“I hadn’t really thought about that. Perhaps I should suggest it to Lukas,” Andrew said with a frown.
“Considering that she seems to have murdered the other three women within a fairly short space of time not long after she got out of prison, I would think her mother is fairly safe,” Pete said. “I might suggest that she stop trying to get in touch with her daughter, though.”
Andrew nodded. “I’ll ring Lukas tonight and discuss it with him.”
“And here’s Kenny,” Helen said, getting to her feet.
Bessie turned and looked at the man who was walking towards them. He looked right around forty, with brown hair that had just a touch of grey in it. His hospital uniform seemed baggy and ill-fitting, but that might just have been the nature of the uniform itself. When he sat down opposite Bessie, she couldn’t help but notice that he looked incredibly tired.
Chapter 13
Helen quickly performed introductions all around. As soon as she was finished, she got to her feet. “And now I must get back to my lovely patients. Two of them are less than lovely today, actually, and I’m sure the other girls on the floor will be happy to see me.” She gave Pete a quick kiss and then made her way out of the room.
Pete watched her go and then sighed. “I need to go, too,” he said. “I’ve a meeting with the chief constable that I’d rather not have to attend.”
Bessie smiled sympathetically at him as he and Andrew shook hands. As Pete walked away from the table, Kenny spoke.
“I understand you want to talk to me about Jeanne. Helen wasn’t totally clear on your official position, though.”
“I’m a former London police inspector, now retired,” Andrew told him. “I’m on holiday on the island, and almost as soon as I arrived, I heard about Jeanne’s murder. There was an article about it in the local paper, and everywhere I went with my friend, Bessie, we seemed to bump into someone who was connected to the case in some way. The whole thing piqued my curiosity, I suppose you could say. I’m friends with John Rockwell, the local police inspector who is interested in reexamining the case. Anything that I learn will be passed along to him.”
Kenny nodded. “As long as you aren’t with the press, I suppose I don’t mind talking to you. I just need to get some food first, if that’s okay.”
“Certainly. We ordered tea and cake some time ago and haven’t seen the waitress since. Perhaps I should go to the counter and get you something. You look exhausted,” Andrew said.
“I’m really tired today. I had my kids last night and they wouldn’t go to bed. The little one wanted her mother and the other two ate too much junk food and were bouncing off the walls. It’s hard work, being a single parent.”
Andrew nodded. “What can I get you, then?” he asked.
Kenny shrugged. “Just tell the girl behind the counter that it’s for me. She knows what I always get.”
Andrew was only gone a few minutes. When he came back he gave Bessie a grin. “She’s going to bring our cake with his food,” he told her. “And our tea as well. She seemed to have forgotten about us.”
“And poor Helen never got her cake,” Bessie said.
“I told her to still bring three slices. If we can’t manage all of it now, we can take a slice home with us or something,” Andrew replied.
“So, what do you want to know about Jeanne?” Kenny asked.
“Who do you think killed her?” Andrew replied.
“It must have been someone random. Like maybe she started talking to a guy in a shop or something and he followed her home. Or maybe she met someone at the pub and invited him home. She did that all the time. She wasn’t very smart about men, really,” Kenny sighed.
“Inviting strange men home is certainly dangerous,” Andrew agreed.
“Yeah, especially when you then ask them to paint your sitting room once they get there,” Kenny laughed bitterly.
“Is that what she was doing?” Bessie asked.
“Jeanne was a little bit, well, odd,” Kenny explained. “She simply couldn’t look after her flat on her own. She needed a lot of help and she didn’t understand why she couldn’t simply ask anyone and everyone to provide it. She used to ring me up all the time and ask me to come over to do everything from painting and decorating to changing light bulbs or taking up carpets.”
“Even after you were divorced?” Andrew checked.
“Oh, yes, the divorce didn’t really change anything as far as she was concerned. She still thought that she should be my first priority.”
“How difficult for Sandra,” Bessie murmured.
“Yeah, I know. It was hard for her and for me. I felt so guilty about leaving Jeanne that I could never bring myself to say no to her demands, but then I’d feel guilty for leaving Sandra on her own while I was doing things for Jeanne. I felt trapped between them, really.”
“And then someone helpfully killed Jeanne for you,” Andrew remarked.
Kenny flushed. “I don’t like the implication behind that,” he said tightly.
“Here we are,” the waitress said brightly. “Kenny’s usual, three slices of cake, and tea all around.” It took the woman several minutes to move everything from her tray onto the small table. By the time she was finished, Kenny looked less upset.
“Look, I know that a lot of people probably think that I killed Jeanne, but I didn’t. I might have liked to, if I’m honest, but I’m simply not brave enough or smart enough to manage it. There were times when I was tempted to hit her, I’ll admit that, but I never did, not even when she was being hugely demanding.” He sighed and then bit into his sandwich.
Bessie took a sip of her tea and then patted his hand. “You were still in love with her, weren’t you?”
“Yeah,” he replied in a low voice. “I was still in love with her. I am still in love with her. I don’t know that I’ll ever get over losing her.”
“But you’d left her,” Bessie reminded him.
“I wanted kids really badly,” he said. “It was always my dream to have five or six. I was an only child and I was really lonely. I always swore that when I got older I’d have a huge family so that I’d never be lonely again.”
“And Jeanne didn’t want children or couldn’t have children?” Andrew asked.
“It was one of those,” he replied, “but I don’t know which. When we were first married, she told me she wanted kids one day, but one day never seemed to come around. Eventually I told her that I wanted to start trying, and she reluctantly agreed. After about six months, when nothing happened, I started to get upset. She went to see her doctor, or at least that’s what she told me. To cut a long story short, she told me that her doctor had tested her and that if we were having trouble conceiving, it was my fault, not hers.”
“Oh, dear,” Bessie exclaimed.
“Yeah, exactly. I was devastated. When I met Sandra a few weeks later, I, well, I never told her I was married. I didn’t worry about using protection because of what Jeanne had told me. When she fell pregnant, at first I didn’t believe her that I was the father. She broke up with me when she found out about Jeanne.”
“I don’t blame her,” Bessie said when the man stopped talking to eat. She took a bite of her cake and washed it down with tea before he resumed.
“I didn’t blame her, either, but I was so excited about the baby that I left Jeanne and divorced her. In spite of all of that, yeah, I was still in love with Jeanne. Whenever she rang, I’d drop everything and rush to help her, at least until the baby came. When the baby came, well, that’s when I really understood about love.”
“Children are life’s greatest blessing,” Andrew said.
Bessie bit her tongue. There was no way she was going to argue with the man, not about something she couldn’t properly understand, anyway.
“I started seeing less of Jeanne and spending more time with the baby, and with Sandra, of course. She fell pregnant again pretty quickly and I thought things were going really well. Then Jeanne’s relationship ended and
she started ringing me again. Even with the children at home, I couldn’t resist it when Jeanne rang,” he said, sounding frustrated.
“And you were still helping her whenever you could, right up until her death?” Andrew asked.
“Yeah, she was still ringing at least a couple of times a week, although she hadn’t rung for the last few days before she died. At the time I thought maybe she’d found a new boyfriend, but I don’t know if she had or if she’d simply not needed anything doing around her flat.”
“Were you two intimate after your divorce?” Andrew asked.
Bessie blushed and took a quick sip of tea.
“No, we were not,” Kenny said softly. “I can’t tell you that I wouldn’t have been with her if she’d offered, but she never did and I never suggested it. She was never that interested in sex, really, though. It probably never occurred to her.”
“What did you think of her friend Mabel?” was Andrew’s next question.
“Mabel? Jeanne met her after she moved to Ramsey. I probably only met the woman once or twice. She was okay, I suppose.”
“What about her husband?” Andrew added.
“She has a husband?” Kenny asked.
“Howard Miles,” Andrew said.
“Oh, Howard. I didn’t realise they were married. I saw him at Jeanne’s a few times. He was always willing to help her out with projects. I got the impression that he was interested in more than just friendship, but like I said, Jeanne wasn’t really the type to have sex with random men. Besides, she and Mabel were good friends. She wouldn’t have done anything that would have upset Mabel.”
“Do you think Mabel knew Howard was interested in Jeanne?” Andrew asked.
“I’ve no idea. Like I said, it was just a feeling I got from the man when I saw him with Jeanne. I don’t think I ever saw him and Mabel both at Jeanne’s at the same time, so I don’t know how he behaved when Mabel was around. And it may just have been my imagination anyway. I was, well, quite jealous of Jeanne, really. I always thought other men were interested in her.”
“So you think she met someone at the pub or at a shop and took him home to help her with some DIY, but he got the wrong idea?” Andrew asked.
“I can’t imagine what else it could have been,” Kenny replied.
“Did Jeanne ever take drugs?” was Andrew’s next question.
“Drugs? Jeanne? No, no way. I know she died of an overdose of something, the police never said what, but there was no way it was an accident or that she’d have agreed to take anything. She didn’t even like to take headache tablets. Her older brother died of a drug overdose. It was accidental, but it scared her. She was incredibly careful with medications and she would never have touched anything illegal.”
“What about Mabel or Howard?” Bessie interjected. “Did either of them seem like the type to take illegal drugs?”
“Not really, but maybe,” Kenny said. “I mean, I barely knew them, and I never saw any evidence of anything. Whenever I saw Howard at Jeanne’s he never seemed to be under the influence of anything, but there was something slightly sketchy about him as well.”
Andrew nodded. “Can you think of anything else that you can tell us about Jeanne that might help with the investigation?”
“Just that I hope you find the guy and get him locked up forever. I still miss her, every single day. Every time my phone rings, I hope it’s her, asking me to come over and repair something, but it never is. I know I didn’t treat Sandra right and that I should find a way to make it up to her, but my heart will always belong to Jeanne, for eternity.”
He finished the last of his drink and then glanced at his watch. “I really have to go. I hope I helped, at least a little bit. If you have any more questions, have Helen arrange another meeting. It felt good to talk about Jeanne. I haven’t really done that in the last five years.”
He jumped up and disappeared out of the room before Bessie or Andrew could reply. Bessie finished her tea and then sighed. “I feel sorry for his children,” she said.
“Yes, me, too,” Andrew replied, “and for Sandra.”
“Yes, she couldn’t possibly have known what she was getting herself into when she met him.”
“He seems like a nice person, in spite of everything. He just made the mistake of falling in love with Jeanne and never getting past it.”
“I think we should take another look at Sandra,” Bessie said. “I can’t imagine how frustrated she must have been, dealing with Jeanne and her partner’s obsession with the woman.”
“You could be right. I’m also curious why Howard insisted that Jeanne was promiscuous. He’s the only one who has said that about her.”
“Max did say that he told Howard that he’d slept with her. Maybe he wasn’t the only one that exaggerated the extent of the relationship he had with Jeanne.”
“Maybe, and maybe we should have this conversation somewhere else,” Andrew said, glancing at the tables on either side of them that were now full of people.
Bessie got to her feet and followed Andrew out of the room. There were so many cars waiting for spaces that Andrew had trouble getting his car out of theirs. Several horns sounded behind them as more than one car tried to claim the space that Andrew finally vacated.
“Where to now?” he asked as he drove away.
“It’s three o’clock. John and the others will be at my cottage at six. We don’t have a lot of time. What do you think you’d like to do?”
“Are there any parks nearby with crazy golf or anything like that?” Andrew asked.
Bessie stared at him for a moment. “There are, yes,” she said eventually.
“You don’t like the idea? I thought you enjoyed yourself when we played at Lakeview Holiday Park.”
“I did, but, well, I just thought you’d rather see more of the island’s sights, that’s all.”
“Parks are sights,” Andrew countered. “We could play a round of crazy golf, maybe get ice cream, and then watch the children running around and feel grateful that they aren’t ours.”
Bessie laughed. “I suppose we could do all of those things,” she said.
“Tell me where I’m going.”
After a moment’s thought, Bessie directed him to Onchan Park. Not only did it have crazy golf, it also had a small boating lake. Somehow Bessie was sure that Andrew would want to hire a boat and have a spin around the lake. She was correct.
“Oh, look at the little lake,” he exclaimed as they walked through the park. “Let’s take a boat out, shall we?”
“Why not,” Bessie replied with a grin.
The lake was quite small, and after a couple of circuits it began to be a little bit boring, but Andrew was determined to squeeze maximum enjoyment out of their half-hour boat hire. “I wonder if I can start working on my crazy golf strategy from here,” he said as they puttered past the course.
“I don’t think you need to bother. I’m not good at crazy golf, remember?”
“Some of the holes look quite challenging, anyway.”
“I’ve never tried it, but I’m sure it will be fun.”
After they returned their boat, they paid for golf. As they walked over to the course, they passed a very harassed-looking young man who was carrying a small girl and holding hands with a slightly older boy. The boy was carrying three golf clubs and three balls, but every few steps he’d drop something. As Andrew picked up one of the balls that rolled straight at him, Bessie recognised the man.
“Bill?” she said. “I’m sorry, but you’re Bill Martin, aren’t you? I’m Bessie Cubbon. Liz is a friend of mine.”
The man stared at her for a minute and then nodded slowly. “Of course, we’ve met at various things connected with the language classes that Liz takes,” he replied.
“How are you?” Bessie asked, feeling concerned. The man looked as if he hadn’t slept in days, even though his clothes appeared to have been slept in.
“I’m okay,” he told her. “The first few days are just really
difficult.”
“First few days?” she repeated.
“Oh, you may not have heard. Liz had the baby. It’s another girl. We’re thinking of calling her Danielle, but we haven’t made a final decision.”
“Congratulations!” Bessie exclaimed. “I hadn’t heard, no.”
“Liz’s mum is here, helping out. I think she’s been ringing people, but she’s probably only been ringing family and her own friends, rather than Liz’s. I don’t know if Marjorie even knows. I’ll have to try to remember to ask Liz later.”
“I’m so happy for both of you,” Bessie told him.
“Yeah, we’re happy too, but so very tired. They don’t keep mums in hospital for long these days. They sent Liz and the baby home less than twenty-four hours after the baby had arrived. I know Liz is happier at home, and we’ve done it twice before, but we’d both forgotten how much work a new baby is.”
“She cries a lot,” the little boy said.
Bessie grinned. “I’m sure you cried a lot, too, when you were a baby.”
“But I’m not a baby anymore,” he said stoutly.
“No, you’re my big helper,” Bill said. “Hopefully, Liz and the baby are having a nice long nap while I’m out with the children. Then, when she has to be up in the night with the baby, she won’t be as exhausted.”
“Well, good luck to you all,” Bessie told him. “Tell Liz congratulations from me. I’ll send a little something for the baby along in a day or two.”
“That’s unnecessary, but thank you,” Bill said. “Now we must go and get some dinner. I promised Liz and her mother that I’d feed these two while we’re out.”
Bessie watched as the man returned the golf clubs and balls and then walked slowly back towards the car park. “I should have introduced you,” she said to Andrew in an apologetic tone.
“He was too tired to care,” Andrew laughed. “I remember those first few days. It gets better, but at the time you doubt your sanity, especially after the first one, when you should know better.”
The pair played a noncompetitive game of crazy golf. Bessie knew that if they’d been keeping score Andrew would have won, but since they weren’t, it didn’t matter. After they’d finished, Andrew insisted on ice cream from the café.
Aunt Bessie Solves Page 20
