Aunt Bessie Decides (An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Book 4)

by Diana Xarissa

  “Let me take some pictures,” Bessie said, getting up to look for her camera.

  “No,” Doona told her. “I’m sure a photo won’t look nearly as good.”

  A knock on the door interrupted Bessie’s reply. Bessie crossed to it and pulled it open.

  “Inspector Rockwell? What brings you here?” she said to the man on the doorstep.

  “I thought you were calling me John,” he replied. “I just stopped by to make sure everything was okay.”

  “Everything’s fine,” Doona told him as she walked towards the door. “Candy just gave me a makeover.”

  John blinked at her and then nodded. “Right, well, you, um, that is, I, um.”

  Candy laughed. “Doesn’t she look amazing?” she demanded, joining Doona, next to Bessie.

  “She does indeed,” John answered, looking at the ground.

  “Did you want to come in for a glass of wine?” Bessie asked.

  “Oh no, I can’t stay,” he replied. “I’ve got to get home to Sue and the kids. I was hoping we could all have dinner tomorrow night, though? You and me and Hugh and Doona, I mean.”

  “That sounds great,” Bessie told him.

  “I’ll bring Chinese,” John offered.

  “And I’ll bring a pudding,” Doona chimed in.

  “Six o’clock?” John asked the others.

  “That sound fine,” Bessie told him.

  He nodded once, giving Doona a further quick glance, and then turned and headed back to his car. Bessie waited until he was behind the wheel before shutting the door.

  “If I were a few years younger,” Candy growled, “I’d be all over that man. He is seriously sexy.”

  Doona picked up her wine glass and emptied it. “What were we talking about?” she asked.

  “Your Charles,” Candy reminded her.

  “Oh, as it turned out, he wasn’t really ever mine,” Doona sighed. “And I’m well sick of talking about him. Your turn,” she told Candy.

  Candy grinned. “I’ve only been madly crazy in love once. I ran away from home when I was fifteen and I met Hank at a bus station in a small town in the middle of nowhere. I’d just run out of money and Hank was kind enough to pay my fare to Los Angeles. I thought I was going to be a movie star, and then I fell madly in love with Hank and I didn’t care what I did, as long as I was with him.”

  “So what went wrong?” Doona asked.

  Candy laughed. “Hank became my agent and promised to make me a star. When he got me my first job in porn, I argued with him about it, but he insisted. That was when I realised he didn’t really love me.”

  Bessie shook her head. “I’m not sure I want to hear this story,” she said sadly.

  Candy shrugged. “It isn’t much longer really,” she said. “It turns out I’m not a good enough actress for porn. I could never hide how incredibly bored I was, and after a couple of movies, Hank couldn’t get me cast in anything else. He started getting both physically and verbally abusive one night and I punched him in the mouth and left. I’d already met William on a set once, when he was trying his hand at movies. I called every name in my address book that night and he was the only one that offered to help. He wired me enough money to join up with the company in New York, where they were getting ready to start their tour.”

  “That was kind of him,” Doona said.

  “William’s terrific,” Candy answered. “If he wasn’t so obsessed with Penny, I’d have made a play for him a long time ago.”

  Bessie had to bite her lip before she spoke. It wouldn’t do to repeat things she heard in police interviews. “And William never cheats on Penny?” she asked.

  Candy laughed. “Poor William and Penny,” she said. “They’re both so busy trying to make the other one jealous that they never have time to enjoy being together. I’m sure Penny thinks I had an affair with William and I’m sure William thinks Penny had an affair with Scott, but in truth, it was all just pretend.” She sighed “We’re a pretty mixed-up group of people.”

  “You are, at that,” Doona told her.

  Candy laughed until she started coughing, and then gulped wine. “I wish I could say that we were once one big happy family, but really, we’ve always been one big dysfunctional family. William needs to make Penny think he’s irresistible to women, so he pretends to have affairs as often as he can. Penny finally got mad about it and pretended to sleep with Scott to get back at him. Adam cheats whenever he can, but Sienna does her best to limit his opportunities. And then there’s Sienna,” Candy sighed dramatically. “That woman is either the best actress I’ve ever met or the worst. I’m just not sure which it is.”

  What do you mean?” Doona asked.

  “She’s just incredibly changeable,” Candy said. “When we were travelling, I’d go from thinking she was devoted to Adam to being sure she was leaving him and then back again. She’s all about the drama. If she doesn’t get what she wants, she threatens to leave the troupe. William’s called her on it once or twice, but usually he ends up giving in and giving her a bigger part or a nicer costume or whatever. She was the main reason I was happy to leave the group once Scott got his break.”

  “And you said you thought she killed Scott,” Bessie remembered.

  Candy shrugged. “Maybe I just don’t like her,” she replied.

  Bessie changed the subject, and the trio spent another lively hour comparing British and American food, television and popular culture. By the time they’d run out of wine, all three women were exhausted.

  “I’ll sleep on the couch,” Doona offered. “I don’t want to climb the stairs anyway.”

  Candy looked like she might argue and then she shrugged. “I think I can manage a few stairs in exchange for a bed.”

  Bessie showed Candy to her room and got her settled in, and then she headed back down the stairs to check on Doona. Doona was standing in front of the bathroom mirror, staring at herself.

  “I don’t want to wash my face,” she told Bessie. “I know I’ll never look this good again.”

  “You always look beautiful to me,” Bessie told her.

  “Thanks,” Doona said, sounding glum.

  “Doesn’t your face feel funny with all that goo on it?” Bessie asked.

  Doona frowned. “Yeah, actually, it kind of does,” she admitted.

  Bessie laughed. “You should be eager to get it off, then.”

  “Yeah, I guess,” Doona shrugged, but she turned the water on and splashed some on her face. “I think I’m going to need the heavy-duty cleaning cream that Candy gave me to get all of this off,” she said, as she looked back at herself.

  Bessie handed her the bottle that Candy had left out and then headed back upstairs, at Doona’s insistence. “I’m fine. Go and get some sleep,” Doona had told her.

  She was unused to having more than one houseguest at a time, but Bessie didn’t have any difficulty falling asleep. Her internal alarm woke her at six as normal, as well. She stretched and then got up slowly. After a quick shower, once she was dressed, Bessie peeked in on Candy, who was still fast asleep. Downstairs, Doona was stretched out on the couch, also still sleeping. Bessie sighed. They were going to miss the very best part of the day.

  She left them a short note, just in case they woke up and wondered where she was, and then she headed out for her morning walk. The sun was already shining and Bessie felt good in spite of the late night and the amount of wine she’d drunk.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Bessie took her time, enjoying the lovely day, and when she got back to her cottage, the other two women were both up.

  “Good morning, Doona and Candy,” Bessie said as she swept into the cottage. “How are you both this morning?”

  “A little hungover,” Doona groaned. “Just a little.”

  Bessie laughed. “Oh dear, I’m sure I have headache tablets here somewhere.”

  “It’s fine,” Doona told her. “I’ve got to get home and take a shower and then get to work.”

  Candy w
as sitting at the kitchen table, holding her head in her hands. “I’ll take everything you’ve got,” she told Bessie.

  Bessie tried not to laugh as she dug in a cupboard for tablets. She handed two to Candy, along with a glass of water.

  “I didn’t know how to use your coffee machine,” Candy moaned, after she’d taken the medicine. “But I sure could use some coffee.”

  Bessie filled the machine and switched it on. Doona looked at her watch and sighed. “I can’t wait,” she said with obvious reluctance. “I need to get home and get ready for work.” She gave Bessie a huge hug.

  “Last night was fun,” she told Bessie and Candy. “We should do it again sometime.”

  “Maybe with less wine,” Candy said, her voice muffled by her hands, which were still holding up her head.

  “Yeah, maybe,” Doona agreed. Bessie let her out, and then focussed on Candy.

  “Would you like some breakfast?” she asked her guest.

  “Dry toast?” Candy asked.

  “No problem,” Bessie told her. She fixed the toast and by that time the coffee was ready as well. Candy cupped the mug she was given in both hands and Bessie watched a little bit of colour return to Candy’s face as she sipped the hot drink. A few bites of toast later, she was practically back to normal.

  “Oh, that’s so much better, thank you,” Candy said, as she took another sip of coffee.

  “You’re welcome,” Bessie replied. “What are your plans for today?”

  Candy grinned. “Don’t worry, I’ll get out of your hair,” she said. “Except I got thrown out of my hotel because my credit card hit its limit. Can you suggest a cheap place to stay? Like really, really cheap?”

  Bessie sat down with her own toast, covered in a thin layer of marmalade, and a cup of coffee. She sipped her drink while she thought about Candy’s request.

  “I can find you a place for a few nights,” she told the woman. “One of my friends has a small hotel in Peel. You can stay there, I’m sure.”

  “Will they have room? I tried calling lots of places, but everything was full,” Candy told her. “And I can’t afford very much, either,” she added, looking down at her plate.

  “Let me call him and see what he says,” Bessie replied. She used the kitchen phone, but ducked around the corner to talk where Candy couldn’t hear her. When she came back into the room, she gave Candy a big smile.

  “He only has one small room at the moment,” she told Candy. “But you can use it if you want it.”

  “I’m not fussy,” Candy replied. “As long as it has a door that locks and has been cleaned in recent memory, it’ll do fine.”

  Bessie smiled. “It will definitely have a door that locks, and I’m sure Jack keeps his rooms spotless. The day rate includes breakfast and dinner as well.”

  “How much?” Candy asked baldly.

  “Let’s not worry about that for now,” Bessie told her. “I’ve told Jack to bill your room to me. Once you get your life sorted out, you can repay me.”

  “Really?” Candy’s eyes filled with tears. “You’d do that for me? Why?”

  Bessie shook her head. “I’m not sure why,” she told the other woman. “It just feels like the right thing to do.”

  “I was a porn star,” Candy said. “Most women of your generation don’t want anything to do with me.”

  Bessie grinned. “I’m not most women,” she said.

  “Clearly not.”

  “You know, when I wanted to buy this cottage, the widow who owned it didn’t want to sell it to me,” Bessie said. “Women didn’t live on their own in the nineteen-thirties; well, nice women didn’t. A lot of people have criticised me for the way I chose to live my life over the last fifty or sixty years,” she told Candy. “I may not understand or agree with your choices, but that doesn’t make you any less of a person. And I’m fortunate to be in a position where I can help you. Maybe some day you’ll be able to help someone else in a similar situation.”

  Candy gave her a small smile. “You’re a very special lady, and I feel lucky to have met you.”

  Bessie called her car service and sent Candy on her way, this time with Dave driving.

  “You do have some glamourous friends,” he told Bessie, as he helped Candy into the cab.

  “Take good care of her,” Bessie said with a smile.

  “Oh, yes, ma’am.” Dave gave her a quick bow and then he and Candy drove away.

  Bessie tidied up her kitchen and then straightened out the sitting room where Doona had rearranged things ever so slightly. She sighed. While she was at it, she might as well clean the whole house, she decided. There were guests coming for dinner, after all. By lunchtime the house was as clean as she could be bothered to make it and Bessie was starving.

  She reheated some frozen soup and cut a huge slice of crusty bread from the loaf she’d bought at Shopfast during the trip for wine the previous evening. She added a thick layer of butter to the bread and then made herself a cup of tea to wash everything down with. She didn’t feel all that full when she’d finished, but she knew she’d be having a large evening meal.

  After lunch she took another, shorter, stroll on the beach and then curled up with a book about the role of women in medieval society. When she heard the knock on her door, she returned to the present with a shake of her head. We’re so much better off, she thought to herself as she headed towards the door.

  Doona smiled at Bessie when she opened the door. “I bet you were lost in a murder mystery,” she teased her friend.

  “Nope,” Bessie grinned. “I was lost in medieval Europe.”

  She let her friend in, and Doona deposited a large bakery box on Bessie’s counter.

  “What did you bring?” Bessie asked.

  “You’ll have to wait and see,” Doona laughed. Another knock, only a moment later, announced the arrival of Hugh and John. John was carrying a large box full of small takeaway containers, which he handed to Hugh once Bessie opened the door.

  “I’ll just grab the other box,” he told Bessie.

  “There’s more?” Bessie said, shaking her head. It looked like an amazing amount of food, but she knew that Hugh would have no trouble finishing whatever John, Doona and Bessie didn’t want.

  Within minutes, everyone had filled a plate and settled in around Bessie’s kitchen table. Hugh carried over cold drinks after taking everyone’s requests.

  “This is so good,” Doona said between bites. “Where did it come from?”

  Rockwell named the small Indian restaurant in downtown Ramsey. “I spent my afternoon working at the Ramsey station,” he explained. “So it just made sense to bring the food from there.”

  “It is good,” Bessie agreed.

  “You seem to be spending a lot of time in Ramsey,” Hugh remarked to his boss.

  John shrugged. “Since I’m actually handling an investigation in Peel, it’s just easier to work from Ramsey in some ways. I’ve actually been back and forth to Peel every day since Scott died.”

  “Let’s not talk about that until after pudding,” Doona suggested.

  John looked as if he wanted to argue, but after a moment he nodded. “Did you ladies have fun last night?” he asked, smiling at Bessie.

  “Candy is surprisingly nice,” Bessie told him.

  “And you’re paying for her hotel room as well now, aren’t you?” he replied. “First Penny and now Candy. I’m surprised William and Adam haven’t stopped by to ask you to put them up somewhere as well.”

  “She needed a place to stay and she’s out of money,” Bessie said with a shrug. “Jack, the hotel owner, is an old friend. He won’t charge me much as long as she doesn’t cause any trouble.”

  “What makes you think she won’t cause trouble?” Hugh asked with a wicked grin.

  “Jack’s wife,” Bessie told him. “She’s tough as old boots and she won’t put up with any shenanigans, I promise you.”

  “I just hope we can get Scott’s murder solved quickly and get the whole
troupe off the island. I don’t much like any of them,” John said.

  “How’s Grace doing?” Bessie asked Hugh.

  Hugh blushed. “She’s okay,” he replied. “She was pretty shook up for a few days, but she’s feeling a lot better now. We had dinner together last night and talked a lot about my job and stuff. We’re thinking about looking for a little house together.”

  “How wonderful,” Bessie exclaimed. “She’s perfect for you. Maybe I should buy a hat?”

  Hugh turned an even brighter shade of red. “Not quite yet,” he told Bessie. “But with her in Douglas and me up here, it’s hard. We thought maybe we could find a little place somewhere between the two. It’s either that or maybe she could look for work up here. We aren’t sure which is better at this point.”

  “She teaches primary school, doesn’t she?” Bessie asked. “Maybe the village school will have an opening in September?”

  “She’s going to ask,” Hugh told her. “And in Lonan as well. Then we’ll figure out what we want to do.”

  “Maybe I will start looking at hats,” Bessie said thoughtfully.

  Everyone had cleared their plates, except for Hugh, who had cleared his at least three times. Doona quickly collected the dirty dishes and put them in the sink.

  “Pudding time,” she announced, holding up the bakery box.

  “What did you bring?” Hugh asked eagerly as Bessie passed around plates and forks.

  “A Bakewell tart,” Doona announced. She opened the box and set the large tart in the middle of the table. For a moment, everyone simply stared at it before Bessie laughed.

  “I’m sure it tastes better than it looks,” she said, grabbing a knife.

  “I’m not so sure,” John grinned. “It looks pretty darn good.”

  It did taste at least as good at it looked, and Bessie sat back a short time later with a happy smile on her face. “That was perfect,” she said, after she’d wiped her mouth.

  “I guess we can’t put off the inevitable any longer,” Doona said with a sigh. “We have to talk about Scott’s murder and Sienna’s accident, don’t we?”

  “Technically, no,” John replied. “But I’d like to, if no one objects. Talking with you three always helps me get my thoughts in order. Before I forget, though, we’ve had some preliminary lab results and it doesn’t look as if Scott was drugged. He was just very drunk and apparently fast asleep when he was stabbed.”