Aunt Bessie Questions (An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Book 17)

by Diana Xarissa

  “Thanks, but I have a boyfriend,” the girl replied.

  “He doesn’t have to know,” the man suggested.

  “Come on, Mike, leave the girl alone,” Horace said. “She’s young enough to be your daughter.”

  “Not hardly,” Mike snapped. “Think about it,” he said to the girl. “We could have a really good time.”

  The girl gave him a tight smile and then rang up their purchases. Brandon put everything on a credit card. Both Bessie and the shop assistant sighed with relief when the trio walked out.

  “That’s it, I’m getting a new job,” the girl said angrily as the door swung shut behind the men. “I don’t mind dealing with customers all day, but I shouldn’t have to put with them trying to pull me while I’ll working. Especially not creepy old men like that guy.”

  Bessie wouldn’t have classed Mike as an old man. He was probably in his late thirties or early forties by her estimate, but to a girl in her late teens, he may well have seemed old. “He was definitely too old to be harassing you,” Bessie said. “He should know better.”

  “If I’m going to get all this hassle anyway, I should have gone for a job in a pub,” the girl sighed. “It would be less lonely too. I hate being here all by myself all the time.”

  “Maybe the owner should have two people here.”

  “He’d only do that if he could pay each of us half our wage. When I asked him about getting more help, especially during busy times, he told me he can’t afford to have more than one person here at any time. He claims he’s barely breaking even as it is.”

  “Maybe he should take a few shifts,” Bessie suggested.

  The girl laughed. “Have you met the owner? He has like zero people skills. There wouldn’t be any customers left if they all had to put up with him.”

  “Well, I’m sorry that you had to deal with those men. I’m a bit worried about leaving you alone in here, actually.”

  “I’ll be fine. I really do have a boyfriend, and he does karate. I think I’ll give him a ring and have him come and hang out with me for a while.”

  “I think that’s an excellent idea,” Bessie told her.

  “That one guy, he was here a few days ago on his own, and he was bad enough then. I didn’t realise he had friends.”

  “Which one?”

  “The one who paid,” the girl said.

  Brandon, Bessie thought. “Which day?” she asked.

  “Oh, the last time I was working nights. It would have been Friday night.”

  “What did he buy?”

  “Lager, mostly, same as today.”

  Bessie wanted to ask her more, but she didn’t want start putting ideas into the girl’s head. She’d tell John what she’d learned and let him take it from there. She checked that she had all of her shopping bags and then headed for home, giving the girl one last reassuring smile before she went. She was already on her mobile phone, ringing someone, as Bessie walked away.

  Back at home, Bessie put her shopping away and then sat down with a cup of tea and the local paper. The headline was certainly attention-getting. “Murdered Vicar Actually Con Artist,” it read.

  Bessie worked her way through the article and then the rest of the paper. She learned that Walter’s middle name had been George, but not much else. The paper devoted a section to speculation on the legality of Walter’s performing marriage ceremonies, concluding that anyone that he’d married would have to have a second ceremony in order to make things properly legal. Bessie wasn’t sure if the paper was right or not, but she was grateful that Pete and Helen had avoided any such confusion.

  When the phone rang, Bessie answered it.

  “Bessie? It’s Elizabeth, Elizabeth Quayle. How are you?”

  “I’m fine, my dear. How are you?”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” the girl wailed. “I was just reading in the paper about how anyone married by the fake vicar wouldn’t be legally married, and now I’m rethinking my wedding planning business. What if he hadn’t been murdered and he’d performed Pete and Helen’s ceremony? They wouldn’t really be married, and it would be all my fault since I suggested that they get married in Laxey.”

  “I don’t think anyone could possibly have blamed you, if that had happened,” Bessie said soothingly. “He managed to fool the bishop into hiring him, after all. If the bishop was convinced that the man was who he claimed to be, you’d no reason to suspect anything else.”

  “That isn’t strictly true,” Elizabeth replied. “I had a weird feeling about the man, you know. There was something not quite right about him. I thought that when I met him.”

  “Yes, I’m sure you did,” Bessie said, knowing that everyone would say something similar now that the man had been unmasked.

  Elizabeth laughed. “I know, I know. Hindsight is twenty-twenty and all of that, but I really did find him slightly creepy. He kept looking at me in a leering sort of way that didn’t seem at all appropriate for a vicar. I’d just about convinced myself that I was imagining things, though, right up until I heard that he wasn’t really a vicar at all. Next time I’ll trust my instincts.”

  “I don’t know how many people he did marry over the weeks that he was here,” Bessie said thoughtfully. “I suppose the bishop will be stepping in to help them make things right.”

  “I don’t know that he married anyone, actually. When we were planning for Pete and Helen, he said something about it being his first wedding on the island. Maybe it was going to be his first wedding ever.”

  “Perhaps, if he had done it, we all would have had a hint that he wasn’t who he claimed to be,” Bessie said. “It would probably have been harder to fake a wedding than a standard Sunday service.”

  “When I think back to our meetings, he did seem a little bit unsure about things, but it was the leering that made me uncomfortable, not that. I just assumed he was still working to settle into a new parish.”

  “I hope you won’t seriously let this stop you from going forward with your plans for your business. I actually want you to plan an event for me.”

  “What sort of event?”

  “A baby shower.”

  “Ooh, like they have in America, right? I saw them on some telly programme. This girl got like a million presents for her baby.”

  “Exactly like that,” Bessie laughed, “for Grace Watterson.”

  “That’s a great idea. Mum will be thrilled as well. She really likes Grace. They talk on the phone every week. Apparently, Grace is still grateful for what Mum did for their honeymoon.”

  “Grace and Hugh are both hugely grateful for that, but now they’re trying to buy a house, and they have a baby on the way. I thought it would be nice to get some of Grace’s friends together to help out with all of the things that babies need.”

  “Mum can take Grace shopping and find out what she really wants,” Elizabeth said thoughtfully. “She wanted to buy a bunch of stuff for the baby, but she didn’t know how to do so without Grace refusing.”

  “That was my thought exactly, but she can’t get upset if we have a shower.”

  “When should we have it, then?”

  “I was thinking maybe early November,” Bessie said. “It sounds a long way off, but really isn’t. I don’t think they’ll do much shopping until they get into the new house, which will take a while longer.”

  “When is the baby due?”

  “Mid-December. I thought it might be nice to surprise Grace, but I don’t know what you think.”

  “Surprises are incredibly hard work, but so much fun when they go right,” Elizabeth replied. “Let’s try anyway. I’m sure Mum will want to be involved in every bit of it. I hope that’s okay.”

  “Of course it is, but I don’t want to end up dumping all of the work on her again, like I did with the honeymoon planning. I want to pay you to do all the work instead.”

  “Oh, I won’t let you pay me, not for Grace, but I’m happy to do the work. Again, it will be another event to help get my name out there. I wo
nder if the café in Lonan would be able to do a baby shower. They did such an amazing job with the wedding that I’d really like to use them again.”

  “It was the best wedding food I’ve ever had,” Bessie told her. “I’d love it if they’d do the shower. I’ll be paying all of the bills, though, so we’ll have to talk about a budget.”

  “You’ll have to fight with Mum on that one. I suspect she’ll want to pay for some of it as well.”

  The pair agreed on the first Saturday in November, and Elizabeth promised to get started on planning right away.

  “I know it’s early, but I think once word gets out that the café will do events, it will get booked up quickly,” she told Bessie. “We’ll want a cake of some sort. Andy will be back across, won’t he?”

  “He will. Maybe we should see if Dan can do a chocolate sponge or something similar?”

  “That sounds great. Then we just have to get a list of names from Grace, so we know who to invite.”

  “How can we do that if it’s a surprise?”

  “Oh, leave that to my mother. She can be incredibly sneaky when she wants to be.”

  Bessie laughed. “You’ve already volunteered her for finding out what Grace wants,” she reminded the girl.

  “She’ll happily do both. She’s a very bright and incredibly bored woman, you know. Dad doesn’t want her to work, and she’s too shy to get actively involved in too many charities. She’ll love having the chance to be useful.”

  “Showers usually have games and all manner of silliness,” Bessie told her. “We’ll have to think about how much we want to emulate the American tradition.”

  “I’ll do some research. I have American friends I can ask about it, and I’ll talk to some of my friends in London. I understand a few people have had them there as well.”

  Bessie put the phone down feeling excited for Grace. There was no doubt in her mind that Elizabeth would do a wonderful job with the baby shower. As she only had an hour until she was due to be collected, Bessie decided that a short walk on the beach was what she needed. She walked slowly through the groups of people spread across the sand behind the holiday cottages, letting her mind wander as she went.

  “Hello, Bessie,” Dawn Gray called from the open sliding door at the back of one of the cottages.

  Bessie waved to her but didn’t stop. She could see the woman’s father hovering behind her. The next cottage was clearly where Brandon and his friends were staying. It was a huge mess, with piles of beer cans all over the floor and sandy footprints everywhere. Bessie could only imagine what Maggie Shimmin would say when the men left, and she went in to clean the cottage.

  Back at Treoghe Bwaane, Bessie combed her hair and added a touch of lipstick to her lips. That was more makeup than she normally wore and was more than enough for dinner with her friends. She was standing at her door when Hugh arrived a few minutes later.

  “Hello,” he called through his open car window as he drove into the parking area. He climbed out and crossed to Bessie as she locked her front door. “How are you tonight?” he asked as he offered her his arm.

  “I’m fine, thank you,” Bessie replied. “It does feel rather odd, though, going elsewhere for our little gathering.”

  Hugh shrugged. “John thought it would be for the best, since we don’t really want your neighbours to know that we’re all such good friends.”

  “What if they recognise you?”

  “I haven’t met any of the suspects, er, I mean, family and friends of the deceased,” Hugh told her. “They won’t know who I am.”

  Bessie nodded and then glanced down the beach. Brandon and his friends were standing on the patio behind their cottage. Bessie was sure that they were looking straight at her as she climbed into Hugh’s car.

  Chapter 7

  Doona answered Hugh’s knock and ushered the pair inside. “John’s in the kitchen,” she told them. “Go on through.”

  Bessie led Hugh through the sitting room, stopping to say hello to Amy and Thomas.

  “How are you both?” she asked them.

  “We’re okay,” Amy shrugged. “Doona’s been taking us all over the island and trying to make sure we have fun.”

  “And we have been,” Thomas said quickly. “Doona’s been great.”

  Amy nodded. “But it will be nice to go home with Dad tonight,” she said, “even if he does have to work tomorrow.”

  “Why don’t we go sightseeing tomorrow?” Bessie suggested. “Is there anywhere you’d really like to go?”

  “We haven’t been to either of the castles,” Amy told her. “Mum was always going to take us when we were living here, but she never got around to it.”

  “Which would you prefer for tomorrow?” Bessie asked. “Castle Rushen is a beautiful medieval castle with lots of interesting displays inside. You can learn a lot about how the castle was used in many different ways. Peel Castle is mostly in ruins. Parts of it are older than Castle Rushen, and there’s a crypt and a graveyard to go around.”

  The siblings exchanged glances. “Castle Rushen,” Amy said as Thomas said “Peel Castle.”

  “I don’t know that we’ll have time to go to both,” Bessie frowned. “If we do go down to Castletown, there are some other sites there that we could visit. And if we go to Peel, we can stop at the House of Manannan as well.”

  “Castletown,” Amy said firmly. “A castle with walls and a roof is better than ruins.”

  “But think about the crypt,” Thomas replied. “That sounds wonderfully creepy.”

  “I think it’s meant to rain tomorrow,” Hugh said, “if that changes anyone’s mind.”

  “Maybe we should do Castletown, in that case,” Bessie said. “Peel Castle isn’t very much fun in the rain.”

  “As long as we can go to Peel Castle later in the summer,” Thomas said.

  “I’m happy to take you both all over the island,” Bessie told him. “I didn’t really think you’d be interested. Everything I read about today’s teens suggests that they aren’t interested in history or in spending time with adults.”

  “It’s fun to spend time with our friends, but I think we’re both interested in the island’s history,” Amy told her. “We didn’t get much of a chance to learn about it when we were living here, but Dad has told us some interesting things.”

  “I’ll collect you from your father’s house at half nine,” Bessie told them. “I’ll be in a taxi.”

  “Bessie, if you’d like, I could see if Grace is busy tomorrow. She might be happy to have a day away from packing and worrying about the new house. I know she loves visiting the historical sites around the island,” Hugh offered. “She’d be able to drive, which would make it all easier for you, as well.”

  “If she’s not too busy, and she’d genuinely like to come, she’d be more than welcome,” Bessie told him, “but I’m happy with taxis if it comes to it.”

  Hugh quickly rang Grace. When he ended the call, he was smiling. “She’s thrilled,” he told Bessie. “She’s packed as much as she can and she’s bored to bits at home. She’ll collect you around quarter past nine, and then you can collect Thomas and Amy and be away.”

  “Perfect,” Bessie said. “I’ll see you both tomorrow morning, then.”

  The children both nodded and then went back to the television programme they’d been watching when Bessie arrived. She and Hugh continued on their way into the kitchen.

  “I was starting to think it wasn’t you two at the door,” John said from his place at the kitchen table. “Doona went to let you in ages ago.”

  “I stopped to talk to Amy and Thomas,” Bessie explained. “If it’s okay with you, Grace and I are going to take them to Castletown tomorrow to see the castle and whatever else we can find to do.”

  “They’re perfectly capable of entertaining themselves for a few days,” John told her. “That’s what they would be doing if they were at home with their mother, after all.”

  “I’m sure they would be fine on their ow
n, but I haven’t anything else to do and you know how much I love talking about the island’s history. They seemed excited by the idea, but maybe they were just being polite,” Bessie replied.

  “They’ve both told me that they’d like to see more of the island while they’re here,” John said. “I’m hoping they may come to like it as much as I do, eventually.”

  “Well, tomorrow they’ll get to see our finest castle, the old schoolhouse, and maybe a few others things as well,” Bessie told him.

  “I really appreciate it,” John said. “I hate that I’ve had to spend so much of my time on this case while they’ve been here. I’ve already told the chief constable that I’ll be taking some time off once it’s solved. Maybe I’ll be able to show my children a few of the island’s sites myself.”

  Bessie flushed. “I didn’t think about that,” she said apologetically. “Would you rather I didn’t take them to Castle Rushen? Did you want to take them there yourself?”

  “It’s fine,” John told her. “You’re the expert on such sites, anyway. I don’t know much about them. I’d rather take them to the parks and to play crazy golf and that sort of thing. Let’s hope I’ll get a chance before too much longer.”

  “First, we need to work out what happened to Walter Gray,” Bessie said.

  “But before that, we need to eat,” Doona said from the doorway behind Bessie.

  Doona had changed out of the jeans and T-shirt she’d been wearing when she’d opened her front door. A pretty flowered skirt with a white shirt made her look summery and cool. She’d combed her hair and added some fresh makeup to her face as well. Bessie wondered if she’d done it to try to impress John or for some other reason.

  “There should be plenty,” John said, gesturing towards the counter where several takeaway boxes were spread out.

  “And I left pudding in the car,” Hugh exclaimed. “I’ll be right back.”

  Doona followed him to let him out and back in again. While they were gone, Bessie and John filled their plates. By the time Doona and Hugh returned, they were sitting at the table, ready to eat. It didn’t take long for the other two to join them. Doona handed around cold drinks before she sat down.