Aunt Bessie Assumes: An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery

by Diana Xarissa

  “Everything hurts,” she said softly. “And the end of my nose is itchy.”

  Doona chuckled as she reached over and gave Bessie's nose a quick scratch. “Your nose is one of the few spots that isn't bumped and bruised,” she told Bessie as she patted her arm.

  Bessie cautiously tried moving first one arm and then the other and was relieved to find that the pain was mostly bearable. She shifted her legs back and forth a little bit and again felt satisfied that there would be no lasting damage.

  “What happened?” she asked Doona.

  “Well, that's what we all want to know,” Doona told her. “Hugh found you at the bottom of the stairs leading from Thie yn Traie to the beach.”

  Bessie nodded slowly. “Someone pushed me,” she said.

  Doona drew a sharp breath. “Are you sure?”

  “I'm positive,” Bessie answered. Before she could go any further the door swung open and a man, who looked all of fifteen to Bessie’s eyes, strolled in casually.

  “How are we feeling, then?” the man said to Bessie, patting her hand and then taking her pulse.

  “I'm feeling pretty miserable,” Bessie told the man with sandy-blonde hair and a very boyish face.

  “That’s hardly surprising. You took a nasty tumble down those stairs,” the man replied. “With your age I was expecting quite a few broken bones when they brought you in, but it appears you've escaped with only minor bumps and bruises.”

  Bessie bristled at the reference to her age, but held her tongue. “It’s all pretty painful,” she said.

  “We didn’t want to fill you up with pain medication until you regained consciousness,” the man told her. “I’m Dr. Mark Cannell, by the way. I’ll be looking after you this evening.”

  “How long do I have to stay?” Bessie asked.

  The doctor laughed. “Why does everyone always want to leave as soon as they arrive?” he asked, not expecting a reply. “I want to keep you overnight for sure. We’ll see how you’re feeling in the morning before we decide anything past that.”

  Bessie frowned but then realised that she was in too much pain to argue. “One night,” she told Dr. Cannell firmly. “I’m going home in the morning.”

  “We’ll see in the morning,” the doctor answered her cheerfully, his clear green eyes meeting her pain-filled ones. “For now, I’ll send the nurse in with some pain medication and maybe something to eat as well. The police are waiting to take a statement, but I suggest you have me tell them that they have to wait until tomorrow.”

  Doona had slipped out of the room while the doctor was checking Bessie over; now she returned and grinned at her friend.

  “Who’s here waiting to see me?” Bessie asked her.

  “Inspector Rockwell and Hugh,” Doona told her with a grin.

  “I’ll see them tonight,” Bessie told the doctor. He looked as if he might argue with her, but then shook his head and left the room.

  A few minutes later Hugh and Inspector Rockwell stuck their heads around the door to Bessie’s small room.

  “How are you?” the inspector asked as he entered.

  “Confused,” Bessie answered slowly. “Before I answer your questions, you need to answer mine.”

  “Certainly.” The inspector smiled at her and then pulled up a chair from along the wall. He sat down next to her bed and patted her hand gently. “Go ahead, then; what do you need to know?”

  “Well,” Bessie sighed. “For a start, where am I? If I had to guess, I would say Ramsey Cottage Hospital, but I thought I knew all the doctors there and this Mark Cannell is a stranger.”

  Doona smiled. “You are at Ramsey Cottage Hospital,” she told her friend before Inspector Rockwell spoke. “Dr. Cannell transferred here from Noble’s last month. He’s replacing Dr. Martindale, who’s moved back across to somewhere near Leeds.”

  “Ah,” Bessie smiled. “I never liked that man anyway, so good for us and good luck Leeds.”

  Doona laughed. “I don’t think anyone liked him,” she remarked. “He had no idea about bedside manner. Why, my neighbour brought her….”

  Inspector Rockwell coughed softly. “I hate to interrupt, but I still have some murders to solve here and every reason to think that the murderer is someone at Thie yn Traie. If we could focus on that for just a few minutes, I’ll get out of your way and leave you to your chat.”

  Doona looked apologetically at the man. “Sorry, I forgot,” she muttered.

  “It’s fine,” Inspector Rockwell told her with a smile.

  “So how did I get here?” Bessie interjected her next question. “I remember talking to Bahey and then Robert showing me around the back of the house. I was walking down the steps and I could hear someone behind me, but every time I looked back, there wasn’t anyone there.”

  “The paths and stairs wind around a great deal,” Rockwell told her. “And there are plenty of trees and shrubs and other landscaping to hide behind as well. Doona said you thought you were pushed when she came out to see me.”

  “I was definitely pushed,” Bessie said firmly. “I heard someone behind me again just as I started down the long flight of stairs. I was debating whether I should turn around or not when, suddenly, two hands gave me a shove from behind.”

  Doona gasped again, as if she were hearing it for the first time. Bessie shot her an exasperated look. “What I want to know,” Bessie said, “is what happened next.”

  Hugh cleared his throat self-consciously. “I guess that’s where I come in,” he told Bessie as he approached the side of her bed. “I was down on the beach, taking down the rest of the crime scene tape. Well, actually, first I was taking it down and then I was putting it back up.” He sighed.

  “Inspector Kelly and I had something of a difference of opinion as to whether or not it was time to take the tape down,” Inspector Rockwell said smoothly. “He gave orders for the tape to be removed, and then I suggested that it might be best if we left it up for just a short time longer.”

  “Aye, and you could hear his ‘suggestion’ from about a mile away,” Doona told Bessie with a chuckle.

  Inspector Rockwell flushed. “Poor Hugh was stuck out in the rain almost all afternoon, taking down and then replacing the tape.”

  “And it’s lucky I was,” Hugh returned to his story. “I was just about finished when I looked up and saw you walking down the steps towards the beach,” he told Bessie. “Of course, I didn’t know it was you. I just saw someone walking down the steps. I figured it was one of them Pierces and I was going to have to tell them that the beach was still a crime scene and they couldn’t walk on it. But then,” he paused dramatically, “I spotted someone coming up behind you. Well, I thought they were just going to catch up to you for a chat or something, and I got on with what I was doing, but the next time I looked up, you were in a big heap at the bottom of the stairs.”

  “So you didn’t see me get pushed?” Bessie asked in a disappointed voice.

  “No, sorry,” Hugh said. “I had no reason to think you were going to get pushed,” he tried to explain. Bessie could tell that he felt terrible.

  “Of course you didn’t,” she answered, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze.

  “Well, anyway, once I realised that you’d fallen, I called the ambulance crew and I ran over to you. I was scared, when I saw it was you, that you’d broken your neck or something. I tried to wake you up, but I couldn’t.” He stopped and Bessie could see how upset he had been by the look on his face.

  “But I was okay,” she reminded him. “I guess the fall just knocked the wind out of my sails.”

  “The doctor said you were amazingly lucky,” Doona told her. “Somehow you managed to fall at just the right angle to protect your head and not break any bones. It helped that you landed in sand, rather than anything harder.”

  “I don’t feel so lucky right now,” Bessie admitted. “I ache everywhere.”

  A middle-aged nurse, with black hair that was obviously coloured, chose that opportune mome
nt to peek her head in. “Are we ready for a wee pain tablet now?” she asked in a cloying voice.

  “I suppose so,” Bessie said reluctantly. “I don’t really like to take such things,” she told the nurse.

  “Now, now, doctor’s orders,” the nurse clucked. “We wouldn’t want to make nice Dr. Cannell unhappy, now would we?”

  Bessie bit back a dozen replies and simply swallowed the medicine she was offered.

  “Can I get you some toast or a cup of yoghurt?” the nurse asked. “Are you hungry at all?”

  Bessie shook her head. “I’m fine, just very tired.”

  “Well now, in that case, I think it’s time to chase away your visitors so you can get some rest,” the nurse told her.

  “We still have some unfinished business,” Inspector Rockwell told the woman. “We won’t stay long.”

  The nurse clucked again. “Make sure that you don’t. This patient needs a lot of rest.” Disapproval was evident in every word, even as she smiled ingratiatingly at the handsome inspector.

  “Ten more minutes,” Rockwell promised her.

  “If you must,” the nurse answered, giving Rockwell a wink, before she swept out of the room.

  “She’s fun,” Doona drawled as the door swung shut.

  Bessie laughed and then stopped. “Oh, don’t make me laugh,” she moaned. “It hurts to laugh.”

  “No worries, that ‘wee pain tablet’ will sort you out,” Doona grinned.

  Bessie smiled at her friend. “So Hugh called an ambulance and they brought me here,” she picked the story back up where Hugh had left off.

  “Yes, and he called me as well. I met the ambulance in Accident and Emergency, where the doctor checked you over and said nothing was broken, but you might not come around until morning,” Doona told her.

  “Hrmph,” Bessie said. “Shows what he knows.” Doona and the others laughed.

  “I just have one question for you, then, before the nurse comes back and throws us out,” Inspector Rockwell told her. “Who pushed you?”

  Bessie shook her head slowly, trying to think. The painkiller was already starting to cloud her thinking, but even before she had taken it she had been trying to figure out the answer to that question. “I have no idea,” she finally admitted. “It could have been just about anyone from the house. Did you get to question them all?”

  “We did,” Inspector Rockwell answered. “Although we didn’t know then that you were pushed. Regardless, they were all here, there and everywhere, and they all claim they didn’t see or hear anything out of the ordinary.”

  “Why am I not surprised?” Doona said dryly.

  “Did you get any impression of the size of the person or whether it was a male or female?” Rockwell pressed Bessie for more.

  “He or she was a few steps above me,” Bessie told him. “I got the impression that they were tall, but that could just be because of the steps. They also seemed strong to me, but they wouldn’t have needed much strength to push me off slippery steps in the rain. I wasn’t holding the railing properly because I was carrying the bag that Vikky gave me,” she sighed. “I’m sorry, but I’m fading away here. That tablet must have been quite strong.”

  Inspector Rockwell nodded. “I’ll be back in the morning to talk to you again,” he told Bessie. “I want to know what you said and did at Thie yn Traie that might have made you a target.”

  Bessie frowned and tried to think, but the medication made her head feel fuzzy and she couldn’t focus. “I’ll try to remember,” she promised.

  “In the meantime, we’ve insisted on a private room for you. I hope you enjoy it. I’m going to leave Hugh here to keep an eye on you,” Rockwell told her. “Someone was trying to get rid of you and I want to make sure that whoever it was doesn’t get a second chance.”

  Bessie nodded sleepily. She tried to thank the inspector, but actually making words felt like a huge effort. She stretched her legs and various pains shot through her, momentarily shocking her awake. A moment later, however, the drugs overcame everything and she sank into a deep and necessary sleep.

  The first thing she saw the next morning when she opened her eyes was Bahey Corlett’s worried face.

  “Ah, Bessie, you’re awake then,” Bahey stated the obvious. “I was so worried when the police started arriving at the cottage saying something about someone falling down the stairs to the beach. What on earth made you try to get home that way, anyway? It was too dark and rainy to be trying to get down those stairs safely.”

  Bessie smiled at her friend. “Good morning, Bahey,” she said softly. “It’s kind of you to take the time to visit.”

  “Of course I came to visit, as early as I could,” Bahey answered stoutly. “I feel almost guilty about the whole thing, though I don’t know why I should. I never told you to go home that way.”

  Bessie shook her head. “No, Robert Clague suggested it,” she told Bahey. “He figured it would be faster so that I could get out of the rain more quickly.”

  “But those steps are a hazard,” Bahey said. “Even the family don’t try to use them when it’s raining. They’re strictly for nice bright sunny days when you can actually go and enjoy the beach.”

  “I expect Robert didn’t know what they were like. I doubt he’s had any call to use the steps while he’s been working at the cottage.”

  Bahey nodded slowly. “I guess you’re right,” she said grudgingly. “But I still blame him. If he were going to suggest you go that way, he should have seen you safely to the bottom.”

  Bessie thought about arguing, but decided against it. Bahey had a valid point. “Anyway, I’m fine, really,” she told Bahey. “Just a little bit banged up and bruised.”

  “And thank goodness for that,” Bahey sighed. “They wouldn’t tell me anything about your condition yesterday and I got really scared.”

  “I’m fine,” Bessie repeated.

  “I still can’t get over you slipping and falling down those steps,” Bahey told her. “Robert Clague is going to get an earful when I get back to Thie yn Traie. He should have seen you down.”

  “He said he had to see to some ‘issue,’” Bessie recalled.

  “Aye, that’ll be Miss Vikky pitching a fit,” Bahey rolled her eyes.

  “What happened?” Bessie asked.

  “Oh, Miss Vikky got this idea that she needed a walk to clear her head. Like there’s anything in there to clear,” Bahey scoffed.

  Bessie grinned. “She certainly wasn’t thinking about a walk the last time I saw her.”

  “Yeah, well, whatever, she got it in her head that she wanted to get out of the house, so she took off towards the front gate. Of course the reporters that were left jumped on the chance to ask her a few questions. Apparently, within minutes it had turned into a shouting match and the security guys had to break it up. I gather your friend Mr. Clague spent the night in gaol, having ‘accidentally’ broken the video camera that one reporter was using to capture the incident for posterity.”

  Bessie sighed. “I hope he doesn’t lose his job over that.”

  “Are you kidding?” Bahey asked her. “Mr. Pierce gave him a huge bonus and sorted it out with the reporter so that all of the charges were dropped. Mr. Pierce would not have been happy seeing footage of his daughter-in-law fighting with reporters splashed all over the telly.”

  “Can’t say as I blame him for that,” Bessie said.

  “No, I guess not,” Bahey answered. “Still, I’d like to see Mr. Clague fired for letting you fall.”

  “He didn’t ‘let me fall,’” Bessie told her. “I was pushed.”

  Bahey drew a sharp breath and then sat back in chair. “Pushed?” she choked out. “By who?”

  “I have no idea,” Bessie admitted.

  Bahey looked as if she wanted to say something, but Bessie could see indecision wavering in her eyes. After a moment she looked down at the ground. When she still didn’t speak, Bessie did.

  “I don’t suppose you saw anyone following me o
ut of the house yesterday?” she asked.

  “No,” Bahey answered too quickly. “I didn’t see anything.”

  “I know the police have been asking as well,” Bessie told her. “But apparently no one saw anything.”

  “The police just asked about everyone’s whereabouts,” Bahey shrugged. “They didn’t say anything about you being pushed. In fact, I got the feeling, from what they said, that they thought you’d just slipped and fallen.”

  “They didn’t know I was pushed until I woke up,” Bessie told her.

  Bahey shrugged. “I guess that makes sense,” she said. “Anyway, I need to get going. After the incident with Vikky and your fall yesterday, Mrs. Pierce is in a bad way. I want to keep an eye on her.”

  She was up and out the door in seconds, leaving Bessie convinced that she knew something she didn’t want to talk about. Bessie pondered whom Bahey would be willing to lie to protect, but the answer didn’t help her much. There was no doubt in Bessie’s mind that Bahey would do anything to protect the entire Pierce family, probably even including Vikky. Bessie sighed and snuggled back under the covers. It was only seven o’clock; Bahey had been an early bird.

  Bessie had slept well enough, only being woken twice to take additional tablets to help with the pain. She had briefly considered arguing against taking them. Surely, if she were able to sleep, she didn’t need any more pain medicine. She had been too tired in the night to argue, but now that it was morning, she decided that she would refuse to take anything else. Her mind made up, she let herself drift back off to sleep.

  She was rudely awoken a short time later by a nurse’s aide bearing a breakfast tray.

  “Well now, what we have here?” the very young and almost pretty aide asked perkily as she set the tray down in front of Bessie.

  “It looks like runny oatmeal and burnt toast,” Bessie said dryly, as she inspected the meal that had been put in front of her.

  “I'm sure it's all super yummy and it will do you a world of good,” the aide told her with a bright artificial smile.

  Bessie raised an eyebrow, but didn't answer. After the aide bustled out, she added some milk and sugar to the cup of tea that was the only thing on the tray that looked even remotely appealing.