An Isle of Man Ghostly Cozy Collection - ABC

by Diana Xarissa

  “It’s perfect,” Fenella said.

  Shelly laughed. “It’s pretty special, anyway,” she replied. “It never gets much busier than this, but there is always someone here whenever I come in.”

  “I hope they do enough trade to stay in business,” Fenella said.

  “Oh, we do,” the bartender assured her as he served their drinks. “We don’t attract huge crowds, but we have so many regulars that we stay quite happily afloat.”

  Fenella smiled. “I think you’ve just found yourself another regular,” she said. She looked around again and then turned to Shelly. “I have to look at the books,” she said.

  “Go ahead,” Shelly replied.

  Fenella got up and walked toward the nearest wall, wondering how long it would take her to look at every single title in the room. Far too long, she decided half an hour later when she’d barely made a dent in the first wall. There were just too many titles, packed tightly against one another, for Fenella to go through them quickly. She sighed. It would go faster if she could stop herself from reading the back covers of nearly every book that looked interesting. As Fenella had rarely ever found a book that didn’t interest her on some level, she’d been reading just about every back cover for every book on each shelf.

  “You’ll never get through them all,” a familiar voice said at her elbow.

  Fenella laughed and then blushed as she recognized the speaker. “Inspector Robinson, I didn’t expect to see you here.”

  “I think, after hours, you can call me Daniel,” he replied. “And I’m often here on an evening when I’m not working or on call. It’s a very welcoming place, and as a new arrival to the island, I appreciate that.”

  “And look at all the books,” Fenella said.

  The inspector laughed. “There are rather a lot of them,” he agreed. “I usually take one home with me after I’ve had a drink or two. I started on the opposite wall and I think I’ll have enough reading material for the next seventy or eighty years.”

  “You’re allowed to borrow the books?” Fenella asked excitedly.

  “As long as you bring them back,” the man said. “Only one at a time, but you can keep it for as long as you like.”

  “My goodness, where should I start?” Fenella ran her hand along one of the shelves.

  “I’m rereading my way through Sherlock Holmes’s adventures,” he told her. “I’m hoping for inspiration.”

  “Good luck,” Fenella replied. “You should try Agatha Christie as well,” she suggested. “Maybe that would stimulate your little grey cells.”

  “At this point, I can use all of the help I can get,” he said.

  “The investigation isn’t going well?” Fenella asked.

  The man shook his head. “I’m talking out of turn,” he said. “And after only half a lager shandy.”

  “What’s a lager shandy?” Fenella had to ask.

  “Half lager and half lemonade, or what we would call lemonade, meaning fizzy lemon flavored soda.”

  Fenella frowned. “It sounds terrible,” she said.

  The inspector laughed. “It’s actually very refreshing and with a very low alcohol content. Even when I’m not working, I have to be careful.”

  “So how dangerous is the island?” she blurted out after a sip of wine. “I mean, I’ve only been here a few days and I’ve already stumbled over two dead bodies. I’m hoping that isn’t a typical body count for Douglas?”

  “It’s definitely not typical for Douglas,” he assured her. “Or the island as a whole. I’ve only been here a few weeks, but these are only the second and third murders I’ve had to investigate.”

  “Have you solved the first one yet?” Fenella asked. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she wanted to take them back. “I’m not questioning your competence,” she stammered quickly. “I was just wondering, that’s all.”

  The inspector smiled at her. “It’s a fair question,” he said. “And to answer it, yes, it’s been solved. It wasn’t all that difficult, actually, as it was related to a drug deal that went bad. The killer didn’t get what he wanted, so he stabbed his dealer in the chest. He claims he was just trying to get the man to give him a better price.”

  “Oh, my,” Fenella whispered.

  “Yes, well, luckily for us, he called 999 as soon as he realized that the man was dead. He ran away, but he wasn’t all that difficult to find. The dead man had his killer’s business card in his pocket.”

  “And you found my card in Alan Collins’s pocket,” Fenella blurted out.

  “We did. But not in Mark Potter’s.”

  “But Mr. Potter got my cell phone number from somewhere,” Fenella said. “I haven’t given it out to anyone aside from you.”

  “I’d be flattered if it wasn’t because of the investigation,” the man replied. “But did you ask to be ex-directory?”

  “Did I ask what?”

  “To be ex-directory,” the man repeated himself. “To not have your number listed in the telephone directory.”

  “It never crossed my mind,” she replied.

  “Then anyone who calls directory assistance can probably get your mobile number,” he told her.

  “And the number at the apartment, I suppose,” Fenella added.

  “Most likely.”

  “Hello, handsome,” Shelly said as she joined the pair. “I’m Shelly Quirk. I see you come in all the time, but you always just get a drink and then disappear upstairs.”

  “I like to read,” the inspector told her.

  “Understandable,” Shelly nodded. “Especially here. But you haven’t been on the island long, have you? Or have you just moved to Douglas from elsewhere on the island and that’s why you just suddenly started coming in?”

  “I moved across about six weeks ago,” the man told her. “So I still feel like a new arrival.”

  “And what brought you to the island?” Shelly asked.

  “Work,” he replied.

  Shelly laughed. “You’ll have to do better than that,” she said. “You didn’t give me your name, either. Come on, tell me all about you.”

  The man smiled and glanced over at Fenella. She smiled back and then drank the rest of her wine, eager to see how the inspector would handle Shelly’s questions.

  “I’m Daniel Robinson,” the man said after a moment. “I moved over from Liverpool to work in the CID here in Douglas. I met Fenella when she was unfortunate enough to find Alan Collins’s body.”

  “Oh, you’re the new police inspector,” Shelly said excitedly. “Everyone is talking about you.”

  “Are they now?” the man asked with a sigh.

  “Only good things,” Shelly said quickly. “I have a friend at the station and she said you’re not like most of the people who come over from across and start trying to act like you know more than the locals. She said you’re smart and hard-working and if she wasn’t so married, she’d be trying to get you into bed.”

  The inspector blushed and then tried to cover his embarrassment by taking a swallow of his drink. “Well, I’m glad she thinks I’m smart,” he said eventually.

  Shelly laughed and then looked at Fenella. “He is smart,” she said brightly.

  “And he’s tired and needs to get home,” the man added. “With two murders to solve, I’ll be working tomorrow.”

  “It was nice to meet you,” Shelly said.

  “And you,” he replied. “And it’s always nice to see you,” he added, nodding at Fenella.

  “Nice to see you, too,” she said.

  The two women watched as the man made his way out of the pub.

  “He’s gorgeous,” Shelly said as the door closed behind him.

  “Hmm,” Fenella murmured.

  Shelly laughed. “You’re single and as I understand it, so is he. If I were you, I’d be finding excuses to see him.”

  “I keep finding bodies,” Fenella replied. “I think I’d rather not see so much of him.”

  “You just need to keep coming her
e,” Shelly said. “Everyone comes in here once in a while.”

  “Coming here won’t be a hardship,” Fenella said, looking around the room. “I think I’d quite like to live here, actually.”

  “Ooh, that would be nice, wouldn’t it?” Shelly replied. “I wouldn’t mind curling up with the cats. Their beds look very cozy.”

  “They do,” she agreed, glancing over at the pile of cats, all of whom seemed to be asleep.

  “Shelly, my dear, how are you?” a voice that Fenella was sure she recognized called from the doorway.

  She turned and smiled as Peter Cannell joined them.

  “Fenella? I didn’t recognize you there,” he said. He greeted them each with a hug. “I just need a drink and then I’ll be back,” he said.

  As he walked to the bar, Shelly winked at Fenella. “Another gorgeous single man about your age,” she whispered. “I’m sure he’s learned his lesson about younger women. You’re exactly what he needs.”

  “I just ended a relationship that I’d been in for years,” Fenella said. “I’m not sure I’m ready to start dating again yet.”

  “Why not?” Shelly demanded. “From what you said, you weren’t exactly happy with your ex. It’s terrible to say, but no one is getting any younger. You need to chase happiness, and when you find it, grab it with both hands.”

  “What about you?” Fenella asked. “Surely there’s a man out there for you?”

  Shelly shrugged. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I have started looking. Only a little bit and only from a distance, but it’s a subject I’ve been giving a lot of thought to lately. My marriage was very happy and it’s taken me a while to get to this point, but maybe, just maybe, I can imagine that I might let a man take me out one day, maybe.”

  Fenella laughed. “You don’t sound at all sure,” she said.

  “About what?” Peter asked as he rejoined them.

  “Oh, Fenella thinks I should find a new man,” Shelly said. She put her arm around Peter. “How do you feel about older women?” she asked, teasingly.

  He laughed. “Well, a younger woman wasn’t very good for me. Maybe I should try the other option.”

  The door to the pub opened again, and as a man walked in a ripple of something went through the crowd. Fenella frowned. “Isn’t that Donald Donaldson?” she asked.

  “Yes, and he isn’t a regular,” Shelly hissed.

  Donald walked to the bar and spoke to the bartender. To Fenella it seemed as if the room had gone strangely quiet.

  “Tell me about him, then?” she whispered. “We’re supposed to be going sightseeing together tomorrow.”

  Shelly raised an eyebrow. “Wow, forget what I said about other men. If you can pull Donald Donaldson, you should go for it.”

  “Pull?” Fenella asked.

  “Not an American word?” Peter asked her.

  “Well, not in that context,” Fenella replied. “At least I don’t understand it in that context.”

  “She means you’d be doing well if you were to enter into a relationship with Donald,” Peter explained. “He’s incredibly wealthy, even if he doesn’t have the best reputation.”

  “What’s wrong with him?” Fenella asked bluntly.

  “Ah, good evening.” The man in question was still a few steps away as he called out his greeting.

  “Good evening,” Fenella and the others replied.

  “Ms. Woods, this is a pleasant surprise,” he said. “I did think about stopping by your flat and asking you to join me, but it was such short notice, I didn’t want to appear rude.”

  “Shelly was kind enough to bring me here, my new favorite place in the world,” Fenella said with a laugh.

  “It’s a lovely little pub,” the man agreed. “I must try to get here more often.”

  “I don’t know that I’ve ever seen you in here before,” Peter said.

  “No, not during evening hours, anyway, but now I have a small business interest in the place, so I expect I’ll be coming in regularly,” Donald replied.

  “You haven’t bought part of the pub?” Shelly demanded.

  “Oh, no, the pub itself isn’t for sale,” the man replied. “I just own a few of their suppliers now, that’s all.”

  “I assume you all know each other, then,” Fenella said.

  “Oh, yes,” Donald assured her. “Shelly taught my daughter to read and write. She still talks about what a wonderful teacher Mrs. Quirk was.”

  “How is Phoebe?” Shelly asked.

  “She’s doing well,” the man replied. “She’s just off to New York City to work on a master’s degree and enjoy the American experience. I don’t know if she’ll ever come back here. She seems to be addicted to big city living.”

  “She’s a very intelligent young lady,” Shelly said. “I could see that when she was in year one. She’ll do well, wherever she ends up.”

  “I do wish she would visit once in a while,” Donald said. “I do miss my baby girl.”

  “Donald and I have worked together on projects in the past,” Peter told Fenella. “We both have similar business interests, although Donald is much more successful with his than I am with mine.”

  Donald chuckled. “You do very well,” he countered. “We should do another project together. Everything we’ve done in the past has been successful.”

  “Actually, there was a project I was considering that I thought you might like a hand in,” Peter said with a smile. “I’ll ring your office on Monday and make an appointment to come in and talk about it with you.”

  “Do that,” Donald said. “I’ve just finished a few little things, so I have some time on my hands.”

  Peter nodded and then pulled out his phone and tapped a few things into it. “I have to remind myself of everything these days,” he said with a rueful smile as he slid the phone away.

  Donald finished his drink and then looked at the others. “Ready for another round?” he asked.

  Fenella hesitated and then shrugged. Home was just a short walk away. There was no reason not to have another drink.

  “Why don’t we get a table upstairs?” Donald asked when he’d returned with fresh drinks for everyone.

  “I’d love to see the upstairs,” Fenella said. “Even though I hate to leave all of the lovely books behind.”

  “There are more books upstairs,” Donald whispered to her as they walked toward the spiral staircase.

  “Really?” Fenella replied.

  The staircase was steep, and Fenella was glad she hadn’t drunk her second glass of wine yet as she made her way up. Going down might be tricky later.

  Donald must have read her mind, as when they reached the top he grinned at her. “We can take the lift down; it’s safer,” he said.

  Fenella took a moment to look around the upstairs room. Donald was right, there were more books. While the downstairs shelves all seemed to contain hardcovers, these shelves, which covered every wall, were stuffed full of paperbacks. There were a few tables with chairs around them, but most of the room was full of comfy looking couches and chairs. Someone sipping a drink and reading a book occupied nearly every seat.

  “It’s like heaven,” Fenella said softly to herself.

  “It is very special,” Donald agreed. “But let’s sit.”

  He led the others to a small table with four chairs around it. Fenella sank down and ran her hand along the nearest bookcase.

  “It would be terribly rude of me to start reading, wouldn’t it?” she asked with a smile. “It’s just so hard to resist all these lovely books.”

  “Choose one to take home,” Shelly suggested. “You just have to check it out with the bartender on your way out.”

  “Maybe libraries would do better if they were open at night and served drinks,” Peter suggested.

  Fenella found half a dozen titles she wanted to read just on the one shelf. Life and Jack had kept her busy and she’d had little time to read for pleasure over the last several years. Now she was excited to
make up for lost time.

  “This one, no, this one,” she said. She finally settled on a title by an author she’d enjoyed years earlier. “This one,” she said definitely.

  “That’s a good one,” Shelly told her. “I never guessed the killer, not even when he or she started confessing.”

  After her second drink, feeling warm and content, Fenella insisted that she needed to get home. “I’ve just acquired a kitten,” she explained. “I don’t want to leave her alone for too long.”

  “But we’re still on for tomorrow, right?” Donald asked.

  “Oh, yes, but maybe just for the morning,” Fenella replied. “I’ll need to get little Katie some lunch, you see.”

  “Why don’t I pop over and give her some lunch?” Shelly suggested. “Then you can enjoy your day out and Katie won’t starve.”

  “I don’t want to impose,” Fenella began.

  Shelly held up her hand. “It’s no problem,” she said firmly. “I already have a key because your aunt had me keep any eye on the place when she traveled. Leave whatever you want me to give Katie on the counter and I’ll come over around midday and feed her and give her a cuddle.”

  “That’s that sorted, then,” Donald said happily. “I promise to have you home in time to give Katie some dinner, even if it’s just so you can change before I take you out for a nice meal somewhere.”

  Fenella felt Peter studying her, but she didn’t dare meet his eyes. He seemed like a nice man and she wouldn’t mind if he asked her out again, but no doubt knowing she was dating Donald would keep him from doing so.

  “I’m heading for home, then,” she said.

  “I’ll walk you back,” Peter offered. “You’re on my way, after all.”

  “I should come too,” Shelly said. “This has been fun, though.”

  “I’ll see you around nine, then,” Donald said to Fenella. He stood up and Fenella could feel him watching her as the trio made their way to the elevator.

  They chatted about nothing significant on the short walk back to the apartment building. When the elevator opened on the sixth floor, Shelly was first out. She called out a quick “good night” as she let herself into her flat. Fenella crossed to her own door, feeling awkward about being left alone with Peter.