“Does anyone know where Vivian has wandered off to?” she asked. “I told her to be here at two. She’s not in her room.”
“Maybe she went for a walk on the beach,” Richard suggested. “She said something earlier about wanting a walk.”
“Vivian was going to walk somewhere?” Elizabeth asked. “I don’t believe it.” Elizabeth’s friends all laughed.
“She must be around here somewhere,” Sean said. “Maybe she decided she didn’t want to take part in all of this and is hiding in one of the wings.”
Elizabeth frowned. “We don’t have time to spend hours looking for her,” she complained.
“She’ll turn up,” Richard said. “She’s probably just waiting to make a dramatic entrance. Not everyone is here yet, anyway.”
The words were barely out of his mouth when Ernest and Norma walked into the room.
“I hate to say this, but I’m pretty sure we’re all wasting our time with this,” Norma said.
“We aren’t,” Sean countered. “This time it will be lovely and bright in here and we’ll all be able to see who sneaks away to kill Mr. Rhodes.” Everyone laughed again.
“If the police think that’s going to happen, they’re deluded,” Ernest said.
“We don’t,” John said coolly from the doorway. “But criminals make mistakes. Sometimes we can find a murderer simply because someone noticed a changed hairstyle. I can assure you that I don’t expect the killer to sneak away from the party and break back into the study. He or she will, instead, be trying hard to pretend to have been here all along. That’s not going to be as easy as he or she thinks it is.”
Bessie looked around the room, hoping to spot someone looking nervous. From what she could see, though, mostly people looked bored.
“We’re here,” Leonard Hammersmith announced as he and Liza rushed into the room. “We were caught up in traffic. Sorry if we’re late.”
“You’re right on time,” John assured him.
“I hope that means we aren’t late, either,” Michael Higgins said as he escorted Mona into the room.
“Not at all. We’re still waiting for a few more, actually,” John replied.
“Andy is in the kitchen. I’m to get him when you’re ready. He’s just making some snacks for later, when this is all over,” Elizabeth said.
“And George is in his office upstairs. I can ring him now if you’re ready,” Mary said.
“Susan isn’t here yet,” Elizabeth pointed out. “I reminded her before I came down.”
“I can send someone to get her if you tell me where to find her,” John said.
“No need. I’m here,” Susan said from the doorway.
Bessie was surprised at the woman’s appearance. She looked as if she hadn’t slept since the last time Bessie had seen her. Susan walked to the nearest chair and slumped into it.
“It’s just Vivian who is missing, then,” John said. “Which room is she in?”
Elizabeth told him. “But she wasn’t there when I came down. I’m not sure where she is.”
John left the room. He was back a moment later. “While we locate Vivian, the rest of you can start to find your places, please. I want you to sit around the dining table in the same places you were in at the end of dinner.”
Bessie trailed behind the others as they slowly made their way towards the table. She was more worried about Vivian than anyone else seemed to be. Hugh walked into the room as everyone began to settle into their seats.
“Ms. Walker isn’t in her room,” Hugh said. “I’ve checked with the constable on the beach and no one has come down those stairs today.”
Bessie exchanged glances with Elizabeth. She hadn’t mentioned the sleeping constable to John, but now she wondered if she should have.
“And you’ve been at the front door all day,” John said. “She hasn’t gone out that way, I assume.”
“No, sir.”
“Who saw her last?” John asked the group.
“She was at lunch,” Elizabeth answered. “She left the room with Richard, I believe.”
“We walked out together, anyway,” Richard said. “She said something to me about wanting to go down to the beach. The idea didn’t appeal to me, so I told her to have fun and went back to my room.”
“Did anyone see her after that?” John asked.
When no one replied, he turned back to Hugh. “Have a constable check the beach, just in case she got past the man at the bottom of the stairs somehow.” He turned to Mary. “Can you help organise a search of the house, please, Mrs. Quayle? You know it better than anyone.”
Mary got to her feet and followed Hugh out of the room while John turned back to the group around the dining table.
“I’m going to have to ask you all to be patient with me for a short while. I’d rather not start with anyone missing, but if Vivian doesn’t turn up in the next fifteen minutes or so, we’ll do what we can without her.”
Bessie smiled at Michael, who was sitting beside her. “I hope Vivian turns up soon.”
“Yes, I’m a little bit worried about her,” he replied, frowning.
“I wasn’t sure if you’d be here or not. I thought you might be needed across.” Bessie didn’t want to ask any rude questions, but she was incredibly curious about the man’s job.
He chuckled. “I’m mostly retired now and pretty much come and go as I please. Right now the island is considerably more interesting to me than London. I shall probably be here for another week or two at least.” When he finished speaking, he glanced over at Mona Kelly.
What was it about Mona that so entranced men, Bessie wondered. “I hope you’ll have a chance to see some of the island’s historical sites while you’re here,” she said after a moment.
“We spent the afternoon at Peel Castle. It was charming.”
“Bessie, do you think this reconstruction will actually solve the case?” Andy asked from Bessie’s other side.
“I don’t know that it will solve the case, but I’m hoping it will help.”
“It’s frustrating that Vivian decided to disappear now,” he sighed.
“Do you have any idea where she might have gone?”
“None at all. She has a habit of wandering off when she gets bored, though. We were all going to play some cards this morning and she simply wandered off before we could get started.”
“This was before lunch?”
“Yes. She was back for lunch.”
“But you don’t know where she was during the morning?”
“No, but she could have been anywhere. It’s a big house and no one was looking for her. She could even have just been in her room, staying away from the rest of us. I wouldn’t blame her. We’re all getting rather tired of one another’s company.”
Bessie nodded. “But you haven’t been staying here, have you?”
“No, not staying, but I’ve been here as much as I can be. I’m doing what I can to support Elizabeth. This has been difficult for her.”
“I didn’t realise you two had grown that close.”
Andy flushed. “We’re, well, we’re trying it out, I suppose. She knows I’m leaving again soon, so we’re trying to keep things casual, but, well, I’m pretty fond of her already. I just don’t know if we can keep the relationship going while I’m away.”
“I’ll wish you luck, because I like you both very much, but long-distance relationships are very difficult. I hope you’re both prepared if it doesn’t work out.”
“I keep telling myself that, but, well, we’ll see. She’s pretty amazing.”
“She seems to be working very hard on her new business, as well.”
“Yeah. She’s been hoping she might get a few jobs in London starting in the autumn, so she can be closer to me, but there’s a lot more competition in London for party planners.”
Before Bessie could reply, John walked back into the room. “I appreciate everyone’s patience,” he said. “We’ve just about completed a search of the house, and so fa
r Vivian is proving elusive. Does anyone have any idea where she might have gone?”
“Did you try the beach?” Richard asked.
“Yes, she’s certainly not anywhere within an easy walking distance of the house,” John replied.
“Maybe she caught a taxi into Ramsey or Douglas,” Elizabeth suggested.
“Even if the constable on the front door didn’t stop her from leaving, which he should have done, he would have noted that she’d gone,” John replied.
“Unless he let her go and now he’s afraid he’ll be in trouble for it, so he’s lying about it,” Sean said.
John frowned. “It’s a thought,” he said softly.
Bessie knew that Hugh would never have let the girl leave Thie yn Traie, and that he’d never lie to John, either, but she bit her tongue. Next to her, Michael suddenly rose to his feet.
“Inspector, if I could have a word,” he said.
Everyone in the great room watched as the man walked over to John. They talked in low voices for a moment and then left the room together. There was some commotion in the corridor and then John was back.
“Just give us a few more minutes, please,” he said. “If everyone could simply wait in here, I’d appreciate it.”
Michael hadn’t returned. Bessie thought about trying to talk to Andy, but it seemed as if everyone in the room was trying to listen to whatever was happening in the corridor. After several minutes, Elizabeth jumped up.
“I can’t take it anymore. I have to know what’s going on.” She walked across the room and disappeared out the door. Only a moment later she was back, her face pale.
Andy jumped up and crossed to her side. “Are you okay?” he asked, putting his arm around her.
Elizabeth shook her head and then buried it in his chest. As she began to cry, John walked into the room behind her.
“So as not to keep you all in suspense any longer, Ms. Walker has been located. She was found in the study and appears to have a head injury. She’s being taken to Noble’s now,” he announced.
As he left the room, everyone began to talk excitedly about what he’d said. As Bessie had no one sitting on either side of her, she sat back and tried to listen to the conversations around her.
“…police seal still in place…”
“…must have seen something…”
“…doing in the study?”
If the police seal was still intact on the study door, then Vivian must have found another way into the room, Bessie mused. Had the killer spotted her opening the secret door and hit her over the head to stop her telling anyone about it? That was one possibility, but there were many others. Before Bessie could make much of a list of them, though, John was back again.
“Again, I appreciate your patience,” he said with a sigh. “Before we can begin the reconstruction, however, we’re going to need to take statements from everyone about this latest incident. I’m going to ask you all to stop talking amongst yourselves until after I’ve spoken with everyone. I’d like to start with Bessie Cubbon, please.”
Bessie was startled, but she got to her feet and followed John out of the room without a word. He led her to the same room that he’d used the night of the murder. “I haven’t seen Vivian all day,” she said as she dropped into a chair.
“I know that. I was just wondering if you had any thoughts on what might have happened to the girl,” John told her.
“I can only assume that she stumbled upon the hidden doorway and that the killer found out and hit her over the head,” Bessie said.
“That’s certainly one possibility,” John replied. “Can you think of any reason why anyone else would have wanted to hurt her?”
“Not off the top of my head, although I didn’t find her particularly likable. But the fact that she was found in the study in spite of the police seal has to be a factor, surely.”
“It certainly seems to confirm that there’s another way into that room. We’re pretty sure the killer knew about the alternate entrance. What we don’t know is who else might.”
“A bunch of Elizabeth’s friends were looking for the entrance when I arrived,” Bessie told him. “None of them seemed to know where it was.”
“Which would be easy to pretend, even if you did,” John sighed.
“I would have thought Vivian would have told everyone if she’d found it,” Bessie said.
“Unless she told the killer first and he or she bashed her on the head to keep her quiet.”
“Is she going to be okay?”
“I certainly hope so. I suspect she might be able to solve the case if she recovers.”
“If?”
John hesitated and then sighed. “It’s going to be touch and go for a while, I understand. They took her to Noble’s with sirens blaring.”
“So even if she’s okay eventually, she might not remember what happened,” Bessie sighed.
“Exactly. Which is why we’re still going to go ahead with the reconstruction. We can’t count on Vivian handing us the solution.”
“Is there anything else I can do?”
“For right now, just keep an eye on everyone,” John requested. “I suspect our killer is getting pretty nervous. I’m going to send people back into the great room after I’ve spoken to them. Maybe you could chat with them as they return.” He shook his head. “I don’t really like you talking to suspects, but in this case, I’m making an exception.”
Bessie grinned. “As we’re all stuck here waiting for the reconstruction anyway, I’ve nothing to do but talk to suspects. I doubt I’ll learn anything, but I’ll try.”
“Thank you,” John said. He escorted Bessie back into the great room and led her to a small group of couches on the opposite side of the room from the dining table and row of chairs still in place from the party. “I’ll leave you here,” he said. “And send the others to join you after I’ve spoken to them. Mary should be in soon. I’ve already spoken with her.”
“What now?” George asked as John approached the dining table.
“I’m going to talk to each of you in turn,” John explained. “It shouldn’t take long as we only need to discuss a short period of time, but I’m hoping to work out what happened to Vivian as quickly as possible. She may well be recovered enough to answer questions in another hour or so, anyway.”
Bessie tried not to look surprised at John’s words. No doubt he was trying to put extra pressure on the killer by suggesting that Vivian wasn’t badly injured.
“After I’ve spoken to each of you, I’d like to ask you to join Miss Cubbon on the other side of the room. I’ll ask you to remain silent while you are waiting to see me, but once we’re finished you’re welcome to talk quietly amongst yourselves. I think that’s everything. Mr. Quayle, if you’d like to come with me, please?”
George followed John out of the room. A moment later Mary walked in and joined Bessie.
“I’m not staying, as I’m trying to reach Vivian’s parents and deal with a dozen other things, but I thought I should check on you and make sure you’re okay,” she told Bessie.
“I’m fine, aside from being worried about Vivian.”
“Yes, she didn’t look good when she was taken out of here, but you mustn’t repeat that. I believe Inspector Rockwell is trying to give the impression that she’ll soon be telling the police exactly what happened to her.”
Bessie nodded. “That seems a smart strategy. No doubt it will worry whoever hurt her.”
Jonathan Hooper appeared in the doorway. “Mrs. Quayle? Telephone.”
Mary quickly got up and followed the man out of the room, giving Bessie a nervous smile as she went. Bessie settled back in her seat and tried to study the men and women on the other side of the room. The silence only served to increase the tension in the room, and from that distance Bessie decided that everyone looked nervous and worried. She was grateful when Hugh walked in a few minutes later.
“Mr. Rice, if you could come with me, please?” he asked.
Sean
was back only a short while later. He glanced around the room as he walked into it and then crossed it and sat down next to Bessie. “This is ridiculous,” he mumbled as Hugh asked Richard Long to come with him.
“I just hope poor Vivian is okay,” Bessie said.
“The inspector seems to think that she’ll be fine. No doubt she’ll be able to answer his questions later today, which makes questioning all of us pointless,” he replied.
“It may take her a day or two to remember everything that happened. Obviously, the police don’t want to wait to work out what happened to her.”
“Except she was probably attacked by the same person who killed Jerome Rhodes. Questioning all of us is a waste of time. The killer isn’t going to admit to seeing Vivian after lunch.”
“Perhaps not, but he or she is bound to make a mistake at some point,” Bessie said.
Sean shrugged. “Let’s just hope it’s soon. I’d really like to get out of here.”
Richard joined them a moment later as Madison left the room with Hugh. “I wish I understood the order in which we’re being questioned,” he said as he dropped into a chair.
“He’s just choosing people at random,” Sean said.
“Maybe. I wish we’d been able to see Vivian before she went. I’m worried about her,” Richard remarked.
“You’ve been avoiding her since you arrived,” Sean retorted. “Surely you’re happy she’s gone?”
“I’m happy she won’t be here, stirring up trouble anymore, but that doesn’t mean I’m not worried about her. I didn’t really like her, but I didn’t want her to get hurt any more than I wanted that other man to get murdered,” Richard replied.
“As I understand it, she’s expected to make a full recovery. She may even be back here in the next day or two,” Bessie said, not entirely truthfully.
“Back at tiny-ntay?” Richard asked. “I didn’t realise that.”
“It’s Thie yn Traie,” Bessie corrected him. “It’s Manx for Beach House.”
“Is it? I didn’t realise,” he said with a shrug.
Aunt Bessie Remembers Page 19