“I’m Elizabeth Cubbon. I live in Laxey. I remember you from various charity events when you used to have the bank in Ramsey,” Bessie explained. “Of course, I remember your lovely wife, as well,” she added, nodding towards the woman.
“Elizabeth Cubbon? Oh, yes, of course,” the woman said. “Everyone called you Betty, wasn’t it?”
“It’s Bessie, actually, and you’re Heather, if I’m remembering correctly.”
“Yes, that’s right,” the woman said.
“I thought I’d heard that you moved to Australia,” Bessie said.
“We did, but after a while we decided it didn’t suit us,” Heather told her. “Nick’s parents were the ones who wanted to try it, but they didn’t like it any better than we did, fortunately.”
“So you’ve all come back to the island now?” Bessie asked.
“Oh, no. We’ve settled across. No, Nick and I are just here for a visit. My sister and her husband are here, and a few of my cousins. We thought, after all these years, that we owed them all a short visit,” Heather explained.
“How nice for you both,” Bessie said cheerfully. “I was actually just talking about you two with a few people.”
“Really? Why?” Heather asked.
“There was an article in the local paper about Jeanne Stowe’s murder,” Bessie told her. “The paper seemed to think that the police might be reinvestigating the case. No doubt they’ll want to talk to both of you if they decide to do so.”
“Talk to me?” Heather said. “Why on earth would they want to talk to me? I didn’t even know the woman, and I wasn’t on the island when she died, either.”
“I didn’t realise that. Perhaps they’ll only need to talk to Nick, then,” Bessie replied.
“I have nothing to say to them,” Nick told her. “I barely knew the woman. She was junior staff, really. I only noticed her at all because she was coming in late a great deal in the last few months of her life.”
“I spoke to Amanda McBride about that. She said that Jeanne was having problems with her car,” Bessie said.
Nick shrugged. “I wasn’t interested in her excuses then and I’m not interested in them now. If you’re scheduled to work at nine, you should be at work at nine. Everyone has problems with their cars sometimes.”
Bessie nodded and glanced at Andrew. He smiled at her. “Who do you think killed her, then?” he asked the couple.
“It was her ex-husband, surely,” Heather said. “Aren’t partners the first suspects when someone is murdered?”
“But they were divorced,” Bessie pointed out.
“Which just gives him even more motive,” Heather replied. “They must have had problems, otherwise they wouldn’t have divorced, would they?”
Bessie thought about arguing, but Heather seemed to have her mind made up. She turned to Nick. “Who do you think killed her?” she asked.
“I’ve no idea and I couldn’t care less. As I recall, she had men in and out of her life on a regular basis. That none of them seemed to stay with her for very long suggests that she was difficult. Any one of the men who wandered through her life could have killed her,” he replied.
“I don’t suppose you remember the names of any of the men in her life,” Bessie said.
“I don’t. I never spoke to her about personal matters. Amanda McBride would have been the person with whom she shared such things with if she wanted to share them with someone in the office. She must have had friends outside of work, though. Those friends should be able to tell you about the men in her life,” he said.
Bessie nodded. “As I said, I have spoken to Amanda. She’s still quite upset that you didn’t let her ring the police on the Monday.”
Nick shrugged. “First of all, it’s been over five years since Jeanne died. I can’t believe Amanda still cares about any such thing. Secondly, I was only doing what I thought best at the time. It seemed foolish to bother the police when Jeanne had a history of being late to work. And thirdly, as I understand it, she’d already been dead for at least forty-eight hours when the body was found. It isn’t as if they might have saved her if the police had gone on Monday.”
“Did you know her ex-husband at all?” Bessie asked.
“I don’t believe she came to work for me until after she was divorced. I’m sure she never brought him to any of the bank’s social functions. She came with a man called Ron to one or two things, and then brought someone called James to such things for a while as well. Those are the only two men I remember her bringing to events, although I’m sure there were others in her life,” he replied.
“Did you have social functions often?” was Bessie’s next question.
“I wouldn’t say often. We had a company Christmas party, of course. Beyond that, we usually had a summer outing of some sort for employees and their families. Some departments had regular social outings, but I didn’t attend those events myself. My father always insisted on a formal dinner once a year as well for all staff and their partners. That was probably where I met Jeanne’s various male friends.”
“How many people worked for the bank?” Andrew asked.
“At its busiest, we had around fifteen employees. When we were winding things down, that number dropped, of course.”
Andrew nodded. “And Jeanne was a customer service representative?”
“Yes, that’s right. She was hoping to move into the lending department, but no decision had been made on her application before she died.”
“Why did she want to move to the lending department?” Bessie asked.
Nick shrugged. “As I recall, it paid a bit more per hour. There was also a more generous bonus scheme in lending and the hours were set. Customer service representatives had to work Saturdays and one late night a week. In lending it was strictly nine to five, Mondays through Fridays.”
“Who was in charge of the lending department?” Andrew wanted to know.
“I was,” Nick said, flushing slightly.
“So you were the one who would have been making the decision on whether to hire her or not?” Andrew followed up.
“Ultimately, yes. I had a huge pile of applicants, though. I don’t even know if I would have put her on the shortlist, especially considering her punctuality issues.”
Bessie opened her mouth to ask another question, but Nick held up his hand. “As fascinating as it is chatting with you like this, my wife and I have other things to do today. You’ll have to excuse us.”
“Of course. Sorry to keep you,” Andrew replied. “Thank you for talking with us. It is a lovely little dog.”
The man scowled at the animal in question and then turned and looked at his wife. “Are you ready?”
“Yes, of course, dear,” she said. She looked at Bessie and Andrew and then opened her handbag. She glanced around and then tucked the dog into it before the pair continued down the promenade.
Andrew and Bessie sat back down on their bench. “I didn’t like either of them,” Bessie said once the pair were out of earshot.
“I didn’t, either, and it’s nice to be able to say that. When I was with the police, we weren’t meant to like or dislike anyone involved in a case.”
“She seemed quite certain that Kenny killed Jeanne.”
“Or maybe she’s just convinced herself of that because she doesn’t want to think that her husband did it.”
“Maybe. There was something odd about him.”
“I found two things odd about him. The first was his insistence that he barely knew Jeanne before he told us a great deal about her. The other ties into that. He and his wife both seemed to remember the case and Jeanne awfully well. It felt to me as if something had reminded them of it recently.”
“Maybe they saw the article in the local paper.”
“Maybe, or maybe Heather’s sister saw it and mentioned it. Nick in particular seemed to remember quite a few specific details about Jeanne, even though it’s been five years since she died. Recalling that she’d applied for a diffe
rent job, for instance.”
“And a job working directly for him,” Bessie added. “Something felt off there, that’s for sure.”
“I wonder if John knows that they’re back on the island.”
“I should ring him and tell him.”
Doona answered the call again. “You know you can just ring him directly,” she said when Bessie told her what she wanted. “You don’t have to go through me.”
“I’m always afraid I’ll interrupt something important if I ring his office. Besides, it’s always nice to say hello to you.”
Doona laughed. “I wasn’t complaining about putting the call through. I was just trying to save you some time.”
“I’m not in any rush,” Bessie told her. “It’s a beautiful day and I’m sitting on the promenade soaking up sunshine.”
“Good for you. It does look lovely outside. If I weren’t having dinner with my ex-husband, I’d be tempted to go out for a walk myself.”
“You’re having dinner with your ex-husband?”
“Yeah. We try to get together once in a while, since we’ve been friends forever. Just because our marriage didn’t work, doesn’t mean we can’t still enjoy each other’s company. Anyway, his parents always loved me, so I’m having dinner with him and his wife and his parents as well. They’re leaving the children at home, for which I’m grateful.”
“Have fun,” Bessie said, chuckling.
“I’m sure I will. Let me put you through to John.”
“Ah, Bessie, what can I do for you?” John said when he picked up the phone.
“We just had a strange conversation with Nick and Heather Grant,” Bessie replied. “I wasn’t sure if you knew or not that they were on the island at the moment.”
“Funnily enough, I just found that out. I spoke to Jefferson this morning and he told me that Nick and Heather are having a short holiday over here. Where did you bump into them?”
“We’re just enjoying the day on the Douglas promenade. They walked right past us.”
“Maybe you’d better run me through the whole conversation,” John suggested.
Bessie did her best to repeat everything that was said. When she was done, she handed the phone to Andrew and he answered a few questions.
“I think we should meet again, maybe tomorrow night,” John said when Bessie had the phone back again. “I’ll see if Hugh and Doona are available. You and Andrew have spoken to nearly everyone involved with the case. Maybe you can help me put together an argument that I can make to the chief constable for reopening it.”
“We’ll do our best,” Bessie promised. “I’ll expect you all at six tomorrow unless I hear otherwise.”
“I’ll bring food and pudding,” John added.
Bessie put her phone back in her bag. “We’re having another gathering at my cottage tomorrow night,” she said. “John’s hoping to convince the chief constable to reopen the case.”
“Excellent. Let’s try to find more for him between now and then,” Andrew said.
Bessie grinned. “Maybe Max Rogers will have something interesting to say tomorrow.”
“I’ve been thinking about Kenny. There must be a way for us to speak to him.”
“I have a friend who works at Noble’s. I could ring her and see if she has any ideas.”
“Why not? It’s worth a try.”
Bessie rang her friend Helen at home, but no one answered. “Helen, it’s Bessie Cubbon. Can you please give me a ring when you get a chance? It’s nothing urgent; I’m just seeking information,” Bessie told the answering machine.
“And with that, I suppose we’ve done all we can for now,” Andrew said. “Maybe we should think about getting some dinner somewhere.”
“Maybe I should cook for you, as you’ve bought me lunch and dinner every day since you’ve been here,” Bessie retorted.
“I don’t want you to have to go to any trouble. Besides, I’m on holiday. I’m meant to be eating all the things I don’t normally eat at fancy restaurants I can’t normally enjoy.”
Bessie grinned. “Douglas is full of fancy restaurants, but we aren’t exactly dressed for them.”
“No, that’s probably true. Are there any not quite fancy but still delicious restaurants where we could get dinner?”
“Plenty. What sort of food do you fancy?”
“I could really go for a good Chinese meal, if that sounds good to you.”
“There are two excellent Chinese restaurants in Douglas. They’re at opposite ends of the promenade.”
“So we’ll get a nice long walk in, whichever one we choose?”
“Exactly. One is slightly fancier than the other, with somewhat higher prices, but the food is also better. The other one has very good food as well, though.”
“Will we be underdressed if we go with the fancy one?”
“No, not at all. Especially not this time of year, when there are still lots of tourists on the island. We’ll be fine.”
“Let’s go for the slightly fancier place with the better food, then,” Andrew said. “All of this talking about food has made me hungry. Are you ready for dinner?”
“I am, actually, even though it’s a bit early. We did only have a light lunch, of course.”
“We can walk slowly, if you want to build up more of an appetite.”
When they reached the block of flats where Kenny was staying, they stopped. “I wish I could remember what he looks like,” Bessie said.
“I wonder if his brother has a dog.”
“Oh, that would be handy. Assuming Kenny helps out and walks it once in a while, of course.”
They stood and watched the building for several minutes, but the only person who came out was a tall blonde woman talking on her mobile phone as she went.
“We could stand here for hours and never see Kenny,” Bessie said eventually.
“Or he could walk right past us and we might not even realise,” Andrew added. “We should ask John to bring copies of the articles that were in paper when Jeanne died. I’d like to see some photos of Kenny.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ll ring him later tonight or early tomorrow and ask him.”
“Let’s go and get dinner. I’m too hungry to care about Kenny at the moment.”
Bessie laughed. “It isn’t that much further down the promenade. We should be there in just a few minutes.”
The small restaurant, inside one of the town’s nicer hotels, was already about half-full when Bessie and Andrew arrived.
“I didn’t think you’d be this busy,” Bessie told the man at the door. “At least not this early in the evening.”
“It’s a tour bus group,” he explained. “They came up to spend the day in Douglas, but they’re staying in Port Erin. They’ll have an early dinner here and then stop for ice cream once they get back to Port Erin.”
“Can you fit us in somewhere away from the crowd?” Andrew requested.
The man gave them a table on the opposite side of the room from everyone else. Bessie opened the menu and sighed. “Everything is good here,” she said. “It’s going to take me ages to decide what I want.”
“That’s a good problem to have,” the waiter suggested as he approached the table. “Will I be making things worse if I tell you about today’s specials?”
Bessie nodded. “But tell us anyway,” she said quickly.
In the end, she and Andrew both decided to try dishes from the list of specials. With Andrew’s encouragement, Bessie got a glass of wine.
“I’m driving, so it’s just fizzy drinks for me, I’m afraid,” he told the waiter.
“I can get some wine in for tomorrow night,” Bessie offered. “You won’t be driving after our dinner with John and the others.”
“I don’t really drink alcohol very often,” Andrew replied. “For a whole host of reasons.”
The drinks were delivered only a moment later. Bessie took a sip of her wine and smiled. “This is delicious. Thank you for suggesting it.”
&n
bsp; “It feels as if it’s been a very long day. I thought you deserved a glass of wine.”
“I’m certainly going to enjoy it, but what shall we talk about?”
“Tell me about life on the island over the years,” Andrew suggested. “It’s lovely and it feels very different to anywhere else I’ve ever been. What was it like when you first moved back here from America?”
“It felt smaller,” Bessie said after a moment’s thought. “And yet larger as well. In America, we’d lived in Cleveland, which is a big city. Compared to that, the island felt small and behind the times. But because I didn’t drive, Laxey felt miles away from everything. I used to take buses everywhere I wanted to go, which wasn’t all that unusual in those days. Even women who did drive generally didn’t have a car at their disposal. Many more people relied on public transportation then, and we didn’t go very many places, either.”
“What about things like shopping?”
“We had local farmers markets for a lot of things, and a small local grocers. There was a chemist’s shop next door to the local doctor’s surgery, as well. I didn’t need to leave Laxey to find the things that I needed.”
“The island has changed a lot in your lifetime, then.”
“Yes, it has. I don’t feel as if I’ve changed very much, though.”
Andrew laughed. “What did you do for fun in those days?”
“I didn’t go out much, really. I felt as if I was in mourning for a long while. Single women didn’t go out to pubs on their own or anything like that, anyway. The church had the occasional social evening where unattached women were welcome, but generally speaking, there were very few unattached men to go around at such events. Men and women usually married quite young in those days, as well. I was engaged to Matthew at seventeen and that wasn’t considered too young.”
“I was married at twenty-four. My wife was twenty-one. We both encouraged our children to wait until they were older to make that sort of commitment.”
“Here we are,” the waiter said, putting steaming hot plates in front of each of them. “Do you need anything else right now?”
Bessie shook her head and picked up her fork; chopsticks were too much bother. Her mouth started watering as the delicious smells hit her nose.
Aunt Bessie Solves Page 17
