“That would be great, but if you can sleep, you should,” Fenella said.
Daniel and Winston were waiting in the building lobby when Fenella walked back in a short time later. The dogs greeted each other with excited noises.
“I can’t believe I didn’t see you two out there,” Fenella exclaimed.
“I took him for a run through the mean streets of Douglas,” Daniel told her. “I reckoned he’d grown bored with the promenade.”
“I didn’t even think of that. Dog ownership is harder than I thought it would be. I’m not sure I’ll be able to find new places to walk them.”
“I don’t think Winston cares where he walks, but I enjoyed the change of scenery,” Daniel said. “But now I must get home and get some sleep. I have an early shift tomorrow.”
Before Fenella could do much more than nod, the man walked away, leaving her with the dogs.
“Good night,” she muttered as the front door to the building swung shut behind him.
Half an hour later she was curled up in bed with the dogs and Katie. “I could get used to this,” she sighed as Winston snuggled against her. “I bet you’re wonderful on cold nights in the winter months.”
Both dogs were barking at the same time. Fenella sat up and tried to work out where she was and what was happening. When the barking stopped, she could hear the phone ringing, the sound of which set off the dogs again.
“Oh, do be quiet,” she said firmly as she slipped out of bed. Winston and Fiona, who had been standing on the bed, both laid back down and shut their eyes. Fenella picked up the phone from the bedside table and carried it into the living room.
“Hello?” she said. It was four in the morning and she couldn’t help but feel like she was about to get bad news.
“I’m sorry to bother you at this hour, but we’ve found Harvey,” Daniel said.
“Is he, that is, I mean, is he okay?” Fenella stammered out.
“He’s confused and tired and he can’t remember much of anything about the last several days, but the doctors seem to think that he’ll make a full recovery.”
“Thank goodness for that. Is there anything else you can tell me?”
“He was found wandering along the promenade around midnight,” Daniel replied. “The man who found him said that Harvey was upset and couldn’t tell him his name or where he lived. The man took him home and gave him something to eat and then rang 999. The constable who took the call checked the missing person reports and then rang Gloria. Eventually she rang me.”
“Where is Harvey now?”
“At Noble’s. He’s being checked over thoroughly, even though he insists that he’s fine.”
“Has he remembered who he is, then?”
“Yes, and he’s remembered Winston. He’s understandably eager to see Winston.”
“I can’t bring him to Noble’s, can I?”
“I think, under the circumstances, bringing him to Noble’s would be permissible. I’ll send a car for you, if you’d like to come.”
Fenella’s mind raced. She felt sorry for Harvey, who had clearly suffered through some sort of ordeal over the past few days, but faced with the prospect of giving Winston back to him, she found she wanted to delay the inevitable.
“Fenella?” Daniel said. “Are you coming down?”
She sighed. “Yes, I’ll bring Winston, but I may have to bring Fiona as well. I’m not sure I want to leave her alone here.”
“And Shelly can’t have her because of Smokey.”
“Exactly.”
“Bring them both. I can always have a constable look after Fiona while you’re here.”
“How long will it take someone to get here?”
“Just a few minutes.”
“So no time for a shower,” Fenella sighed. Daniel always seemed to see her at her worst, and it was never her fault.
“Constable Corlett is on his way now,” Daniel replied.
Fenella put the phone down and turned on the lights. The animals were vocal in their disapproval as she dashed around the room, throwing on clothes and trying to do something with her hair.
“Makeup?” she asked her reflection.
“You don’t want to look like you were trying too hard,” she answered herself.
She settled for a coat of lip balm and then tried to find two shoes that matched. Having had to try three times to get one of the laces tied, she was just finding the dogs’ leashes when the constable knocked on her door.
“Ah, hello,” she said, feeling flustered by everything that was happening. “Come in.”
The young man with dark blond hair and green eyes gave her a bright smile. “You know what I love about my job?” he asked as Fenella shoved random things into her handbag. “Every day is different. I never imagined when I turned up for my shift last night that I’d be taxiing dogs to Noble’s before I went home.”
Fenella shook her head. “It is a little out of the ordinary,” she muttered. “Winston, Fiona, come here,” she called. The dogs didn’t respond.
The constable followed her into the bedroom and laughed as he took in the scene. All three animals appeared to be fast asleep, clustered in the middle of the large bed.
“Winston, come on, time for a walk,” Fenella said. The big dog opened one eye and then shut it tightly. “Fiona, walkies,” Fenella tried. Fiona didn’t even open one eye.
“Any ideas?” she asked the policeman.
“Winston, treats,” the man said.
The big dog opened one eye and then the other. When he lifted his head, Fenella ran to the kitchen and grabbed a handful of treats. By the time she’d turned around, both dogs were waiting for her. Constable Corlett snapped leashes onto them while Fenella gave them their treats.
“How’s the baby?” Fenella asked a short while later as they were making their way through the quiet Douglas streets. When she’d first met the man some months earlier, over a dead body, his wife had been expecting their first child at any moment.
“He’s amazing,” the man replied. “He’s gurgling and babbling and smiling all the time now. He isn’t really sleeping, though. I’m doing nights while my wife is on maternity leave. The baby usually has her up at least twice in the night, but then when I get home at seven, she can go to bed for three or four solid hours while I entertain Odin. When she gets up, I go to bed for a while, and then we all have a late dinner together before I have to go to work.”
“I’m exhausted just thinking about that,” Fenella said.
The man laughed. “It’s not exactly fun, but it’s totally worth it. Anyway, it won’t last forever. Eventually the little man will learn to sleep at night and I’ll switch back to more normal working hours.”
He pulled up in front of the hospital and stopped the car. “I’m just going to ring Inspector Robinson and let him know we’re here,” he said. “I think it might be best if he meets you here and walks you and the dogs past security.”
“Yes, that’s probably wise,” Fenella agreed.
Daniel was there a moment later. “Mr. Garus’s doctor has agreed to let you bring Winston in because he believes that it will help with the man’s rather delicate mental state,” he told Fenella as she exited the car with the dogs. “I haven’t mentioned it to Mr. Garus, though.”
“I should have called Shelly and given her the good news,” Fenella said suddenly as they entered the building.
“It’s only five o’clock. You can ring her in another hour or two when she’s likely to be up,” Daniel suggested.
The dogs were quiet as they crossed the empty lobby and entered the elevator. The security guard on duty had glanced up from his book and simply shrugged as they’d passed. A moment later they arrived at the nurses’ station.
“This must be Winston,” the woman behind the desk said. “I hope he can help poor Mr. Garus. He’s so anxious and upset.”
“He’s a great dog,” Fenella told her. “And he’s missed Harvey. I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to see each other.�
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“I didn’t realize that you were bringing two dogs,” the woman said.
“Fiona belonged to a neighbor who, sadly, passed away,” Fenella said. “She and Winston are good friends now.”
The woman nodded. “Dr. Slater said that you could go in when you got here,” she told them. “But I’m to monitor the situation.”
She led them down the corridor, stopping in front of a door. “We’ve put him in a private room to try to help him relax,” she explained. She pushed the door open.
“You have visitors,” she announced brightly.
Fenella walked into the room and forced herself to smile at the man in the bed. She knew he was in his eighties, and he looked every single day of it. He squinted at her and frowned. “Who are you?” he demanded.
Instead of replying, she pulled Winston into the room. The dog took one look at Harvey and nearly pulled Fenella off her feet as he struggled to get to him. The dog rushed to the man’s beside and then stopped and studied him carefully. After a moment, he climbed onto the bed and lay down next to his owner.
Fenella discovered that she was crying as she watched the reunion. Harvey was sobbing loudly as he clung to Winston and the dog was making soft whimpering noises as he rubbed his head against the man’s arm. She turned to find that the nurse was also wiping away tears as she shook her head.
“Well, there’s no denying that it’s his dog,” the woman said.
For several minutes, no one spoke. Eventually, Harvey looked up from Winston. “I don’t know who you are, young lady, but thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
“I’m Fenella Woods. I live in the building next door to yours. Shelly Quirk and I found Winston running around loose and I’ve been looking after him for you.”
“It looks as if you’ve done a good job,” the man said gruffly. “He’s even clean, which isn’t usually the case.”
“I took to the groomers yesterday after he’d had a splash in the sea.”
Harvey chuckled. “You love the sea, don’t you?” he asked Winston. “But you drag out as much sand as you leave behind.”
“I’m very glad that you’re okay,” Fenella told him. “Shelly and I were both very worried about you. Shelly said you’d never leave Winston on his own.”
The man frowned. “I can’t believe that I did,” he said slowly. “I simply can’t remember exactly what happened. It’s very frustrating.”
“Perhaps it will come back to you slowly,” Fenella said encouragingly.
“I must have fallen and hit my head or something,” the man told her. “Although the doctor said there isn’t any sign of any injury.” He sighed. “I suppose it doesn’t matter. I’m fine now and so is Winston.”
“We’d still like to work out exactly what happened to you,” Daniel interjected.
“It doesn’t much matter,” the man shrugged.
“It might,” Daniel told him. “While you were missing, one of your neighbors went missing as well.”
“Who?” Harvey demanded.
“Mortimer Morrison,” Daniel replied.
“Oh, he’s always going off to visit his sister across,” Harvey said airily. “He’ll be back.”
“I’m afraid he won’t this time. He’s dead,” Daniel said softly.
“Dead? Mortimer? But that isn’t possible,” Harvey said. “What about Fiona?”
“She’s here with me,” Fenella replied. “I’ve been looking after her as well.”
“I was so excited to see Winston that I didn’t even notice,” the man exclaimed. “Hello, Fiona. Aren’t you a good girl, standing there quietly through all the excitement.”
Fiona gave a soft “yap” in reply.
“How did Mortimer die?” Harvey asked.
“We aren’t sure yet,” Daniel said. “His body was found in his car in a car park in Andreas.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Harvey said. “Or maybe I’m still out of sorts.” He sighed. “Poor Mortimer. He was an awfully difficult person to like, but Fiona seemed to care about him, so he couldn’t have been all bad.”
“Can you think of any possible link between your disappearance and his?” Daniel asked.
Harvey opened his mouth and then shut it again. “I don’t know,” he said after a moment. “I don’t know what happened to me, but I barely knew Mortimer. I can’t see any reason why the two things would be linked, but, well, something is nagging at me, something about Mortimer.”
“I hope your memory improves as you recover,” Daniel said. “You mentioned that Mortimer has a sister. Do you know her name or where she lives?”
“I think she was called Mary,” Harvey said. “But I could be wrong about that. She passed away over a year ago, though. Mortimer inherited her estate, such as it was. He was gone for a full week that time, selling everything and settling it all.”
“And that was the last time he went across,” Fenella said.
“It probably was,” Harvey agreed. “I’d forgotten that she’d died when you first mentioned Mortimer being missing. It’s all very odd.”
“Knock, knock,” a man said from the doorway. Fenella turned around and smiled instinctively at the attractive man.
“I see Winston has arrived,” he said, studying the scene.
“Yes, and I won’t let him go,” Harvey said defiantly. “If you want him out, you’ll have to discharge me.”
“We’ll discharge you when you’re well enough to go home,” the man replied. “But you don’t want to keep that poor dog in this tiny room. He needs exercise and fresh air.”
“So do I,” Harvey said.
The man chuckled. “You may be right about that. Your color has certainly improved in the last half hour. How’s your memory doing?”
“I remember everything that’s happened since I’ve been here,” Harvey replied. “I remember that you’re Doctor Slater and that you needlessly jabbed me with several needles. I remember when Inspector Robinson arrived and sent away Inspector Hunt, who was much prettier than he is.”
The doctor laughed. “You’re feeling better, then. Would you like some breakfast?”
“I would. A full English breakfast please, with extra bacon.” He glanced over at Fenella. “I would really prefer an American-style breakfast with pancakes and lots of bacon. That was my favorite part of all of the travelling I did in the US over the years. Pancakes with maple syrup made getting up before midday worth it.”
“Once you’re home, you can come over to my apartment for breakfast,” Fenella told him. “I’ll make you pancakes and bacon no matter what time of day it is.”
“Let me see if I can get you some clear broth and toast,” the doctor said. “If you can stomach that, we’ll try something a bit more ambitious later in the day.”
“Did you ever think that maybe people in hospital don’t want to eat, not because they are unwell but because the food is so unpalatable?” Harvey asked. “Clear broth and dry toast aren’t the slightest bit more appealing than staying hungry.”
“What if I found you some marmalade for your toast?” the nurse asked. “Would that help?”
“It couldn’t hurt,” the man replied, winking at her.
“I know you’re enjoying your visit with your dog,” the doctor said. “But we really can’t have him on the floor all day. He needs to go home with your visitor.”
“I’ll be going then, too,” Harvey said firmly.
“I’m not prepared to release you yet,” the doctor replied. “You’ve only been here for a few hours, and you may be suffering from a head injury. If you had someone to go home to, I might consider it, but you told me that you live alone. Until we have a better idea of what happened to you, I think you’re better off here, where we can keep an eye on you.”
Daniel held up a hand before Harvey could argue. “Fenella is happy to keep Winston for a few more hours,” he said, catching her eye and winking at her. “Why don’t you worry about breakfast and getting some rest while she worrie
s about him. She can bring him back this afternoon for another visit.”
“She can bring him back this afternoon so he can go home with me,” Harvey corrected him. “I’m not staying overnight.” He turned to the doctor. “I’ll hire myself a nurse to stay with me if that will make you feel better,” he said. “I’m sure you can recommend someone. She’ll need to love dogs.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” the doctor said. “For now, I’d like to ask all of the visitors to leave and let the man get some rest,” he said as he walked out of the room. “And that includes the canine visitors.”
Winston needed some persuading to get down off the bed. Harvey finally told him to get down and the dog obeyed instantly.
“I will bring him back later,” Fenella promised. “Or Shelly will. I do have plans for tonight.”
“Hot date?” the man asked.
“Something like that,” Fenella muttered, blushing. She focused her eyes on Winston, hoping that Daniel wasn’t listening.
In the corridor, as she walked the dogs back toward the hospital’s entrance, she found out that he had been. “Going out with Peter tonight, then?” Daniel asked, his tone almost disinterested.
“No, Donald,” Fenella replied.
“Donald Donaldson? I didn’t know he was on the island at the moment.”
Fenella wasn’t sure how to reply to that, so she ducked the issue. “Fiona, you’re coming unclipped,” she said, bending down to check that Fiona’s leash was properly attached to her collar. It was, of course, but by the time she’d finished fussing over it, the elevator had deposited them in the building’s lobby.
“I’ll have Constable Corlett take you home,” Daniel said. “What time were you thinking of coming back?”
“I don’t know. Dr. Slater didn’t seem to like having Winston here, but Harvey sure did. I know Harvey needs rest, but I think he’ll rest more easily with Winston than without.”
“I agree, but Dr. Slater still has tests to run. I’m sure that will be a lot easier without Winston and Fiona underfoot.”
“I should try to find somewhere else for Fiona to stay when I come back,” Fenella remarked. “She’s just an unnecessary complication, really.”
An Isle of Man Ghostly Cozy Collection - DEF Page 13