Just to be on the safe side, Doona got the few names of the women that Margaret could remember.
“As lovely as this has been,” Bessie said, “we really should be getting out of your way. You’ve entertained us all afternoon.”
“Yes, I suppose all good things must come to an end,” Margaret said with a bright smile. “Once you’ve gone I’m going to start my bath and open my wine,” she told them. “I really can’t thank you enough for everything.”
“It was nothing,” Bessie told her. “I was happy to do it, and if I’d known how much it was going to mean to you, I’d have done it years ago.”
“But then today wouldn’t have been as special,” Margaret told her. “I wouldn’t want to change one thing about today.”
She walked Bessie and Doona to the door, still talking about her bath and the lovely treats she’d enjoy in it. At the door, she stopped, staring out the small window next to it.
“Oh, no, Elinor is here,” she said, her voice shaky. “I don’t want to see her.”
Bessie glanced out the window and saw Elinor making her way up the short path from the road to the door. She was carrying a brightly wrapped box.
“Can we hide?” Margaret asked, looking around the small hallway.
“I don’t think so,” Doona said.
Margaret opened her mouth, and then clamped it shut. “Never mind,” she muttered.
When the knock on the door came, Margaret opened the door, a huge smile in place. “Elinor, what a lovely surprise,” she said brightly.
“Margaret, happy birthday, my dear,” Elinor said. She moved forward as if to enter the house and then stopped short, as Bessie and Doona left little room in the small foyer.
“Oh, I didn’t realise you had guests,” Elinor said, her tone chilly.
“Bessie and Doona found out it was my birthday and they brought me a cake,” Margaret said gleefully. “And a present as well.”
“Really?” Elinor asked coolly. “That was kind of them. I brought you a present as well, of course.” She handed Margaret the box she was holding.
“You did? What a surprise,” Margaret said, clearly somewhat flustered. “I mean, I never expected, that is, thank you,” she stammered out.
“What sort of friend would I be if I didn’t bring you a little something for your birthday?” Elinor asked. “Perhaps you could spare a small piece of birthday cake for your old friend? If there’s any left.”
“Oh, of course, there’s plenty,” Margaret said. “Do come in, that is, Bessie and her friend were just leaving.”
“I don’t want to chase them away,” Elinor said.
“Oh, no, we have to be going,” Bessie assured her. “Thank you again,” she told Margaret. “It was lovely to see you, and happy birthday again, as well.”
Margaret flushed. “Thank you so much for everything,” she said, giving Bessie a big hug. “I wish, well, I wish we could have had a chance to be better friends all these years.”
Bessie wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Mindful that Elinor was listening closely, she replied carefully. “I enjoyed today. We should do it again soon.”
“Yes, lets,” Margaret said, smiling at Bessie. Margaret gave Doona a quick hug and then Bessie and Doona made their way back down the path to Doona’s car. Neither spoke until they were well underway.
“That was weird,” Doona said, breaking the silence.
“Which part?” Bessie asked, wryly.
“Every part,” Doona said with a laugh. “But I really meant Eliinor showing up and with a present as well. I thought you said she didn’t know it was Margaret’s birthday?”
“Margaret told me that she didn’t think Elinor knew. Apparently she did, though. It’s strange that she brought her a present after Margaret said they never did such things”
“Maybe there are different rules when there are only two ladies left?” Doona suggested.
“Anything’s possible with Elinor,” Bessie said with a laugh. “Even though I don’t think Elinor is the killer, I am a bit worried about what’s in that box.”
“Maybe I should call John,” Doona said. “What if it’s a bomb?”
“I doubt very much that Elinor could make a bomb, even if she wanted to,” Bessie said. “But I do think you should call John, and I’m going to call Margaret and ask her what Elinor gave her, as well.”
Back at Bessie’s cottage, Doona called John. “He’s going to send someone over to check on Margaret,” she told Bessie once she’d hung up. “He’s sending one of the best female constables. Hopefully she’ll be able to find out what was in the box.”
Bessie waited an hour and then called Margaret. “Just checking in on you, love,” she said when Margaret answered.
“You and everyone else,” Margaret laughed. “I’d only just chased Elinor away when a police constable turned up. She said she was checking in on me, but I still think the police think I had something to do with Nancy’s death. Anyway, she’s gone now and I was just getting ready to run my bath, finally.”
“It was kind of Elinor to bring you a birthday present,” Bessie said.
“Kind of strange, you mean,” Margaret said with a laugh. “But as it was just a few old books that I’m sure she wanted to get rid of, I’m happy.”
“Old books?”
“Oh, yes, Elinor is a great reader and she always used to share her books with the group once she’d read them. We had a book exchange for years, but Elinor used to get cross because she’d bring in dozens of books and the rest of us would bring one or two. Eventually she just started bringing in the books she’d finished, letting us all take what we wanted. We used to trade them as we finished them, as well.”
“I see,” Bessie said slowly.
“Anyway, at least now I have something to read while I take my bath,” Margaret continued cheerfully. “I get awfully bored in the tub if I don’t have a book or a magazine and it would be a shame to take a short bath with all the lovely bath salts in there.”
“I hope you enjoy your evening, then,” Bessie told her.
“I’m sure I will.”
Bessie and Doona spent their evening going back over everything that was said at the birthday tea. When Bessie went to bed, she didn’t feel as if they were any closer to finding out what was happening to the Raspberry Jam Ladies. She had another restless night, filled with old memories and unpleasant dreams.
Chapter Fourteen
When Bessie woke up the next morning, she expected the weather to match her mood, grey and stormy, but when she pulled the curtains back, the sun was rising and the skies were clear. Hoping a walk in the sunshine would improve her mood, she took a quick shower and headed out, careful not to wake Doona. As ever, the sea air calmed her and she returned home feeling more at ease.
Doona was up and had started a pot of coffee. “I hope you don’t mind,” she told Bessie. “But I felt like coffee to start the day.”
“I think I’ll join you,” Bessie replied. “I had a cup of tea before I went out, but I think I need a jolt of caffeine.”
Bessie made toast while Doona dug a box of cereal out of the cupboard. They ate in a friendly silence, both lost in their own thoughts.
“So, what do you want to do today?” Doona asked as she started to run the washing-up water.
“I thought you had to go into work for a while,” Bessie said.
“Not today, but maybe tomorrow,” Doona replied. “They’ve added an extra constable from Douglas to the usual Saturday staff, so they should manage. Tomorrow is a different matter, though.”
“I fancy a complete change,” Bessie said after a moment’s thought. “Let’s head down to Castletown and have a walk around the castle or something. I haven’t been down there for ages.”
“Sounds good to me,” Doona agreed. “Just let me get a shower and we’ll get going.”
Bessie curled up with a book, something else she’d hadn’t been doing as much as usual, and lost herself in early American history. She didn’t feel up
to reading her usual murder mysteries today. She was just marveling over the incredible life of Aaron Burr, as he committed both murder and mayhem, when someone knocked on her door.
As soon as Bessie opened the door, she knew what John Rockwell was going to say. The look on his face spoke volumes.
“I’m going to guess it’s Margaret,” she said sadly.
“It is,” John told her, his voice gentle. “I’m very sorry.”
Bessie nodded and then invited the inspector in. She sank down at the kitchen table and breathed out slowly as her tears began to fall. Doona, wrapped in a bathrobe with her hair in a towel, came rushing down when John called up to her.
“Margaret? But she was fine yesterday,” she said, staring at him as if the words made no sense.
Bessie wiped her eyes and hugged her friend. “What happened?” she asked John after a moment.
“She fell down her stairs and broke her neck,” John replied.
Doona gasped.
“Was it an accident?” Bessie asked.
John shrugged. “It certainly looks like it was an accident,” he told her. “She’d had a couple of glasses of wine, and from what I’ve been told, that was unusual for her. There’s no sign of anything that might have tripped her at the top of the stairs and no reason to believe that there was anyone else in the house with her, either.”
“What does Elinor say?”
“She found the body,” John replied. “She’s obviously shaken up, but we’ve no reason to suppose she had anything to do with it, at least not at this point.”
“So, another accident,” Bessie said with a sigh. “Elinor is the only one left. I need to talk to her.”
“I’d rather you stayed well away from her,” John said. “She’s the key to the whole puzzle, one way or another.”
“She’s not a murderer,” Bessie said. “But she could be the next victim.”
“She’s in police custody at the station,” John replied. “Although she’s complaining bitterly about it.”
Bessie nodded. “How long can you keep her there?” she asked.
“I don’t know. We’ve suggested to her that she’s safer in protective custody, but she doesn’t agree. She wants to go home. I think we’ll have to let her go this afternoon unless we come up with something to charge her with.”
“If she isn’t the killer, she must know who’s behind all of this,” Doona said.
“Well, she isn’t telling us anything,” John said tiredly.
“I want to talk to her,” Bessie said. “Maybe I can persuade her to tell me something, at least.”
“I’ll tell her you’d like to see her,” John said. “Maybe she’ll call you when we let her go. I want you to take Doona with you when you see her, though, and I want you to call me just before you go in and as soon as you come out.”
“Sure,” Bessie agreed. Her mind was racing. Talking to Elinor was the only thing she could think to do.
“In the meantime, we’ve checked out the names you gave us from your talk with Margaret yesterday and they all come back clear, or as clear as we can tell from an initial check. But I have to tell you, the more we investigate, the more likely it seems that Elinor is behind what’s happening.”
“I know you think I’m being stubborn, and I know anyone can commit murder if driven to it, but this isn’t like that at all. This is something different, I just don’t understand what,” Bessie said, feeling tears coming on again.
“I don’t know what, either, but I intend to find out,” John said, angrily.
When he’d gone, Doona looked at Bessie. “Do you still want to go down south?” she asked.
Bessie shook her head. “I just want to sit here and wait for Elinor to call,” she told her. “I think she will. I’m sure she needs to talk to someone. No matter what she felt about Margaret, her death must be a shock.”
“Unless she killed her,” Doona muttered.
Bessie didn’t have long to wait. Elinor called only a short time later.
“Bessie? I understand you’d like to see me,” she said when Bessie answered.
“I’m so sorry about Margaret,” Bessie began. “I’d like to have a chance to express my sympathies in person.”
“That suits me, as I’d like to see you as well. I’m still at the police station, but I expect to be home this afternoon. How about two o’clock?”
“I can do that,” Bessie said.
“And before you ask, of course you may bring your friend Mrs. Moore. I assume her job is to protect you,” Elinor laughed. “I’m either a serial killer or a serial killer’s next victim, surely? I must be the most dangerous person in all of Laxey.”
“I’d like to bring Doona,” Bessie told her. “But not for protection. She’s a good friend and it helps to have friends around in difficult times.”
“As it seems all of my friends are dead, I’ll just have to take your word for that,” Elinor said, laughing again.
Bessie hung up the phone and frowned at Doona. “I think she’s losing her mind,” she said slowly.
“I guess that isn’t surprising under the circumstances,” Doona replied.
The rest of the morning dragged for Bessie. She tried reading a dozen different books, but nothing could hold her interest. Doona insisted that they go out for lunch, more to kill time than to avoid cooking. They went to the closest chippy and ate their food sitting on a bench, watching the sea.
“I’m not very hungry,” Bessie said, picking at her chips.
“Margaret’s death is very sad,” Doona said.
“I feel as if I should have had her come and stay with me or something,” Bessie said. “Maybe I could have saved her life.”
“You can’t start thinking like that,” Doona told her. “You’ll make yourself crazy. She didn’t seem worried when we saw her yesterday. And at least we gave her a happy birthday.”
Bessie didn’t argue. She had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach and she really didn’t want to go and talk to Elinor. The more she thought about everything that had happened, the more likely it seemed that Elinor had murdered all of her friends. If she was planning to confess to Bessie, Bessie didn’t want to hear it.
The modern building where Elinor lived looked nothing like the little forties bungalow she had shared with her son for so many years. Bessie studied the blocky building that was full of flats as Doona parked.
“It’s pretty ugly,” she commented.
“But they’ll all have sea views,” Doona pointed out. “If you can watch the sea all day, who cares what the outside of the building looks like?”
Elinor was on the second floor, and the lift took them up quickly and quietly. Bessie checked the numbers as they walked down the carpeted hall.
“It feels like a hotel,” she said.
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Doona asked.
“I’m not sure,” Bessie answered.
Outside Elinor’s flat, Bessie took a deep breath before she knocked. The door opened quickly and Elinor gave them a strange smile.
“Ah, there you are,” she said. “Do come in.”
The inside of the flat felt clean and cold. Bessie and Doona followed Elinor slowly down the short corridor that had a couple of doors leading off of it, and into a large reception room with windows that looked out over the beach.
“What a wonderful view,” Bessie said.
“It is nice,” Elinor agreed. “Although I usually forget to look at it. Anyway, please sit down.”
Bessie sat on a long couch that was angled towards the windows. Doona joined her and Elinor perched on a chair next to Bessie’s end of the couch.
“I’d offer you tea, but I suspect you wouldn’t want to drink it, would you?” Elinor asked.
“We just had lunch,” Bessie told her. “I couldn’t possibly manage even a cup of tea right now.”
Elinor laughed. “Very politely done,” she told Bessie. “But really, I’m sure by now you all think I killed my friends.” She
sighed deeply. “I planned this conversation in my head a million times. It was always going to happen, you know, but it wasn’t supposed to happen just like this.”
“If you’re going to confess to anything, I have to remind you that I work for the Isle of Man Constabulary,” Doona interrupted. “I shall have to report everything you say to the police.”
“My dear girl, I’m counting on that,” Elinor told her. “And now I’m going to do something I rarely do. I’m going to ask you to indulge me for a moment. I want to start this story at the beginning, if I may.”
“Elinor, I don’t really want to hear this,” Bessie said. “We can get the police and get you someone to talk who can help.”
Elinor laughed lightly. “My dear Bessie, you really do want to hear this, I can assure you. I didn’t kill all of my friends, and you need to understand the whole story so you can tell the police. I would hate for anyone to misunderstand what happened.”
“Go ahead, then, tell your story; however you like,” Bessie said grudgingly. She looked out at the sea, wishing she were walking on the beach, far away from what she was about to hear.
“Did you know that Margaret and I went to school together?” Elinor asked.
“No,” Bessie said. “You didn’t grow up in Laxey.”
“No, we didn’t. We grew up in Ramsey and were friendly, if not exactly friends, when we were children. I went away and did teacher training, of course, and then came back and started teaching in Laxey. I ran into Margaret one day in a shop and she invited me to lunch so that I could meet her boyfriend. She was so happy. She was sure he was about to propose.” Elinor stopped and shook her head.
“I hated her, you know,” she said conversationally. “My dear Mrs. Moore, would you be so good as to get me a glass of water?”
Doona jumped up and headed into the small kitchen that was open to the rest of the room in one corner. The cupboards had glass fronts, so she was able to find a glass quickly and fill it from the tap. She handed it to Elinor, who thanked her.
“I expect I’ll need to keep drinking so that I can keep talking,” Elinor said after she’d taken a sip. “I’ve ever so much to tell you.”
Aunt Bessie Enjoys (An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Book 5) Page 21