to speak to Howard next, I think.”

  “If Howard introduced them, he must have known Jeanne for years before he started seeing Mabel,” Bessie said thoughtfully.

  “As I said, I need to speak to Howard,” John said.

  “What else did you learn from James?” Andrew asked.

  “Like the other men to whom you’ve spoken, he commented on how Jeanne expect
ed the men in her life to help with all manner of projects around her flat,” John said. “He said it didn’t bother him at first, but after a while he started to resent the demands. I got the impression that his mother wasn’t as poorly as he told Jeanne. I suspect he may have used his mother as an excuse to leave the island and get away from her.”

  “Surely it would have been easier to simply break up with her,” Doona suggested.

  “He did say something about there being something magnetic about her personality. He said he would get angry with her, and then she’d come over to his flat to see him and he’d forget why he was cross,” John explained.

  “That suggests an intimacy,” Andrew said, “but nearly everyone else has said that she wasn’t particularly interested in such things.”

  “And James said the same,” John confirmed. “He said that was another problem with their relationship and another reason why he didn’t mind moving back to help his mother.”

  “So it’s only Howard who suggested that she was promiscuous,” Andrew said.

  “Another issue to discuss with the man,” John agreed.

  “Did James have anything else interesting to say?” Andrew asked.

  “Not really. He’d been questioned when Jeanne first died, but somehow he was under the impression that she’d committed suicide. I think he’s spent the last five years feeling as if he may have contributed in some way to her death. I hate to say that he was relieved to hear that she was murdered, but that was the feeling I got from him after we’d talked,” John replied.

  “Was Howard questioned five years ago?” Bessie asked.

  John shrugged. “From the notes that I have, it doesn’t appear that he was, but Carl has been through the entire file and he believes that some notes may be missing. I’ve talked to Inspector Kelly about the case, but he doesn’t recall any of the finer details, even though he only dealt with three murder cases in his time in Ramsey.”

  Andrew raised an eyebrow. “That surprises me, especially as this is an unsolved murder. Those tend to stay with most police inspectors, in my experience anyway.”