Aunt Bessie Remembers

by Diana Xarissa

  “I was told that she has done some modeling,” Bessie replied.

  “I came over because I was hoping to get closer to Elizabeth, really, but she seems to be involved with the guy that made the food. I didn’t know Vivian was going to be here.”

  “You’ve met her before?”

  “Once or twice. I’ve only ever admired her from afar in crowds, though. This is the first time we’ve been together in such a small group. Of course, Richard is probably thinking the same thing that I am. Did he mention her when you talked to him?”

  “No, not at all.”

  “So maybe she isn’t his type. I hope not.”

  Bessie wasn’t particularly interested in the romantic entanglements of Elizabeth’s friends. She ate the rest of her dinner while Sean talked about several of his former girlfriends. Every once in a while Leonard would say something random to her, but his comments never required anything more than a single-word reply. It was something of a relief when Susan clapped her hands together again.

  “Right, now we’re ready for the sweet course. If you’ll just wait until the plates have been cleared, the gentlemen can move again,” she announced.

  Bessie grinned as she realised that she’d have Andy to sit next to during pudding. He’d told her that he’d based it on her shortbread recipe, but she had no idea what that meant.

  A few minutes later, she found out as she was served her beautiful pudding.

  “It’s a shortbread bowl,” Andy told her. “Filled with freshly made vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.”

  Bessie used her spoon to crack her bowl into pieces. “It’s delicious,” she said after her first bite. The shortbread crumbled into the ice cream, allowing the caramel sauce to hold everything together. Bessie only just stopped herself from licking the plate when she was finished.

  “Everything was truly delicious,” she told Andy.

  “Thank you. It was fun putting it all together, and even better that I did all of the work and then left it to the kitchen staff to serve everything. The staff have been great, and the kitchens at Tea and Try are fantastic.”

  “Thie yn Traie,” Bessie said, gently correcting his pronunciation.

  Andy laughed. “You’d think I would know that, having grown up on the island.”

  “Manx is a difficult language,” Bessie told him. “I’ve taken the introductory class in the language four times now and I still can’t say much.”

  “Maybe I’ll take a class once I’m finished with school,” Andy said. “I’d really like to do my restaurant menus in both Manx and English.”

  “I can point you in the right direction if you need them translating,” Bessie told him.

  “I may take you up on that. I just have to get through school first.”

  “How are you finding the evening?” Michael Higgins asked Bessie when she turned to speak to him.

  “It’s been unusual, with people changing seats every few minutes,” Bessie said. “But the food has been very good, and I’ve enjoyed talking with everyone.”

  “Of course, we’re all meant to be talking to one another in character, but you’ve not had to bother with that.”

  “No, and I’m quite relieved, really.”

  “I’m meant to be a retired army colonel or something like that,” the man told her.

  “You do rather look the part,” Bessie said.

  “As the parts were assigned before anyone met me, I think we’ll have to assume that it wasn’t planned that way,” he shrugged. “I’m the only man here who is about the right age, I suppose.”

  “There’s George, but he probably insisted on being the wealthy estate owner,” Bessie said.

  “And Inspector Rhodes is busy playing himself.”

  “Yes, well, yes,” Bessie said, not wanting to complain about how much the man had been drinking, even though she didn’t approve.

  “I’m a bit concerned that he might not make it through the rest of the evening, though,” Michael told her in a low voice. “I hope that Susan knows what she’s doing.”

  “Have you been friends with Mona for long?” Bessie asked.

  The man looked over at Mona and nodded. “We’ve been friends for many years. There was a time when I hoped we might be more than that, but it never worked out. She was kind enough to invite me to join her tonight, anyway.”

  “Do you live on the island?”

  “I live in London mostly, but I have a cottage in Port St. Mary as well. I come across for a fortnight now and again. I was in London this afternoon when she rang about tonight, and I couldn’t resist flying over.”

  “All right, everyone,” Susan said loudly. “I think we’re about ready for the next part of the evening. Has everyone finished with pudding?”

  Waiters moved in to remove all of the plates. Bessie finished the last sip of her wine as Susan continued.

  “We’ll all move into the sitting area now,” she said. “There you’ll all have a chance to talk amongst yourselves for a while longer. The idea is for everyone to get acquainted with everyone else, so please try to speak to anyone you haven’t already spoken with. As I said, you never know what might be a clue. And remember to stay in character.”

  Bessie slid her chair back and stood up. Now would probably be a good time for her and Mary to remove themselves from the room.

  “I don’t want to leave them,” Mary whispered when Bessie made that suggestion to her. “If you don’t mind terribly, can we just sit in the corner and keep an eye on everything? I feel that might be for the best.”

  Although Bessie didn’t agree, she didn’t argue. The room was huge, so there was plenty of space for her and Mary to settle in, out of the way of the rest of the crowd.

  Susan and Elizabeth ushered everyone away from the table towards the windows. Several couches and chairs had been arranged in a rough circle, with tables between them. A long table had been set up as a bar nearby. Inspector Rhodes headed straight for the bar, getting himself yet another glass of wine before planting himself firmly in one of the chairs.

  “We can sit over here,” Mary told Bessie, leading her to a small couch that was some distance from the others. The couch was aligned with the windows, but because it was dark outside and the room was brightly lit, they acted as mirrors, rather than allowing Bessie to see the beach below them. She settled in and watched the large group reflected in the windows.

  “Would you like some wine or something else to drink?” Mary asked her.

  “No, I’m fine, thank you,” Bessie replied.

  Mary sat down next to her. “I hope this murder mystery thing works out,” she told Bessie. “Elizabeth is really excited about the idea. She seems to think that there will be a lot of demand for this sort of party once the word gets out.”

  “Leonard Hammersmith said he and Liz were thinking about doing one, but he wasn’t sure that it wasn’t too much bother.”

  “Yes, I did hear a few complaints about how much effort it was to remember to stay in character during dinner,” Mary agreed. “I understand that Susan wanted everyone in fancy dress, which would have been more work, and that she wanted to use names for the characters, rather than letting people use their own names.”

  “That all sounds as if it would be a great deal of work. I can’t imagine trying to remember who everyone was and a second set of names as well.”

  Mary nodded. “Elizabeth was surprisingly sensible for once and told Susan that neither fancy dress nor made-up names were necessary, at least not for tonight’s trial run.”

  The pair fell silent for a few minutes as they watched the group across the room. Bessie spotted Sean, standing behind Vivian and simply staring at her. Vivian was having what looked like an intense conversation with Norma. Madison Fields was sitting on a couch next to Richard, but they seemed to be ignoring one another. Ernest was at the bar, sipping what looked like whiskey and talking to Elizabeth and Andy.

  “At least George is having fun,” Mary murmured.

  Ge
orge was standing with Mona Kelly, and as Bessie watched, he seemed to be whispering something in her ear. Mona shook her head and said something back that made George flush. A moment later Michael joined them, handing them each a drink.

  “I didn’t realise you and Mona were friends,” Bessie remarked.

  “I’m not sure that we are,” Mary told her. “Elizabeth asked me to invite her, though. Mona has a reputation for having fabulous parties, you see. Elizabeth is hoping Mona might be interested in hosting her own murder mystery if she enjoys tonight’s gathering.”

  “Mona’s parties are special because of the people she invites,” Bessie said. “I haven’t been to more than a couple, but at the last one I went to I met the US ambassador to the UK, a former Soviet cosmonaut, and a Hollywood actor who couldn’t tear his eyes off of Mona all evening.”

  Mary nodded. “She seems to know an incredible number of people, and they all seem to love her.”

  Norma had joined her brother at the bar as Susan moved into the centre of the circle of chairs and couches.

  “All right, everyone, it’s nearly time for the game to begin. We’re all at a large country house. You’ve all had a chance to get to know one another, but someone here has murder on his or her mind. In a few moments the lights are going to go out, thanks to the horrible storm outside.” She glanced over at the window and then chuckled. “We’ll have to imagine that part as well.”

  “We get a lot of rain, but very few thunderstorms,” George said apologetically.

  “It’s fine,” Susan smiled. “We’re all using our imaginations anyway. So, the storm will knock out the power and we’ll all have to sit in the dark while we wait for the power to come back on.”

  “What about torches?” Sean asked.

  “We don’t have any torches,” Susan replied. “Instead, we’ll simply have to wait out the storm. It should only take fifteen minutes or so for the power to come back on.”

  “Everyone make sure they have a full drink before the lights go out,” Leonard suggested.

  “Yes, of course,” Susan said. “You’ll all want to be sitting down comfortably. Once the lights go out, the only person who should be moving around is the murderer. He or she knows what to do.”

  “What’s that?” Madison asked.

  “He or she will make his or her way to the victim and tell him or her that they have been murdered,” Susan explained.

  “Does the victim know that someone is coming for them?” Sean asked.

  “In this game, we’ve chosen not to tell the victim,” Susan replied. “Sometimes we do, but this time only the murderer knows whom he or she intends to kill.”

  “I’m not sure that sitting around in the dark for fifteen minutes is going to be much fun for everyone,” Bessie said softly.

  “If it’s too dark for anyone to see anything, it will be dangerous for the pretend killer go wandering around,” Mary replied, frowning. “If he or she falls over something and breaks an arm, it won’t be difficult to work out who the killer was meant to be.”

  “We can all point him or her out as we wait for the ambulance,” Bessie suggested.

  Mary laughed quietly. “I’m not sure that Susan has thought this through.”

  “I thought she did these evenings all the time.”

  “That’s what she told Elizabeth, anyway,” Mary shrugged.

  “I would suggest that our murderer find a convenient place to position him or herself near the victim,” Susan called out.

  “Which makes sense, but will also make it easier for people to find the killer,” Bessie murmured.

  “This is never going to work,” Leonard said. “If it’s so dark that we can’t see who the murderer is, then the poor murderer will probably break his neck trying to get to the victim.”

  “His or her,” Vivian said with a giggle.

  “Maybe we could put everyone in chairs in a row,” Elizabeth suggested. “Then the killer could simply walk down the row, find the victim, and then return to his or her seat.”

  No one else had any better ideas, so Elizabeth had some of the staff set up a long row of chairs. Then she had everyone move over onto them.

  “The chairs are arranged so that they are exactly two paces apart,” she said. “My paces, anyway. If you are taller or shorter than me, you might have to adjust that. Why don’t you all walk around the chairs a few times so you can get a feel for how many steps you need to take to get from one chair to the next and from your seat and back again?”

  Mary looked at Bessie and they both rolled their eyes. The murder mystery evening was turning into another sort of game altogether.

  Inspector Rhodes moved over to the bar and got himself another drink while the others dutifully walked around the chairs a few times.

  “Okay, everyone can take their seats now,” Susan announced. “Although he’s been here all along, the inspector is now going to leave the room.”

  “He is?” Norma asked.

  “Just in case our murderer does have some trouble in the dark, we don’t want to give the game away to our police inspector,” Susan said.

  “I’ll just lock the inspector in the library,” Elizabeth said. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Maybe, when the lights are out, we should all walk around the chairs a few times,” Sean suggested. “I mean, otherwise we might be able to work out who moved and who didn’t.”

  “That’s not a bad idea,” Susan said. “Let’s do that. Once the lights go out, everyone can walk carefully around the chairs. At some point, the murderer will have to stop and then tell the victim that he or she is dead.”

  “How will he or she find the victim if everyone is walking around?” Liz asked.

  “At the beginning of the line, each of you should call out your name,” Susan said. “The murderer can step out of line and then stand nearby. When he hears the victim, he can step in and tell him or her to die.”

  “He or she,” someone shouted.

  “Yes, of course,” Susan said, flushing.

  “Won’t we be able to guess that the crime has been committed once someone stops shouting out his or her own name?” Madison asked.

  “There must be a better way to do this,” Elizabeth said as she rejoined the party. “What do you usually do?” she asked Susan.

  “Different things, depending on the venue,” Susan replied. “Let’s try this and see how it works. Everyone up and start walking slowly. In a minute I’ll kill the lights and we’ll see what happens next.”

  Bessie and Mary exchanged glances. It was obvious what was going to happen next. The whole thing was going to fall apart.

  The group began their circuit of the chairs, each one calling out his or her name as they went past the first chair. After a moment, Elizabeth left the room. A minute later the room went dark. Bessie blinked several times, and then sat back and waited for her eyes to adjust. Eventually she felt as if she could make out movement around the row of chairs, but she couldn’t be certain.

  People were still shouting out their names, but it seemed entirely random. After a few minutes, Bessie heard one of the women shout out “Richard.” Everyone laughed and then, from what Bessie could tell, began shouting out random names, including that of the prime minister and the island’s governor.

  “When do the lights come back on?” someone asked loudly.

  “I’ve told Elizabeth to leave them off for fifteen minutes,” Susan’s voice called back.

  “That’s a bloody long time,” someone snapped.

  “Hey, watch your hands,” another voice said.

  “This is crazy,” Mary whispered. “If I could see anything, I’d go and tell Elizabeth to turn the lights back on right now.”

  “Surely it won’t be too much longer,” Bessie replied.

  “That’s it, I give up,” someone said. “I’ll be sitting quietly in one of the chairs; watch you don’t trip over me.”

  “That’s a good idea,” came another voice. “I’m finding a chair, too.
”

  The last five minutes or so of darkness were oddly quiet. From what Bessie could tell, everyone had taken seats and they were all simply waiting out the clock.

  When the lights came back on, Bessie was surprised to see Vivian lying on the floor just a few feet away from the row of chairs. She was giggling softly to herself.

  Elizabeth walked back in and looked at Susan.

  “It appears Vivian has been murdered,” Susan said dramatically. “No one move. We must ring for the police.”

  Elizabeth nodded. “I’ll go and ring for Inspector Rhodes. I’m sure he’ll be here soon.”

  “Can we all get drinks while we wait for the police?” Richard asked.

  “Especially me,” Vivian said from her spot on the floor.

  Susan opened her mouth to reply, but the loud scream stopped her. Bessie was on her feet, heading for the corridor before anyone else moved.

  Chapter 4

  Elizabeth was standing in the corridor outside the great room with her hand covering her mouth.

  “What’s wrong?” Bessie demanded.

  “The inspector,” Elizabeth said. “He’s, that is, I mean, I can’t.”

  The girl burst into tears and then threw herself into Mary’s arms as Mary joined them.

  “In the library?” Bessie asked.

  Elizabeth shook her head. “I couldn’t find my key earlier today, so we decided to put him in the room next door. The key for that room was in the lock.”

  “You locked him inside?” Mary wondered.

  “It was just a precaution so that no one could say he cheated,” Elizabeth told her.

  Bessie crossed to the door to the room in question and looked inside. It appeared to be a small study. There was a small desk in the centre of the room with a large and comfortable-looking chair behind it. A second chair had been placed in front of the desk. Inspector Rhodes was sitting in that second chair with a large knife protruding from his chest. From the amount of blood on the floor, Bessie had to assume that the man was dead.

  “I gather this wasn’t part of the game,” Bessie said to Elizabeth as she pulled out her mobile phone.