“All I know is that I was called away from dinner to be told that you’d found another dead body.”
“All I found was an open apartment door. We didn’t go inside. We didn’t find the body.”
Daniel sighed. “You’re splitting hairs. Mark is concerned and I see his point. You do seem to stumble across more than your fair share of dead bodies.”
“It isn’t my fault,” Fenella snapped, feeling like she’d rather hang up than talk to Daniel right then.
“I’m not suggesting it is, but surely you can see how it must look to Mark.”
“No, I can’t. I know a lot of sad, awful, horrid things have happened to me since I’ve been on the island, but none of them have been my fault in any way. You know that as well as I do.”
“Let’s not argue,” Daniel sighed. “I was just ringing to make sure that you’re okay. I’m sure finding another body was stressful for you.”
“Yes, it was,” Fenella replied coolly.
“So are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Great. I have to go. I have an early class tomorrow.”
He disconnected before Fenella could reply. She stared at the phone in her hand for a minute before dropping it back on her bedside table. Tears threatened to start, but she ignored them and curled up in bed, trying to think about anything other than Daniel. Katie climbed over top of her and settled up against Fenella’s chest. Not wanting to disturb her pet, Fenella laid very still, listening to Katie’s breathing. What felt like a moment later, Katie began tapping her on the nose.
“It can’t be morning already,” Fenella said as she opened one eye.
“Merrow,” Katie replied.
A glance at the clock showed Fenella that not only was it morning, but that Katie had let her sleep until eight o’clock for a change.
“Thank you, darling kitty,” Fenella said as she climbed out of bed. She gave Katie a treat and then her breakfast before she took a long and hot shower. She washed a few painkillers down with her coffee to get rid of the headache that was probably the result of too much wine the previous evening. By the time she’d finished off a bowl of cereal with milk, she was feeling pretty good. It helped that she was completely blocking any thoughts of Daniel and the murder out of her head, of course.
“Good morning,” Mona said in a low voice as Fenella was loading the dishwasher with her breakfast dishes. “How are you this morning?”
“Me? I’m fine, thanks. How are you?” Fenella replied.
Mona frowned at her. “I’m fine, as always,” she said. “But what’s happened? You’re upset.”
“I found a dead man yesterday,” Fenella reminded her aunt.
“Yes, but that isn’t what’s upsetting you. You were okay when I left last night.”
“Yeah, and then I went and talked to Shelly, and when I got home, Daniel called.”
“Did he have his own list of questions for you about the murder?”
“No, he just called to remind me that I’m on the top of Mark Hammersmith’s list of suspects,” Fenella replied.
“You are? That doesn’t make any sense at all. What exactly did Daniel say?”
“He just pointed out that Inspector Hammersmith is worried because I keep finding dead bodies,” Fenella sighed. “He made it sound as if I’m doing it on purpose.”
“Which would be silly with Daniel away. If you’re going to find dead bodies, at least do it while Daniel is here to do the investigating. I mean, Inspector Hammersmith is reasonably attractive, if you don’t mind that he looks like a used car salesman, but he’s far too young for you.”
“I don’t want to find any more dead bodies ever again. Not even if that means never seeing Daniel again,” she said firmly.
“Now you don’t mean that. You’re just upset with Daniel right now. I’m sure you’ll be able to work everything out eventually.”
“Maybe.”
“Let’s talk about something else, then,” Mona said. “Do you like my new dress?”
Fenella looked over at the woman. “I suppose so. It doesn’t look that different from what you normally wear.”
Mona sighed. “I know. The style choices for ghosts are unbelievably limited. I was wondering if I could look up Timothy and see if he could make me something splendid like he used to, but I’ve no idea where to start looking for the man.”
A dozen questions sprang to Fenella’s lips, but there was little point in asking any of them. Mona probably wouldn’t answer and even if she did, she’d be just as likely to make up her reply as tell the truth. The phone rang before she could work out a proper reply.
“My darling Fenella, how are you?” Donald’s voice came down the line.
“Fine,” she replied, unsure of what he’d heard about Lance.
“I’m still in London, but I’ll be back tonight. I woke up this morning and realized that I never rang yesterday to ask how your driving test went, though.”
Perhaps he hadn’t heard anything about Lance, she thought before she replied. “I passed.”
“Ah, excellent. Well done. Are you free for dinner tonight? I’d love to take you somewhere special to celebrate.”
“I could do that, assuming I’ve not been arrested.”
“Arrested? What do you mean?”
Fenella sighed. “Nothing, really. Shelly and Peter and I found a dead body yesterday, that’s all. I’m afraid Inspector Hammersmith might think I had something to do with the murder.”
“I’m sorry. Could you repeat all of that?”
“Do I really have to?”
“No, I suppose not, but, well, it just wasn’t the reply I was expecting. And sadly, I don’t have the time to hear the whole story right now anyway. I’m already late for a meeting. I’ll collect you at six tonight and you can tell me all about it over dinner, okay?”
“I don’t think I’ll want to talk about it, but dinner sounds good.”
“We’ll talk about whatever you want to talk about,” Donald assured her. “I can always get my local news from other sources.”
Fenella put the phone down and sighed deeply.
“An evening with Donald is exactly what you need,” Mona said. “Make sure he takes you somewhere fabulous to celebrate your success. Drink too much wine and flirt outrageously and you’ll forget all about Daniel and the dead man.”
“I wish it were that easy.”
“It is that easy. You just have to keep telling yourself that.”
Fenella didn’t bother to argue with her aunt. Mona probably could push unpleasant things out of her mind, but Fenella didn’t find it that easy to forget about her uncomfortable conversation with Daniel or about the dead man.
“You should go and get the local paper,” Mona suggested a short time later. “Maybe you’ll learn something about the body you found.”
“I didn’t find it,” Fenella snapped. But Mona was right. She needed to see what she could learn from the local paper. She’d already tried checking the local news sites on the Internet, but they were oddly quiet about the discovery.
“They probably don’t know anything about anything,” she muttered under her breath as she found her shoes and her handbag. “Anyway, the paper probably went to press before we even found the open apartment door.”
Mona didn’t bother to reply. She was sitting on the couch, staring out at the sea, with Katie by her side. Fenella was grateful that the pair seemed to be getting along better, anyway. “I’ll be right back,” she said as she let herself out of the apartment.
“Do you always tell Katie that?” Shelly asked as Fenella literally bumped into her in the corridor.
Fenella blushed. She hadn’t been talking to Katie as much as to Mona, but she couldn’t tell Shelly that. “Only when it’s true,” she said after a moment.
Shelly laughed. “I tell Smokey when to expect me home,” she said in a confiding tone. “I know she can’t tell time, but I don’t feel as if I can simply walk out and not give her any ex
planation.”
“How are you this morning?” Fenella asked.
“I’m okay. Still a little shaken up about, well, everything, but otherwise, I’m okay. How are you?”
“Much the same,” Fenella replied. The pair headed for the elevator together. “Daniel called me last night, just to make sure I was okay, actually.”
“That was kind of him.”
‘Yes, I suppose so.”
“What does that mean?”
“He pointed out that I’ve found a lot of dead bodies since I’ve been on the island,” Fenella sighed. “As if it was my fault or something.”
“I’m sure he didn’t mean it that way,” Shelly exclaimed. The doors slid open and the women walked into the elevator car. “Inspector Hammersmith had probably just said something similar to him, so the thought was on his mind or something.”
“Maybe, or maybe he thinks I’m bad luck to everyone who meets me.”
“You haven’t been bad luck for me,” Shelly told her. “I’m delighted that I’ve met you and I think of you as one of my dearest friends.”
“Thank you,” Fenella replied. She gave Shelly a hug as the elevator doors opened into the lobby. “Where are you off to?” she asked.
“I’m meeting Gordon for a walk and then some lunch. Do you want to come?”
“No, thanks,” Fenella replied, not wanting to intrude on Shelly’s plans.
“It’s just friendly,” Shelly said. “You’d be more than welcome.”
“Thanks, but I’m going to get a local paper and a few other things and then make myself a light lunch. Donald and I are going out for dinner later.”
“That should cheer you up. He’d better take you somewhere splendid.”
“I’m sure he will.”
Fenella watched as Shelly crossed the promenade and greeted Gordon with a quick hug. As the pair walked away, Fenella turned and headed for the closest grocery store. What she really needed was some chocolate truffles and maybe some sort of indulgent cookies or something, she thought as she walked. The grocery store provided her with both of those, and a few other treats that weren’t healthy for her body but would soothe her soul. She added a local paper to her basket and then went and paid for everything. It only took her a few minutes to walk home.
“What does the local paper say?” Mona demanded almost as soon as Fenella walked into her apartment.
“The headline just says ‘Man’s Body Found in Luxury Apartment Complex.’ I’m hoping the article will tell us more,” Fenella replied.
She put the shopping away and then sat down with the paper. Mona stood behind her until Fenella told her to move. “I can’t concentrate with you standing there. Go and sit down. I’ll read the article to you.”
Mona frowned. “I’m quite capable of reading the article myself.”
“Good, just don’t read it over my shoulder.”
Sighing, Mona walked over and sat down on a chair. “Okay, fine, read it to me,” she told Fenella.
“Last evening a man’s body was discovered in a third-floor flat at Promenade Views Apartments,” she began. “As we went to press, the body had yet to be identified.”
“That much we knew.”
Fenella quickly skimmed through the rest of the article. “That’s all it says. The rest is all about the history of the building and some of its more famous occupants over the years.”
Mona yawned. “I’m sure Max gets several paragraphs and I get a single mention loaded with innuendo.”
Fenella chuckled. “You’re right, actually. There are several paragraphs about Max, who was apparently wealthy, gorgeous, and incredibly generous to everyone. Then it says that the person who lived in the building the longest, from the time it was a hotel until long after it was turned into flats, was Mona Kelly, Max’s close friend and confidante.”
Mona laughed. “I suppose that’s one way of putting things,” she said. “I’m surprised they’re still being so careful about what they say about me, actually. Max was very protective of my reputation when he was alive. I always thought the papers would be less kind once he’d passed away.”
“Well, I’m glad they’re still being kind,” Fenella said. It was odd enough for her to have to hear about Mona’s wild past from nearly everyone she met, Fenella really didn’t want to read about it in the local paper as well.
“And that’s all there is?” Mona asked. “No hint about the dead man’s identity or anything?”
“None. It must have been Lance, though, surely. Who else could it have been?”
“I’m inclined to agree with you, but really, it could have been anyone,” Mona replied. “Lance told you that he left the island for university, but maybe there was more to it than that. Maybe he left the island to get away from someone and that someone found out he was back. When our mystery someone turned up at Lance’s flat, Lance killed him or her.”
“Maybe you have an overactive imagination,” Fenella suggested. “I think it’s far more likely that one of Lance’s friends killed him.”
“We need to find out when he was murdered. Then we need to find out if any of his friends had an alibi. Then we…” Mona stopped when Fenella held up a hand.
“We don’t need to do any of those things. We need to stay out of Mark Hammersmith’s way. This is his case and I’m happy to leave it to him.”
“Until he arrests you,” Mona said.
“He isn’t going to arrest me,” Fenella shouted. “I didn’t even know the man. Why would I want to kill him?”
“He upset Shelly. Maybe you went to talk to him and asked him to leave Shelly alone, and he refused. Maybe you began to argue and then he grabbed at you and you gave him a shove. Maybe he tripped over something and hit his head on a table. Maybe…”
Again Fenella held up her hand. “Maybe you should stop reading so many murder mysteries. I didn’t go and visit him. I didn’t kill him. I didn’t even know anything about him aside from what he claimed.”
“But what if he was lying? Maybe he didn’t want to talk to you about Shelly. Maybe he knew some secret from your past and he was going to try blackmailing you about it.”
Fenella shook her head. “You could do this all day, dreaming up increasingly bizarre reasons why I might have killed Lance Thomas. It isn’t doing any good, unless your object is simply to prove that you can dream up all sorts of nonsense when you want to.”
“I’m simply trying to help you see things from Inspector Hammersmith’s point of view. His list of potential suspects can’t be very long. Lance had only been on the island for a few days. That means Inspector Hammersmith will be looking at you and trying to determine if you had any possible motive. While you can argue that you didn’t, nothing that I’ve said is outside the realm of possibility.”
“Except none of it is true. I’m not going to waste my time on imaginary motives for myself or anyone else. Lance was probably killed by one of his friends because of a business deal gone wrong or something. That’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“So tell me about his friends,” Mona suggested.
“I would if I could, but I really don’t know anything about them. I’ve already told you how unpleasant I found them all. Beyond that, I don’t know anything besides their names. Did you know Neil Hicks?”
Mona frowned. “What an interesting question. I hadn’t thought about that. Yes, I suppose I did know him, although not well. He and Max did business together once and that was enough for Max. Neil was still part of our social circle when he was on the island, but that was more out of obligation than because anyone enjoyed his company. He rarely came to anything, anyway. He was usually in London.”
“Why didn’t you like him?”
“He’s the type who thinks money can buy anything and everything. He would offer me huge sums of money for my car or a pair of earrings I was wearing, just to show off that he had money to spare. I often thought that I should take him up on an offer once in a while, just to see if he really had the m
oney or if he was just bragging.”
“He offered me a hundred thousand pounds for your car.”
Mona laughed. “It isn’t worth it, really, although it is one of a kind. Actually, I’ve no idea what it’s worth. That’s something else you can ask Doncan tomorrow.”
Fenella flushed. She hadn’t spoken to Mona about her appointment with the lawyer. It seemed rude to tell Mona that she wanted to understand exactly what she’d inherited, not when Mona wasn’t actually gone, as such. “I have a lot to discuss with him,” she said.
“Give him my best,” Mona suggested.
Fenella laughed. “He’d have me locked up.”
Mona shrugged. “He might believe you. There are a number of ghosts on the island. He may even know one or two himself.”
The idea made Fenella wonder. Maybe she wasn’t the only person having daily conversations with ghosts. Perhaps if she started telling people about Mona, she would hear many similar stories from her friends. There was always the risk, though, that they would all think she was crazy. It was probably best to keep Mona to herself.
Fenella made herself a light lunch and then spent some time tidying up the apartment. As soon as the vacuum cleaner appeared, Mona faded away. What Fenella really wanted to do was either find out more about the murder or take Mona’s car for a drive, but she didn’t have any idea how to do the first and she wasn’t feeling brave enough to do the second. The phone was a welcome interruption.
“Darling, what’s wrong now?” the voice said when she answered.
“Jack? What makes you think something is wrong?”
“You failed your driving test, didn’t you? You mustn’t be upset. You must just see it as the sign you need. The sign that you aren’t meant to be there. You’re meant to be here, with me.”
“I passed my driving test,” Fenella replied.
“You did?” Jack sounded disappointed. “But I was sure you were upset about something. After all of our time together, I can still feel your sadness, even from a distance.”
“I’m not sad. I’m fine,” Fenella told him, not entirely truthfully.
Friends and Frauds (An Isle of Man Ghostly Cozy Book 6) Page 14