Aunt Bessie Volunteers

by Diana Xarissa

  “I’m usually here, but if you ring first, you’ll know for certain,” Bessie said.

  “I’ll try to ring first, then,” Anna said as she got to her feet. Bessie walked her to the door and let her out.

  “I can’t believe the chief constable is having you work with her on this. She’s a trained inspector,” Bessie said as she sat back down next to John.

  “And she’s a very good one, at that, but there have been issues,” he replied.

  “Oh, I know all about the issues. Some man treated her badly, and now she’s being treated badly by the chief constable, too.”

  “The chief constable is doing what he can to help her,” John argued. “I know she resents my involvement, but it’s entirely possible that he’d have called in an additional inspector for this case anyway. We’re digging through thirty-year-old missing person reports from all over world. It’s a big job for two people, let alone just one.”

  “And none of this is your fault,” Bessie added. “I’m sorry. I don’t even like Anna, but I’m finding myself feeling sorry for her.”

  “She’d hate that, if she knew.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  “I don’t want you feeling sorry for me, either.”

  Bessie patted his arm. “Are you okay? You look as if you haven’t been eating, and you only ate one biscuit since you’ve been here.”

  “I haven’t had much of an appetite lately.”

  “I’m happy to listen if you want to talk about anything.”

  John shrugged. “I told myself I was going to limit today’s conversation to the body at Peel Castle. I don’t want to bother you with my problems.”

  “Sometimes we all need someone with whom to share our problems.”

  Bessie got up and switched the kettle back on. “More tea, or would you prefer coffee?”

  “If it isn’t too much trouble, coffee would probably help.”

  “What did you have for lunch?”

  “Lunch? I don’t know that I had lunch.” John glanced at the clock. “I should have, really, by now.”

  “Where are the children today?”

  “They’re both with friends for the day and overnight. I thought they needed and deserved a break from everything.”

  “And so do you.”

  “Sadly, as the adult, I don’t get breaks.”

  “You’re here now, at least.”

  “With my home phone forwarded to my mobile,” he sighed.

  Bessie was tempted to tell him to switch the phone off for half an hour, but she knew he wouldn’t agree to the idea. “I don’t know the whole story, but it seems to me as if there’s very little you can do from here,” she said as she got out bread and sandwich meat.

  “There’s nothing I can do from here, except get increasingly frustrated. Harvey won’t tell me anything definite and when I talk to Sue she doesn’t usually make sense. If I didn’t have the children to worry about, I’d fly to Africa myself and find out what’s really happening down there.”

  “The children need you here.”

  “Yes, they do. Doona and I have talked about it for hours and hours and we keep reaching the same conclusion. Whatever is happening in Africa, I have to put the children first. They may well be losing one parent. They need me.”

  “How are they doing?”

  “Better than I am, really,” John sighed.

  Bessie put a ham and cheese toastie on the table in front of him. “Coffee will be just a minute longer,” she said.

  He nodded. “I’m not really hungry.”

  “But if you don’t eat, you won’t have the energy to keep going. As you said yourself, the children need you.”

  After a long sigh, he took a bite of the sandwich. Bessie made herself a cup of tea and then poured coffee for John. After putting both cups on the table, she sat back down.

  “What can I do to help?” she asked.

  “This is helping,” he replied, nodding towards the half-empty plate. “I believe it’s the uncertainty that’s making it so difficult. Things have been up in the air since she and Harvey left, with them changing their return date over and over again. That was difficult enough for all of us. This is worse, of course.”

  “Have you spoken to Sue’s mother at all?” Bessie asked.

  John nodded. “She rang me a few days ago. We hadn’t spoken since, well, since Sue moved back to Manchester. She’s upset and anxious and she wants me to do something.”

  “Something specific?”

  “She wants me to go to Africa and bring Sue home,” John sighed. “She’d do it herself if she could, but she has too many health issues. She got angry when I told her I wouldn’t go.”

  “What did she expect you to do with the children?”

  “She offered to have them stay with her, an idea they both hated, I should add.”

  “They’re in school. They can’t simply go and stay in Manchester in the middle of the school year.”

  “That’s what I told her, but she disagreed. She’s Sue’s mother, so obviously her concerns are for Sue over everything else, even her grandchildren. I understand that, but my priorities are different.”

  “I don’t suppose she knew anything more than you do?”

  “No, if anything, she knew less. I don’t think she’s been asking Harvey the number of questions that I’ve been asking. She hasn’t spoken to Sue in several weeks, either, even though the children speak to her nearly every day.”

  “I wonder why.”

  “Apparently Harvey always rings her when Sue is asleep. I’m not sure why he’d choose to ring her when Sue is asleep and ring us when Sue is awake, but that’s something she’ll have to discuss with Harvey if she wants an explanation. I simply told her that we’ve spoken to Sue fairly regularly.”

  “Was she upset?”

  “Less so about that than about my refusal to go to Africa. She was also angry that I’d asked the police to get involved. Harvey saved her life, or so she believes. She won’t hear a negative word about him.”

  “Maybe that’s why he has Sue talk to you. You’re less likely to believe what Harvey says.”

  “Maybe, but I’d rather he didn’t, really.”

  “Oh?”

  “She’s incredibly confused,” John explained as he pushed his empty plate away. He took a biscuit. “She sometimes talks to the children as if they were much younger than they are, for instance.”

  Bessie frowned as John began to nibble on his biscuit. “That must be difficult for the children.”

  “It is, obviously, but it’s also difficult for me. A few nights ago she started talking about our honeymoon and how much fun we’d had. She kept telling me that she loves me.” He stopped and swiped angrily at his eyes.

  Bessie patted his arm. “How sad.”

  “I’m sure it’s difficult for Harvey to listen to, as well. When she left me, she told me that she’d never truly loved me. That was difficult to hear. Now, listening to her babble on and on about how much she loves me and how happy being with me makes her, well, that’s almost worse. I don’t know what to believe any longer.”

  “You should believe whatever makes you feel better.”

  “I want to see her so badly,” he said angrily. “I want her well again, too. I never wanted anything bad to happen to her. The children need her, if nothing else.”

  “Surely things can’t go on this way for much longer.”

  “I’ve been ringing everyone I know and asking for a lot of favours. A colleague that I worked with years ago has connections in Nigeria, with the police there. He’s going to get someone to talk to the police where Sue and Harvey are staying. Maybe I’ll get more information that way, as the police aren’t really telling me anything when I ring.”

  “I wonder if Andrew could help,” Bessie said.

  “Andrew? Do you mean Andrew Cheatham? I never thought of ringing him.”

  Bessie had met the former police inspector when she and Doona had been on holiday in the Lake Distr
ict. He’d been helpful to them when Doona had been suspected of murder, and he and Bessie had stayed in touch ever since. Andrew had recently visited the island, and together the pair had solved two cold cases.

  “He was pretty important in Scotland Yard, wasn’t he? He may have some international connections. If he can’t help, I know someone who knows someone who works in the government,” Bessie replied.

  John raised an eyebrow. “Should I ask?”

  Bessie shook her head. Her friend, Janet Markham, had some sort of relationship with a man who claimed to work for a top-secret government organisation. Bessie had never met the man in question and had no idea whether he’d told Janet the truth or not, but she was prepared to do whatever she could to help John, even if that meant asking Janet to ask Edward Bennett for assistance.

  “I’m not certain I want to ring Andrew,” John said. “I hate asking for favours, and I’ve been doing it a great deal lately.”

  “I’ll ring him. I hate asking for favours, too, but only for myself. I’m happy to do it for you and for Thomas and Amy.”

  John ate another biscuit in silence. Eventually, he nodded. “If you can ring him, I’d really appreciate it.”

  “I can’t promise he’ll be able to help, but if he can’t, maybe he’ll be able to suggest someone else who can.”

  “Let me know what he says,” John requested as he got to his feet. “I need to get home. The house is a disaster area. The kids are almost always at home, sitting by the phone. No one has dusted or vacuumed in weeks. I’m afraid to go into the kitchen. Dan Ross would love to write about me being attacked by my own dirty dishes.”

  Bessie chuckled. “He just loves gripping headlines.”

  “Thank you for your time. I feel better for having talked with you.”

  “I’m always here if you need to talk. I’m here if the children need to talk, as well. I know they have you and Doona, but they might benefit from a chat with me or even a trained counsellor.”

  “Doona suggested the same things, both you and a counsellor. I’ve made an appointment for them both next Friday afternoon with a highly recommended counsellor. I may take you up on your offer as well.”

  “You know where to find me.”

  “I do. Thank you again.”

  Bessie walked John to the door and gave him a tight hug before he left. She watched from the doorway as he drove slowly away. After shutting the door, she sighed. She didn’t really want to ring Andrew Cheatham, but she’d promised.

  Chapter 7

  “Bessie, what an unexpected pleasure,” Andrew’s voice came down the line.

  Feeling surprised that he’d actually answered, when she’d been expecting a machine, Bessie blinked and then took a deep breath. “I hate to bother you, as I’m sure you’re busy.”

  “Not at all. I mean, I am busy, but you aren’t a bother. I was just talking about you yesterday, in fact, but that’s a conversation for another day.”

  “Is it?”

  “Yes, indeed. Maybe for the spring, but probably for the summer. I’m going to have to come back and see you in order to have a proper conversation, as well.”

  “Whatever do you mean?”

  Andrew chuckled. “Not a thing, really. All will be revealed when the time is right, if that time ever comes. What can I do for you, though?”

  “I was hoping for a favour for John, actually,” Bessie said, firmly pushing everything Andrew had said out of her head. If he wanted to talk in riddles, she wasn’t going to let it bother her.

  “John? John Rockwell, do you mean? I’m happy to do him a favour if I can. He’s a very fine man and an excellent police inspector.”

  “It’s a rather more personal problem, though,” Bessie said. “I don’t know how much you know about John’s marriage or his former wife?”

  “To avoid confusion, pretend I know nothing and tell me everything.”

  “I don’t know how they met or how long they were together before they married, but I do know that not long after they were married Sue told John that she was still in love with her former boyfriend, Harvey.”

  “Oh, dear.”

  “Yes, well, her confession was complicated by the fact that she was already pregnant with Thomas, her and John’s first child together. Apparently, after much discussion, the couple decided to try to make things work, even with Harvey’s shadow looming over the relationship.”

  “Was she seeing Harvey at all?”

  “I don’t believe so. Sue and John had a second child, but I understand they were having some difficulties when they moved to the Isle of Man. Sue hated it here, which I’m certain didn’t help.”

  “That must have been difficult for John. From what he’s told me, he likes everything about the island.”

  “Yes, he does. Anyway, around the same time as their move, Sue’s mother fell ill. To cut a long story short, her oncologist just happened to be Harvey.”

  “My goodness. I take it he wasn’t now happily married to someone else?”

  “I believe he was single. Whatever, once they saw each other again, Sue decided to end her marriage to be with Harvey. I’m probably oversimplifying what was undoubtedly a difficult decision for her, but I’ve never met Sue, so I’m not terribly sympathetic.”

  “I assume Harvey was in favour of the idea.”

  “He must have been, because they got engaged before the divorce was finalised and were married last July.”

  “My goodness, that quickly?”

  “Yes, that quickly. Sue was living with the children in Manchester by that point anyway, but as soon as the children’s school term finished, they came over to the island to stay with John while Sue and Harvey went on their honeymoon.”

  “This is all sounding quite familiar now,” Andrew said. “Didn’t they go to Africa so that Harvey could use his medical training to help there?”

  “They did. They were meant to be back in September, but they kept pushing their return back, week after week.”

  “Which left John having to make all sorts of decisions about schooling for them. We did talk about this when I was there.”

  “Yes, I’m sure we did. Anyway, just before Christmas, Harvey informed John that Sue was ill. At the time, Harvey didn’t think that she had much time left, and he had John gather the children almost immediately for what he said might be their last chance to speak to their mother before she died.”

  “Those poor children.”

  “Now, here we are, several weeks later, and it seems that Sue is still holding on, although Harvey insists that she’s beyond treatment.”

  “Which hospital is treating her and what’s their official diagnosis?”

  “That’s just it, she isn’t in a hospital. They’re somewhere rather remote and Harvey doesn’t want to leave because he feels his work is too important to interrupt.”

  “His work is more important than his wife’s health?” Andrew sounded angry.

  “From what I hear, yes, although this is all second- or third-hand information. John has spoken to the local police and they’re meant to be investigating, but no one seems to be able to give him any solid information. He talks to Sue occasionally, but she seems somewhat out of touch with reality.”

  “And Harvey is only telling John what he wants John to know,” Andrew sighed. “Where are they exactly?”

  Bessie told him what John had told her about their location. “I’m not sure I could find that on a map.”

  “I could. If I were John, I wouldn’t waste any more time or effort on working with the local police. They’re most likely for sale to the highest bidder and I imagine that Harvey is paying them enough to keep them quiet, whatever they may have found.”

  “He could get away with murder?”

  “It’s difficult to say for certain, but maybe, especially if he truly is saving lives there.”

  “I was wondering if there was anything you could do, if maybe you had any connections in that part of the world.”

  “I
have connections everywhere,” Andrew laughed. “Let me ring a few people and see if I can get any more information.” He asked Bessie a dozen questions about Sue, most of which she couldn’t answer.

  “I wish I knew more. You should ring John,” she said in the end.

  “I may do just that, but not today. For today, I’m going to start the ball rolling in Africa. It sounds as if it might be urgent.”

  “It might,” Bessie agreed.

  “Before I go and start ringing people, tell me how you are, though,” Andrew said.

  The pair chatted for several minutes about everything that had happened to each of them since they’d last seen one another.

  “After a thorough investigation, the police have determined that Oliver was pocketing three-quarters of the money that his charity raised each year,” Bessie told him as she finished telling Andrew about the last murder investigation in which she’d been involved. “He’s going on trial for both murder and fraud.”

  “I do miss policing,” Andrew said. “I don’t miss spending my time with men and women who are happy to steal from cancer victims, though. Let me see what I can do for John. I’ll ring you in a day or two with an update,” Andrew promised.

  “Thank you,” Bessie replied.

  She made dinner on automatic, her mind racing. As she was clearing away the dishes, someone knocked on her door.

  “Bessie?” the woman on the doorstep asked, frowning at her.

  “Yes?”

  “My goodness, you look a good deal older than I remember,” her visitor blurted out.

  Bessie frowned. She’s stopped counting her age when she’d received her free bus pass, but she knew she was a good few years away from receiving a telegram from the Queen. The woman at the door looked to be of a similar age, anyway. “I’m afraid I don’t recognise you,” she said stiffly after a moment.

  “Oh, goodness, of course you don’t. I’ve grown old, too, haven’t I?” she laughed. “I’m Evangeline Gibson. My mum lived up the road from here and we used to bring my daughter Emma to play on the beach sometimes.