Aunt Bessie Observes (An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Book 15)

by Diana Xarissa

  Both sisters had taught primary school for their entire working lives, taking retirement at the same time with vague plans to travel. Within a few months, just a short time after their first holiday to the Isle of Man, Joan had admitted to her sister that she’d always wanted to own a bed and breakfast. Even more, she’d found the perfect property for the sisters to buy. Now the proud owners of Doveby House in the tiny Derbyshire village of Doveby Dale, both sisters were adjusting to their new lifestyle.

  “You never complain about how hard we work,” Janet said, giving her sister a concerned look.

  “I know, and I don’t mean to complain now,” Joan replied. “I think I needed this holiday more than I realised.”

  “We can always give up the bed and breakfast if you aren’t enjoying it anymore,” Janet suggested.

  Joan shook her head. “I was just having a little grumble,” she said. “I love Doveby House too much to give it up.”

  “It’s a wonderful house,” Janet agreed. “When are you going to come and visit us?” she asked Bessie.

  “I must try to find the time,” Bessie replied. “Maybe, if you aren’t already fully booked for summer, I could come in August when the holiday cottages are full and the beach is overcrowded.”

  “We’ll find room for you whenever you want to come,” Joan told her.

  “That’s very kind of you,” Bessie said.

  The three women gathered up the bags of shopping and carried them back to the rented cottage.

  “It was kind of the cottage owners to put us in the cottage nearest to yours,” Janet said as Joan opened the cottage door.

  “Thomas and Maggie do everything they can to accommodate their guests,” Bessie replied. “I doubt many of them request specific cottages.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Janet said. “I think we’ll request this one again the next time we come back. Being on the end means we only have one set of neighbours, and when we were collecting our keys from Mr. Shimmin, there was a man there complaining about the cottage on the other end of the beach. He said the bedroom looked like something from a badly made pornographic film.”

  Bessie laughed. “They’ve done up the last cottage in the row with a theme,” she explained. “It’s meant to be international, or something like that. One of the bedrooms has a Las Vegas theme and the other is meant to be Mexico.”

  The sisters exchanged glances. “I think we’re much happier in here,” Joan muttered.

  Bessie glanced at the plain beige décor and nodded. “I think this is a better choice, as well. Especially as it’s closest to me.”

  “Meerooww?”

  “Aggie, there you are,” Janet said happily. “Yes, I do believe there is a little something in one of these bags for you.”

  Bessie watched as the kitten emerged from the small corridor behind the sitting room. When the animal approached her, Bessie held out a hand. Aggie sniffed it and then let Bessie rub the top of her head. “She’s lovely,” Bessie said as the kitten purred under her touch.

  “Thank you,” Janet beamed. “I’ve grown incredibly attached to her in the short time I’ve had her.” While she was speaking, Janet was busy opening a tin of cat food from one of the bags of shopping. As soon as she’d emptied the tin into a bowl and put the bowl on the ground, Aggie dashed away from Bessie and began to eat.

  “Sorry, but she loves food more than attention,” Janet laughed.

  “She’s clever, then,” Bessie said.

  While they’d been talking, Joan had unpacked the rest of the shopping. “Bessie, you did a wonderful job of getting everything we ask for,” she said. “How much do we owe you?”

  “It was my pleasure and I don’t want repaying,” Bessie said. “I just want some of the biscuits and cakes that you make while you’re here.”

  Joan opened her mouth and then shut it again when Janet held up a hand. “I thought we agreed that we’d pay you for everything when we arrived,” she told Bessie.

  “You offered to pay me when you arrived, but I didn’t agree,” Bessie retorted. “Please, it isn’t much, and you’ve had to pay for the ferry and the cottage. It seems the least I can do.”

  The sisters looked at one another, and then Janet sighed. “We’ll let you off this time,” she said. “But we’re buying you dinner tonight, no complaints.”

  Bessie did think about complaining, but then decided it was a reasonably fair deal. “That’s fine.”

  “But where shall we go, and can we go soon?” Janet asked.

  “Janet is always hungry,” Joan said, shaking her head.

  “You aren’t hungry?” Janet demanded.

  “I could eat,” Joan admitted. “But I could wait a short while, as well.”

  “Where do you want to go?” Bessie asked.

  “We don’t go out for meals very often,” Joan said. “So tonight should be something special.”

  “What sort of food do you fancy?” was Bessie’s next question.

  “I’ll eat anything,” Janet said.

  “I’m not fussy,” Joan told her. “But I would prefer something that I can’t easily make at home, otherwise there seems little point in going out.”

  “There’s a wonderful place in Lonan that does sampler meals,” Bessie said. “Every day there’s a different theme and three or four small servings of food to fit the theme. They do the same thing for puddings, as well. I’ve never had anything there that wasn’t delicious.”

  “That sounds wonderful,” Janet said happily. “I’ll just go and freshen up.”

  Joan stared after her sister for a moment and then shrugged. “I suppose that will do,” she said. “If you’ll excuse me, I’d like to freshen up as well.”

  Bessie sat in the cottage’s small sitting room and stared out of the large sliding glass doors that allowed an unobstructed view of the sea. The sun was shining, and as Bessie watched, a family with a large number of small children emerged from one of the other cottages. The children began to chase one another up and down the sand while their mother spread out a blanket and settled in, presumably hoping to get a tan.

  “I’m ready,” Janet announced as she walked back into the room. She sank down on the couch beside Bessie. “Do all of those children belong to that one woman?” she asked after a moment.

  “I think so,” Bessie replied. “I’ve counted six of them, but I may have missed a few, as they seem to be everywhere.”

  Janet laughed. “There are rather a lot of them. Would it be awful if I said I hope they aren’t in the cottage next door? I can’t imagine that they’ll be very quiet neighbours.”

  “They came out of a cottage about four doors away,” Bessie assured her.

  Joan walked in a moment later and the trio headed for Lonan with Joan at the wheel of the sisters’ car. It didn’t take long to reach the car park for the small café. Bessie was happy to see that it wasn’t full.

  “It can get very busy,” she told the sisters. “I hope it isn’t too bad tonight.”

  “Bessie, lovely to see you tonight,” Dan Jenkins, the café’s owner, said as the women walked into the building.

  “I was worried you might be too busy to fit us in,” Bessie told him.

  “We don’t get too busy before six,” the man replied. “You’re about ten minutes ahead of the rush.”

  “Lucky us,” Janet remarked.

  Bessie introduced the man to the Markham sisters and then they all followed him to a small table in the corner. “This should be fairly quiet, even if we get busy,” Dan said.

  “As my friends haven’t been here before, maybe you could explain how the sampler plates work,” Bessie suggested.

  “We have a regular menu,” Dan told the sisters. “But I don’t think many people even look at it. Most prefer our daily specials. You can get a regular-sized order of any of our specials, but we also do a sampler platter that gives you small servings of all three or four of the day’s specials.”

  “And what’s on today’s platter?” Bessie aske
d.

  “Today we are celebrating chicken,” the man replied. “On the sampler, you get a few breaded and deep-fried chicken breast pieces, a portion of chicken in white wine sauce, a small chicken Kiev, and a serving of roast chicken with stuffing and mashed potatoes.”

  “Yes, please,” Bessie said happily.

  “I’ll have that as well,” Janet added.

  “I suppose you should make it three,” Joan said, looking slightly uncertain.

  “You can have a full-sized portion of any one of those, if they don’t all sound good,” Dan told her. “Or choose any two and get half-sized portions of those.”

  “No, I’ll try the sampler,” Joan said. “It just sounds like there will be a lot of flavours competing with one another.”

  “I try hard to get them to complement one another, rather than compete,” the man replied with a grin. “You can tell me after you’ve eaten how I did.”

  “What about pudding?” Bessie asked.

  “Since I was celebrating chickens, I thought we should celebrate eggs as well,” Dan replied. “The sampler has a small meringue, a tiny egg custard tart, a scoop of chocolate mousse and a handful of chocolate truffles that are shaped like eggs.”

  Bessie laughed. “You may have cheated just a little bit there, but I’m not complaining. I’m not sure how, but I’m going to have to save room for pudding.”

  “Me, too,” Janet said.

  “I doubt I’ll have room for pudding,” Joan said. “Although it does sound rather tempting.”

  “I’ll check back with you after you’ve eaten,” he said. “We can always box up your pudding to take home, if you prefer.”

  “So what do you have planned for us during our visit?” Janet asked Bessie when the man had gone.

  “I wish I could spend all day, every day, with you,” Bessie replied. “But we can certainly do some sightseeing over the next few days, before the conference starts.”

  “We see the sights every year,” Janet said. “Which is why we may well attend the conference with you. Manx history and culture sounds fascinating, although I’m not sure I’ll enjoy every talk.”

  “They’ll all be very good,” Bessie assured her. “Although some might need some specialist knowledge to be understood.”

  “You’ll have to help us choose which ones to go to,” Janet said. “But the conference doesn’t start until Friday, right?”

  “That’s right. And I’ve finished my paper, so that I can spend time with you. I thought we might try Castle Rushen and Castletown tomorrow and Peel Castle on Wednesday,” Bessie said.

  “We’ve visited them before,” Janet said. “But I’m sure we didn’t appreciate what we were seeing nearly enough. You’ll be able to tell us all of the history of the sites.”

  “I don’t want you to be bored,” Bessie said.

  “We won’t be,” Joan replied firmly. “When we taught, we used to visit the same historical sites every year, sometimes twice a year. Another visit to the wonderful castle sites here will be fascinating. I’m sure we haven’t seen everything, no matter how many times we’ve been around them.”

  “There is a lot to see at both castles,” Bessie said happily. “For Wednesday, I thought you might like to visit the Grove Museum in Ramsey, and then maybe the Laxey Wheel?”

  “I’m not climbing it,” Joan said quickly. “But I don’t mind visiting it.”

  “I’ll climb it,” Janet said. “Heights don’t bother me.”

  “Thursday we can head down to Cregneash or maybe try the Wildlife Park,” Bessie suggested. “And then Thursday evening I thought you might like to come with me to a charity event.”

  “A charity event?” Janet repeated. “After all of the problems that we had with the last one of those that we attended, I’m not sure about that.”

  One of the waitresses delivered their food before Bessie could reply. For several minutes no one spoke as they all began to eat.

  “I can’t believe how delicious this all is,” Janet said after she’d tried everything on the plate. “And the tastes really do complement one another. The chef is incredibly gifted.”

  “Why, thank you,” Dan said, grinning at them. “But what do you think?” he asked Joan.

  “I agree with my sister,” she admitted. “You’ve done a splendid job.”

  Dan flushed. “Thank you. And now I’d better get back to the kitchen and get to work on puddings.”

  “Thursday night’s event is an auction fundraiser for Mannanan’s Kids. It’s a children’s charity that does a lot of wonderful things for children on the island. They have an event every year, but this one is being advertised as the biggest and best ever,” Bessie said.

  “I’m sure it will be wonderful,” Janet said. “I won’t give what happened back in Doveby Dale another thought.”

  Janet had written a long letter to Bessie all about the problems that had arisen during a recent charity event in Doveby Dale. The sisters had been persuaded to help with the event, but then the organisers turned out to be con men who stole all of the money that had been raised.

  “I hope we won’t be expected to bid on things we can’t afford,” Joan said.

  “I know several island businessmen will be there to take care of overbidding on things no one wants,” Bessie assured her. “I just thought it might be fun to have a special event to go to while you’re here. It’s being held at the House of Mannanan, which you should make a point of visiting, if you haven’t already.”

  “We haven’t been there,” Janet said. “That’s the museum with the boat sailing through the front window, isn’t it?”

  “That’s the one,” Bessie agreed.

  By the time the trio had cleared their plates, Joan was willing to agree to pudding. The bottle of wine that the three women had shared might have played a part in her agreeable mood, but whatever the reason, all three were delighted when Dan brought out their pudding samplers.

  “It looks too beautiful to eat,” Bessie said as he put a plate in front of her.

  “Not quite,” Janet laughed. “I’d say it looks too beautiful not to eat.”

  CHAPTER 2

  A fter the delicious meal, Bessie had Joan drive along the coast road for a while so that all three women could enjoy some of the island’s stunning scenery. Eventually, they headed back towards Laxey.

  “I’m not the least bit tired,” Janet said as Joan pulled the car into the holiday cottage’s car park.

  “No, I’m not either,” Joan said. “I think it’s just the excitement of being here. No doubt it will catch up with us tomorrow when we have to get up.”

  “You are on holiday,” Bessie pointed out. “You could just lie in tomorrow.”

  “What time does Castle Rushen open?” Janet asked.

  “Ten o’clock,” Bessie replied.

  “I think we should be there when it opens,” Joan said. “But I’m not very good at lying in, anyway, no matter how much or how little sleep I get.”

  Bessie nodded. “I’m much the same,” she said.

  With the car safely parked, the trio made their way back to the sisters’ cottage.

  “Do come in for a cuppa,” Janet offered Bessie when they arrived.

  “Are you sure it isn’t too late?” Bessie asked.

  “It’s not even nine yet,” Janet said. “We did have dinner quite early.”

  “Come in and have some tea,” Joan said. “I’ll bake something to go with it as well.”

  “I think I’ve had quite enough to eat tonight,” Bessie laughed as she followed the women into their cottage.

  “Maybe just a tray of shortbread,” Joan mused. “That won’t take long and everyone can have just a small piece for tonight.”

  “Or maybe something a little bit larger than that,” Janet suggested.

  Joan shook her head. “We all ate far too much at dinner.”

  “But it was so delicious,” Janet countered.

  Joan filled the kettle and switched it on and then pulle
d out what she needed to make shortbread. Bessie and Janet settled in at the small dining table and chatted while Joan worked. After she slid the shortbread into the oven, Joan glanced at the other two.

  “I think I’d like a walk on the beach while that’s in the oven,” she said. “I feel as if I need to stretch my legs.”

  “Let’s take a walk, then,” Bessie agreed. “I’m always happy to have a walk on the beach.”

  “Oh, yes, let’s,” Janet said. “We should walk on the beach every chance we get. We’ll soon be home and be miles from the sea again.”

  Outside the air was cool but not cold. They walked nearly to the water’s edge and then turned and began a leisurely stroll along the sand in front of the holiday cottages. The beach was all but deserted. In front of one of the cottages halfway down the beach a young couple were sitting together on a blanket, but otherwise there was no one else out. Bessie glanced into cottages as they went, noting that every cottage looked occupied; most had their curtains firmly drawn.

  They walked as far at Thie yn Traie, the huge mansion on the cliff above the beach, pausing at the bottom of the stairs that led to the house above.

  “That’s a huge house,” Janet said. “I remember it from last year. It had a Manx name too, but I’ve forgotten that.”

  “It’s called Thie yn Traie,” Bessie told her. “Which means Beach House in Manx. Some friends of mine, George and Mary Quayle, bought it in the last year. I’m not sure if they’re living there yet, though. They have a house in Douglas as well.”

  “The stairs don’t look safe, but I’d love a better look at the house,” Janet said.

  “I’ll ring Mary and invite us around,” Bessie offered.

  “Goodness, you can’t do that,” Joan exclaimed.

  Bessie laughed. “I wouldn’t with most people, but I’m sure Mary won’t mind. She’s lovely and she’d probably enjoy having guests.”

  “If you’re sure she won’t mind,” Janet said quickly, “I’d really love to see the house.”

  Bessie nodded. “I’ll ring her tomorrow and see if she has some time this week for visitors.”