Aunt Bessie Remembers

by Diana Xarissa

  “Don’t do that yet,” John said.

  “I was with George,” Mona said. “We were waiting for Michael to get us some drinks.” She walked between the couches and took up a position near the windows. George joined her while Michael looked at John.

  “I went to the bar, got a round of drinks, and then joined George and Mona,” he explained.

  “Just stand near the bar for a minute, please,” John told him. “Where was Mr. Rhodes?”

  As everyone looked at John blankly, Bessie shut her eyes and tried to remember.

  “I think he was in a chair a short distance away,” Susan said after a moment. “I was standing out of the way, watching while everyone chatted.”

  “I don’t even remember seeing him after dinner,” Sean said. “Maybe he’d already gone into the study by the time we settled over here.”

  “No, he was here until we lined up the chairs,” Elizabeth interjected. “I took him off to the study once everyone else was sitting in the row of chairs.”

  “So where was he?” John asked.

  “Maybe next to Richard?” Sean suggested. “There was a chair next to you, wasn’t there, Richard?”

  The man shrugged. “Maybe. I wasn’t really paying attention.”

  One of the waiters helped John moved a chair over next to the couch where Richard and Madison were sitting. “About here?” he asked.

  Sean shrugged. “Yeah, I think it was about there.”

  No one else said anything, so John slid into the seat. Susan was pacing back and forth near the dining table. Bessie studied the scene in front of her. As far as she could remember, it was close, if not exactly right.

  “Mr. Rhodes moved his chair closer to Richard,” Mary said as she walked back into the room. “I remember seeing him sliding it closer and wondering why he’d done so.”

  John shuffled the chair along a bit. “Better?”

  “Maybe even more,” Mary suggested as she sat down next to Bessie. “It may have been the angle I was sitting at that made it seem so close, as well. Anyway, he didn’t sit there for long. As soon as Susan started setting things up for the pretend murder, he said something to Richard, and then went to the bar.”

  “What did he say to you?” John asked Richard.

  Richard shrugged. “Probably ‘I need a drink’ or something like that. It wasn’t anything important.”

  “Okay, so Mr. Rhodes is sitting here. Michael gets drinks and then takes them to Mona and George.” John nodded, and Michael left the bar and joined Mona and George near the windows.

  “And then I walked over to the bar to get away from Sean,” Norma said.

  “Thanks,” Sean said under his breath.

  “And Susan told us all about the rules for the murder game,” Elizabeth said. “We were meant to pretend that there was a horrible storm outside.”

  “Leonard told us all to get drinks, and then Susan told us to get comfortable. Then she said only the killer would be moving around after the lights went out,” Sean said.

  “Except we all quickly realized that that would never work,” Norma interjected. “There was no way the pretend killer could move around safely in the dark, even if he or she knew exactly where his or her victim was sitting.”

  “So Susan came up with another plan,” Elizabeth said. “That was when we arranged the chairs in the row.”

  “Okay, who helped arrange them?” John asked, getting to his feet.

  “Not Mr. Rhodes, that’s for sure,” Sean laughed.

  “It was just staff and me,” Elizabeth said. “We arranged the chairs and then Susan told everyone to move into them.”

  “Okay, then, can you all please take seats in the row, in the same place you were on Saturday?” John asked.

  It quickly became apparent that no one remembered where he or she had been on Saturday. Bessie exchanged glances with Mary. “I don’t really remember who was where,” she whispered.

  “I don’t, either, except I noticed that George was on the end. I was afraid he might try to sneak away when the lights went out because I knew he was getting fed up with the whole thing. That was before Susan had everyone start walking in circles, of course,” Mary replied.

  “I was on the end,” George announced loudly before walking over and sitting down. “And Mona was next to me.”

  Mona joined George. Whatever she said to him as she slid into her seat made him laugh.

  “And I was next to Mona,” Michael said, joining her.

  “Now we’re getting somewhere,” Bessie whispered.

  But for a moment it seemed as if things were back to a standstill as Elizabeth’s friends began to argue amongst themselves as to who was next to Michael. After a minute, John held up a hand.

  “Michael, do you recall who was sitting next to you?” he asked.

  “Madison,” the man replied quickly.

  “That’s what I said,” Sean shouted.

  “I didn’t remember it that way,” Madison said defensively as she crossed the room. “If you are sure, I’ll sit here anyway.” She dropped onto the seat and folder her arms, frowning as she stared at the floor.

  “Michael is right,” Mary whispered. “She was next to him.”

  “Now that she’s sitting there, it does look right,” Bessie agreed.

  “I was next to Madison,” Richard said, “and Vivian was next to me.”

  He and Hugh took their seats. After a bit more debate, all of the others fell into place as well. Bessie and Mary exchanged glances.

  “I believe that’s right,” Bessie said.

  John was standing near Susan and Elizabeth. “Neither of you sat down?” he asked.

  “No, I was still trying to keep the party running, and Elizabeth was in charge of locking away my father,” Susan told him.

  “Is that what happened next, then?” John asked.

  “After we worked out the logistics,” Sean said. “Susan made us all walk around the chairs so that it wouldn’t be obvious who the killer was, or something like that.”

  “Explain to me exactly what you were meant to do,” John requested.

  “Everyone was meant to walk around the chairs slowly. When you reached the first chair in the row, you were meant to call out your name,” Susan said.

  “Why?” John asked.

  “To help the killer find the victim,” Susan explained. “The killer was meant to step out of the line and wait for the victim to come past. Then he or she was supposed to tell the victim to play dead.”

  “Except Elizabeth was the killer, right?” John asked.

  “Yes, that’s right,” Susan replied.

  “And Elizabeth wasn’t even in the room while all of this was happening, correct?” was John’s next question.

  Susan flushed. “I may not have planned things exactly right,” she said.

  “Elizabeth, how did you let Vivian know she was meant to be the victim?” John asked.

  “I just whispered in her ear when we crossed paths right after dinner,” Elizabeth explained.

  John made a note. “Did you give her specific instructions on where to go or what to do when she was meant to be dead?”

  “I told her to fall out of her chair onto the floor,” Elizabeth said. “At that point I still thought that everyone was going to be sitting in seats while the lights were out.”

  “If that was the case, why did everyone have to walk around?” John wondered. “If Elizabeth was the killer and she’d already told Vivian to play dead, surely you could have just switched off the lights, no one would have had to move except for Vivian when she fell to the floor, and then the lights could have come back on?”

  “If I would have thought of that, that’s what we would have done,” Susan sighed. “I wanted it to be realistic, though. Elizabeth wasn’t meant to tell Vivian anything before the lights went out. She was supposed to come back in and tell Vivian to play dead while it was dark.”

  “She would have struggled to get across the room and back in the dark,”
John suggested.

  “She had a torch,” Susan told him.

  “But surely everyone would have noticed if she came in with her torch in her hand,” John said.

  “She left it on the table in the corridor. It gave a little bit of light, to the doorway and into the room. She would have been fine,” Susan said.

  John looked at Elizabeth, who shrugged. “I might have managed it. I know the room really well, anyway, but I’d already asked Andy to join me in the corridor so we could chat during the lights out. I set the torch on the table to help him find his way out of the great room.”

  “Did anyone notice Andy leaving?” John asked.

  “I thought I saw someone walking away from our little circle at one point,” Norma said, “but I didn’t pay any attention. The killer was meant to step out and so was the victim, after all.”

  “So Andy walked away from the circle and used the light coming in by the doorway to navigate his way across the room,” John said with a sigh. “Presumably the killer could easily have done the same thing.”

  “That still doesn’t explain how the killer got into the study,” Sean said.

  John nodded. “Before I address that, I’d just like to point out to everyone that all of this information should have been given to me when I first spoke to you about the murder.”

  “Sorry,” Elizabeth said softly. “I wasn’t thinking all that clearly that night.”

  “Or any night since,” Mary whispered to Bessie. “I’m going to have to have a word with that girl.”

  “I didn’t really notice the light in the corridor,” Bessie said.

  “No, I didn’t either, but I don’t think I was paying much attention to what was happening,” Mary sighed. “I was just wishing they would get on with things.”

  Bessie nodded. “I felt as if I could see the shapes of people moving around the chairs, but I don’t remember seeing anyone walking away.”

  “And we know Andy walked away from the group, and so did the murderer,” Mary said. “And Elizabeth’s torch probably gave the murderer enough light to do so,” she added with a sigh.

  “No one can possibly blame Elizabeth for any of this,” Bessie said stoutly.

  “She’s the one who planned the whole thing, brought Susan and her father to the island, and lit a path to the corridor for the killer,” Mary said.

  “None of which makes her responsible in any way for what happened. If she hadn’t put her torch on the table, the killer would simply have found another way. You know that.”

  Mary nodded. “I don’t mean to sound as if I’m blaming Elizabeth. Mostly I’m blaming myself for allowing the party to happen in the first place. The whole idea worried me, but I let Elizabeth talk me into it anyway.”

  “You were trying to be supportive of her and her career. You shouldn’t regret that.”

  “Okay, so everyone was sitting in the chairs when Elizabeth left with Mr. Rhodes?” John asked, calling everyone’s attention back to him.

  “Yes, that’s right,” Elizabeth said. “We went out into the corridor and I unlocked the study and ushered him inside. I waited until he was sitting down to shut the door. I didn’t want him falling over anything when the lights went out.”

  “Did he seem very drunk to you?” was John’s next question.

  Elizabeth shrugged. “He made some rude suggestions to me as we left the room, but I don’t think he’d have needed to be drunk to do that. He didn’t stumble over anything and he managed to walk in a fairly straight line from this room to the study.”

  John nodded and then made a note. “Okay, let’s walk through that part while everyone else just waits.”

  The pair were only gone for a few minutes. When they came back, John left Elizabeth in the doorway and rejoined the others.

  “What happened in here once Mr. Rhodes and Elizabeth were gone?” he asked.

  “Everyone got up and began to walk in a slow circle around the chairs.” Susan said.

  “Show me,” John requested.

  There was a bit of grumbling as everyone got to their feet and began to walk around the chairs. They began calling out their names as they passed the first chair again, as well. John made another note before he held up a hand. “And then the lights went out?”

  “Elizabeth went and turned them off,” Susan replied.

  “Elizabeth, can you go and turn them off again, please?” John asked.

  Elizabeth disappeared through the door. A moment later the room went noticeably darker. There was still a considerable amount of light flooding in from the windows, however, unlike Saturday evening.

  “And for how long were the lights out?” John asked.

  “About fifteen minutes,” Susan said. “Elizabeth was meant to be timing it.”

  “I was timing it,” Elizabeth said as she walked back into the room.

  “Where were you standing?” John wanted to know.

  Elizabeth led him back into the corridor. After a minute, Bessie could see that he’d switched on a torch, presumably having Elizabeth place it where it had been on Saturday.

  “This is when I snuck out,” Andy called.

  John stuck his head back into the room. “Sneak out again, then, very slowly,” he said.

  Andy reached the first chair in the row and called out his name, then began to walk very slowly towards the corridor. He was sliding his feet along the carpeting, so when he came to the low step just before the door, he managed to navigate it without tripping.

  “That was clever,” Mary whispered. “He knew he had a clear walk to the door, aside from that one step.”

  “Yes, and so did the killer,” Bessie sighed.

  “I’m sure I didn’t notice him sneaking away on Saturday,” Mary said, “but there was so much commotion going on right in front of us, that’s hardly surprising.”

  “And we were further away from the group and also from the light in the corridor. It’s possible we simply couldn’t see it from where we were sitting,” Bessie suggested.

  The group walking in circles had started to get bored. One of the girls shouted out “Richard” and everyone laughed again. That started everyone off with calling out random names. John stood in the doorway and watched as they continued for what felt like a long time.

  “And then I asked when we were going to have lights again,” Sean said.

  “And someone bumped into Vivian and she shouted,” Ernest added.

  “And then I gave up,” Richard said. “I told everyone that I was going to sit down and warned them not to trip over me.” He stopped walking and sat down on the closest chair.

  “And we all thought that was a good idea, so we all sat down,” Norma said.

  John watched as everyone slid into seats along the row. “How much later did the lights come back on?”

  “It felt like hours,” Sean said.

  “I believe it was about five minutes,” Bessie called.

  “And then I switched the lights back on,” Elizabeth said.

  “Please do so,” John told her.

  When Elizabeth came back in a minute later, Hugh was just stretching himself out on the floor, roughly where Vivian had been lying.

  “I announced that Vivian had been murdered and Elizabeth rushed away to ring for Inspector Rhodes,” Susan said.

  “And Vivian wanted a drink,” Norma added.

  “We all wanted a drink,” Richard said.

  “Yeah, that’s true,” Ernest agreed.

  “And then Elizabeth went and unlocked the study door and found the body,” John said. “I don’t want to reenact that part, though. The study is still off limits.”

  “Oh, sorry about that,” Jonathan Hooper said. He shrugged. “I didn’t realise.”

  Bessie’s jaw dropped. The man was standing in a doorway that hadn’t been there a moment earlier. One that connected the great room to the study. Jonathan had found the secret door.

  Chapter 14

  The entire room erupted into shouts as people rushed
towards Jonathan. Hugh and John leapt in front of everyone and herded them backwards.

  “No one is meant to be in the study,” John said firmly. “I’d appreciate it if you’d all take your seats again.”

  There was a good deal of muttering as people returned to their seats, but everyone complied.

  “I am really sorry,” Jonathan said again, “but I knew there had to be a secret door somewhere and now I’ve found it.”

  John and Hugh joined the man in the doorway. For several minutes they inspected the opening before stepping back.

  “Can you shut the door?” John asked.

  “I can try,” Jonathan told him. He took a step backwards. A moment later the door slid back into place. Once it was completely closed, Bessie couldn’t be sure where it had been.

  “It’s very well done,” Mary said.

  “I wonder why the Pierce family wanted a secret door between the study and the great room,” Bessie replied.

  “It isn’t the only one. We’ve found a few others and I’m sure there are more. I don’t know if Mr. Pierce wanted them included or if his children had a say in the construction, but we’re slowly learning Thie yn Traie has lots of secrets,” Mary told her in a low voice.

  John knocked on the wall and a moment later the door slid open again.

  “It’s really very clever,” Jonathan said. “It was easier to work out how to open from this side, but there must be a way from the great room as well.”

  “Show me how you do it on that side,” John requested.

  The pair disappeared through the door. A moment later it slid shut and then open again. When John walked out, he spoke to Hugh briefly and then turned to the people still sitting in their row. As he walked towards them, the door slid shut again and Hugh began tapping and pressing on the wall.

  “We’ll leave Constable Watterson to work out how to open the door from this side,” John said. “Knowing that the door is there is what matters now. Whoever killed Jerome Rhodes knew about that door and used it to his or her advantage. I just have to work out which one of you knew about it.”

  “I certainly didn’t,” Sean said. “But I wish I had. Now I wonder if there are any more secret doors around the place.”