“Shall I contribute as well?” Bessie asked.
“Doona’s more than paid for your share,” Rockwell answered with a grin. “You can take that up with her.”
Bessie smiled at her friend, who quickly waved away any notion of Bessie giving her money. When plates were filled, Bessie and Hugh moved the now nearly empty boxes from the table and the foursome sat down to eat.
“Did this come from the new Indian place in Laxey?” Bessie asked.
“Yes,” Rockwell answered. “I figured it was best to get dinner from somewhere close by so it would be good and hot when I got here. No one I talked to knew anything about the place, though, so I wasn’t sure what we would be getting.”
“They’ve only been open a few weeks,” Doona told him. “I had lunch there last week one day and it was pretty good. So far everything I’ve tried tonight has been excellent.”
“It’s really great,” Hugh agreed, talking around a mouthful of food.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Bessie told Hugh, almost without thought. Manners these days were so neglected.
“Sorry,” Hugh answered, ducking his head when he realised that his mouth was still full.
Doona choked back a laugh as Bessie rolled her eyes. In spite of the huge amount of food on offer, it was only a short time before all of the boxes were emptied and only scraps remained on plates. Hugh had done most of the work, eating as if he hadn’t seen food in weeks, but Bessie had found that in spite of her large lunch she was starving.
“My hands were so full that I had to leave pudding in the car,” Inspector Rockwell told them as he rose to his feet. “I’ll just go and collect it.”
While he was gone Doona and Hugh cleared the table. Doona made Hugh start on washing up the dishes while she dug out clean plates for pudding.
“I’m not an invalid,” Bessie had protested as Doona waved her back into her seat.
“But you have opened up your home to us for three nights in a row,” Doona answered. “The least we can do is a bit of washing up.”
The inspector had brought apple pie and custard for pudding, and Bessie dug in with an enthusiasm that surprised her. She shouldn’t have been hungry after everything she had eaten earlier. Perhaps all the unaccustomed excitement was making her body crave food. She wasn’t the only one who enjoyed the pie. Hugh stopped just short of licking his plate as he finished not one, but two slices of pie, both topped with generous dollops of custard.
“Right,” Inspector Rockwell smiled as Bessie served everyone tea. “That was very nice, but now I’m afraid we have to get down to business. I’m really hoping that you found out something interesting at lunch today,” he told Bessie.
“I found out several things that I found interesting,” she answered. “Let’s see what you think.”
“Don’t tease,” Doona urged her friend.
Bessie grinned. “So first of all,” she began, “did you know that Donny is married?”
Doona’s jaw dropped and she gasped. “Not to Samantha?” she asked.
“No,” Inspector Rockwell supplied the answer. “He’s actually married to Inspector Kelly’s sister.”
Now it was Hugh’s turn to gasp. “How come I didn’t know that?” he demanded.
Rockwell frowned. “Inspector Kelly isn’t exactly bragging about it,” he told the others. “He told me about the connection when we found Daniel Pierce’s body, but as it seemed highly unlikely that his sister had anything to do with the murder, he remained on the case.”
“Why is it ‘highly unlikely’ that she’s involved?” Doona demanded.
“She moved off the island only a few years after the wedding and hasn’t been back since,” Rockwell answered.
“Bahey saw her last week in Douglas,” Bessie informed him.
Rockwell frowned. “Is she sure about that?” he demanded tensely.
“She said that Maeve ignored her, so I suppose it might not have been her, just someone who looks like her, but I think it’s something that needs looking into,” Bessie answered.
“Oh, definitely,” Rockwell answered, writing furiously in his small notebook. “And soon.”
“What else did you learn?” Doona asked excitedly.
“Bahey doesn’t believe that Daniel was taking drugs,” Bessie shrugged. “But she hadn’t seen him in three years, and people change.”
“We’re checking very carefully into the man’s recent past,” Rockwell informed her. “If he had developed a drug habit, we should be able to find traces of it. At the moment all we have to go on is what Donny told us.”
“What did Vikky say when you asked her about it?” Bessie asked.
“You know I can’t repeat what was said in interviews,” Rockwell answered. “Let’s just say that, no matter what she said, we’re taking the allegations very seriously.”
“The only other interesting thing from this afternoon is that Bahey is worried about Mrs. Pierce,” Bessie told them all.
“Worried, why?” Hugh asked.
“She’s upset and acting out of character,” Bessie answered. “I guess she went out for a walk yesterday and when the police questioned her, she said she’d been in the house all day. Things like that.”
Rockwell flipped back through his notebook, checking something. “I’ll have to have another little talk with Mrs. Pierce, I guess,” he said, almost under his breath.
“She couldn’t possibly have killed her own son,” Bessie said firmly. “I saw how devastated she was after he died.”
“We can’t rule anyone out based on how you feel, Aunt Bessie.” Rockwell’s smile softened the words. “Anyway, it’s always possible that we’re dealing with two different murderers.”
Doona gasped again. “Like I wasn’t having enough trouble sleeping when I thought there was one running around?”
Rockwell patted her hand. “We do think the same person killed them both, but we can’t be sure,” he told her. “I’m trying to keep an open mind about every possibility.”
“Maybe Samantha killed Daniel and then Mrs. Pierce killed Samantha,” Hugh suggested.
Rockwell held up a hand. “We could start speculating now and be here all night coming up with increasingly crazy solutions. I would rather gather evidence and testimony before I start trying to assign labels to the players.”
Bessie grinned. While she really agreed with the Inspector, it was sort of fun throwing out all of the different ideas that were bouncing around and seeing how they sounded. It was almost like trying to solve the murder in one of her books before the detective managed it.
“What about alibis?” Bessie asked. “I know we talked about them before, but surely some of the suspects must have alibis for one or the other murder?”
Rockwell shook his head. “The Chief Constable gave an interview today with the local press. He told them that, actually, no one in the family has an unbreakable alibi for the first murder. We had ruled Mrs. Pierce out for Samantha’s death, but now, based on what Bahey told Bessie, that might be questionable.”
“So none of them can be ruled out for either murder?” Bessie questioned.
“Not really. Mr. and Mrs. Pierce have alibied each other for the first murder, but we don’t usually put much faith in spouses supporting one another. There wasn’t any staff staying in the house before Daniel was killed, and from what I’ve heard everyone else was up and down and all over the place during the night that Daniel died. Add to that the fact that everyone was asleep for at least some of the relevant period and wouldn’t necessarily have noticed where anyone else was and it all adds up to no alibis.”
“Vikky said that she and Daniel had a fight,” Bessie said. “She told me that he had taken off somewhere.”
“Theirs wasn’t the only fight,” Rockwell remarked.
“You’d think, with all that money, that they would happy,” Doona sighed.
“Money attracts its own troubles,” Bessie told her friend.
“I guess I should stick to
poor but happy,” Doona laughed.
“Surely there’s a much smaller time frame for the second murder?” Bessie asked.
“Much smaller,” Rockwell agreed. “But that doesn’t mean that anyone can prove they didn’t do it. Vikky and Donny are obvious suspects; we know that they were there, but Mr. Pierce was out for a drive and could have stopped anywhere. As I said, we thought Mrs. Pierce was accounted for, but perhaps not. Even most of the staff at the house seems to have been in and out for much of the afternoon, although none of them appear to have any motive for killing either of the victims, at least not at this point. Unfortunately, Thie yn Traie is close enough to the Laxey Wheel that someone could have driven over, killed Samantha and returned almost without their absence being noticed.”
“Bahey doesn’t drive,” Bessie told the inspector.
“And she’s the only staff member who the security team has said was definitely in the house all day. Of course, they said the same about Mrs. Pierce, so now I’ve got to consider that they were lying or weren’t keeping track of people as carefully as they claim.”
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Bessie remembered. “Did you know that Vikky grew up in Foxdale?”
The Inspector tilted his head and Bessie could almost see him searching through his memories. After a moment he flipped through his notebook, examining several pages carefully.
“Well, now,” he said eventually, “that seems to be something that must have slipped her mind when we spoke.”
“I guess they moved when she was still pretty young,” Bessie told him. “Maybe she didn’t think it was relevant.”
“It’s relevant,” Rockwell answered. “And it might even be important.”
“So what do we do now?” Bessie asked after a sip of tea.
“’We’ don’t do anything,” Rockwell answered. “This investigation is police work. I appreciate everything you’ve done so far, but now the Isle of Man Constabulary need to do their job and solve these murders.”
“I assume you don’t have any objection to my visiting Thie yn Traie again?” Bessie asked. “I really should pay my respects for Samantha.”
Rockwell frowned. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he told Bessie. “Two people in that house have been murdered in the last week. I would think it would be best to stay well clear of it.”
Bessie thought for a moment before she answered. “I understand what you’re saying,” she told the inspector. “But I really feel like I should pay my respects. Besides, I might be able to find out more about Maeve and Donny and Vikky’s past there. And I can see how Mrs. Pierce is really doing. I’m sure they’ll tell me things they would never tell you.”
The inspector shook his head. “It might be dangerous,” he told Bessie. “Going to pay your respects is one thing, but going to snoop is another. And I’m not comfortable with you doing either at this point.”
Bessie grinned at him. “What if I promise not to snoop?” she asked. “I’ll just go and do the polite thing and then leave. At least I might get to see Mrs. Pierce and get an idea of how she’s doing.”
Rockwell sighed. “I can’t stop you, of course,” he said slowly. “And it might be helpful if you can see Mrs. Pierce. When I went to see her after Samantha’s body was found, her doctor wouldn’t allow me to speak to her for more than a few moments. Of course, that was when we were told she had an alibi.”
“Well, I’m glad that’s settled then,” Bessie grinned at him. “Tomorrow morning I’ll walk over and have another little chat with Mr. and Mrs. Pierce and whoever else is at home.”
“And tomorrow night we’ll hear all about what they said,” Doona added.
“Of course,” Bessie grinned. “I think it’s Hugh’s turn to bring the food.”
Hugh blushed and then grinned. “Is pizza okay with everyone?” he asked hopefully.
Everyone laughed, but then agreed that pizza was fine.
“I’ll bring pudding,” Doona offered. No one objected.
Minutes later Inspector Rockwell was escorting Doona to her car and Bessie and Hugh were getting ready to turn in for the night.
“I hope you sleep well,” Hugh said politely to Bessie.
“I always do,” Bessie answered him, choosing to ignore her difficulties from the previous evening.
But when she got into bed a short while later, she again found herself unhappily tossing and turning. As Hugh’s snores began to make their way up the stairs she found that once more sleep was being evasive. She sat up and grabbed a nearby book that she had deliberately brought up the stairs with her for just such an eventuality. She read several chapters before she finally felt sleepy enough to turn out the light. Once she settled in, much later than normal, she happily fell asleep almost immediately.
Chapter Ten
The next morning Bessie was shocked awake by Hugh’s alarm, ringing loudly from the floor below her. Her own internal alarm had missed six and she had slept right through until seven. She frowned as she threw back the covers and climbed into her robe. She would get Hugh and herself some breakfast while he was in the shower and would take her own shower later, she decided. It seemed like the most sensible solution to her oversleeping.
Hugh’s incessant whistling while in the shower didn’t improve Bessie’s mood. By the time he’d had some breakfast and headed off to work, Bessie felt like crawling back under the covers and simply waiting for the weekend from under there.
After a shower that quickly ran cold thanks to Hugh’s earlier ablutions, she dressed and then headed out for a short stroll, hoping some fresh air might improve her mood. Just steps away from her door, the skies opened and Bessie got thoroughly drenched as she turned and walked back to her cottage as quickly as she could.
“Well, really,” Bessie said as she slammed her front door. “Can anything else go wrong today?” She quickly tapped on her wooden table to stave off any bad fortune that might follow such a pronouncement, and then she dragged herself into the nearest bathroom to try to dry off.
The phone was ringing its annoyingly insistent tone as she gave up and headed up the stairs to change. She hesitated on the third step, wondering if it was worth turning around or not. Doona’s voice on the answering machine answered the question.
“Bessie, are you there?” Doona asked. “If you are pick up quick, otherwise, call me when you get this message.”
Bessie grabbed the receiver and switched off her answering machine. “I’m here,” she said, a bit breathlessly.
“I can’t say much,” Doona sounded excited, “but there’s about to be an arrest in the murder cases.”
Bessie felt a sharp pang of something like disappointment. She had been enjoying the investigation more than she had realised. She frowned at herself as she replied to Doona. “Who’s about to get arrested?” she demanded.
“Ah, arrested is probably too strong a word,” Doona backtracked. “Someone is about to be brought in to, um, help with our inquires.”
“But who?” Bessie said impatiently.
“Jack White,” Doona whispered.
“Who is Jack White?” Bessie asked, confused.
“You know, if you think about it,” Doona answered.
“Stop teasing,” Bessie said frustrated. Then she snapped her fingers. “The Laxey and Lonan chemist?” she asked. “What on earth does he have to do with the murders?”
“Well,” Doona began. “It looks like, um, yes, well, if you turn off at the last junction and then take the second left, we’re the first building on the right.”
“What?”
“Yes, ma’am, that’s fine. You can come in any time and report your missing cat,” Doona rattled on at her. “We’re happy to take your statement and, obviously, we will do our best to help you find little Fluffy.”
Bessie laughed. “Fluffy? Come on, if I did have a cat I would give it a much better name than that. I take it someone has just walked in and you can now be overheard?”
“Absolutely, ma’am,” Doona ans
wered.
“Can you call me back later?” Bessie asked. “When it gets quieter?”
“Certainly, ma’am. I’d be happy to do that.”
Bessie sighed after they had said polite goodbyes and she’d hung up her phone. She had been planning on walking over to Thie yn Traie this morning, but what with oversleeping and then the rain, the plan was less appealing now than it had been last night. Besides, it would probably be best to see what Doona had to report before she went to see the Pierce family. If Jack White was the killer, that would certainly put a different spin on her visit.
While Bessie waited for Doona to call her back, she tried to remember everything she knew about Jack White. It wasn't much. She knew he had moved to the island only six months or so earlier, replacing the retiring John Corkill as the dispensing chemist at the small Laxey branch of the local chain.
He was much younger than the man he’d replaced, somewhere in his late-thirties, she reckoned. He was much more attractive than the portly and balding man he had replaced as well. Bessie remembered dark brown, almost black, hair and vivid blue eyes. He was almost exactly what Bessie had always pictured when people spoke of someone “tall, dark and handsome.” There had been some gossip when he first arrived about his behaviour with young and pretty customers, but that had died down fairly quickly.
Last month, the chain had been purchased by a large British company, and the hours at the Laxey branch had been cut as Jack White began to split his time between there and an even smaller store in Lonan.
Bessie wasn't fond of putting chemicals into her body unnecessarily, so she rarely needed the services that chemists like Jack offered. There had only been one occasion since the man arrived when Bessie had needed a course of antibiotics for a particularly nasty throat infection. In her brief visit to his shop, Bessie had found the man to be perfectly pleasant to deal with.
The obvious inference to make from the news of his arrest was that he was the local source for Daniel's drug supply. Bessie frowned as she considered it. Surely it wasn't good business practice to kill your customers, she mused. There had to be more to the story than she knew.
Aunt Bessie Assumes: An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Page 14
