Aunt Bessie Remembers

by Diana Xarissa

  “You’ll have to talk to Mrs. Quayle or her daughter about that,” John said. “For now, I’d like to go back to the very beginning. Let’s walk through what happened when you all arrived at Thie yn Traie.”

  Someone groaned and Michael held up his hand. “Does that mean you won’t be needing Mona or myself any longer?” he asked.

  John frowned. “If you don’t mind, I’d be grateful to you if you could stay for another half hour or so. I’d like to think we’re getting closer to a solution.”

  Michael nodded. “I believe you are. We can certainly stay if we won’t be in the way.”

  “Which of your friends arrived first?” John asked Elizabeth as he flipped back through his notebook.

  “Everyone arrived on Friday evening,” Elizabeth replied, “in some order or another. They came in two groups. I’m pretty sure that Vivian arrived in the first group. Ernest, was she with you and Norma?”

  “Yes, we arrived first and then the others came on a later flight,” Ernest confirmed.

  “How much later?” John asked.

  “Oh, maybe an hour?” Ernest made the reply a question. “I wasn’t really paying attention, but we were having dinner when they arrived.”

  “And who was in that group?” was John’s next question.

  “Richard, Madison, and me,” Sean told him. “We were all on the same flight, although I don’t think neither Richard nor I knew that Madison was going to be there.”

  “Elizabeth arranged my flight for me,” Madison said in her whispery voice. “She told me that everyone else was flying over earlier. I was surprised to see Sean and Richard at the gate.”

  “We were meant to be taking the earlier flight,” Sean said, “but I got held up at the office and Richard was kind enough to wait for me.”

  “And you were about an hour behind the others?” John checked.

  “About that, I suppose. If it had been much more than that, I probably would have looked at chartering something or waiting until morning,” Sean replied. “I didn’t want to turn up here at midnight or later.”

  “If the others were at dinner when you arrived, what did you do?” John asked.

  “We went in and joined them,” Sean told him. “It was just a big buffet, and there was plenty of food.”

  John looked down at his notes. “And after dinner, what happened?”

  “We all came in here and had a few drinks,” Elizabeth replied. “Susan hadn’t arrived yet, so we didn’t talk about the murder mystery evening at all.”

  “And after a few drinks you all went to bed?” was John’s next question.

  “Yes. I think we headed up to our rooms around midnight, or not much after,” Elizabeth said.

  “Can you remember in what order everyone left the great room?” John wondered.

  Elizabeth laughed and then shook her head. “I wasn’t paying any attention. Norma left first because she had a headache. No one really lingered after that, though.”

  “You don’t know who the last person out of the room was?” John asked.

  “I was, of course,” Elizabeth said. “I was the hostess, after all.”

  “If I could please have a word with you privately,” John said.

  Elizabeth shrugged and the walked over to him. They exited the room together. With nothing else to do, Bessie watched Hugh. He was on his hands and knees, pushing and tapping along the skirting boards. John and Elizabeth were back a moment later.

  “I’m going to need to speak of each of you individually,” John announced.

  “If you’re expecting one of us to confess to stumbling across the secret door, you’re wasting your time,” Sean said. “That would be tantamount to confessing to murder.”

  “Not necessarily,” John replied. “Maybe one of you found the sliding door and happened to mention it to someone else. Anyway, I’m not looking for confessions, I’m just trying to work out where everyone was on Friday evening and Saturday morning.”

  As John left the room with Sean, Bessie went back to watching Hugh. He was starting to look quite frustrated. After another minute, he knocked on the wall and the panel slid open again.

  “You can’t find it?” Jonathan asked from inside the study.

  “I can’t, but I know it’s here,” Hugh replied.

  “Do you want to switch places?” Jonathan offered. “Maybe I’ll have better luck, having found the trick on this side.”

  “Maybe you should give it a try, anyway,” Hugh said, getting to his feet. “We can always get back into the study through the regular door if necessary.”

  Jonathan walked out of the study and began running his hand over the wall next to the opening. Hugh did the same on the other side.

  John and Sean returned and John left with Richard while everyone watched the two men who were trying to find the secret to the sliding door.

  “Maybe it only opens from the study side,” Elizabeth suggested.

  “Unlikely,” Jonathan told her. “All of the other hidden doors in the house open from either side.”

  “So there are more,” Ernest exclaimed. “Where are they?”

  Jonathan shook his head. “You’d have to discuss that with Mr. Quayle or Miss Elizabeth,” he replied.

  “Elizabeth, where are they?” Ernest demanded.

  “One is in my father’s office and another is in my bedroom,” Elizabeth told him. “They both simply open into corridors and I can’t imagine why the Pierce family bothered to have them.”

  “What about trap doors or tunnels or things like that?” Ernest asked. “What other secrets are there at tiny tray?”

  “It’s Thie yn Traie,” Elizabeth told him.

  Bessie frowned. Someone else had mispronounced the name of the house earlier. Who had it been?

  “You look as if you’re thinking very hard,” Mary said a moment later.

  “Eureka!” Jonathan shouted as the hidden door slid back into place. He glanced around and then blushed. “I’ve always wanted to say that,” he said in an apologetic tone.

  “Can you open it again?” Hugh asked.

  “I certainly hope so,” Jonathan replied. He bent down and did something to the skirting boards and the door slid open again.

  “And that’s that,” he said with satisfaction. “It isn’t even that complicated, once you know what you’re doing.”

  Hugh had the man demonstrate and then shook his head. “I should have worked that out,” he said. “You’re right, it isn’t that difficult.”

  “It’s just tricky enough that you wouldn’t discover it by mistake, though,” Jonathan suggested.

  “I was actively looking for it and I didn’t discover it,” Hugh replied.

  Bessie sat back in her chair. When Mary looked at her a moment later, Bessie sat up. “Richard mispronounced Thie yn Traie earlier,” she said.

  “As he’s not from the island, that’s hardly surprising,” Mary replied.

  “But on Saturday evening he said it correctly,” Bessie told her. “I didn’t really notice at the time, but I should have.”

  “Maybe Elizabeth told him how to say it and then he forgot,” Mary suggested.

  “Maybe, but everyone else keeps calling it ‘tiny tray’ and he called it ‘tiny-ntray.’ It seems odd to me.”

  “Do you think he’s been here before?” Mary asked. “I know he hasn’t been while we’ve owned the house, but maybe he knows the Pierce family.”

  “He told me hadn’t ever been to the island before,” Bessie replied, “but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know the Pierces.”

  “You’re suggesting that one of them told him about the secret door?” Mary asked.

  Bessie shrugged. “That’s one possibility. I don’t know, but I’m going to talk to John, that’s for sure.”

  A moment later, John walked back into the room with Richard. As Richard returned to his seat, Hugh showed John how to access the secret door from the great room.

  “It’s very cleverly done,” John said. “I’
m not sure how anyone could have discovered it by accident.”

  “It’s easier to open from the other side,” Jonathan said. “Perhaps Mr. Rhodes opened the door himself.”

  “That’s a possibility,” John said thoughtfully. “If he did, he let someone in and then went back and sat down in the chair.”

  Bessie got to her feet and crossed the room. “Can I have a moment of your time?” she asked John.

  He looked surprised and then nodded. “Of course you can,” he said. “I’ll be right back,” he told everyone else before he led Bessie to the door. They walked a short way down the corridor before John stopped.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “At the party, when I spoke with Richard, he pronounced Thie yn Traie correctly,” Bessie told him, “but today he pronounced it wrong.”

  John raised an eyebrow. “I see.”

  Bessie flushed. “I know it doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it was odd on Saturday that he knew how to pronounce it, and it’s odd today that he seems to have forgotten.”

  “So maybe he’s been here before,” John mused, “but he’s trying to hide that fact by deliberately mispronouncing the name.”

  “Maybe. He definitely told me that he’d never been to the island before when we spoke on Saturday,” Bessie said.

  John nodded. “I’ll talk to him again, after I’ve spoken to everyone else. There may be a simple explanation, but it’s certainly worth following up on.”

  John escorted Bessie back into the great room and then took Madison out for questioning. Now that the secret door had been found, Hugh was simply standing in front of it. Jonathan was nowhere to be seen.

  “This is boring,” Liza said loudly.

  “I’m sorry, but Inspector Rockwell is doing his best to talk to everyone as quickly as possible,” Hugh told her.

  “You told me that you’re here all the time,” Richard said to Liza. “Did you know about the secret door?”

  Liza laughed. “I’m here occasionally for dinner. My husband has business interests with George. Our visits include cocktails and a delicious meal. They do not include a tour of the house or an opportunity for me to poke around at the skirting boards.”

  Bessie studied the woman. Jonathan had told her something similar: that Liza and Leonard were at Thie yn Traie fairly regularly. Was it possible that one or the other of them had discovered the secret door? While she was mulling that over, John came back in and took Susan away.

  “Perhaps everyone would like some refreshments,” Mary said after a short while. “Inspector Rockwell won’t mind, will he?” she asked Hugh.

  “I can check,” Hugh offered. He walked out of the room and was back only a moment later. “Inspector Rockwell doesn’t mind,” he told Mary.

  Mary nodded and then picked up a telephone that was on one of the tables. A few minutes later several members of her staff came into the room. Five minutes after that a table full of food was laid out in one corner of the room. From where Bessie was sitting, the offerings looked quite substantial.

  “Everyone help themselves,” Mary said. “Someone will be behind the bar momentarily.”

  Bessie sat still and watched as Elizabeth and her friends filled plates and got drinks. Michael and Mona also took advantage of the offerings, talking and laughing together as they did so. When they’d returned to their seats, Liza and Leonard walked to the bar and got drinks. When Susan walked back into the room a moment later, she headed straight for the bar.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Hammersmith, if I could have a few minutes of your time, please?” John said from the doorway.

  “Good thing we didn’t get food,” Leonard muttered as he put his drink down. Liza carried hers with her as she followed the men out of the room.

  “Get something to eat,” Mary urged Bessie. Bessie walked over to the table and filled a plate for herself. Everything looked delicious. When she sat back down, she looked over at Mary.

  “Who prepared all of this?” she asked her friend.

  “Our chef has been cooking all day, since we have so many guests to feed. I just asked her to turn everything into finger foods and pile things onto plates, that’s all,” Mary replied.

  “Well, she’s done a good job,” Bessie told her. “Everything is very tasty.”

  “Good. I believe she’s trying to outdo Andy when she gets the chance.”

  Bessie shrugged. “It isn’t that good.”

  Mary smiled. “I didn’t think it would be.”

  By the time everyone had eaten, John had finished his latest round of questioning. Bessie watched anxiously to see what he was going to do next as he rejoined the group in the sitting room.

  “I’m sorry to have kept you all for so long,” he began. “I’m hugely grateful to Mrs. Quayle for providing you with refreshments while you waited. We’ve walked through the entire evening now, and then we were interrupted by the discovery of the secret door. What I was going to ask before that happened was whether anyone noticed anything in our reconstruction that was different to the actual party evening.”

  Bessie looked around the room. No one spoke for several minutes.

  “I find it hard to believe that no one tripped on any of the chairs or ran into the person in front of them or anything like that,” John said.

  “We were all sort of shuffling up against one another,” Madison said. “I kept my hand on the person in front of me the whole time.”

  “Did you now?” John asked, “and did the person behind you keep his hand on you?”

  “I don’t remember,” Madison told him.

  “I’d appreciate it if everyone could go back and sit on the chairs for a moment,” John said.

  There was a great deal of grumbling as people put down their plates and made their way back towards the chairs. As they went, John spoke again.

  “Richard? What’s the name of this house?” he asked in a casual tone.

  Richard stopped and stared at John for a minute. “I’m sorry, but I’m not sure I understand the question.”

  “What’s the name of this house?” John repeated himself.

  “This house? Its name? This is some sort of trick, isn’t it?” Richard said sharply.

  “Not at all,” John said in a calm voice. “Maybe you’d rather we talk about this away from the others.”

  “Away? Why would I… You’re trying to set me up for something, that’s what this is!” Richard all but shouted.

  “Not at all,” John assured him. “I’d just like to talk to you for a minute.”

  “About the name of the house? That doesn’t make sense. Ask Elizabeth; she knows how to say the name. It’s nothing to do with me. I’m not saying another word without my solicitor present.”

  John raised an eyebrow. “That seems a rather extreme reaction to a simple question,” he said mildly.

  “It isn’t a simple question, though, is it? You’re trying to trick me in some way. I’m not sure how, but that’s what you’re doing,” Richard said loudly.

  “Let’s go back to the station and talk there,” John suggested. “You can ring your solicitor if you’d prefer, once we get there.”

  “Oh, I’ll ring him. And I won’t say another word until he arrives,” Richard said firmly.

  “In that case, I suggest we leave the reconstruction there for tonight,” John said. “Hugh, can you please make note of exactly where everyone was sitting when they were in their row, before they began walking around? Once you’ve done that, everyone is free to go.”

  “Richard, are you okay?” Madison asked.

  “I’ll be fine,” Richard replied. “Once the inspector gets over the ridiculous notion that I had anything to do with that horrible man’s death.”

  “That’s my father you’re talking about,” Susan snapped.

  “I’m sorry, but he was a horrible man,” Richard told her. “He was sneaky and manipulative and he was a blackmailer.”

  Bessie glanced at John. As far as she knew, that particular fact
wasn’t common knowledge.

  “If you’d like to come with me, please,” John said to Richard.

  “Can you arrest him for saying such horrible things about my father?” Susan demanded.

  “Not since they’re all true,” Richard laughed bitterly.

  Hugh took a step closer to the man, placing himself between Richard and Susan.

  Undeterred, Susan took a step to the right and shouted at Richard. “You seem to know a lot about my father, considering you only met him the night he died. Or did you know him before you got here? Have you neglected to mention that little fact to the police?”

  “I didn’t know him,” Richard said quickly, his face red. “I didn’t know him or anything about him. But I’ve heard plenty since he died.”

  “Really?” Sean interjected. “Because I haven’t heard anything at all.”

  Richard looked over at him and then sighed. “It’s all just a conspiracy,” he said loudly. “You’ve all gone together and decided to accuse me of murder, that’s what’s happening here. Next you’ll be lying about my being in the line while the lights were out.”

  “I don’t remember your hand on my back for the entire time,” Madison said softly.

  “Of course you don’t, because you’re part of the conspiracy,” Richard shouted. “Everyone can say what they like. I know what really happened that night.”

  “Maybe you should tell me all about it,” John suggested. “Down at the station,” he added quickly.

  “I can tell you now,” Richard said. “The lights went out and I started in the circle with the others. Somehow I got confused and wandered away from the group. Before I knew what was happening, Mr. Rhodes grabbed my arm and dragged me into the study. He started threatening me and waving a knife around. He was desperately drunk, of course, and before I could think what to do, he suddenly fell over. When he hit the floor, he landed on the knife that was still in his hand.”

  John nodded. “Let’s go down to the station. You can tell me the whole story there.”

  Richard shook his head. “You aren’t going to believe me, are you? You’ll make out like I killed the man, but it wasn’t like that at all.”