“What alternative is that?” Bessie asked.
The man shook his head. “The only alternative I can think of is that Vikky killed him,” he said softly. “And that would be much worse.”
“You really think she’s capable of murder?”
“No,” Donny said too loudly. He took a deep breath. “I don’t know what to think,” he said eventually. “I mean I introduced them, you know? I met Vikky through mutual friends and I thought she would be perfect for my brother. I was even happy when they got married, even though I thought Danny only agreed because of the drugs. I thought she would be good for him, once he got his habit sorted out.”
“Why would she kill him? They had only just married,” Bessie played devil’s advocate.
Donny laughed unpleasantly. “They were fighting almost all the time,” he told Bessie. “The night of the, um, er, the night Danny died they started fighting at dinner and kept at it until Vikky finally stormed away to go to bed. Danny said he was going to just sleep in one of the spare bedrooms rather than try sleeping with Vikky.”
“What were they fighting about?” Bessie had to ask.
“I don’t know. Vikky thought Danny was flirting with Samantha and Danny thought Vikky was flirting with me.” The man ran a hand over his face. “Then Vikky got a text from an ex-boyfriend who apparently didn’t know she was now married. Unfortunately, Danny had her phone at the time and he read the text. Apparently it was sort of, um, rude and suggestive.” He shook his head. “I think they both realised that they had sort of rushed into marrying and they were both regretting it.”
“Surely divorce is a better option than murder,” Bessie said sensibly.
Donny shrugged. “Vikky wouldn’t have been given much money in a divorce settlement after only a few days,” he said.
Bessie frowned at him. “I thought you said you liked Vikky,” she said. “It sounds like you’re ready to put her on trial for murder.”
“I do like Vikky,” Donny insisted. “But if it wasn’t something related to drugs, I can’t imagine who else could have done it. Obviously, neither my parents or myself had anything to do with it; Samantha didn’t have any motive, and anyway, she spent the night with me. There simply isn’t anyone else.”
Bessie gave him a measured look. “I’m sure the police are considering every possible option,” she said eventually. “You should tell them everything you’ve told me and then let them worry about it.”
The man nodded. “I’m really angry at Danny for doing this to us,” he confessed.
“That’s perfectly normal,” Bessie informed him. “But you still must want to see his killer behind bars.”
Donny shrugged and then turned away from Bessie. “Thanks for the chat,” he said dismissively. “I suppose I should round up the girls and head back home. My parents might have noticed by now that we’re gone.”
“Which way did you say Samantha went?” Bessie asked. “I’d love to have a quick chat with her about her Manx ancestry.”
He shrugged again. “I think she was heading towards the mine. She said something about wanting to see where the men worked. I think she was just too lazy to bother climbing the steps up the wheel.”
“Thanks.” Bessie thought of a million things to say, but chose to say nothing further. She turned and slowly headed back down the ninety-six steps. The rain was falling gently but steadily as she reached the bottom.
Chapter Seven
As she stepped away from the stairs, Hugh came up alongside of her and took her arm.
“I was starting to get worried about you,” he told Bessie as they walked slowly away from the Lady Isabella. “Henry, the Manx National Heritage guy, wasn’t sure how many people were up there, but he was pretty sure none of them were women. What were you doing up there all that time?”
Bessie patted his arm, touched by the obvious concern in his voice. “Samantha wasn’t up there,” she told him, “but Donny Pierce was, and he had a lot on his mind.”
“Anything you need to tell me right away?” Hugh asked. “Because I really need to get back to the office. With both Inspector Rockwell and Inspector Kelly popping in and out all the time, I can’t afford to take an extra-long lunch.”
“I’ve told the man that he should go to the police with his information,” Bessie said. “If he hasn’t come in and talked to anyone by the end of the day, I’ll fill you in tonight.”
Hugh nodded. “If you’re sure it isn’t anything urgent, I’ve really got to dash.”
Bessie patted his arm again. “You go and get back to work. I’ll see you tonight.”
Hugh hesitated. “What are you going to do now?”
“I’m going to try to find Samantha. I’m guessing she got tired of the cold and the damp and found her way to a pub somewhere.”
“Be careful and call me if you need me,” Hugh instructed her. “And don’t go climbing the Lady Isabella again.”
Bessie smiled. “No worries, I don’t have any desire to climb all those steps again in a hurry.”
Hugh nodded and then gave her one last worried glance before he rushed off back to his car. Bessie shook her head. Even with a murderer running around, she felt safe on her little island. It was sweet of Hugh to worry about her, but totally unnecessary.
Donny had suggested that Samantha had been heading towards the mine when they split up. Even though he’d said that at least an hour had passed since then, the mine seemed as good a starting point as any.
Bessie walked carefully along the uneven ground, heading for the entrance to the old mine shaft. On arriving, she stopped at the opening and read the sign that was partially blocking it.
“Manx National Heritage welcomes you to the old Laxey Mine. Only a small portion of the tunnel leading to the old mine is visible, but you are welcome to walk inside and see for yourself where the miners would have begun their day in the short tunnel that remains accessible. Because there is always a risk of rock fall, all visitors must wear hard hats. Please be careful and enjoy your visit.”
Bessie glanced at the rack of ugly white hard hats that sat next to the sign. She kept her gray hair short and neatly trimmed; the hat would make little difference to her style. That didn’t mean that she wanted to wear it, however. The hats were ugly and uncomfortable. For a moment she debated simply ignoring them and heading into the tunnel. Then she sighed deeply and grabbed the nearest one. Plopping it on her head, she made her way to the mouth of the tunnel.
It would have been just her luck, if she’d left it off, to find Mark Blake or some other Manx National Heritage bigwig inside the tunnel when she got there. She’d never hear the end of the teasing if he’d spotted her. The last thing she wanted a reputation for was rule breaking. She sighed as she stepped into the dimly lit tunnel. It was empty. She took a couple of steps forward and then shrugged. She would have to look for Samantha elsewhere.
The sound of a mobile phone ringing stopped her as she was turning around. She glanced around the narrow tunnel, trying to figure out where the annoying notes were coming from. Someone must have dropped their phone in the tunnel when they were sightseeing, she decided. She might as well play Good Samaritan and find it for them.
The sound was coming from deeper into the space and she walked forward quickly, hoping to find the phone before it stopped ringing. At the end of the tunnel, just in front of the locked doors that led into the actual mine shaft, sat an old-fashioned mine cart, part of the display. As Bessie walked towards it, she decided that it must be where the sound was coming from.
She stopped in front of the cart and glanced down into it, hoping that the phone would be lit up enough help her find it in the near-darkness. She took a sharp step backwards as the phone’s light revealed far more than just the ringing phone. As her mind tried to process what she had seen, her feet were carrying her backwards, towards the mouth of the tunnel.
As Bessie stepped outside, she took several deep breaths and then pulled her phone from her pocket. She frowned as
she punched the third number on her speed-dial list.
“This is Hugh.” The voice on the other end helped steady Bessie’s nerves, at least a little bit.
“Hugh, it’s Aunt Bessie,” she began. She heard the quaver in her voice and took another deep breath.
“What can I do for you, Bessie?” Hugh asked politely.
“It’s Samantha; I’ve found her,” Bessie replied.
“Great, did she have anything interesting to say?”
“No,” Bessie shuddered. “She’s dead.”
Bessie pulled the phone from her ear as she heard a huge crashing noise. A moment later, she cautiously put it back.
“Aunt Bessie?” Hugh sounded terribly flustered. “Sorry, I, uh, I dropped the phone. I’m sure I didn’t understand you. What did you just say?”
“I said Samantha is dead,” Bessie answered sharply. “You really should be paying more attention.”
She heard Hugh take a deep breath. “Where did you find her?” he asked after a moment.
“In the Laxey Mine,” Bessie said. “She’s in the mine cart, all curled up. Her phone was ringing.” Bessie was annoyed to hear tears in her voice as she spoke. She cleared her throat in an effort to stem them.
“Okay, I’m on my way,” Hugh told her. “I was just pulling out of the car park by the wheel when my phone rang, so I won’t be long. Just wait there for me and don’t let anyone in or out of the mine until I get there.”
He hung up before Bessie could protest. “How exactly am I supposed to do that?” she muttered at the phone. In the end, it didn’t matter, as no one approached the mine in the five or so minutes that it took for Hugh to turn up.
She watched his car’s arrival, his lights blazing and siren blasting, with a frown. Surely there was no need for so much rush; the woman was dead, after all. She sighed. Boys and their toys, she decided. Hugh probably loved having an excuse to flash his lights and blare his siren. She was impressed to see him hurrying from the car towards her, though. It was the fastest she’d ever seen the man move.
“Is there anyone else in there?” he asked as reached her side.
“No, the place was empty when I got here. I only went in a few steps and I was going to leave when I saw it was empty. Then a mobile phone started to ring and I figured I might as well find it and rescue it.” Bessie shook her head. Sometimes it didn’t pay to try to be helpful.
Hugh nodded and then disappeared into the mine tunnel. Only a few seconds later he was back, pulling out his phone and making calls. Bessie watched for a few minutes and then, when he’d just finished one call and was about to begin another, interrupted him.
“I’ll be in the pub if you want me,” she told him, pointing to the end of “Ham and Egg Terrace.”
“You probably should stay until the inspectors get here,” Hugh told her.
“Sorry, I need to get out of the rain and have a cup of tea,” Bessie said stoutly. “The inspectors can find me there whenever they want to chat.”
Bessie turned her back on the still protesting Hugh and stomped away through puddles that were growing larger by the minute. A cup of tea and a piece of cake, she decided. Or maybe a hot pudding, like jam roly-poly with lots of custard; that would good. She completely blocked everything from her mind except her immediate plans. Behind her, a new crime scene investigation began.
Bessie was happy to put her heavy shopping bag on an empty chair and settle into another. She drank her tea and ate her sticky toffee pudding with extra custard while, around her, the entire room buzzed with excited chatter. By the time she finished, six police cars were dotted throughout the small car park near the mine and two ambulances were vying for space near its entrance.
“I wonder what’s going on at the mine,” the girl clearing the dishes from Bessie’s table remarked idly.
“I couldn’t possibly guess,” Bessie answered, unwilling to discuss what she had seen with anyone if she didn’t have to. The girl walked away and Bessie shut her eyes and drew a breath. The tea and sugary treat hadn’t been enough to erase the image that seemed burned into her brain.
Finding Daniel Pierce’s body had been a somewhat upsetting experience for her, but this was in a different league. For one thing, she had immediately assumed that Danny had died of natural causes. Perhaps more importantly, he had been lying in such a way that she couldn’t see his face. That had given Bessie the chance to feel somewhat detached from his death. Besides, the man had been a relative stranger to her. She was vaguely aware that he had been present on Laxey Beach in years gone by, but she didn’t think she’d ever spoken to the man.
Samantha’s death was completely different. Bessie shut her eyes tightly and then opened them quickly as, once again, the ghastly image haunted her. Samantha had been curled up in the mine cart with the phone resting near her head. In the eerie blue light that the phone emitted, Bessie had just been able to make out the surprised look on Samantha’s lifeless face. The only other thing that really registered in Bessie’s split-second look was the knife that was sticking out of Samantha’s chest. She found it impossible to reconcile the body she had seen with the vivacious and beautiful woman she had spoken with only twenty-four hours earlier.
Bessie ordered herself another cup of tea. She was thinking seriously about getting herself a second pudding as well when Inspector Kelly walked into the room. He quickly spotted her and made his way to her table.
“You should have stayed at the crime scene,” he barked as he sat down next to her uninvited.
“It was so cold and rainy,” Bessie said in a weak voice. “I just felt like I needed to sit down. I think I was in shock.”
The inspector looked at her like he didn’t believe a word she had said, but he didn’t argue. “I need you to run me through finding the body,” he told Bessie.
A crashing noise behind him had him jumping to his feet. The startled waitress was staring down at Bessie’s second cup of tea, which she had dropped.
“Oh, I am sorry,” she stammered. “I just, that is, you said, oh my.…”
Inspector Kelly frowned. “Is there an office or another room that I can use for a few minutes?” he asked the waitress.
“Um, sure, yeah.” The girl was trying to mop up the spilled drink and collect the broken pieces of cup. “You can use the back room,” she finally offered as she stood up with hands full of soaked paper napkins and cup fragments. “Just through the arch. We use it for parties and stuff.”
The Inspector nodded once. “I think some privacy is in order,” he told Bessie, gesturing for her to follow him into the back.
Bessie rose slowly, picking up her shopping bag and using the time to gather her thoughts. She wasn’t feeling terribly impressed with Inspector Kelly at the moment, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t prepared to tell him everything.
In the end, though, she wasn’t given a chance. The Inspector sat down at a table right inside the door and motioned for Bessie to join him.
“Hugh reported that you went into the mine, saw that it was empty and then heard a mobile phone ringing, is that correct?” he began.
“Yes,” Bessie answered, surprised at the detailed question.
“You then tried to find the phone and found the body instead, correct?”
“Well, technically, I found both the body and the phone,” Bessie answered.
The man rolled his eyes. “Yes, all right, whatever,” he muttered. “Do you have anything to add to your statement?”
Bessie sat back and studied him for a long minute. “I don’t recall making a statement,” she said finally.
The man sighed. “I’m a very busy man,” he told Bessie. “I have Hugh’s statement and you’ve just confirmed what he reported. If you stop by the station tomorrow, Mrs. Moore will have what we discussed typed up and ready for you to sign.”
He was gone before Bessie could frame an appropriate reply. “Well, he’s never going to solve the crime that way,” she muttered to herself as she got to her feet. “
Fancy not even asking me why I was at the mine,” she shook her head and made her way back through the pub, heading for the door. It swung open before she reached it and Bessie took a step backwards to allow the man coming in some space.
“Ah, Aunt Bessie,” the man said brightly. “Just the person I wanted to see.”
Bessie grinned up at Inspector Rockwell. “I’m awfully popular right now,” she remarked. “Inspector Kelly just left.”
“Did you give him a statement?” Rockwell frowned.
“Not exactly,” Bessie answered. “He already had Hugh’s statement, so he just wanted to verify a few things.”
“I’d like to do a bit more than ‘verify a few things,’” the inspector told Bessie. “Maybe we should grab a table and some tea.”
“You’re welcome to use the back room,” the same waitress said brightly. “I’ll bring some tea through in a minute.”
Rockwell nodded and offered Bessie his arm. Feeling somewhat more appreciated, Bessie took with a small smile.
The inspector waited until the tea had been delivered before he spoke. “I’d like you to run me through your day,” he told Bessie, after he’d added milk and sugar to his cup and taken a long drink. “Actually, start with when I left your cottage last night, if you don’t mind.”
Bessie smiled and settled back in her chair; Inspector Rockwell now rising even further in her estimation.
“After you left, Doona went home and Hugh and I went to bed. Well,” she corrected herself, “I went to bed. Hugh is insisting on sleeping on the couch.”
The man nodded and made a small note on a pad of paper that he had pulled from his pocket. “Go on,” he said encouragingly.
“Right, so I got up at six, as usual, had a walk and then did some cleaning. After that I took a taxi into Ramsey and did some shopping. The taxi brought me back to Laxey and dropped me here for some lunch. After lunch I walked over to the wheel and climbed up. Mark Blake from the Manx Museum was at the top, along with his brother, and we exchanged a few words. The only other person there was Donny Pierce. I chatted to him for a short while and then headed back down the stairs.”
Aunt Bessie Assumes: An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Page 10
