Aunt Bessie Provides (An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Book 16)

by Diana Xarissa

  “It’s fine,” Anna said, turning away.

  “You aren’t leaving already? You stay and enjoy your peace and quiet. I need to get home, anyway,” Bessie said quickly.

  “You don’t have to rush away on my account,” Anna told her. She looked at Bessie and then sighed deeply. “Do you ever feel as if you’ve suddenly woken up and twenty years have gone by without you even noticing?”

  “Yes, but in my case it’s a good deal more than twenty years,” Bessie replied.

  Anna smiled, but the expression didn’t reach her eyes. “I know the body isn’t Christopher’s. Agatha kept in touch with him for years after he left. But in some ways, I almost wish it was him.”

  “I’m not going to ask questions,” Bessie said. “But I’m happy to listen if you want to talk. I won’t repeat what you tell me unless it’s relevant to a police investigation.”

  Anna shrugged. “I don’t suppose it matters now if you tell everyone on the island. I never meant to keep anything secret, really, it just sort of happened that way. Maybe I simply didn’t have anyone to tell.”

  Bessie sat down on a convenient rock and took a few slow and steady breaths. While she was hoping the other woman would tell her the story, she didn’t feel that it was right to question her about it. After a moment, Anna sat down next to her.

  “I was working for Adam, you know. I was his personal assistant. He told me later that he fell in love with me when I came in for my interview, but I didn’t have a clue. Then one day Christopher came in. He’d been across, but then he came back to the island. When I saw him, I was dazzled. He was gorgeous, but more importantly, he was smart and funny and, well, as I said, I was dazzled.”

  “I’m sorry,” Bessie said, taking the woman’s hand.

  Anna squeezed her hand and then shrugged. “Yes, thanks, but you’re getting ahead of the story. We started seeing each other, just casually at first, but then I thought it started to get more serious. I was serious, anyway. Chris started talking about leaving the island again. He and Adam were fighting a lot and Agatha always took Adam’s side because Adam was the oldest, even if Chris was right. Anyway, I was sure Chris was going to ask me to come with him.”

  She stopped and Bessie wished she’d brought tissues with her as tears began to flow down Anna’s cheeks. Anna pulled her hand free and dug tissues out of her pocket. “I always cry when I come here,” she told Bessie. “This was our special spot where Chris and I used to meet. He didn’t want Adam to know that we were together because I was still working for Adam. He knew Adam would let me go if he found out.”

  The pair sat in silence for a few minutes. Bessie watched the waves as they moved in and out. The tide was starting to come in, but she still had plenty of time to get home before she’d be trapped. That six o’clock was rapidly approaching was more of a worry.

  “Anyway, one day I went to work and Adam told me that he and Chris had had a terrible fight and that Chris had left the island. He only told me about it because he wanted to make sure that I didn’t put Chris through if he rang. He gave me very specific instructions as to what I was to do if Chris tried to get in touch in any way. I was shocked and hurt, but I simply assumed that Chris would ring me at home in a day or two. He was gone for over a week before I stopped expecting him to ring every minute of every day.”

  Anna’s tears began again, but this time she brushed them away with her hand. “I shouldn’t still be crying, not after all this time. He left and he never bothered to say goodbye. Crying over him is pointless. Adam noticed that I was upset about something, but I made up an excuse. He insisted that I go on a fortnight’s holiday with Dorothy as her relationship had just imploded and she needed to get away as much as I did. I was worried that Chris would try to get in touch while I was gone, but, well, he could have found me if he’d wanted to.”

  “I’m sorry,” Bessie said again, not sure what else there was to say.

  “Not long after I got back, I mentioned Chris to Adam. He told me that Agatha was in touch with him and that he’d gone to Australia with some girl that he’d met in a pub in London. A few days later Adam asked me to have dinner with him and, well, here we are, twenty years later.”

  “If Hugh does find Christopher, do you want to know where he is?” Bessie asked.

  Anna shook her head and then buried her face in her hands again. “I can’t, that is, I don’t, I mean…”

  Bessie rubbed her back. “Never mind. Forget I asked,” she said.

  After a minute, Anna sat back up and wiped her eyes again. “I said at the memorial service that I did want to know if Chris was found, but ever since then I’ve been wondering if I really do or not. He might be angry when he finds out that I married Adam, but he can’t really blame me. He left without a word. What was I meant to do? Wait twenty years for him to come back? If the police do find him, yes, let me know. I think I would like to talk to him, actually, but I don’t think he’ll like what I’ll have to say.”

  “The police are hoping to get a DNA sample from one of his siblings, just in case the body is his,” Bessie told her.

  “They should ask Dorothy. She’s the only one who might give in, although not if Henry has any say in the matter. He’s firmly behind Adam on this, on everything, really. And Brian has been listening to Adam for fifty years. He’s not going to do anything that might anger his big brother, not after all this time.”

  “I’ll suggest that to Hugh when I next talk to him,” Bessie said.

  “If you think it matters, you can tell him my sad little story,” Anna said. “I can’t see how it could, but I’ll leave it to you to decide.”

  “What if the body is Christopher’s?”

  “That would mean that Adam and Agatha lied to me for twenty years,” Anna said. “Why would they do that?”

  Bessie pressed her lips together. The obvious answer was that they were trying to cover up Christopher’s death, but Bessie didn’t want to put that idea into Anna’s head, at least not yet.

  “It’s getting late,” Anna exclaimed, getting to her feet. “I’m meant to be making dinner for six. I’ll never manage it.”

  “Collect a pizza on your way home,” Bessie suggested.

  “Yes, that’s an idea. Adam won’t mind if I tell him that I was too upset about Agatha to cook.”

  Bessie stood up and gave the woman an awkward hug. “I hope everything works out okay,” she said softly.

  Anna nodded. “I’m sure it will be fine,” she replied.

  Chapter 14

  Bessie arrived back at her cottage just minutes before John and Doona drove into the parking area next to it. Hugh was only another minute behind them. John carried in the large box of food while Bessie pulled down plates and Doona got out cutlery.

  “I have a lot to tell you,” Bessie said as soon as everyone was sitting around the kitchen table. “I’ve had a very busy afternoon.”

  “I hope you managed to find time to bake brownies,” Doona replied.

  “I did,” Bessie reassured her. “But let me tell you everything else.”

  The others were nearly finished eating by the time Bessie was done recounting her conversations with Dorothy and Anna. John had taken out his notebook almost as soon as she’d started, but he still managed to take bites in between his note-taking.

  “So we should expect Dorothy around seven?” John checked.

  “If she’s brave enough to come back,” Bessie replied. “I’m not sure she’ll actually do it. I was tempted to ring you while she was here and see if someone could come straight away to take the sample, but I didn’t want to risk upsetting her. She’s apprehensive enough about doing it.”

  “If she doesn’t come back, Hugh can go and see her tomorrow,” John said, nodding at Hugh.

  “After what Anna told you, it seems likely that the body is Christopher’s,” Hugh said. “Especially since we’ve eliminated everyone else from consideration.”

  “You have?” Bessie asked. “Go on, then, tell me eve
rything while I eat.”

  Hugh grinned. “Tracking down Anthony Kelly was interesting,” he said. “It turns out he’s been dead for nearly fifteen years.”

  “How sad,” Doona said. “I suppose since he doesn’t have any family on the island, no one here knew that he’d passed.”

  “No one anywhere knew that he’d passed,” Hugh replied. “No one knew who he was.”

  “Pardon?” Doona asked.

  “His body was found in a flat in London. The police assume that his wallet was stolen, as there wasn’t any identification with the corpse.”

  “How did he die?” Bessie asked.

  “Drug overdose,” Hugh told her.

  Bessie frowned. “How very sad.”

  “At least now the police know who he was. I was able to identify him thanks to a couple of very unique tattoos. The police kept photographs of them because they thought they might come in handy one day,” Hugh said.

  “So our body definitely isn’t Anthony Kelly,” John said. “And it isn’t Craig Fox, either.”

  “You found him?” Bessie asked.

  “I did,” Hugh replied. He smiled at Bessie. “But first I found Miranda.”

  “Stop teasing and tell me everything,” Bessie demanded.

  “Abigail, Jackson’s wife, who is also Miranda’s sister, did have an address for her. It seems that Miranda moved to France after she left the island.”

  “France?” Bessie echoed. “But why?”

  “She told me that they wanted a change of scenery and a chance to start over where no one knew them,” Hugh replied.

  “Herself and the children?” Doona asked.

  “Herself, the children, and Craig,” Hugh replied.

  “She’s with Craig?” was Doona’s incredulous reply.

  “She’s with Craig. Apparently, they made their plans before he left the island. He went to France and found a little house in the country for them, and she followed once she’d divorced Jackson.”

  “I thought she was afraid of Jackson,” Bessie said.

  “She was a bit evasive when I asked her about that,” Hugh said. “I got the impression that she found out something that she was able to hold over the man in order to get him to agree to the divorce.”

  “What sort of something?” Doona wondered.

  “It must have been something criminal,” Bessie speculated.

  “No doubt, but whatever it was, she got her divorce and then she took the children and joined Craig in France. They’ve been there ever since. Her three children with Jackson have all grown up and left home, but she and Craig had four of their own as well. The youngest is only six.”

  “My goodness, seven children? I can’t imagine,” Bessie exclaimed.

  “Me, either,” Hugh said.

  “Did you talk to Craig?” Doona asked.

  “I did. He confirmed everything that Miranda told me.”

  “Did you ask him if he misses the island?” Bessie asked.

  “I did, actually, and he said he doesn’t. He actually sounded as if he’s incredibly happy where he is, and it seemed as if he and Miranda are deeply in love.”

  “There’s nothing like a happy ending,” Doona sighed.

  Bessie finally finished her last bite. While Doona cleared the plates away, Bessie cut generous helpings from the brownie pan. “I have vanilla ice cream for on top, if anyone wants it,” she offered.

  A few minutes later everyone was enjoying his or her brownie with ice cream. “At least Craig and Miranda got a happy ending,” Bessie said. “I’m afraid the same won’t be true for Christopher.”

  “Or for Anna. She’ll be devastated if the body turns out to be Christopher’s,” Doona said.

  “Or maybe she’ll feel better knowing that he didn’t simply disappear from her life,” Bessie suggested.

  “If the body is his, then her husband and her mother-in-law lied to her for years about what happened to the man,” John said. “That will be difficult for her to learn.”

  “And if they did lie to her, that suggests they had a hand in Christopher’s death,” Hugh added.

  Bessie shuddered. “You’re suggesting that Adam murdered his younger brother,” she said.

  “It might have been a horrible accident,” Hugh said. “But whatever happened, if the body is Christopher’s, then Adam and his mother did their best to hide that fact.”

  “Even sending Anna and Dorothy away for a while,” Bessie said thoughtfully. “They couldn’t have known when the body was going to be found, though, could they?”

  “No, but maybe they just wanted to get them off the island for a while,” Doona said.

  “I wonder how much Aaron knew. I always thought that Agatha was the dominant partner in their relationship, but he must have known something, surely,” Bessie said.

  “What about Brian?” Hugh asked. “Do you think he knew anything?”

  “Brian probably believed whatever his mother and Adam told him,” Bessie said after a minute. “Everyone else on the island did, after all.”

  “I really hope Dorothy comes,” Doona said, glancing at the clock. “I’m starting to think that the body has to be Christopher’s, but it would be nice to have confirmation of that.”

  Hugh gathered up the plates and he and Doona did the washing-up. Bessie felt as if she was simply watching the clock as seven o’clock came and went. When someone knocked on the door at quarter past, she started and then jumped to her feet. Dorothy looked as if she’d been crying as she walked into the cottage.

  “Are you okay?” Bessie asked after she’d introduced the woman to John and Hugh.

  “No, not at all,” Dorothy replied. “Henry and I had a huge argument about this. He reckons I’m betraying Adam by doing this behind his back.”

  “If the body isn’t Christopher’s, then surely you aren’t betraying anyone,” Bessie said.

  “Adam doesn’t want the test run, no matter what,” Dorothy replied. “But I’m nearly fifty and I shouldn’t have to take orders from my older brother anymore. He may be the boss at work, but he shouldn’t control my personal life.”

  “I have a test kit in my car,” John said. “I’ll go and get it.”

  Dorothy stared at him for a minute and then nodded slowly. While John was gone, Hugh moved a chair from Bessie’s dining room into the kitchen.

  “Would you like some tea or coffee or anything?” Bessie asked Dorothy.

  “Maybe a cup of tea would help,” Dorothy said.

  “You told Henry what you were planning to do, then?” Bessie asked as she poured tea for the woman.

  “I decided I didn’t want to go behind his back. He’s my husband and I feel that we shouldn’t have secrets from one another. Of course, he didn’t approve and he, well, it wasn’t good,” Dorothy said, sighing.

  “Here we are,” John said. He was carrying a small box as he walked back into the cottage.

  “Just give me a minute,” Dorothy said. Bessie set her tea in front of her.

  “And you can’t drink that until we’re done,” John said, reaching for the cup.

  “Oh? Sorry,” Bessie said.

  “I just had dinner,” Dorothy told him. “Does it matter?”

  “I can’t take the sample until at least an hour after you’ve last eaten or drunk anything,” John told her.

  Dorothy sighed. “So we’ll need to wait about twenty minutes,” she said. “Which is plenty of time for me to change my mind.”

  “I hope you won’t,” John said. “I think it’s important that we find out if the body is your brother’s or not.”

  “It can’t be,” Dorothy said firmly. “Which means I’m wasting my time and yours.”

  “So why are you here?” John asked.

  Dorothy shook her head. “There’s just the tiniest bit of doubt. I can’t help but feel that Christopher wouldn’t have just disappeared like that, or if he did, that he’d have at least sent me a birthday card or two over the past twenty years. I’ve never moved, you know.
I still live in the same flat that I bought more than twenty years ago. I keep talking about moving. Henry and I could certainly afford something bigger and nicer, but there’s a little bit of me that is afraid that if I move Christopher won’t be able to find me.” She shook her head again. “It sounds crazy, really. It isn’t even a big island. If Christopher wanted to find me, he could.”

  “The DNA test should set your mind at rest, then,” John said.

  “Yes, it should. I don’t know why Adam is so opposed to it, really. Except once we know the body isn’t Christopher’s, we’ll have to wonder where Christopher is. I wish Mother had been willing to share his address before she died,” Dorothy said sadly.

  “I’ve done what I can to find him,” Hugh told her. “Unfortunately, I’ve not had any luck.”

  “Mother always said he went to Australia,” Dorothy said. “And later she said something about Canada.”

  “We’re working with the police in both countries, but unless he’s been arrested for something, he won’t be that easy to find,” Hugh replied.

  “He must have a driver’s license,” Dorothy suggested.

  “There are several thousand Christopher Marshes in Canada,” Hugh told her. “The man I spoke to at their licensing bureau suggested that I come over myself and sort through them all. Some of it is computerised, apparently, but not all of it.”

  “I did suggest to Adam that we put adverts in some newspapers. You know the sort I mean, something to suggest that if anyone knows anything about Christopher and gets in touch there would be a reward or something, but Adam said no. He said if Christopher wanted to be found, he’d get in touch, and since he clearly doesn’t, we should leave him in peace.”

  “Twenty years is a long time,” Bessie said. “Anything could have happened to him since he left the island.”

  “I know, and I keep telling myself that he’s probably dead,” Dorothy admitted. “I really do believe that he would have been in touch before now if he were still alive. But then Mother insisted to the last that she knew where he was and that he was fine.”

  Bessie’s phone startled everyone.