Aunt Bessie Observes (An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Book 15)

by Diana Xarissa

  “That just leaves Jacqueline Garrett,” she said.

  “Her mother is here as well,” Genevieve told her. “Although she doesn’t talk to me, either.”

  “Is she friends with Mrs. Stanford, then?”

  “Oh, goodness, no. There are too many question marks in Jacqueline’s past for Mrs. Stanford to be friends with Mrs. Garrett.”

  “What sort of question marks?”

  “Where do I start?” Genevieve asked. “Jacqueline left the island at the age of twenty-two. She ran off with her boyfriend, allegedly to make a fresh start in Australia. She came back by herself two years later and bought herself a mansion in Peel. Although she’s never held down a job, she seems to have a great deal of money. Mrs. Garrett insists that when she was off-island she married a very wealthy man who conveniently died and left Jacqueline his entire fortune. She won’t explain why Jacqueline chose to retain her maiden name, though.”

  “How interesting,” Bessie said. “I don’t really know the woman. I didn’t realise she’d lived in Peel.”

  “Only for a short time. She had her beachfront mansion near Port St. Mary built after only a year or two in Peel. She’s been there ever since.”

  “And no one knows what she was doing for those two years?”

  “No one will talk about what she was doing,” Genevieve replied. “Have you met Jacqueline’s friend Linda Cotton?”

  “No, I haven’t.”

  “She and Jacqueline have been unlikely friends for many years. I’ve always thought that Linda knows something about Jacqueline’s past and that Linda uses it to, well, to blackmail Jacqueline.”

  “Is Linda related to Nicola?” Bessie wondered, recalling the woman who volunteered with Mannanan’s Kids.

  “She’s her mother-in-law,” Genevieve replied. “Linda and Jacqueline went to primary school together. Linda was already across when Jacqueline and her boyfriend went. Jacqueline came back a rich widow. Linda came back on her own, broke and six months pregnant.”

  “Oh, dear.”

  “Yes, this was thirty or so years ago, so it was a huge scandal. Jacqueline bought Linda a little house near hers in Peel and paid all of her bills for her. No one has ever explained why she’s been so generous to Linda, especially as Jacqueline is incredibly stingy, in spite of her wealth.”

  “Do you know anything about Nicola?”

  “I’ve been told that she and Linda get on very well. Apparently, Linda dotes on her grandchildren.”

  “Don’t most women?” Bessie asked with a chuckle.

  “Well, yes, of course. I suppose they must be much more fun that children of one’s own.”

  “I wouldn’t know.”

  “No, neither would I,” Genevieve said happily. Like Bessie, she’d never married, and also like Bessie, she didn’t think she’d missed out on anything.

  “Was there anyone else you wanted to know about?” she asked now.

  “I don’t think so,” Bessie said. “The two murdered men were staying at a bed and breakfast in Port Erin, but I don’t know which one.”

  “I do,” Genevieve told her. “They were staying with Matty Munroe.”

  “They were?” Bessie was surprised. “I didn’t even know he was still in business.”

  “He is, but only just. He’s had so many problems with safety violations that he did shut for a while. I understand he put at least one hundred of his hard-earned pounds into tarting the place up before he reopened. Of course, he probably didn’t actually address any of the safety issues, but I’m sure he was counting on making a few quid before the government inspectors got around to inspecting him again.”

  “What does he have to say about the two men?”

  “Not much. He’s keeping his mouth tightly shut, at least most of the time. I understand the police suggested that he should do so. Of course, he’s only reliable when he’s stone-cold sober. I hear he had a few drinks down at the pub last night.”

  “Did he, now?”

  “Aye, and I hear he was banging on and on about the two men who’d tried to cheat him out of his money. Apparently they paid for a week in advance but then stayed for three extra nights. When they tried to slip away in the wee small hours of the morning, Matty caught them at it and insisted that they pay double for staying past their initial booking.”

  “Goodness, and they agreed?”

  “Have you seen Matty lately? When he isn’t drinking, he’s been lifting weights. He’s up to about seventeen stone. I don’t think anyone would argue with him, not if they wanted to walk away with all of their teeth intact.”

  “So they did pay?”

  “That’s the way Matty tells it, anyway,” Genevieve said. “Apparently, he was awfully proud of getting money out of the men, since everyone knows they were criminals from across.”

  “I suppose he was lucky he caught them on their way out, then.”

  “Luck didn’t have anything to do with it. Matty knows how the criminal mind works from his own experience. He has alarms on all of the doors at his house. When the men tried to sneak out, they set off the alarm and woke up half the neighbourhood.”

  Bessie grinned. “I’m sure Matty isn’t popular with the neighbours, anyway.”

  “No, he isn’t,” Genevieve agreed. “Although I think they’re happier now that the two men have proven to be even worse than Matty.”

  “I don’t suppose Matty had any reason to kill them,” Bessie said thoughtfully.

  “I doubt it. He’s without transportation at the moment, as well. The engine fell out of the pile of rust that he’s been driving for the past few years. He’d have had a difficult time getting to Laxey.”

  “Maybe he had an accomplice,” Bessie suggested.

  Genevieve laughed. “Matty’s not very good at making friends, and he’s especially bad at keeping them. I can’t imagine anyone being willing to help him murder anyone, not unless there was a huge amount of money involved. Goodness knows Matty doesn’t have any money. From what I’ve heard, neither did either of the two victims.”

  “That’s an interesting point,” Bessie said. “They stole a lot of money in Doveby Dale. And that wasn’t their first scam. I wonder where all of their money went.”

  “I heard they had a dozen different identities. All of the money is probably sitting in a bank account somewhere under another name. It will probably go to the government eventually, as no one will ever claim it.”

  “You could be right about that,” Bessie said.

  After a few pleasantries, Bessie put the phone down. She’d learned a great deal about all of the committee members and she was eager to share it all with John. As she read back through her notes from the conversation, she shook her head. There was nothing there that couldn’t wait until the evening.

  A glance at the clock showed her that she only had a few minutes left before she needed to meet the Markham sisters. She rang a few more friends, but none of them were able to add anything to the information that Genevieve had given her. She ran a comb through her hair and added a fresh coat of lipstick to her lips and she was ready to go.

  “The animals don’t care how you look,” she told her reflection in the bedroom mirror.

  It was just starting to drizzle as Bessie crossed to the nearest holiday cottage. She’d thrown on a light jacket. As she waited for someone to answer the door, she wondered if she’d need an umbrella as well.

  “I’m not sure this is wildlife park weather,” Joan said as Janet let Bessie into the cottage.

  “It’s only a light rain,” Janet replied. “We can take umbrellas and we’ll be fine.”

  “Walking around outside in the rain isn’t fun, even under umbrellas,” Joan protested.

  “But we’ll get to see the animals,” Janet reminded her. “And some of it is indoors, isn’t it?” she asked Bessie.

  Bessie thought for a minute. “Well, the café is indoors,” she said.

  “It hardly seems worth driving all the way out there to simply sit in a
café,” Joan said. “I’m sure we could find a café much closer to here or to Peel, where we’re going this afternoon.”

  “But there won’t be animals at those cafés,” Janet complained.

  “Sometimes you are a six-year-old child,” Joan snapped.

  “Yep, and I’m happy that way,” Janet shot back.

  Joan rolled her eyes and looked at Bessie. “What do you think?”

  Bessie thought she didn’t want to get in between the bickering sisters. “What if we drive out to the park and see what the weather is doing when we get there,” she suggested. “If the rain stops, we can go around the park, and if it doesn’t, we can continue on to Peel and find ourselves a café.”

  Janet pulled on a jacket and grabbed an umbrella. “Come on, then, let’s go,” she said happily.

  Joan followed, looking far less enthusiastic. When they reached the car, she handed the keys to Janet. “You can drive,” she said. “I’m quite tired of finding my way around on unfamiliar roads.”

  “You’ll navigate, won’t you, Bessie?” Janet asked.

  “Of course,” Bessie agreed.

  Joan climbed into the back of the car while Bessie slid into the passenger seat. Janet made sure everyone was buckled up and then they were on their way.

  CHAPTER 10

  T he rain fell lightly but steadily as they made their way across the island. Bessie watched the sky, hoping it would clear, as she knew Janet had her heart set on visiting the wildlife park. As they turned the last corner and headed down the road to the park, the sun began to struggle through the clouds. By the time Janet had pulled into a parking space, it was starting to look as if it might be a nice day after all.

  “Hurray, the sun is shining,” Janet said happily before she climbed out of the car. Bessie and Joan followed suit.

  “Let’s go,” Janet said. “What animals are we going to see?” she asked Bessie as they crossed the car park.

  “There are a lot of different varieties of birds,” Bessie told her. “From pelicans to cranes to turkeys. There are lynx and capybaras and wallabies, as well.”

  “I want to see them all,” Janet said eagerly.

  “You’re too old to be this excited about a few animals,” Joan said.

  Janet glanced over at her and then stuck out her tongue. “I’ll never be too old to enjoy new experiences,” she told her sister. “You’re quite capable of being boring and grown-up enough for both of us.”

  Joan frowned but didn’t reply. Inside the small building at the entrance, they paid the admission charge and collected a map of the park.

  “I recommend starting to the right as you go out,” the cheerful man behind the ticket desk told them. “The exhibits are set up as different continents, and the animals are grouped according to where they’re naturally found.”

  The first enclosure was full of pelicans, seemingly scattered all around the place. Several had chosen to sit in the centre of the paved path that wound its way through the large enclosure.

  “There are pelican droppings everywhere,” Joan said, clearly working to find a path around the worst of the mess without actually getting too close to any of the birds.

  “It’s their enclosure,” Janet replied. “We’re just visiting.”

  Bessie kept a careful eye on one of the large birds as she approached it. It was eyeing her with what she was sure was an evil stare. As she skirted gingerly around it, walking onto the grass, it extended its neck and swung its huge beak towards her. Bessie quickened her pace.

  “He tried to bite you,” Joan exclaimed.

  “I’m sure he didn’t mean to,” Bessie said, taking a deep breath to calm her racing heart.

  “I wonder if they ever do bite visitors,” Joan said. She hurried across the enclosure and Bessie wasn’t too far behind. They stopped between the two sets of gates that marked the exit from one exhibit and the entrance to the next. Janet was slower to make her way out.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever been that close to a pelican before,” she said. “It was amazing.”

  “Yes, wasn’t it?” Joan said dryly.

  A handful of deer in the next area were even more exciting for Janet. Bessie had to admit that they were handsome animals, even if they did make her slightly uneasy from their grassy area behind a low fence.

  “They can get over that fence if they want to,” Joan hissed as one of the deer broke away from the others and began to walk towards them.

  “Isn’t it wonderful?” Janet replied. She took a step closer to the animal, who took another good look at all three of them and then turned and rejoined the others.

  The trio made their way through several more enclosures with much the same results. Janet seemed to be enjoying every bit of the experience, where her sister was less enthusiastic. Bessie wasn’t sure if she was more interested in the animals or in watching the sisters interact.

  “Australia,” Janet read off the next sign. “So the wallabies will be here.”

  “Yes, some of them, anyway,” Bessie agreed.

  “What do you mean?” Janet asked as they walked through the gates.

  “A mating pair escaped back in the nineteen-seventies,” Bessie explained. “They’ve managed to survive quite happily in the wild, although no one is quite sure how many of them are actually out there now.”

  “The island has its own wild wallaby population? That’s odd and somehow wonderful,” Janet said.

  A handful of animals were busily bouncing around the grass as the women entered the enclosure. The women watched as one large wallaby bounced over to the full food tray and began to eat.

  “I thought wallabies were small,” Joan said. “He’s huge.”

  “He can’t weigh more than fifty pounds,” Janet argued. “And he’s cute, too.”

  When the animal began to hop towards the women, even Janet was happy to move along, however. They crossed the enclosure and made their way through the next set of gates. The café was their next stop.

  “Let’s get some tea and cake or something,” Janet suggested. “Then we won’t need much lunch later.”

  “If we eat cake now, we won’t need any lunch in a few hours,” Joan argued.

  “But it’s just cool enough that tea sounds good,” Janet replied. “And Bessie said they do nice cakes here.”

  “They do do very nice cakes,” Bessie agreed.

  Joan sighed deeply and then followed the other two women into the café. When Janet and Bessie both ordered tea and slices of Victoria sponge, she did the same.

  “It’s a good thing I did a Bakewell tart for tonight,” she remarked as they waited for their tea to be made. “You wouldn’t want Victoria sponge again later.”

  Bessie and Janet exchanged glances. There was no way Bessie would turn down Victoria sponge, even twice in the same day, but she didn’t say a word.

  After their snack, they continued on their way through the rest of the park. The capybaras had just had babies, and all three women enjoyed watching their antics for several minutes. An assortment of tiny monkeys were also fun to watch. By the time they’d finished the park, Bessie was feeling as if she’d enjoyed the morning almost as much as Janet had.

  “Now what?” Janet asked once they were all back in the car.

  “We should probably head to Peel,” Joan suggested. “We can get a light lunch somewhere there.”

  “Yes, that’s probably the easiest thing to do,” Bessie agreed. “There are several pubs around the House of Mannanan.”

  “I wish we had time to visit Peel Castle,” Janet said as she started the car. “But I wouldn’t be happy with just dashing around the place. I’d want to do the audio tour and really look at everything. We don’t have time for that.”

  “Not today, but maybe tomorrow morning,” Bessie suggested.

  “I suspect we’ll be busy all day tomorrow with the fundraiser,” Janet said. “But we’ll see.”

  “I’m sorry,” Bessie told her. “I didn’t mean to drag you both into thi
s.”

  “We don’t mind,” Janet said firmly. “In fact, we’re happy to help.”

  “We are,” Joan added from the back of the car. “It’s been an odd visit, with everything that’s happened, but it’s been interesting and different, anyway.”

  “You’ll need a holiday from your holiday,” Bessie said.

  “We may, at that,” Janet laughed.

  She parked the car at the House of Mannanan and then the trio walked together to one of the pubs on the quayside.

  “Something light,” Janet said as she opened her menu. “Oh, look, shepherd’s pie, steak and kidney pie, chicken casserole. It all sounds so good.”

  “None of that is terribly light,” Joan said. “They have salads.”

  Janet looked over her menu and wrinkled her nose. “I’m not really in the mood for salad.”

  Bessie hid a grin behind her menu. No doubt Joan would order something light while Janet would order whatever sounded good to her, regardless of what her sister thought.

  “I’m going to have the tomato and basil soup,” Joan said after a moment. “That, with a small bread roll, should be more than enough to fill me after our tea break earlier.”

  “That sounds good, too,” Janet sighed. “We should go out to eat more often at home. Maybe then the menu here wouldn’t be so tempting.”

  “I’m going to have the steak and kidney pie,” Bessie said. “I may not be able eat it all, but I know it’s good here and I don’t get here very often.”

  “Your recommendation is enough for me,” Janet said. “I’ll have the same.”

  “I’ll go and order,” Joan offered.

  “I hope Joan doesn’t mind helping with the fundraiser,” Bessie said to Janet while Joan was at the bar ordering.

  “Oh, she’s enjoying being involved,” Janet assured her. “Even if she does complain about it, she really loves feeling needed.”

  “Still, it hasn’t been much of a holiday for you,” Bessie said. “You should go and do some sightseeing on the weekend. You don’t have to come to the whole conference.”