Guests and Guilt

by Diana Xarissa

  “He wasn’t a prisoner,” Maureen said desperately. “He was our guest. We didn’t want to take him to Noble’s because we knew we’d be in trouble, but we were taking good care of him. He was happy because we took better care of him than they would have in hospital, anyway.”

  “Until he died,” James said.

  Maureen flushed. “But that wasn’t our fault. It was like Courtney said, he must have had a heart condition or something.”

  “I don’t know that we’ll ever find out what happened to poor Arthur Beck,” James said, “but I’m much more interested in what happened to Stephanie, anyway.”

  “She had a terrible accident,” Annie said. “It was weirdly similar to what happened all those years ago. I wonder if she was thinking about Arthur when she stepped out in front of the car.”

  “I wonder if she was conscious when she was run over,” James said, ‘“or maybe someone hit her over the head and then put her in the middle of the road and ran her over.”

  Annie gasped and Maureen began to sob. “That isn’t true,” Annie said. “No one wanted to hurt Stephanie.”

  “Except maybe someone who wanted to keep the past a secret,” James suggested. He looked over at Courtney, who chuckled.

  “Am I being accused of murder for a second time in five minutes? My advocate is going to love this,” she said.

  “We all went home together,” Annie said, “and that was after Stephanie left.”

  “I’m sure the police will be able to work out exactly what happened,” James said, “but I have a pretty good imagination. Maybe it went something like this. Everyone was getting drunk and starting to get argumentative. Stephanie had said she wanted to go to the police about Arthur Beck and none of you wanted that to happen. I’m guessing one of you made arrangements to meet Stephanie later, maybe suggested that she get away from the others who were clearly angry. Stephanie could have hidden herself in the bathrooms or just about anywhere while you were looking for her, and she would have done that if she felt threatened by any one of you.”

  “But surely if she felt threatened, she would have just gone home?” Annie suggested.

  “The killer must have convinced her that she’d be safe with her, somehow,” James said, “and then the three of you went to your homes. Then one of you went back, met Stephanie, and killed her.”

  “I was too drunk to do any such thing,” Annie said.

  “We all were,” Courtney said. “Even me, and I don’t normally drink.”

  “Annie, she’d have trusted you the most,” James said. “Don’t you agree?”

  Annie shrugged. “Probably, but I didn’t have any reason to kill her. I wasn’t fighting with her about Arthur Beck. I didn’t really care if she told the police about it or not. I’m broke and alone. I’ve nothing to lose if the truth comes out. Yeah, I was in a car when a man was accidently run over and I didn’t report it to the police. That we tried to help the man recover can’t be held against us, surely. Anyway, as I said, I’ve nothing to lose. If I end up in prison, well, at least I won’t have to worry about my electricity bill anymore.”

  Fenella frowned. Annie’s words rang true. She didn’t have much to lose if the story came out. That left Maureen or Courtney as suspects. Courtney clearly had the most to lose. She turned and looked at the woman. Courtney looked slightly uncomfortable, but still in control.

  “By that standard, I must be the prime suspect,” she said lightly. “Too bad I was too drunk to kill anyone.”

  “Were you, though?” James asked.

  “The others will tell you that I started drinking heavily after you and your sister left. I was upset by the idea that Stephanie might go to the police about the Beck incident, I’ll admit to that. But as Annie says, being a passenger in a car that was in an accident all those years ago isn’t that big a deal.”

  “Except you were driving,” Annie said quietly.

  Courtney flushed. “It will be your word against mine on that one,” she snapped. “Anyway, it was dark and it was a complete accident. We should have reported it, of course, and we should have taken that man to Noble’s, but he didn’t want to go to hospital. He wasn’t even meant to be on the island. We did him a favor, finding him a place to hide while he recovered.”

  “Let’s go,” Mark said. The door behind him opened and four uniformed constables walked into the room. Mark nodded at them. “Please escort the three ladies in the front row down to the station,” he said. “Take them in separate cars and put them in separate interview rooms.”

  “This is completely unnecessary,” Courtney said. “Do you know who my husband is?”

  “I do, yes,” Mark replied. “You can ring him from the station if you’d like.”

  “She was driving,” Annie said, “and she was the most upset when Stephanie said she was going to the police. She followed Stephanie to the loo, and then when she came back to the table she told us that Stephanie was gone. Maureen tried to catch up with her, but she couldn’t find her. None of us could find her.”

  “That’s hardly my fault,” Courtney said.

  “And that’s where we end things for now,” Mark said. He took Courtney’s arm and led her out of the room. Annie and Maureen followed, each being escorted by a uniformed constable. Everyone else sat in silence as they went. A moment later, the door swung open again.

  “Mr. Woods? I’ll be at your sister’s flat later today to get your statement. We’re also going to have a long talk,” Mark Hammersmith said from the doorway. The door banged shut behind him. For several minutes everyone sat in stunned silence.

  “Maybe we should all have biscuits,” Mrs. Harrison suggested. “It would be a shame to see them go to waste.”

  15

  Fenella still felt as if she was in shock as she drove herself and James back to her apartment a short while later. She waited until they were in her kitchen with coffee in front of them before she spoke. Mona was sitting at the counter, obviously eager to find out what had happened.

  “Courtney killed Stephanie,” she said slowly.

  “It certainly looks that way,” James agreed.

  “Courtney?” Mona asked. “Well, she was on my short list, but I still thought Annie was more likely.”

  “And she was driving when Arthur Beck was hit,” Fenella continued.

  “Again, that’s the way it looks, anyway,” James said.

  “I wonder if she did something else to him,” Fenella said. “It seems odd that he was recovering and then suddenly died.”

  “I doubt the police will ever be able to prove anything, not after all these years. First they’d have to find the body,” James said.

  “I suspect Annie and Maureen will tell Mark everything they know,” Fenella said. “I’ll be happy if they can put Courtney away for Stephanie’s murder, at least.”

  “Yes, me too. I’m sorry about Arthur Beck, but I loved Stephanie,” James replied. After a minute he laughed. “Who am I kidding? I liked the woman, but I didn’t love her. I’m not sure I’m capable of actually loving anyone. I’m incredibly shallow, you know. What I did love was the idea of writing a book with her, and I may still try to make that happen.”

  When Mark arrived a few hours later he was far gentler with James than Fenella had been expecting. After taking a statement from James, he accepted the offer of coffee and biscuits from Fenella.

  “I may as well tell you a few things,” he said as he ate. “The local paper will be full of all of it anyway. It seems Wilbur Rush used to work for the Isle of Man Times and he was quick to ring in with every last detail from the memorial service.”

  “Oh, dear, I didn’t think about that,” James frowned.

  “It was bound to hit the papers eventually. It’s a small island. Anyway, Annie and Maureen have both told me the entire story, and their stories match so closely that I have to believe them. Courtney’s story isn’t at all the same, but her story also changes every time she tells it as she tries to work out exactly what to tell me
to best help her advocate get her off.”

  “Will he get her off?” Fenella asked.

  “We’ll see. He’ll have better luck with what happened with Arthur Beck than with Stephanie. The other two women have told me where to find the body, though, so we’ll have to see what we find,” Mark said.

  “What about the attack on me?” James asked.

  “Courtney doesn’t have an alibi, but that’s all I can say at the moment,” Mark replied.

  “I still don’t see how she managed to get Stephanie to agree to meet with her later that night,” Fenella said. “Stephanie must have known that Courtney was upset.”

  “I don’t think she arranged to meet with her later,” Mark said. “Here’s the way I think it happened, although I can’t prove it yet. I think Stephanie and Courtney went into the loo. Courtney hit Stephanie over the head with something. We’re still looking for that something. Then she hid Stephanie somewhere and went out to pretend to look for her with the others. After they all went home, she went back to the pub, moved Stephanie into the road, stole the car, ran her over, and then made her way home.”

  “How did she get back to the pub?” James asked.

  “Another car was stolen from a house not that far from Courtney’s home,” Mark said. “It was abandoned in the pub’s car park as well.”

  “And how did she get home?” was James’s next question.

  “We aren’t sure about that, but we’re working on it. She must have taken another taxi,” Mark said.

  “Annie’s car,” Mona and Fenella said together.

  “Pardon?” Mark asked.

  “Courtney had Annie’s keys and she promised to have Annie’s car brought home for her. Maybe she drove herself home in Annie’s car. I’m sure they said they don’t live that far away from one another.”

  “They don’t, actually, even though the streets are very different. She could have walked home from Annie’s fairly easily,” Mark replied, “and that might answer another question, too, actually.”

  “What question?”

  “Where she left Stephanie while they were looking for her,” Mark replied. “She could have hit Stephanie over the head and then put the body in the boot of Annie’s car. Even if Stephanie wasn’t already dead, she was unlikely to wake up and find a way out of there before Courtney returned.”

  Fenella shivered. “What a horrible thought.”

  With Courtney safely behind bars, Fenella was able to take James back to the house on Poppy Drive the next day. After James put his bags in his room, he joined Fenella in the house’s living room.

  “I appreciate everything you’ve done for me while I’ve been here,” he said, “but when Inspector Hammersmith said I could leave the island whenever I’m ready, I realized that I’m really ready to go now. I’m sorry, but I’m going to cut my vacation short and go back to Pennsylvania where I belong.”

  Fenella nodded. “Maybe you could visit again one day, after you’ve had time to recover from everything that happened on this visit.”

  “Maybe,” he said, “but you know what? Ever since Stephanie died, I’ve had these voices in my head, talking to me, telling me a story. I really want to get home and write the story down. It might be terrible, but at least it’s something.”

  James called the airport and managed to arrange flights for later that same day. He quickly gathered up his bags and loaded them into Fenella’s car. As he was doing that, Fenella noticed a car pulling into the driveway across the street. She held her breath as Daniel emerged from the car. A moment later a very pretty blonde, who looked no more than twenty-five, climbed out of the passenger seat. They both removed suitcases from the back of the car and then Daniel opened the house’s front door and they went inside together.

  “I’m ready,” James said.

  Fenella blinked back tears and then climbed into the car and started the engine. For several minutes, she focused on driving and tried to put what she’d seen out of her mind.

  “I came over planning to ask you for money,” James broke the silence. “Aunty Mona left you quite a fortune, didn’t she?”

  “I won’t have to worry about money as long as I’m reasonably careful,” Fenella admitted, knowing that she could even be somewhat unreasonable and be okay.

  James nodded. “That’s what she told me,” he said, “but she also told me that I wasn’t to ask you for anything. She said that she’d left you the money because you deserved it and I didn’t.”

  “Who told you?” Fenella asked, feeling confused.

  “Aunty Mona. She came and talked me every night while I was staying with you. I didn’t really remember her, but she was incredible when she visited. She didn’t look a day over thirty and she was, well, amazing. That’s why I’m not asking you for any money. Because she’d be disappointed in me if I did. I’m going to go home and write the book that’s brewing in my head, and when that’s done, I might just write another one. Maybe I’ll even look at the notes that Stephanie left and try to do something with them. It seems the least I can do for her.”

  Fenella wasn’t sure how to reply to that, so she was grateful that they were at the airport as James finished speaking. She helped him with his luggage and then watched as he made his way through security and disappeared. She was surprised to find that she already missed him as she walked back to her car.

  Acknowledgments

  My editor, Denise, has done another great job keeping me from embarrassing myself too much! Thank you.

  I’m also grateful to Linda at Tell Tale Book Covers for another great cover and to my beta readers who help make these stories the best they can be.

  Mostly, I want to thank everyone who is reading this note for spending time with Fenella and her friends. I have great fun with them and I hope you do, too.

  Hop-tu-Naa and Homicide

  An Isle of Man Ghostly Cozy

  Release date: August 17, 2018

  It’s Hop-tu-Naa time on the Isle of Man and Fenella Woods is excited to learn more about this uniquely Manx celebration. When a day of fun at Cregneash village ends with Fenella finding a dead body, though, she finds herself tangled up in another murder investigation.

  As the inspector in charge of the case calls on Daniel Robinson to help with the investigation, Fenella finds an uncomfortable distance has grown between herself and handsome Inspector Robinson. The distance is only reinforced by the ubiquitous presence of Tiffany Perkins, a pretty young police inspector who’d been on the same course as Daniel.

  No one seems to have had a motive for killing young Phillip Pierce. He’d only been on the island for a short while. He was newly married and his beautiful widow seems suitably devastated.

  Can Fenella work out why the man was killed? Will Daniel seek her help with this investigation or is he determined to keep her at arm’s length? And if he is keeping his distance, is Tiffany the reason or is there something else going on?

  By the Same Author

  The Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Series

  Aunt Bessie Assumes

  Aunt Bessie Believes

  Aunt Bessie Considers

  Aunt Bessie Decides

  Aunt Bessie Enjoys

  Aunt Bessie Finds

  Aunt Bessie Goes

  Aunt Bessie’s Holiday

  Aunt Bessie Invites

  Aunt Bessie Joins

  Aunt Bessie Knows

  Aunt Bessie Likes

  Aunt Bessie Meets

  Aunt Bessie Needs

  Aunt Bessie Observes

  Aunt Bessie Provides

  Aunt Bessie Questions

  Aunt Bessie Remembers

  The Isle of Man Ghostly Cozy Mysteries

  Arrivals and Arrests

  Boats and Bad Guys

  Cars and Cold Cases

  Dogs and Danger

  Encounters and Enemies

  Friends and Frauds

  Guests and Guilt

  Hop-tu-Naa and Homicide

  The Markham Sisters Cozy Myste
ry Novellas

  The Appleton Case

  The Bennett Case

  The Chalmers Case

  The Donaldson Case

  The Ellsworth Case

  The Fenton Case

  The Green Case

  The Hampton Case

  The Irwin Case

  The Jackson Case

  The Kingston Case

  The Lawley Case

  The Moody Case

  The Norman Case

  The Isle of Man Romance Series

  Island Escape

  Island Inheritance

  Island Heritage

  Island Christmas

  About the Author

  Diana grew up in Northwestern Pennsylvania and moved to Washington, DC after college. There she met a wonderful Englishman who was visiting the city. After a whirlwind romance, they got married and Diana moved to the Chesterfield area of Derbyshire to begin a new life with her husband. A short time later, they relocated to the Isle of Man.

  After over ten years on the island, it was time for a change. With their two children in tow, Diana and her husband moved to suburbs of Buffalo, New York. Diana now spends her days writing about the island she loves.

  She also writes mystery/thrillers set in the not-too-distant future as Diana X. Dunn and middle grade and YA books as D.X. Dunn.

  Diana is always happy to hear from readers. You can write to her at:

  Diana Xarissa Dunn

  PO Box 72

  Clarence, NY 14031.

  Find Diana at: DianaXarissa.com

  E-mail: Diana@dianaxarissa.com