For half an hour, she went from room to room, chatting with everyone and helping tidy up odd sweets wrappers and the like. Margaret’s room was in the worst shape and Bessie spent several minutes hunting down pens and pencils that seemed to have wandered all over the room, under Christmas trees and behind decorations. With Mary’s help, they managed to get everything tidied up with a fresh pile of blank letters to Santa and cards ready to go.
“There should be fewer children here tonight than there were this afternoon,” Bessie remarked.
“I certainly hope so,” Margaret said with a rueful laugh. “It was exhausting trying to keep up with them all this afternoon.”
Bessie made a mental note to try to spend more time with Margaret when the castle was open, especially during afternoon hours. It sounded very much like a second pair of hands would be welcome.
The other rooms needed little more than a bit of straightening and Mark and Marjorie had already helped the others get that done by the time Bessie arrived in them. They all ended up in Michael’s room with only a few minutes left to spare.
“It doesn’t look too bad,” Mark said as he looked around.
“No, I expect the children were getting tired by the time they got to here,” Bessie said with a laugh.
“I did the MNH room first, and it needed even less work,” Marjorie told her. “As it’s the very last stop in the castle, I think there might be something to your theory.”
“Sorry I wasn’t here this morning,” Natasha said as she walked into the room.
“You don’t have to be here now,” Mary told her.
“I know,” Natasha said with a laugh. “But I really missed being a part of it. I know that’s weird, but it’s such a wonderful thing you’re all doing here. I hope I’m not in the way.”
“Not at all,” Mark said. “We can use all the help we can get. Now, I need ideas. With Michael not here, I stationed one of the MNH staff in here this afternoon, but the poor man didn’t know anything about the Alzheimer’s Research Fund and apparently he got a lot of questions.”
“I’m happy to hear that people were asking questions about the charities,” Bessie said.
“I was, too,” Mark agreed. “I don’t suppose any of you know enough about Michael’s work to be able to cover for him tonight?”
Everyone exchanged glances. After an awkward silence, Bessie finally spoke up.
“I don’t know a lot, but I’ll stay in here and do my best,” she offered.
“Thank you, Bessie,” Mark said. Bessie could hear how tired he was in his voice.
“I hope you have a nice long holiday booked for the new year,” she said to him as everyone else scattered back to their rooms or to the courtyard to greet guests.
“I do, actually,” Mark said. “But if they don’t get Mr. Hart’s murder solved I might not be allowed to go.”
“I’m sure Pete will have it all sorted by then,” Bessie said confidently.
“Let’s hope so,” Mark muttered as he headed out.
The two hours that Bessie spent in Michael’s room felt long and tedious. She smiled and chatted with all of the visitors and told them everything she could remember about the Alzheimer’s Research Fund. She did her best, but she couldn’t help but feel like someone else could have done a much better job.
It was nearly nine when Mark came in. “Inspector Corkill wants to see all of us in the banquet room once the last of the guests have left,” he told Bessie.
“That sounds ominous,” Bessie said.
Mark shrugged. “He wouldn’t say anything more than that,” he replied.
Time seemed to slow down even further now as Bessie wondered what the inspector wanted. The possibilities raced each other around Bessie’s mind as she absentmindedly greeted the last few guests who straggled through. A few minutes after what she’d hoped were the last of the guests, Bessie heard voices in the corridor.
“Come on,” Mary called to her from the doorway. “Henry is chasing everyone out and Mark wants us all in the banquet room.”
Bessie followed the others who were all chatting amongst themselves.
“You’re very quiet,” Mary said as they reached their destination.
“It was a long day,” Bessie replied.
“I’ll come and help you tomorrow, if you get stuck in Michael’s room again. I’ll bring Natasha and we’ll have fun,” Mary offered. “Really, Carolyn should have done it anyway; she’s on the board.”
“I forgot about that,” Bessie exclaimed. “She really should have.”
In the centre of the room, Pete cleared his throat. “I have a few things I want to discuss with you all,” he said. “I know it’s late and you’re all tired, but I need to ask each of you a few questions, one at a time. I’d like to start with Bessie Cubbon, please.”
“What’s going on?” Agnes demanded.
“I want to go home,” Carolyn snapped. “You can question us in the morning.”
“I’ll try not to keep you here for too long,” Pete said. “But I really must talk to you all before you leave.”
“Something has happened to Michael,” someone guessed.
Pete held up a hand. “I’d like to speak to each of you in turn,” he repeated. “Miss Cubbon?”
Bessie stood up and followed him out of the room. He stopped at the door to the room they’d used for lunch and gave Bessie a grim smile. “I didn’t mention that we have company,” he said as he pushed the door open.
Bessie frowned as she walked into the room and spotted the man behind the table. John Rockwell got to his feet and frowned back her.
Chapter Nine
“Your being here can’t be good,” Bessie said as she crossed the room.
“No, it isn’t,” John replied. He stepped around the table and gave Bessie a quick hug.
“You shouldn’t hug suspects,” Pete said from the doorway.
“And I’ll deny I did it if Bessie ends up being the murderer,” John said with a tight smile.
Bessie forced a smile onto her own lips and then, at John’s invitation, sat down opposite him.
“What’s happened?” she asked.
“Two things,” Pete said as he joined them at the table. “First of all, we’ve made a tentative identification of some of the fingerprints that were found on the inside of one of the smashed ornaments.”
“And they were Michael’s,” Bessie guessed.
“Why do you think that?” Pete asked.
“Because he has a temper, because it seems like something he might have done after a few too many drinks, and because you haven’t arrested anyone else,” Bessie replied.
John and Pete both smiled. “She’s very good,” John said to Pete.
“I know,” Pete replied.
“We aren’t going to be telling the others about that,” John told her. “For now we’re officially leaving the vandalism as unsolved.”
“What happened to Michael?” Bessie asked.
“A body was found in Lonan this morning in a house that was empty and on the market. A neighbour saw lights on in the property late last night and rang the office, but when a constable went to check, the property was dark and everything looked secure. He wrote up a report and the information was passed on to the real estate company handling the sale. They sent someone around to check everything this afternoon and found the body.”
“And it’s Michael,” Bessie said sadly.
“We haven’t had a formal identification yet,” John said. “But Pete’s provided a preliminary one.”
Bessie nodded. “Another murder connected to ‘Christmas at the Castle,’” she said sadly.
“No one has said anything about murder,” John told her.
Bessie looked up at him in surprise. “He killed himself?” she asked, feeling confused.
The two policemen exchanged glances. “It will be some days before we have a proper cause of death determined,” Pete said.
“But it could have been suicide?” Bessie as
ked. “Or an accident?”
“It could have been one of those,” John agreed. “It’s definitely not as clear-cut as Mr. Hart’s death was, at least.”
“Can you think of any reason why he might have killed himself?” Pete asked Bessie.
She took a deep breath and then sat back, feeling shocked. “He wasn’t happy on the island,” she said eventually. “But he was exploring other job opportunities, not talking about killing himself.”
“His altercation with Christopher Hart was public knowledge,” Pete pointed out. “That might have limited his job options.”
“Even so, Carolyn was standing behind him, at least for the moment. His job here was safe.”
“But he didn’t want to be here,” John reminded her.
“No, but suicide is quite a long way away from being somewhat dissatisfied with your current job,” Bessie replied.
“What if he’d killed Mr. Hart?” Pete asked. “Was he the sort who might have let guilt eat away at him until he took his own life?”
“I barely knew the man,” Bessie said. “But I would have said no; at least before yesterday I would have.”
“What happened yesterday?” John asked.
“He was behaving strangely yesterday,” Bessie told him. “He drank a lot, and I’d never seen him have more than a single glass of wine before. Of course, I’d only seen him at one or two social gatherings early in the planning stages for our event. Maybe he was out drinking every other night and I never knew about it.”
“And he disappeared for a while,” Pete said thoughtfully.
“It wasn’t like him to miss the press conference,” Bessie said. “He was very ambitious, and a lot of his success at work was dependent on his raising both money and awareness. I was shocked that he’d miss an opportunity to gain publicity for the charity.”
“Who knew him best?” John asked.
“I don’t know anything about his private life,” Bessie said. “Carolyn was on the board at the charity he worked for, but I don’t know how well they knew one another. Harriet said something about having worked with him previously, I think.” Bessie shook her head. “I’m feeling all muddled up,” she said. “It’s such a shock.”
“He went for a walk with Natasha yesterday afternoon,” Pete said. “Do you think they were some sort of a couple?”
“I thought at the time that Natasha was being nice and getting a rather drunk man out of our hair while we finished decorating,” Bessie recalled. “But after everything that happened last night, I’m not sure what they were doing.”
Pete and John took Bessie back through the entire previous day before having her walk them through her Saturday. When she was finished, John sat back with a sigh.
“I have a number of questions for you, but I think I’d rather talk to the others before I ask them,” he said.
“No doubt Carolyn Teare is kicking up a major fuss,” Pete added. “We’d better get her sent home before her advocate arrives and we have to deal with him, too.”
“Bessie, would you mind waiting until I’ve spoken to everyone else so we can talk again?” John asked. “I can give you a ride home, if that makes it any more tempting.”
Bessie chuckled. “You don’t have to tempt me,” she told him. “I’ll do whatever you think will be most helpful.”
“Why can’t all witnesses be like Bessie?” Pete muttered as he ushered Bessie out of the room.
“Please don’t talk to anyone,” he told Bessie loudly as he walked her back into the banquet room.
Bessie shrugged and crossed to a chair in an empty corner of the space.
“I demand to be allowed to leave,” Carolyn said angrily. “I’ve been saying that for over half an hour and these men wouldn’t let me go.”
“I’m sorry for the inconvenience,” Pete said without conviction. “Come on back and I’ll get your statement and then you’ll be free to go.”
“Why isn’t Bessie free to go?” Carolyn demanded as she stood up. “Don’t tell me you suspect Bessie of anything criminal.”
“No comment,” Pete replied. He gave Bessie an amused grin before he led Carolyn down the corridor.
As soon as they were gone, several people started to speak. Mark held up a hand.
“We all heard the inspector tell you not to talk to anyone,” he said, glancing around the room. “But I do hope you’re okay.”
“I’m fine,” Bessie assured him. “But I can’t say anything more.”
Mark nodded and the room fell into an awkward silence. To Bessie, time seemed to stand still. When she checked her watch, she worked out that she’d spent about half an hour with the two inspectors. She was surprised to see Pete back only twenty minutes after he’d left with Carolyn.
“Mark, I’d like to talk to you next,” he said.
Mark got up and followed him out of the room, leaving everyone to shift in their seats and wonder what had happened to Carolyn.
Mark was back only fifteen minutes later. “Just to set your minds at rest,” he said in the doorway, “Carolyn has been sent home. Once you’ve had your turn with the inspector, you’ll be allowed to leave as well. I need to wait and lock up, but if anyone has a particular reason for being questioned sooner rather than later, let me know.”
A few people muttered under their breath, but no one spoke. After a minute, Mark continued.
“Liz, I know you have small children to get home to. Why don’t you go next?”
“Thanks,” Liz replied, getting slowly to her feet.
Bessie hated how exhausted the poor girl looked. It had been a very long day for a pregnant woman. This time it was only ten minutes before Pete reappeared.
“If I could have Agnes next, please,” he said.
Bessie amused herself with trying to guess whom the two inspectors would send for next. She decided that they were working through the charity volunteers, and was strangely pleased when, less than ten minutes later, Pete asked Margaret to come through. After Harriet, the questioning seemed to go even more quickly as Henry, Laura and the three young MNH staff members were questioned in very short order. When Marjorie went back with Pete, Mary exchanged glances with Natasha.
“It looks like they’re leaving us for last,” she said. “I hope that doesn’t mean they think we did something wrong.”
Natasha yawned. “I’m going to fall asleep in this incredibly uncomfortable chair in a few minutes,” she replied. “I don’t even like the hotel bed, but it’s definitely calling to me at the moment.”
When Pete came back in a short time later, he looked exhausted. “Thank you both for your patience,” he said to Mary and Natasha. “Mrs. Quayle, your husband insisted that we wait to question you until your advocate could be with you. He’s arrived now, so if you’d like to come with me, please.”
“Oh, goodness, George is such an idiot sometimes,” Mary said affectionately. She left the room with Pete. They were both back about twenty minutes later.
“I’ll just wait here for you, dear,” Mary told Natasha. “Then I can give you a ride back into Douglas.”
“Thank you,” the girl told her. “I hope I won’t be long. Do you think I need to borrow your advocate?”
“Oh, he was nothing but an inconvenience,” Mary told her. “I sent him home after the third question.”
Bessie laughed and Mary turned and winked at her.
“You run along and see if you can help the police work things out,” Mary told Natasha. “You can bring fresh prospective. We all know each other too well, I think.”
Natasha nodded and then followed Pete down the corridor. Mary took a seat next to Bessie and patted her hand.
“I know you aren’t allowed to talk about anything, so let me bore you with tales of my grandchildren, please. I think I’ll go mad if I have to sit here in silence again.”
Bessie smiled. “I’d love to hear about your grandchildren,” she told Mary.
When Natasha walked back into the room half an hour later, Bessie was
laughing over the antics of the newest addition to the Quayle family.
“He’s too smart for his own good, that child,” Mary said. “But I love them all so very much.”
“We can go now,” Natasha told Mary. “I do hope you aren’t expecting me to help out again tomorrow,” she added, looking from Mary to Mark and back again.
“I said you weren’t expected today,” Mary reminded her. “Of course you may take tomorrow off and just rest. Take Monday as well and then you can start back on Thie ny Traie and forget all about Castle Rushen.”
“I’m not sure I’ll manage two days off,” Natasha replied. “But I will take tomorrow to rest, at least.”
“We’re meant to be open from one to five tomorrow,” Mark said. “I’m hoping the police aren’t going to make us close.”
“No need, at least at this point,” Pete said. “We’ll have a crew here tomorrow working on processing the vandalised room further, but as long as we can keep out of the way of your event, you can go ahead.”
“Excellent,” Mark said with a sigh.
Bessie couldn’t help but think that it would be easier for everyone if the police had cancelled their Sunday hours. She didn’t feel as if she’d be at all ready to be cheery and bright again the next day.
“Bessie, I can take you home now,” John Rockwell said from the doorway.
“I’ll just lock up behind us all,” Mark said.
Natasha and Mary left with a uniformed constable as an escort. John, Pete, Mark and Bessie walked out together, checking and locking up as they went.
“We’re going to have to do some tidying up in the morning,” Mark commented as they walked through Margaret’s room.
Bessie sighed as she saw that writing utensils were scattered all across the floor again. “What are people doing in here?” she demanded.
“I think we need more staff helping Margaret,” Mark said. “She seems to be a little bit overwhelmed.”
“I’d be happy to help her,” Bessie said. “But you’ll have to find someone else to cover for Michael, then.”
“I think Carolyn should do that,” Mark said. “She is on the board for the charity, after all.”
Aunt Bessie Joins Page 14
