Daniel sighed. “I shouldn’t be telling you any of this, but I feel that your help was instrumental in working out what was going on. I think you have a right to know the whole story.”
“If you’re really uncomfortable with telling me, then don’t,” Fenella said quickly, earning herself a furious look from Mona.
“As long as you promise not to repeat it, I’d like to tell you the story,” he countered. “Especially since you worked out most of it yourself.”
“Paulette killed all those poor women?”
“Not exactly. She’s been talking to Mark and he’s passed along what she’s told him. I don’t know that we’ll be able to find any evidence of any of this, but for what it’s worth, I think she’s telling the truth, at least as she sees it.”
“So what happened?”
“She and her mother did find her father’s memoirs, or something like that, on his computer. She stopped her mother from reading more than a little bit, but she read everything. Mark has a copy, and from what he’s said, if it were all true, the man wouldn’t have had time to hold down a job. He claims to have slept with just about every woman he ever met.”
“Most of us were not at all interested,” Mona said.
“Paulette claims she was upset with what she read and worried about her mother’s reaction. That’s why she started playing around with her mother’s medications. She wanted to help her mother forget about what she’d seen.”
“Poor Phillipa,” Fenella exclaimed.
“Yes, she’s at Noble’s being monitored for a few days after the cocktail of drugs that her daughter had been giving her. But I’ll get back to her at the end. According to Paulette, when she met you for tea and told you all about the memoirs, hurting anyone was the furthest thing from her mind. It wasn’t until after she’d heard about Anne Marie Smathers’s accident that she did anything.”
“So Anne Marie’s death really was an accident?” Fenella asked.
“As far as we can tell, yes. Paulette said that when she heard about Anne Marie’s death, it made her happy because she knew that Anne Marie had slept with her father. Once she realized how happy she was with what fate had done, she decided to give fate a helping hand.”
“So she started killing the other women in her father’s notes,” Fenella sighed.
“She claims she didn’t kill anyone,” Daniel told her. “She says she just did little things that might cause little accidents. She seems to think that she shouldn’t be in any trouble for anything she did.”
“So what did she do?” Fenella asked, feeing confused.
“She admits that when she visited Margaret she tripped on the carpet at the top of the stairs and may have torn it a little bit. She meant to warn Margaret, but she concedes that she might have forgotten to do so.”
“Of course she’s lying,” Mona snapped.
“She also admits that when she went to visit Hannah she dropped a bottle of bath oil in the tub and that it spilled everywhere, which may have made the tub slippery. Apparently she suggested to Hannah that she might want to have a bath because she thought the bathwater would wash away the oil.”
Fenella sighed. “Those poor women. What about Melanie?”
“Ah, that’s where things fall apart a little bit for Paulette. Melanie’s brake lines were clearly cut.”
“What does she say?”
“That she was walking down the road and saw a huge tree branch under Melanie’s car. She reckons that a sharp bit on the branch must have sliced the brake line as she was trying to be helpful by removing it.”
“That would be funny if it wasn’t so awful,” Fenella said.
“Yes, I know,” Daniel replied.
“What happens next?”
“Mark is working with the doctors at Noble’s. Paulette is going to get locked away for treatment for a very long time. She’s clearly mentally unstable.”
“What will Phillipa do without her?”
“Thrive,” Mona said firmly.
“I get the feeling from what Mark has said that Phillipa is somewhat relieved. I think she always had some idea that Paulette was unbalanced, dating back to Paula’s death.”
“Did Paulette say anything about Paula?” Fenella asked.
“Again, Paulette insists that what happened to her sister was just an accident. Apparently she’d been looking after her and she accidently left a plastic bag near her sister’s head when she tucked her into bed for the night.”
Fenella and Mona both gasped.
“When she went to check on her the next morning, she found the bag on Paula’s face and took it away because she knew she’d be in trouble if her mother found it. She knew she was meant to keep plastic bags away from Paula. Allegedly, she was so worried about the bag that she forgot to check on Paula while she was removing and getting rid of the bag. An hour later, her mother found Paula dead.”
“Poor Phillipa,” Fenella said sadly.
“Mark thinks that Phillipa suspected what had happened, which was why she encouraged Paul to spend so much time with his father and why she did everything she could to keep Paulette at home with her. He also reckons that she had some suspicions about all of the accidents that were suddenly happening, but all of the drugs she was being given made it impossible for her to think clearly.”
“You said she’s in Noble’s?”
“Yes, for another week at least. Then she’s going to go and stay with Paul for a while, I understand.”
“It’s all so awful and sad,” Fenella sighed.
“But at least Paulette has been caught and stopped,” Daniel pointed out. “Mark is pretty sure that Patricia would have been next on the list.”
“But why did she try to kill Melanie?” Fenella asked.
“According to the notes on Paul Clucas’s computer, Melanie was his daughter,” Daniel said.
“I didn’t see that coming,” Mona said. “She certainly doesn’t look anything like him. She’s the spitting image of her mother.”
“Does Phillipa know?” was Fenella’s question.
“I don’t know. Mark talked to Patricia and she’s denied it. I don’t think she’ll tell Melanie, and it’s critical that you never repeat it.”
“I won’t,” Fenella assured him.
“It could be true,” Mona said thoughtfully. “The timing would have been about right.”
“I need to get to my class,” Daniel said with a sigh. “I’m going to try to ring you a bit more often over the next month. I miss talking to you.”
“I miss you, too,” Fenella admitted.
“I really hope you’ll be able to avoid getting mixed up in any more murder investigations, at least until I get back,” he added.
Fenella bit her tongue. She would happily go for the rest of her life without getting mixed up in any more murder investigations. Somehow, though, based on recent experience, she didn’t think that was likely.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to my wonderful editor, Denise.
Thanks to Linda at Tell-Tale Book Covers, who does the amazing covers for this series.
Thanks to my beta readers who help fine-tune my stories.
And thanks to my readers who keep me writing!
Friends and Frauds
Release date: February 16, 2018
Since she’s been on the Isle of Man, Fenella Woods has had the chance to make many new friends. Her closest island friend is her next-door neighbor, Shelly. When a man appears on Shelly’s doorstep claiming to have been a childhood friend of Shelly’s recently deceased husband, Fenella is quick to try to help Shelly deal with the surprise.
As Shelly tries to work out whether she wants to talk to the man or not, Fenella meets, and dislikes, several of the man’s friends who are visiting the island. But when Shelly finally agrees to have meet the man, they find out that he had at least one enemy as well.
Police Inspector Mark Hammersmith isn’t happy when Fenella finds yet another dead body, even though she barely knew th
e dead man. Inspector Daniel Robinson, Fenella’s friend, is still off the island, though. Fenella has to deal with Mark, whether she likes it or not.
As they learn more about the man and his friends, Shelly and Fenella find themselves caught up in yet another murder investigation. Can they help Mark find the killer before he or she strikes again?
By the Same Author
The Isle of Man Ghostly Cozy Series
Arrivals and Arrests
Boats and Bad Guys
Cars and Cold Cases
Dogs and Danger
Encounters and Enemies
Friends and Frauds
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
Aunt Bessie Meets
Aunt Bessie Needs
Aunt Bessie Observes
Aunt Bessie Provides
Aunt Bessie Questions
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
The Hampton Case
The Irwin Case
The Jackson Case
The Kingston Case
The Lawley Case
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 Diana at:
www.dianaxarissa.com
[email protected]
Encounters and Enemies Page 24