Aunt Bessie Volunteers

by Diana Xarissa

  Bessie nodded. “I remember you, but I don’t think I would have recognised you.” You’re much older than I remember, she added to herself.

  “We’re all getting older,” Evangeline said. “I hope I haven’t come at a bad time. I needed to talk to someone and you were the only person I thought might listen.”

  “Come in,” Bessie invited. “Have a seat while I put the kettle on.”

  “It’s exactly the same,” Evangeline marvelled as she looked around the cosy kitchen. “I was only in here once or twice, when you invited Mum and Emma and me in for tea and biscuits, but it looks exactly the way I remember.”

  “I suppose most people would have put in a new kitchen by now, but this one suits me, and everything works.”

  “I had a new kitchen fitted twelve years ago and I still regret it. It still feels as if everything is in the wrong place, and none of the new things work as well as the old ones did, either. I’d had my old cooker for thirty-seven years, you know. I’ve had to buy three in the past twelve years now, as each one breaks after it runs out of warranty.”

  Bessie put biscuits on a plate and set it on the table. “They don’t make things to last these days. People want new things all the time, so they don’t need to make things that last.”

  Evangeline sighed. “I’m afraid you’re right about that.”

  A short while later, with tea on the table, Bessie sat down opposite her visitor. “What’s on your mind, then?” she asked.

  “Emma, of course. The entire island is talking about her, aren’t they?”

  “I don’t know about the entire island, but her name has come up a few times recently in connection with the skeleton that was found at Peel Castle.”

  “Emma isn’t dead.”

  “I’m happy to hear that.”

  “Can you simply tell the police and that horrible man at the newspaper that she’s alive and well? Will they all leave me alone if you do?”

  “I can tell them all that you’ve told me she’s alive and well, but I’m not certain that they’ll believe me any more than they’d believe you. The police will want proof as they are investigating an unusual death. Without any proof, the reporter will probably simply speculate wildly.”

  Evangeline frowned. “I don’t want any more wild speculation. I just want it all to go away.”

  “If you tell the police where to find Emma, they’ll go away, anyway.”

  “I don’t want to talk to the police.”

  Bessie sighed. “Whatever Emma did or whatever trouble she may have been in or caused, the police just want to be sure that she isn’t their skeleton now. Whatever happened in the past is ancient history.”

  Evangeline shrugged and took a biscuit. While she ate it, Bessie drank some tea and tried to imagine what the other woman was hiding. Maybe Emma had been pregnant when she’d left.

  “If I tell you where to find her, can you ring her and talk to her and then tell the police she’s fine?” Evangeline asked eventually.

  “They aren’t likely to take my word for it. It’s their job to investigate and they have to be absolutely certain before they can cross her name off their list,” Bessie replied, even though she was fairly sure that if she told John she’d spoken to Emma, he’d cross her off the list of possibilities.

  “She doesn’t want to talk to the police.”

  “That’s understandable, but in this case they aren’t interested in anything more than verifying that she’s alive.”

  “That’s all? They aren’t going to ask her why she left the island or what she’s been doing since she’s been gone?”

  “They might, but she doesn’t have to answer. As long as she can give them enough information to verify who she is, they should be satisfied.”

  Evangeline blew out a long breath. “That should be fine,” she said softly. “What sort of questions will they ask, do you think?”

  “Just whatever they have to ask in order to prove her identity. If she has a passport or a driver’s license, those can probably help prove who she is.”

  “She has both,” Evangeline said. “I thought the police would be able to track her down through them, actually.”

  “If it were a murder investigation and they had a solid reason to believe that the body was hers, they might be able to search for such things, but I don’t believe they can do so without a good reason. There are probably dozens of Emma Gibsons in the UK, too. It would take them a long time to track them all down.”

  “Yes, I suppose so,” Evangeline sighed. “I’m going to go home and ring Emma. I may tell her to ring you, if you don’t mind. Maybe you could set her mind at rest about everything.”

  “I’m happy to speak to her if you think it would help.”

  “It might,” Evangeline said. “That will be for Emma to decide.”

  She got to her feet and headed for the door. “Thank you for your time,” she said formally as she opened the door.

  “It was nice to see you again,” Bessie replied.

  “Yes, thank you,” she replied absentmindedly as she exited.

  Bessie walked over and shut the door behind her. It had been a very strange conversation. She thought about ringing Anna or John to tell them about the chat, but decided to wait and see if Emma herself rang.

  Assuming she truly is still alive and well, Bessie added to herself. Was it possible that Evangeline was going to ring and pretend to be Emma, Bessie wondered. The phone interrupted her thoughts.

  “Bessie? It’s Dave. I’m afraid I’m ringing with rather bad news. My wife couldn’t think of anyone who might have contact information for Lauren. She even rang all of her relatives on that side of the family, well, most of them anyway. No one talks to Uncle Gus, but regardless, none of them were able to help.”

  “Never mind. It was kind of her to try. I’ll pass the information along to Inspector Lambert. She may want to speak to your wife. Maybe she’ll even want to talk to Uncle Gus.”

  Dave laughed. “Trust me, she doesn’t want to do that.”

  Bessie put the phone down wondering what was wrong with Uncle Gus. She was still tidying the kitchen when the phone rang again.

  “Bessie Cubbon? This is Meredith Houseman. I know you know everyone on the island, so could you please tell them all to stop talking about me?”

  “I’m afraid I don’t have that much power,” Bessie replied.

  The woman on the other end of the phone laughed. “No one can stop Manx skeet once it starts. I remember it well. That, and far too many other things, too. I don’t miss it, you know.”

  “The island?”

  “The island, the people, the weather, the skeet, the TT, all of it, any of it. I never felt as if I belonged on the island and once I got away, I was certain I didn’t.”

  “You need to ring Inspector Anna Lambert of the Peel Constabulary. She’ll need to verify that you are indeed Meredith Houseman.”

  “Oh, I talked to her first,” Meredith replied. “She got my number from Joe and rang me. Once I heard what was happening, I knew everyone would be talking about me again. When I spoke to Joe, he suggested ringing you. He said you could stop the gossip if anyone could.”

  “You still talk to Joe?”

  “We’re still married, which suits us both.” Meredith sighed. “I wasn’t going to tell you the whole story. I don’t think anyone needs to know the story, really, but I told the police inspector enough of it to satisfy her. I may as well do the same for you.”

  “I’d appreciate that. When you’re done, you’ll have to tell me which parts of the story you don’t mind my repeating to others.”

  “For Joe’s sake, I’d rather you didn’t tell anyone anything. The police have the story, or enough of it to keep them happy. I don’t want anything about me in the local papers. I’m only telling you because I believe I can trust you to keep my secrets.”

  “As long as the police know everything, I won’t repeat what you tell me to anyone.”

  “Excellent.” There
was a long pause and then Meredith laughed again. “I’m making it all sound incredibly dramatic, but it’s really quite a boring story. I suppose that’s why I’d rather you not repeat it. I’d much prefer if people were imagining that I’m off having a fabulous life somewhere.”

  “And you aren’t?”

  “It’s okay, but it isn’t fabulous. Here’s the thing, I got married way too young to a man that I didn’t really love. Joe’s a great guy and we had some fun together, but it was never a great romance. For what it’s worth, Joe didn’t really love me, either, he was just hoping for regular sex. We did okay for a while, and then he was offered a job in the Lake District. He didn’t want to take it.”

  “He didn’t?”

  “No he loved the island, a good deal more than he loved me, as it turned out. I managed to persuade him to take the job anyway. I promised him that we’d give it a year and then, if he wasn’t happy, we could move back to the island.”

  “And a year later, he moved back.”

  “Exactly. I fell in love with the Lake District. It’s beautiful here, and it doesn’t rain nearly as much as it does on the island. When we first moved across, I found a little job that I loved, working in a local antique shop. The owner and I, well, we had an affair. It wasn’t a great romance either, but it was a good deal more exciting than life with Joe had been. Anyway, when the year was up, Joe wanted to go back to the island and I didn’t. We didn’t even argue about it, really. I told him to go, but that I was staying, and he didn’t object.”

  “Why didn’t he just tell everyone that when he got back to the island?”

  “He told me that that’s exactly what he did tell everyone. Is he lying?”

  Bessie thought for a minute. “I gather he told everyone that you’d stayed behind with friends.”

  “Yes, that’s exactly right. I moved in with the antique shop owner for a few months, but that didn’t work out, so then I got my own little place.”

  “I was told your parents wanted to file a missing person report.”

  Meredith sighed. “You remember that list of things that I didn’t miss from the island? You can put my parents at the top of that list.”

  “My goodness.”

  “They were incredibly overprotective and they were also very demanding. Even though I was married, they still wanted me to visit them at least three or four times a week. Every visit, they had a list of jobs that needed doing, as well. I was there almost every day, moving furniture, painting, decorating, taking them places they needed to go, and running their errands for them. They used to make Joe do a lot for them, too. It was exhausting. I think they were the main reason why Joe was willing to try the Lake District for that year, actually.”

  “Did he go back to helping them once he returned?”

  “Oh, no, he was smart enough to get angry when they threatened to file a missing person report. He stopped speaking to them after that. I deliberately didn’t ring them for a few weeks to spark the argument, actually.”

  “You’re fortunate they never filed the report.”

  “If they had, Joe could easily have given the police my number. There’s no law that says daughters have to ring their parents regularly.”

  “That’s true,” Bessie conceded.

  “Anyway, I’ve been living over here perfectly happily for the past thirty-four years, with no plans to come back to the island. Joe has made rather a mess of his life, but that’s his problem, not mine. We stay married mostly for his benefit, because he has terrible luck with women. If they get too attached, and the ones he goes for nearly always do, he just tells them that he’s married. That usually gets rid of them.”

  “And you don’t mind?”

  “I walked down the aisle to get away from my parents, not because I wanted to be married to Joe. Now that I’m free, I can’t imagine any reason why I’d want to marry anyone else. I’ve had the same man in my life for the past twenty-two years. We each have our own house and we see each other when it suits us both. Marriage isn’t on the cards and he couldn’t care less about my past or about Joe.”

  “Are you happy?”

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Nothing. I’m just being nosy, really,” Bessie told her. “I have a list of five women who are possible candidates for the skeleton that was found at Peel Castle. Someone told me that they believed that all five women would be dead and that even if they weren’t, none of them were going to be alive and well. I’d love to be able to tell her that at least one of the women is living happily elsewhere.”

  “I don’t know that I’m happy, at least not all of the time, but I’m content. I’ve had a good life, really, since I got away from my parents. Joe and I might have stayed together, if he’d have remained over here, but I’ve never missed him. As I said, I have a man in my life, but only occasionally, which is how I prefer it. On balance, I suppose I’m happy, or at least not unhappy.”

  “I’m glad to hear that.”

  “And now I must go. That man I was telling you about is going to be here soon. We’re going out for a night on the town.”

  “I hope you have fun.”

  “I’m sure we will. Thank you for listening. What are you going to tell people about me now?”

  “That I spoke to you and that you’re absolutely fine, nothing more.”

  Meredith giggled. “That will drive some people absolutely crazy, won’t it?”

  “Yes,” Bessie said with satisfaction, “it will.”

  She put the phone down and glanced at the clock. It was far too late for a walk on the beach. Even if she took one, the likelihood of seeing Maggie Shimmin tonight was slim. Unless there were guests in the cottages that needed something, Maggie rarely came to the beach in the evening hours. Now that the idea of a walk was in her head, though, Bessie couldn’t stop thinking about it.

  Sighing, she pulled on a jacket and slid into some shoes. The night air was crisp and cold, but she simply pulled her jacket more tightly around herself and strode quickly towards the sea. At the water’s edge, she turned and began a fast walk to Thie yn Traie. She was only about halfway there when the skies opened and a heavy rain began to fall. Sighing deeply, she turned around and headed for home.

  “That was a bad idea,” she told her reflection in the mirror of the ground floor loo. Her short grey hair was dripping wet and her coat was soaked through. She hung it in the bathtub and then went up the stairs. It wasn’t worth changing. She may as well simply get ready for bed, she decided.

  In her nightgown, with her face washed and teeth brushed, she curled up with a book featuring a pair of very intelligent cats. After a few chapters, even though she was enjoying the story, she found herself yawning after every paragraph.

  “You’ll have to solve the murder tomorrow,” she told the animals before sliding a bookmark into the book and putting it on her nightstand. She was asleep almost as soon as her head touched the pillow.

  When she woke up the next morning, the fictional murder she’d been reading about dominated her thoughts. For the first time in a very long time, she was tempted to forgo her morning walk in favour of reading her book. After a shower and some breakfast, she reminded herself that she still wanted to see Maggie. Desire to share a bit of interesting news with Maggie won out over her eagerness to discover the resolution to the imaginary crime.

  The cold air and threat of rain kept her walking briskly as she got further from home. She walked past Thie yn Traie and then turned around as the first fat raindrops began to fall. The holiday cottages were all dark as Bessie walked rapidly past them. She was fumbling to use her key with icy cold fingers when she heard her name being called.

  “Bessie, how are you this morning?” Maggie shouted across the sand.

  “I’m wet and cold. If you want a chat, come over,” Bessie called back. She switched the kettle on before she’d even taken off her coat. Maggie knocked a moment later.

  “My goodness, what a horrible morning,”
Maggie exclaimed as Bessie let her into the cottage. “I’m glad Thomas stayed at home. The cold wouldn’t have been at all good for him.”

  “It feels as if it wants to snow, rather than rain,” Bessie replied. “We haven’t had snow in a while.”

  “I came down to start making lists of the work that needs doing in each cottage before spring, but considering the weather, I think I may just go home and leave that job for another day.”

  “It isn’t a day for going between the cottages, I wouldn’t think. You’ll just end up tracking wet sand into each of them in turn.”

  Maggie nodded. “You’re right. I shall enjoy my cuppa and then go home.”

  Bessie made them both tea and then they sat down together at the table.

  “How is the case going?” Maggie asked after a moment. “Have the police found any of the missing women yet?”

  “They have, actually. Meredith Houseman rang me last night to let me know what she’s alive and well.”

  “She did?” Maggie looked stunned. “I was sure the skeleton was hers. I never did like that Joe Houseman. Are you certain it was truly her and not someone Joe paid to pretend to be her?”

  “She didn’t say anything that made me doubt her. She seemed to know the island and her own life story perfectly.”

  “So where has she been and what has she been doing for all these years? Why didn’t she ever come back, not even for her parents’ funerals?”

  “When Joe came back he told everyone that she’d stayed behind with friends. That’s exactly what she told me, as well.”

  “But what friends? Did they divorce? Did she remarry? I want to hear the whole story.”

  “Sadly, I don’t know the whole story, nor do I have Meredith’s permission to repeat any of the things she told me last night. All I can tell you is that I spoke to her and so have the police. As long as they are satisfied that she is who she claims to be, she’ll be crossed off the list.”

  “But what else did she say? She must have told where she’s been and why she didn’t come back to the island.”

  “You don’t like Joe Houseman. Surely you can imagine why she might have chosen not to come back here with him.”