“Yes, but you’re meant to be getting married tomorrow afternoon. Someone needs to start ringing around soon.”
“Let’s talk about something else, or I might just start crying again,” Helen said. The pair chatted about nothing much for a few minutes before John appeared around the side of the building.
“Sorry to keep you both waiting,” he said. “The crime scene technicians are hard at work now, and Hugh is helping Pete. I’d like to take statements from you both.”
“I don’t think I’ve anything useful to say,” Bessie told him. “I barely knew the man, and all I saw at the scene was a shoe.”
“Nevertheless, I need a statement from you, and I should talk to each of you separately. We’re just, ah, there he is.” John nodded towards the man who was just climbing out of his car.
Bessie smiled at James Clucas, the church’s caretaker. She’d known the man for many years. He’d been looking after the church, the church hall, and the grounds for a great many years.
“Mr. Clucas, sorry to disturb you at home,” John said to the new arrival.
“I’m used to being called out to deal with things,” the man replied good-naturedly. “What’s the problem tonight, then?”
“I’m afraid my friends and I discovered a body in the graveyard tonight,” John said solemnly.
“That’s the place for them,” James replied. “I mean, there are a good many bodies in there.”
“Yes, but this one didn’t belong there, at least not yet,” John said.
The man frowned. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I understand what you’re saying.”
“We found the body of a murdered man in the graveyard,” John explained slowly. “Our crime scene technicians are working there now.”
James stared at John for a minute and then began to shake his head. “Murdered? In the graveyard? But that doesn’t make sense.”
Bessie stood up and took the man’s arm. “Sit down,” she urged him. James was well over six feet tall and nearly as broad. Having seen the colour drain from his face while John was talking, Bessie was worried that he might lose consciousness. He could get quite badly hurt if he fell to the ground.
James dropped heavily onto the bench, still staring at John. “I’m sorry, Inspector, sir, but I still don’t understand.”
“I know it’s a lot to take in,” John replied. “I was hoping you might be willing to let some of our team into the church to take a look around and also that we might be able to use the church hall to talk to witnesses.”
“I don’t mind you going through the church, as long as you’re properly respectful, but I’ll need to get permission from the vicar. Give me a minute, and I’ll ring Reverend Doyle. You’re probably best talking to him directly, and then he can tell me what he wants me to do,” James replied.
John held up a hand as James pulled out his phone. “I’m sorry to be the one to tell you, but it’s Reverend Doyle who is dead.”
Even more colour left the man’s face. “But, no, I don’t, I mean…” He stopped and looked at Bessie. “It’s Reverend Doyle?” he asked her.
“I haven’t see the body,” Bessie said softly, “but Inspector Rockwell knows Reverend Doyle well enough to know whether it’s him or not.”
“I don’t understand,” James said.
“That’s why we’re here,” John replied. “We’re going to do our best to work out exactly what happened to Reverend Doyle. If you could open the church and the hall for us, it would help.”
“Of course,” James said, sounding dazed, “but I should ask someone. Let me think for a minute.”
“Why don’t you have the inspector ring the bishop’s office,” Bessie suggested. “I’m sure someone there will be able to grant you permission to let the police in.”
“That’s a good idea,” John said, shooting Bessie a grateful look. “I’ll do that. Give me a minute.” He walked a short distance away and pulled out his phone. James stared straight ahead, his eyes on the ground, while they waited. Bessie opened her mouth a dozen times to try to start a conversation, but she simply couldn’t work out what to say. Before she’d managed to come up with anything, John was back.
“Mr. Clucas, the bishop’s office would like a word with you,” he said, handing James the phone.
Bessie could only hear James’s side of the conversation, and that seemed to consist of nothing but monosyllables. They were accompanied by a great deal of nodding that was lost on the person on the other end of the line. When James handed the mobile back to John, he stood up.
“I’m to let you into the church and the hall,” he told John, “and the vicarage, which you hadn’t mentioned before.”
“We’ll leave the vicarage for last,” John said. “For now, let’s just make sure that the door is locked. Going through it will take some time.”
“Ms. Hamilton might be home,” James said. “She usually is in the evening.”
“Who is Ms. Hamilton?” John asked.
“Reverend Doyle’s housekeeper. She lives in. She moved across with him when he came here from Dorking,” James explained.
“It’s a very small vicarage to have live-in staff,” Bessie exclaimed.
“It is, aye. Ms. Hamilton was always complaining about how small the house was and how cramped they were, but Reverend Doyle said he was too used to have her living in. He didn’t want her getting a flat somewhere and just coming in to do the cooking and cleaning.”
Bessie nodded. “I’m sure it was convenient for him, even if it was uncomfortable for her,” she said tartly.
“Anyway, she’s probably at home,” James said. “You’ll have to tell her about Reverend Doyle, won’t you? She’ll be devastated. They were very close.”
“How close?” John asked.
“According to Reverend Doyle, Ms. Hamilton started working for him twenty or so years ago when he was given his first parish. She kept moving around with him as he moved from place to place.”
“And neither of them ever married?” John asked.
“Not as far as I know,” James replied. “You’d have to ask her, though, to be sure.”
“Oh, I will,” John said, “but we sent a man to check the vicarage and no one answered the door. Maybe we’d better go and have a look around, if you think Ms. Hamilton should be there.”
“Oh, goodness, I hope nothing has happened to Ms. Hamilton too,” James exclaimed. “Losing Reverend Doyle is bad enough.”
He and John took a few steps away before Bessie spoke. “John, just one minute, please,” she said.
“What is it?” John asked.
“Helen and Pete are meant to be getting married here tomorrow. Obviously, they need to find someone else to perform the ceremony. Is it okay if Helen starts ringing people?” Bessie asked.
“I believe Pete is already working on that,” John told her. “He rang Elizabeth Quayle a short time ago and spoke to her about it. That’s one of the reasons why I’m so anxious to get into the church. We need to go through it, and hopefully clear it so that the wedding can take place as planned.”
“Assuming they find another priest to marry them,” Bessie said, glancing over at Helen, who was staring at the front of the church.
“They’ll find someone,” John assured her. “Pete told Elizabeth that he’s prepared to pay whatever it takes, but he’s not going to bed tomorrow night without his legal wife by his side.”
Bessie smiled. “I didn’t realise he felt so strongly about it.”
“He’s absolutely crazy about Helen,” John said softly. “It will all work out. Pete will make sure of it.”
John and James walked away, heading towards the vicarage, as Bessie sat back down beside Helen.
“Pete rang Elizabeth and told her to find someone else to perform the ceremony tomorrow,” she told the woman.
Helen blew out a long breath. “That makes me feel a bit better,” she said. “Now we just have to worry about whether we can use the church or not.”
“If you can’t, there will be options,” Bessie told her. “You can always get married at Thie yn Traie or on the beach below it. You can even get married on the beach behind my cottage, if you’d like. I can’t promise you won’t have dozens of guests from the holiday cottages standing around watching the whole thing, but with all of the police that will be there, I’m sure they’ll keep to a respectable distance.”
Helen laughed. “Okay, I feel better now,” she said. “Maybe Pete and I will still be able to get married tomorrow. That doesn’t mean I’m not worried about the honeymoon, though.”
“What about the honeymoon?”
“I’m just afraid that Pete won’t want to go because of the murder investigation,” Helen explained. “I know how he is about his work. He takes it very seriously, and I don’t blame him for that.”
“But this is John’s case, not Pete’s,” Bessie said. “Anyway, I know how much Pete is looking forward to your trip. He’s not going to let a murder investigation get in the way of it.”
“I hope you’re right,” Helen replied. “I’m incredibly excited about the trip, which feels all wrong, sitting here with a dead body on the other side of the church.”
“You can’t stop living your life because someone you barely knew died,” Bessie told her.
“But who would want to kill a vicar?” Helen asked.
“I really should have told you two not to talk,” John said.
Bessie jumped. “I didn’t see you there,” she told the man.
“I came around from the other end of the car park,” he explained.
“Was Ms. Hamilton at home?” Bessie asked.
“No. The vicarage was empty,” John told her. “I’ve left a constable at the door in case she comes home before we start searching the building.”
“You don’t think she killed the vicar and then left the island, do you?” Helen asked.
“At this point, I don’t think anything,” John replied. “We’ve a great deal of evidence to gather and examine, and many people to speak to about what’s happened.”
“It’s odd that she’s not home,” Bessie said. “James seemed to think that she should be there.”
“It’s far too early to start speculating,” John said firmly. “For right now, I’d like to get statements from both of you. Then you can both head home and try to relax. Helen has a big day tomorrow.”
“Assuming we find someone else to officiate and somewhere to have the ceremony,” Helen said.
“I have a team going through the church right now,” John said. “Thus far they haven’t found anything that suggests that we’ll need to restrict access to the building. We won’t be letting people use the side door, but that shouldn’t be a problem.”
Bessie got to her feet, and Helen followed suit. “James has the church hall opened up for us,” John told them as they walked. “I don’t expect this to take long.”
The church hall was basically one large room. Bessie sighed as she looked around the space. Only a few months ago, she’d been taking Manx language classes there. Those were hard work, but she much preferred them to being questioned about murder.
“Bessie, if you could wait here for a few minutes, I’ll start with Helen,” John said.
There were a few folding chairs set up near the door. Bessie sat down on the first one and stretched out her legs in front of her. She nearly always had a paperback book in her handbag, but she hadn’t bothered with one tonight. The trip to the church with Helen was only meant to be a short one.
John continued across the room to the back wall. A long table had been set up, with two chairs on either side of it. John slid into a seat and motioned for Helen to sit on the opposite side of the table. While Bessie watched, he pulled out a notebook and his mobile. Bessie assumed, from what she could see, that he was sending a text message. A moment later, the door swung open and Hugh walked into the room. He gave Bessie a smile and then joined John and Helen at the table in the back.
Bessie could hear the low rumble of their voices as the trio talked, but she couldn’t make out any words. After a while, she quit trying and amused herself by running through the multiplication tables backwards. She hadn’t quite finished them all when John and Helen walked over to her.
“Helen, if you want to go home, I can make sure Bessie gets back to Treoghe Bwaane,” John offered.
“I’ll wait for her if she won’t be too long,” Helen replied. “I’m not sure I want to be alone right now.”
“We’ll be as quick as we can,” John promised. He led Bessie over to the table and held out a chair for her. “Let me send a text, and then we’ll get my questions out of the way,” he told Bessie before pulling out his mobile again.
Bessie smiled at Hugh. “How are things with the house?” she asked.
“Getting there, but slowly,” Hugh replied.
He and Grace were buying a large house in a new development on Laxey Beach. The row of houses stretched along the beach some distance beyond Thie yn Traie, and Bessie was looking forward to having her friends as neighbours, even at a distance.
“Grace is worried that we’ll never be able to afford furniture for the whole house,” Hugh added, “especially since she doesn’t want to bring all of my old furniture with us. She’s right that a lot of it is pretty beat up, but most of it came from my relatives when they were getting rid of it to get new things. Constables don’t make a lot of money, and neither do teachers,” Hugh sighed.
“It won’t hurt you one bit to have to use secondhand furniture for a while,” Bessie said. “If you put aside a little bit of money each month towards a furniture fund, you’ll be able to buy new things eventually.”
Hugh shrugged. “I suspect that once the baby gets here, all of our money will go towards making him or her happy. I’m pretty sure Grace won’t care about furniture, as long as Baby Watterson has every single thing he or she could possibly want or need.”
Bessie nodded. “That sounds like Grace,” she said. “You’ll have to start saving now and try to get a few things bought before the baby comes.”
“Except the first thing Grace wants to do is furnish the nursery,” Hugh replied.
“You need to have a baby shower,” Bessie told him.
“A baby shower?”
“It’s an American tradition,” Bessie explained. “All of the expectant mother’s friends get together and buy presents for the baby. You can even tell them exactly what you want.”
“That sounds, well, weird,” Hugh said.
“That’s just because it isn’t usually done on this side of the pond,” Bessie replied. “We don’t have bridal showers, either, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t a good idea. Actually, I don’t much like bridal showers. Most brides these days have everything they could possibly need or want, but baby showers are different. A baby shower is exactly what you and Grace need. Several of us could go in together and get one or two of the big expensive items like the cot and the pram.”
“That would be a huge help,” Hugh said, “but I’m not sure Grace will agree. She doesn’t like to feel as if we’re being treated like a charity case. Besides, you all just paid for our glorious honeymoon. I’d feel funny asking people to buy us presents again.”
“But if it was a surprise, then Grace couldn’t complain,” Bessie said. “I’ve never been to a baby shower, but my sister used to tell me all about them in her letters from America. She went to plenty when her children got old enough to have children. She had ten, you know.”
“Your sister had ten children?”
“She did, and I can’t even remember how many grandchildren. Anyway, I know exactly what’s meant to happen at a baby shower. I think I’ll get Elizabeth to help with the planning. Don’t say a word to Grace. We’ll make it a surprise.”
“I wish you hadn’t told me about it,” Hugh said miserably. “I’m not sure I can keep anything secret from Grace.”
Bessie looked disappointed. “If you can’t keep it a secret, maybe
I won’t bother,” she said. “That doesn’t mean I won’t be buying you two a few things for the baby, but maybe a shower isn’t such a good idea.”
Hugh shrugged. “As I said, it seems odd to me.”
Bessie nodded. If Hugh didn’t think it was going to happen, he couldn’t tell Grace about the shower. Now Bessie just needed to talk to Elizabeth and start making plans.
“Sorry about that,” John said as he put his phone away. “I just wanted to let Pete know that Helen’s upset. I really appreciate his help, but he should be with her now, not worrying about my case.”
“She worried that they won’t be able to get married tomorrow,” Bessie said.
“I’m sure it will all work out,” John told her. “I might need a gallon of hot coffee in order to stay awake for the ceremony, but otherwise, it should be fine.”
“I forgot to tell you that Doona took the children home,” Bessie said.
“She texted me once they got back to her house,” John replied with a smile. “They were all in their pyjamas, stretched out across the couches, eating popcorn and watching some movie I probably wouldn’t normally let them watch.”
“It’s a good thing she was home,” Hugh said.
“Yes, I must remember not to take her for granted,” John replied, frowning. “Let’s get your statement and then you can get home too,” he said to Bessie.
“I don’t know what I can tell you,” Bessie replied, suspecting that she knew where John was going to want her to start.
“Just run me through your day, starting with the time you got up this morning,” John said, exactly as Bessie expected.
“I woke up at six, just like I nearly always do,” Bessie began. She told John and Hugh all about her rather ordinary day, right up until Helen appeared at her door a few minutes before she was due.
“How did Helen seem when she arrived?” John asked.
Bessie stared at him. “You can’t possibly think that she had anything to do with Reverend Doyle’s death,” she gasped.
“Not at all. I’m just making sure I’m being thorough,” John assured her. “If I didn’t know Helen or you I would ask, so I’m asking. The chief constable will be taking a very close interest in this case, especially as two inspectors just happened to find the body. We have to make sure that we do everything by the book.”
Aunt Bessie Questions (An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Book 17) Page 3