Arrivals and Arrests (An Isle of Man Ghostly Cozy Book 1)
Page 24
Fenella shrugged. “I’m not planning on going anywhere,” she said. “I’ll be here when you get back.”
“Just don’t go falling for anyone else while I’m away,” he said sternly. “There are a lot of other men around who’d be happy to snap you up.”
Fenella laughed. “Flattery will get you nowhere,” she teased. “Anyway, I hope your trip is successful.”
“I’m sure it will be,” he told her. “I’m very good at what I do.”
Fenella smiled at his self-confidence. It was very nearly arrogance, but he made it seem attractive anyway.
“And now I must be off,” he added. He nodded to Peter and Shelly and then gave Fenella another hug. “Take good care of yourself while I’m gone,” he whispered in her ear.
Fenella sat back down and watched him walk away, not certain if she felt more relieved or disappointed that he was going.
“More wine?” Peter asked.
“Oh, not yet,” Fenella said, taking another sip of her drink. “But soon.”
Peter and Shelly both laughed and then the trio began to talk about various topics, all of them avoiding any mention of Alan Collins, Mark Potter and Kara Newstead. It was nearly midnight by the time they made their way back to their building.
Shelly gave her a big hug and then let herself into her apartment, leaving Fenella in the corridor with Peter. She was struggling to find her keycard and then finding it quite difficult to make the card unlock the door.
“I think that’s your credit card,” Peter told her gently.
Fenella squinted at the card in her hand and then sighed. Peter chuckled and took the bag out of her hand. He found the right card and unlocked her door for her.
“Thank you,” Fenella said, speaking carefully so that she didn’t slur her words.
“You’re very welcome,” he replied. He gave her a gentle hug and then took a step backwards. “Maybe some day you’d like to have dinner with me again?” he suggested.
“Sure,” Fenella said. “Just ask.”
“I’ll do that,” he promised.
Fenella shut her door behind her and leaned against it. She was only a little bit drunk, and she could already feel a headache coming on. Katie walked out of the bedroom and stared at her.
“I’m fine,” she said loudly.
Katie didn’t look as if she believed her owner.
In the kitchen, Fenella filled up Katie’s water bowl, only spilling a little bit of the water as she did so. When she dropped a few pieces of dry cat food on the floor, Katie was kind enough to eat them so that Fenella didn’t have to pick them up. With that chore done, Fenella headed to bed, taking a few headache tablets before she shut her eyes.
At first she thought the banging noise that woke her was just in her head. Fenella stretched and then sighed. Someone was at her door. She pulled on her bathrobe and slid her feet into slippers. No doubt, considering how horrible she probably looked, it was going to be Inspector Robinson. Yet again, she was going to kill any chance of the handsome man ever asking her out.
“Good morning, Inspector,” she said as she pulled the door open.
“I’m sorry that I woke you,” he told her. “And you really should call me Daniel.”
“I assumed you were here on official police business,” she replied. “You should probably come in.”
He hesitated in the doorway. “I can come back later, if you’d rather,” he said. “As I said, I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“I had a few drinks with friends last night,” Fenella explained. “And I don’t usually drink very much. I overslept. What time is it, anyway?”
“Half ten,” the man told her.
Fenella blushed. “I haven’t slept that late in years,” she exclaimed. “I’m terribly sorry.”
“I should have rung first,” the man told her. “But I wanted to give you some good news.”
“Oh, do come in and don’t pay any attention to how awful I look,” Fenella invited.
“You look fine,” he told her.
“So what news?” she asked, knowing she was blushing and trying to ignore it.
“Kara has confessed to everything,” he replied. “She’s going to need a psychiatric evaluation and she might end up in a mental hospital rather than a prison, but it doesn’t look like there will ever be a trial, so you don’t have to worry about testifying in any way.”
“That is good news,” Fenella said. “Thank you for letting me know.”
He smiled at her and then frowned. “Before I go, I just have to say something,” he told her. “I know this was the first time you’ve ever been caught up in a murder investigation, but you need to be more careful. Meeting a murder suspect on a deserted beach wasn’t a very sensible thing to do.”
“I thought it would be a nice public place,” Fenella said.
“If the weather had been better, it might have been,” he said. “As it was, Constable Corlett had to stay back some distance so that Kara didn’t spot him. If he’d been any further away, she might have caught up to you before he reached you.”
Fenella shuddered. “I’m just glad he was there.”
“And I’m glad he called for backup when he did,” the man said.
He got up and walked to the door. “If you’re not doing anything, I’ll be at the Tale and Tail tonight,” he said casually. “I’ll buy you a drink to celebrate the successful conclusion of the two murder investigations.”
“Surely I should buy you a drink for that?” Fenella laughed.
“We can take turns,” he offered.
“I don’t think I’ll want more than one,” Fenella said. “I overdid it last night.”
“Let’s see how it goes,” he suggested. “The first round is on me, anyway.”
Fenella nodded. “What time?”
“Seven?” he said. “I have a lot of paperwork to get through today, but I should be done by seven.”
“I’ll see you then,” Fenella agreed.
“By the way, Constable Corlett and his wife had a baby boy last night,” he told her. “Both mum and baby are doing well.”
“How wonderful,” Fenella said.
She shut the door behind the man and then went and took a shower and got dressed. Katie hadn’t complained about missing breakfast, for which Fenella was grateful. Now she gave the kitten her lunch before she fixed her own. The apartment felt too quiet as she ate. The pile of books on her desk seemed to be growing, so after lunch Fenella curled up with one of them and a notebook, ready to start her research. Half an hour later she was bored and restless.
A long walk on the promenade cleared her head, even if she did deliberately walk in the opposite direction from where she’d run the previous day. Back at home, she worked her way through more of the book she’d started earlier and then made herself some dinner. Eventually it was time to get ready to go to the pub. She dug around in her wardrobe, looking for something to wear.
“Jeans and a sweatshirt should do,” she told herself. “It isn’t a date, after all.”
“But you should dress as if it were,” Mona’s voice came from behind her.
Fenella spun around and looked at her aunt. “I thought you’d left,” she said, quite happy to see the woman again.
“I was going to go,” Mona replied. “But then I realized that first I need to straighten out your love life.”
Acknowledgments
There are always so many people to thank. My lovely and talented editor, Denise, tops the list.
Thank you also to my cover artist, Linda, who’s taken my vague ideas and turned them into an amazing cover.
A special thanks is due to my beta readers who found time to squeeze reading this book into their already busy schedules.
And as ever, thank you, readers, for being a part of all of this.
Coming February 17, 2017
Boats and Bad Guys
An Isle of Man Ghostly Cozy
Fenella Woods is excited to be taking the ferry across the Iris
h Sea to England so that she can begin her research. When she finds a dead body in her cabin, she has to change her plans.
The police seem convinced that the killer is one of the other passengers with a cabin reserved for the journey. Fenella meets a group of suspects that includes a wealthy couple, an older man and his much younger wife, and a retired and incredibly nosy woman.
Finding herself caught up in the middle of another murder investigation isn’t pleasant for Fenella. This time she is determined not to take any advice from her dead aunt who continues to occupy the luxury apartment that used to be her home. Fenella’s kitten, Katie, isn’t much help either, as she seems determined to cause as much mischief as she possibly can.
While Fenella wants to help Inspector Robinson find the killer before he or she strikes again, things certainly aren’t going the way she’d expected when she started her new life on the Isle of Man.
By the Same Author
The Isle of Man Ghostly Cozy Series
Arrivals and Arrests
Boats and Bad Guys (release date: February 17, 2017)
The Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Series
Aunt Bessie Assumes
Aunt Bessie Believes
Aunt Bessie Considers
Aunt Bessie Decides
Aunt Bessie Enjoys
Aunt Bessie Finds
Aunt Bessie Goes
Aunt Bessie’s Holiday
Aunt Bessie Invites
Aunt Bessie Joins
Aunt Bessie Knows
Aunt Bessie Likes (release date: January 13, 2017)
The Markham Sisters Cozy Mystery Novellas
The Appleton Case
The Bennett Case
The Chalmers Case
The Donaldson Case
The Ellsworth Case
The Fenton Case
The Green Case (release date: December 16, 2016)
The Isle of Man Romance Series
Island Escape
Island Inheritance
Island Heritage
Island Christmas
About the Author
Diana Xarissa grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania, earned a BA in history from Allegheny College and eventually ended up in Silver Spring, Maryland. There she met her husband, who swept her off her feet and moved her to Derbyshire for a short while. Eventually, the couple relocated to the Isle of Man.
The Isle of Man was home for Diana and her family for over ten years. During their time there, Diana completed an MA in Manx Studies through the University of Liverpool. The family is now living near Buffalo, New York, where Diana enjoys writing about the island that she loves.
Diana also writes mystery/thrillers set in the not-too-distant future under the pen name “Diana X. Dunn” and fantasy/adventure books for middle grade readers under the pen name “D.X. Dunn.”
She would be delighted to know what you think of her work and can be contacted through snail mail at:
Diana Xarissa Dunn
PO Box 72
Clarence, NY 14031.
Or find her on Facebook, Goodreads or on her website at www.dianaxarissa.com.
You can sign up for her monthly newsletter on the website and be among the first to know about new releases, as well as find out about contests and giveaways and see the answers to the questions she gets asked the most.