Hugh shrugged. “I have no idea what her motive might have been,” he told the others. “But she knew the dead man, which isn’t the case for most of the population of the island. And she had access to the knife, again unlike most of the island’s residents. Unless Danny took the knife out with him on his walk, the murderer has to be someone in that house.”
“I can’t believe his own parents would kill him,” Doona said.
“It has been known to happen,” Hugh replied. “Although in this case, I’m inclined to agree with you, barring any evidence to the contrary. Mrs. Pierce seems especially devastated by the loss. I didn’t get much chance to form an impression of Mr. Pierce. He wasn’t so much questioned as tiptoed around. He’s a very important man across and that means we have to tread carefully around him.”
“So if the parents are out of it, that leaves the widow, the brother and his girlfriend as your only suspects?” Bessie asked.
“There’s some household staff as well,” Hugh told her. “A driver, a housekeeper and a few young girls who worked as maids and whatever. We can’t rule anyone out at this point, and I shouldn’t be talking about it.”
Of course the widow had the best motive, didn’t she?” Doona asked. “All that lovely money. What sort of motive might Donny have had?”
“Has to be money, doesn’t it?” Hugh answered. “Although apparently he isn’t in line to inherit anything from his brother anyway. Mr. Pierce told the inspectors all about the complicated trust arrangements they have in place. He said that his own father and his father’s brother had a huge falling out over the business when they were running it and they nearly bankrupted the company before they finally came to an agreement. After that, they set up all sorts of complicated legal bits and bobs to prevent it from happening again with the next generation.”
“Legal bits and bobs?” Bessie grinned. “I should ask Doncan about that.”
Hugh grinned back at her. “That might not be the technical term, but whatever he said, the gist of it was that that Donny won’t gain anything, at least financially, from his brother’s death.”
“I suppose he could have a whole host of other reasons for wanting his brother dead, though,” Doona suggested.
Hugh shrugged. “He seemed really broken up about it,” he told her. “But then, maybe he’s just a good actor.”
Bessie nodded slowly. “I really should talk to Bahey again,” she remarked. “If anyone knows that family, it’s her.”
Hugh scratched his head. “Bahey who?”
“Bahey Corlett; she worked for the family for years, both on the island and across. She was there when I visited, even though she retired a few years ago,” Bessie explained.
Hugh shook his head. “I don’t think I’ve met her. I haven’t been out to the house, except for a drive along the road to have stern words with the reporters who are plaguing the family.”
“They are really dreadful. Can’t you guys do anything about them?” Bessie asked.
“Not really,” Hugh shrugged. “It’s a public road. As long as they stay on the road and don’t try to get onto the actual property, they can stay. I understand that the Pierce family has hired their own security, anyway. The men from Manxman should be able to handle a few reporters.”
“I actually know one of them,” Bessie told him. “Robert Clague grew up in Laxey.”
“I think you know just about everyone on this island,” Doona joked.
“And not one of the people I know would murder anyone,” Bessie answered.
“Don’t be so sure,” Hugh cautioned. “You never know what it might take to drive someone over the edge. We don’t have a lot of murders on the island, but I’ve been studying up on different crimes. Sometimes the guilty party is the least likely suspect.”
“In this case, then, you need to take a good look at Mrs. Pierce,” Bessie told him. “She must be the least likely suspect.”
Hugh shrugged. “I’m not taking a good look at anyone,” he said glumly. “I’m holding down the fort at the station, looking for lost kittens and truant schoolboys, same as always.”
Doona gave Hugh’s arm a sympathetic pat. “Someone has to keep the station running and look after the rest of Laxey,” she said soothingly. “Let Rockwell and Kelly run around asking questions and looking for clues. You just keep your ear to the ground. I’ll bet you hear more interesting information than they will ever get from their interrogations.”
Hugh shrugged again and then changed the subject. “What time are you meeting Samantha at the Laxey Wheel?” he asked Bessie.
“One o’clock,” Bessie answered. “I’m not sure why she picked there, but I guess there are worst places to meet.”
“All those stairs,” Doona said with a frown. “I’m not sure I like the idea of you climbing all those stairs and being so far off the ground with a murder suspect.”
Bessie laughed. “I’ll be perfectly fine. After all my years on this earth, I think I’m a pretty good judge of character. If that girl was going to kill anyone, it would be Vikky, not her boyfriend’s brother, and certainly not me.”
“I have to say I have some sympathy for her there,” Doona answered. “Vikky was already at the station when the rest of the family showed up and she literally fell into Donny’s arms. I’ll bet Miss Samantha’s nose has been out of joint ever since.”
A knock on the door surprised them all. Bessie got up to answer it, followed closely by Hugh. When she reached the door, she turned to look at him, hovering only inches behind her.
“For goodness’ sake,” she whispered, “go and sit down. I don’t want you scaring some poor ten-year-old who just got told off for not doing his homework.”
“If I were sure it was a ten-year-old, I would be happy to sit down,” Hugh hissed back as the person on the other side of the door tapped again.
Bessie glared at Hugh, and he took half a step backwards. She shook her head and sighed deeply, but he refused to retreat further. Neither of them was expecting Inspector Rockwell on the other side of the door.
“Inspector?” Bessie knew the greeting sounded more like a question that a welcome and quickly corrected herself. “This is a surprise, but please, do come in,” she offered.
The Inspector stepped into the cottage and looked around the kitchen. If he was surprised to see Doona and Hugh there, it didn’t show on his face.
“We were just going to have some tea and fortune cookies,” Bessie told him as she pushed the cottage door shut. “Please join us.”
“That’s very kind of you,” the man replied, taking the few steps to the table and sitting at an empty place.
Hugh had returned to the table while Bessie and his boss were talking; now he settled back into the seat he had left earlier. Doona quickly cleared away the rest of the debris from their meal, passing Bessie the unopened box full of fortune cookies.
Bessie started the kettle and then put the cookies onto a plate. She added a few different varieties from her own stocks and then put the plate in the middle of the table. Everyone sat silently as they waited for the kettle to boil and for Bessie to make the tea.
Once everyone had their drink and their choice of treat, Bessie sank down into her chair and smiled tentatively at her new arrival.
“So what brings you here tonight, Inspector?” she asked, trying to make the request sound conversational rather than nervous.
Inspector Rockwell smiled at her. “Everywhere I go in Laxey, everyone tells me the same thing. If you want to know the skeet up here, talk to Aunt Bessie.”
Bessie nodded; she couldn’t possibly argue with that.
“So I want the skeet,” the man continued. “Who’s the most likely suspect in Daniel Pierce’s murder? Who do most people think did it?”
Bessie took a long sip of her tea as she gathered her thoughts. She was probably foolish to feel flattered that he was asking, but the feeling was still there. She exchanged looks with Doona and Hugh, both of whom looked uneasy.
“I haven’t had
much chance to talk to people since I found the body,” Bessie prevaricated. “And the ones I have talked to have been more interested in hearing about my experience than in speculating who might have killed the poor man.”
“But you must have heard some conjecture,” Inspector Rockwell pressed her gently. “This is all off the record, by the way,” he added. “I’m not looking for an official statement, just your thoughts and ideas.”
Bessie shrugged. “Don’t they always say that it’s the person closest to us whom we have to fear most? Most of the people I’ve talked to think the widow had the best motive.”
Inspector Rockwell nodded. “But they’d only been married a few days,” he reminded Bessie. “Surely she could have put up with him for a little bit longer before getting rid of him.”
“Maybe he had already figured out that she was only interested in his money, so she had to act fast,” Doona suggested.
A slightly awkward silence greeted that idea before Inspector Rockwell changed the subject.
“What do you think of the idea that it was drug related?” he asked Bessie.
“A few years ago I would have said ‘no way,’” she replied. “But the world is changing and even Laxey is changing. The world of drugs and dealers and that sort of thing is something that I only know about through fiction. All I can tell you is that I’ve never seen anyone on Laxey Beach doing anything that I thought was related to illegal drugs.”
Rockwell nodded slowly. “We have a lot of avenues to explore,” he told her and the others. “Sometimes we get the most important clue through unconventional means. Obviously, a murder investigation is no place for a random civilian, but you’re something of an institution in Laxey. If anyone is going to hear that little bit of information that we need, it’s you. I would be extremely grateful if you would pass along anything and everything that you hear to me.”
Bessie shrugged. “Hugh is staying with me at the moment,” she told the man. “He seems to think I need protecting. I’m happy to share the things I hear with him every night.”
Rockwell frowned and opened and closed his mouth several times before finally speaking. “That would be great,” he said in a choked tone.
He stood up quickly, draining the last of his tea once on his feet. “Thank you kindly for the tea and biscuits,” he told Bessie with a smile. “I can see why you love your little cottage. It really is something special.”
Bessie rose to see him out, but Rockwell waved her back into her chair. “Hugh can see me out,” he told them all. “Thank you again.”
Hugh jumped up and quickly walked to the door behind his boss. The two disappeared outside. It was several minutes later when Hugh returned, just as Bessie was trying to figure out how she might eavesdrop on the conversation taking place on her doorstep.
“Oh, I do hope you aren’t in any trouble,” Doona told the man once he had sunk back into his seat, a slightly dazed look on his face.
“I don’t reckon I am,” Hugh said after a moment.
“So what happened?” Bessie demanded impatiently.
Hugh ran a hand over his face and then shook his head. “He actually congratulated me on being here. Said it was a smart move. Said that protecting you was probably a good idea and that you were the perfect person to hear anything if people started talking. Oh, he wasn’t really happy that you said you’d tell me what you heard rather than him, but he got me to promise that I’d pass everything along as soon as I got it, which I would have done anyway.”
“So he wasn’t upset to find us here?” Doona checked.
“He did remind me that I’m supposed to be getting information from Bessie, not giving information to her,” Hugh grinned. “But he didn’t seem too worried.”
“Did he say anything about not talking to Inspector Kelly about all of this?” Bessie asked, suddenly suspicious.
“Not exactly,” Hugh answered. “He said something about not bothering Inspector Kelly with the bits of gossip and innuendo that I might pick up from Bessie,” Hugh told her. “I guess he’s hoping that Bessie’s contacts will help him solve the murder before Inspector Kelly does.”
Bessie frowned. “I don’t want to get between those two,” she complained. “Anyway, I think my loyalties should be to Patrick Kelly. He’s a native, after all.”
“Just focus your loyalties on Hugh here, and don’t you worry about the dueling inspectors,” Doona suggested. “If you ask me, Inspector Rockwell is more likely to share the credit if he solves the case than Inspector Kelly, but that’s just my opinion.”
“Hurmph,” Bessie sighed. “I don’t expect I’ll have anything to contribute anyway,” she told the others. “Whatever happened out on the beach, I’m pretty sure it didn’t involve anyone local, so it’s highly unlikely that any gossip I hear will matter.”
“Of course, you are meeting with one of the suspects tomorrow,” Hugh reminded her. “She might have something interesting to say.”
Bessie only nodded. The whole topic was beginning to upset her. It was one thing reading about murder and mayhem in her favourite books, but in real life such things were physically and emotionally exhausting.
“I need to get out of your hair and let you get some sleep,” Doona announced. “Tomorrow is going to be another busy day for all of us.”
Hugh was smart enough to start washing up the dishes while Bessie saw her friend to the door.
“Call me the minute you get done with that woman,” Doona instructed her friend. “I want to know what she said and I want to know that you’re safe.”
“She’ll be plenty safe enough,” Hugh answered from the sink. “I’ll be having my lunch right around one o’clock tomorrow and I figure the picnic tables at the Laxey Wheel are the perfect spot to sit and eat.”
“That’s a great idea,” Doona enthused. “Maybe I’ll join you.”
Bessie sighed. “For goodness’ sake,” she exclaimed. “I’m meeting a young woman who needs someone to talk to. Just because she is very tangentially attached to a murder doesn’t mean I need a full complement of body guards.”
“I guess I can eat lunch wherever I want,” Hugh said, giving Bessie a stubborn grin.
“I’ll stay at the station, then,” Doona told her friend. “But you still have to call me the second you finish with her.”
Bessie assured her friend that she would do so and then locked up the cottage’s front door for the night. While Hugh finished washing, she grabbed a towel and dried the dishes. When they were all tucked back up in their proper places, Bessie headed upstairs to bed.
With her face washed and her teeth brushed, she climbed into her most comfortable nightgown and crawled into bed. For several minutes she lay snuggled under the covers, wondering how one man could make so much noise trying to be quiet. When the banging and crashing from the lower level finally stopped, she fell into her normal sound sleep.
Chapter Six
Bessie didn’t bother trying to wake the loudly snoring constable the next morning. She made herself tea and toast and then waited for his alarm at seven to do the job for her. Once Hugh was moving around, albeit slowly, Bessie headed out for a walk on the cool but mercifully dry day. She didn’t go far, but she felt like she needed to stretch her legs and get away from everyone for a short time. She had lived on her own her entire adult life and having Hugh in residence, even after just two nights, was already starting to wear on her.
She was slightly disappointed to see that Hugh was still at the cottage when she returned.
“Not gone to work yet, then,” she said as soon as she was in the door.
“Ah, I was just going to head out now,” Hugh stammered. “I grabbed a shower here this morning so that I didn’t have to stop at home.”
“You know you are more than welcome to do that,” Bessie lied easily, wondering if he hadn’t bothered to stop home because he knew the message he wanted wouldn’t be there, or if she was reading too much into his changed behaviour.
“I just want
ed a quick word with you before I went,” Hugh added. “I’m sort of worried about you and the Laxey Wheel thing.”
Bessie frowned at her young guest. “Don’t be silly,” she nearly snapped. “I’m meeting an unhappy young woman for a short chat. Everything will be fine.”
“Nevertheless, I’ll be having lunch at the wheel,” Hugh reminded her. “And I want you to program my mobile number into your mobile phone in case you need me in a hurry.”
Bessie considered arguing with him, but she couldn’t muster up the enthusiasm. Besides, it did no harm having his number in her phone.
Once Hugh was satisfied with the arrangements for later in the day, he headed out to work and Bessie breathed a sigh of relief. She spent several minutes tidying up around the house. Hugh had been very careful to keep his things in a very neat pile in one corner of Bessie’s sitting room and she worked around that pile, dusting and vacuuming. When she found herself frowning at the pile for the third time, she decided that she needed to get out of the cottage.
She had used the same taxi service for more years than she chose to remember. A few years ago they had relocated their dispatch centre to Ramsey, which often meant longer wait times for Bessie if she didn't pre-book. That usually wasn't an issue; Bessie rarely did things on impulse. Today was an exception.
She was lucky, therefore, that the company had a driver in the Laxey area when she called. The man who pulled up in front of Bessie's cottage just minutes later was one of her favourites.
“Dave, I'm glad to see you,” she greeted him.
“Always a pleasure to see you, Aunt Bessie,” he answered with a wide smile. “And I know you’ve had more than your share of excitement lately, so I won’t be bothering you with questions.”
Instead, the pair chatted about Dave’s family as he drove Bessie along the coast into Ramsey.
“It isn't like you to go into Ramsey on a Wednesday,” he remarked as he pulled into a small parking lot to let Bessie out.
“No, I just needed a change of scenery,” Bessie answered. “After everything that's been going on, I thought a spot of retail therapy might help.”
Aunt Bessie Assumes: An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Page 8
