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

by Diana Xarissa

  All of the letters that Janet had sent over the past year were in a small box in the wardrobe in one of the spare bedrooms. Bessie took the entire box back downstairs with her. It only took her a moment to find the appropriate letter.

  John took it from her. “It’s longer than I was expecting,” he said, flipping through the pages.

  “Yes, she does write very long letters whenever something out of the ordinary happens in Doveby Dale,” Bessie said, yawning.

  “Do you want me to take this with me and let you get some sleep?” John asked.

  “No, you read it now,” Bessie said. “I’ll just have some more coffee.”

  While she’d been upstairs, Hugh had started on the washing-up, but he’d left everyone’s coffee cups on the table. Bessie refilled all of the mugs and then filled a plate with biscuits as well. When John was finished, he handed the letter to Hugh. Bessie munched her way through three digestives while they waited for Hugh to finish reading it.

  “I almost hope it is him who’s dead,” Hugh said when he was finished. “He wasn’t a very nice person, getting everyone to donate to charity and then stealing the money.”

  “It does seem a very nasty way to go about taking money from people,” Bessie said. “I’m worried that he was here because he was involved in the fundraiser at the House of Mannanan on Thursday.”

  “Agnes Clucas is organising that, isn’t she?” John asked. “I can’t see her getting involved with anything even slightly questionable.”

  “But Janet said the men were very convincing,” Bessie replied. “I know I’ll feel better once I’ve spoken to Agnes about it all.”

  “Janet mentioned in her letter that the men always used a local accomplice. If they were planning something like that here, who might they be using?” Hugh asked.

  Bessie shook her head. “Agnes would never agree to help them cheat anyone,” she said stoutly. “And her assistant at Mannanan’s Kids is Nicola Cotton. She wouldn’t do anything illegal or immoral, either.”

  “I don’t think I know her,” John said.

  “She started working with Agnes a couple of years ago,” Bessie told him. “At first she just did a little bit of office work, one morning a week or something like that, but she’s been taking on more responsibilities lately. She’s somewhere in her thirties and she has two small children. She started working with Agnes when the youngest started going to nursery a few mornings a week. I think he’s in reception now, so she has more time to volunteer with the charity.”

  “We’ve no reason to believe that the man was involved with Thursday’s event, at least not yet,” John said. “If it was Julian Snyder, he may have come over to plan something else. It does seem as if charity events happen nearly every weekend these days.”

  “That’s true,” Bessie agreed. “I’ve invitations to three different events in the next month sitting on my desk.”

  “I won’t even look at them for now,” John said. “If the body does turn out to be Julian Snyder, we’ll start with Mannanan’s Kids and work our way through the other events in the order they will be taking place.”

  “That sounds good,” Bessie told him.

  “Of course, even if it is him, he might have just been here on holiday,” John added.

  “Which might explain why he was alone, rather than with his partner in crime,” Hugh said.

  “We don’t know that the other man isn’t here, too,” John replied. “Holiday or not, Norman Glover may be here as well.”

  “Perhaps he’s staying in one of the other cottages,” Bessie said. “You should ask Maggie to check her bookings.”

  “I have done,” John replied. “But it’s unlikely that the pair are using the same names here that they used in Doveby Dale.”

  “Surely she could just check for any pairs of men travelling together?” Bessie asked.

  “She has. Aside from the Markham sisters, every other cottage is occupied by families at the moment.”

  “If it isn’t Julian Snyder, who might it be?” Bessie asked after a moment.

  John shrugged. “We don’t have any missing person reports that match the body,” he said. “We’ll go door to door at the cottages tomorrow morning, but I suspect if anyone was missing from one of them, we would have heard about it by now.”

  “I didn’t recognise the man,” Bessie said. “I didn’t get a very good look, of course, but he didn’t seem at all familiar.”

  John nodded. “I did get a good look and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him before. Of course, if he lived in Douglas or further south, I may have never met him. The island isn’t that small.”

  “I didn’t recognise him, either,” Hugh added.

  “I don’t understand what he was doing in that holiday cottage,” Bessie mused.

  “That’s a good question,” John said. “We’ll be talking to the family that was meant to be staying in that cottage, that’s for sure.”

  “I wonder if they ever returned the keys to Thomas,” Bessie said.

  “They did,” John told her. “But anyone can get a key copied. There are several places in Douglas that will make you a duplicate for only a few pounds.”

  “And Thomas and Maggie rent out that cottage regularly, and have done for many years. Have they ever changed the locks?” Hugh asked.

  “No, which means that anyone who has ever stayed there could potentially have a key for the place,” John said.

  Bessie sighed. “I never gave that any thought. It makes the cottages sound dangerous.”

  “Most people who visit the island on holiday are good and honest people. While I did suggest to Thomas and Maggie that they start changing the locks at least at the end of every season, I don’t think anyone staying there at the moment is in any danger,” John said.

  “Unless it is Julian Snyder and his accomplice is around somewhere. If he finds out that Janet and Joan are here, he might go after them,” Bessie suggested.

  “They’re perfectly safe for tonight,” John assured her. “Besides the dozen crime scene team members who are working on the cottage and the beach, I’ve assigned a constable to patrol the cottages until morning. I’m hoping to persuade the Chief Constable to let me assign someone to that job for the next few days, at least. We need to do whatever we can to show our guests that we take their safety seriously.”

  “I hope Thomas and Maggie don’t lose too much business because of this,” Bessie said. “They’ve been doing so well.”

  John nodded. His phone buzzed before he could reply. “I need to take this,” he said, getting up from the table. Bessie took another biscuit as John left the room. She could hear his voice as he spoke from the dining room, but she couldn’t make out any words. Either he was speaking very quietly or she was too tired to focus.

  “They were able to identify the body from fingerprints,” John announced as he rejoined them at the table.

  “And?” Bessie asked.

  “He was a man called Jackson Smythe, although he had a list of other names as long as my arm. The passport in his pocket said Jonathan Symons, but one of the other names he used was Julian Snyder.”

  “Janet was right,” Bessie exclaimed.

  “It appears so,” John replied. “Now we just have to work out what he was doing on the island and who had a reason for wanting him dead.”

  “You make it sound so easy,” Bessie said.

  “I wish,” John sighed. “The man was wanted by several different constabularies all around England. I’m going to have to ring each and every one of them to find out why.”

  “Surely it was for the same sort of scam that they ran in Doveby Dale,” Bessie replied.

  “I’m sure it was, but the more details I can get, the better,” John said. “Someone killed the man. They may have followed him from across to do so. I need to learn everything I can about the man and his activities.”

  “We need to find his partner in crime,” Hugh said.

  “Yes, finding Norman Glover, whatever he’s
calling himself these days, is a priority,” John agreed. “He may be the murderer, but if he isn’t, he may well be in grave danger himself.”

  “Janet and Joan would recognise him,” Bessie said.

  “Yes, but they can’t exactly go all over the island trying to find him,” John replied. “In fact, if they do spot him somewhere, they’d do well to pretend that they haven’t recognised him.”

  Bessie nodded. “I’ll suggest that to them. Of course, we’ll ring you straight away, but we’ll try to stay well away from the man.”

  John sighed and then finished his coffee. “I think I need to go home and get some sleep,” he said. “I’m going to be ringing a lot of people tomorrow. I just hope I can unearth a few solid suspects while I’m doing so.”

  “Good luck,” Bessie said. “The man must have had more than his fair share of enemies.”

  “Indeed. Maybe we’ll get lucky with the forensic evidence in the cottage, but I’m not holding out much hope for that,” John told her. “There will be millions of fingerprints all over every surface and probably hair from dozens of individuals spread around the place.”

  Bessie shuddered. “Of course, Thomas does clean the cottages between guests,” she said.

  “Yes, and I’m about to find out exactly how well,” John replied.

  Bessie walked John to the door while Hugh quickly did the rest of the washing-up. By the time Bessie had watched John drive away, Hugh was finished.

  “Time for me to go back on patrol,” he told Bessie, giving her a hug. “If you need anything, ring my mobile. My shift finishes at seven.”

  “I shall be fast asleep from now until at least seven,” Bessie replied. “Give your beautiful bride a hug from me when you see her.”

  Hugh nodded. Bessie let him out and then locked the door behind him. Feeling as if she’d drunk far too much coffee to sleep, Bessie briefly considered finding a book to read. When her brain wouldn’t focus on the task, she decided she should try sleeping. She washed her face and brushed her teeth on automatic pilot, crawling into her nightgown and then sliding under the covers already half-asleep. Her dreams were full of flashing neon signs illuminating one horror after another. Although she’d only been in bed for a few hours, Bessie was happy to wake up at her usual time.

  Her shower did little to help make her feel more awake, but as Bessie patted on the rose-scented dusting powder that reminded her of her lost love, Matthew Saunders, she decided that she didn’t feel all that terrible. She still set a pot of coffee brewing before she headed out for her morning walk, though.

  She walked past the Markham sisters’ cottage, where all of the curtains were still tightly shut, and then continued as far as she could along the beach. Unfortunately, that wasn’t very far. Police caution tape blocked off a large area as she got closer to the last cottage in the row. Hugh was walking back and forth through the area.

  “Good morning,” she greeted him.

  “I thought you were going to lie in this morning,” Hugh replied. “You should have. You had a late night.”

  “I tried,” Bessie told him. “But I was having terrible dreams, so I decided to get up.”

  “Are you okay?” Hugh’s concern was evident.

  “I’m fine,” Bessie assured him. “Did I miss anything interesting in the investigation while I was sleeping?”

  “If you did, I missed it, too. The crime scene team is still working in the cottage, although they’ve removed the body. I haven’t heard anyone shouting excitedly, so I don’t think they’ve found the murder weapon or anything like that.”

  “Do you know how he died?”

  Hugh glanced around and then stepped closer to Bessie. “I overheard someone saying that the back of his head had a huge dent in it,” he whispered. “But I don’t know that it’s true.”

  “So it was definitely murder,” Bessie said with a sigh.

  “It seems that way, anyway.”

  “I was hoping maybe it was just an unfortunate accident,” Bessie said. “I hate the thought of my friends being tied up in a murder investigation.”

  “It’s strange, them being here when the body turned up,” Hugh said. “Especially with them knowing the dead man and all that.”

  “Strange, sad, and scary. They’ve seen their fair share of criminal activity in Doveby Dale, but murder is a different matter.”

  “You’ve seen more than your share of murders,” Hugh said.

  Bessie nodded. “I can’t walk any further, can I?” she asked after a moment.

  “Sorry, but we’re still searching the beach,” Hugh told her. “John’s hoping to keep this section closed for at least another day or two. Obviously, Thomas and Maggie are fighting the idea.”

  “It can’t be good for their business, having police caution tape all along the beach. That isn’t really something most people want in their holiday photos, either.”

  Hugh nodded. “I’ve already had two sets of people tell me that they’ll be moving out this morning. I suspect a few others might follow suit once they find out what’s happened.”

  “At least the victim was a criminal and not just some innocent holidaymaker. That should count for something.”

  “I hope so,” Hugh replied. “For Thomas and Maggie’s sake.”

  Bessie walked slowly back towards her cottage. She felt terrible for Thomas and Maggie, but she could understand why guests would want to leave, as well. Their concern for their own safety was understandable. The curtains were still drawn in nearly every cottage, including Janet and Joan’s. Bessie walked past her own home and continued on in the other direction.

  It had been some time since she’d walked this way, mostly because there wasn’t as much beach, although there was a short pier for fishermen. This morning the pier was empty, and Bessie kept walking past it as far as she could before the beach disappeared into cliffs. Feeling frustrated with her shortened walk, Bessie turned around again. When she reached Treoghe Bwaane, she settled herself on the large rock on the beach behind her home and watched the sea. Joan found her there a short while later.

  “Good morning,” Joan called as she made her way across the sand.

  “Good morning,” Bessie replied.

  “I woke Janet just before I came outside,” Joan told her. “She’ll be ready to go out in about an hour.”

  “Were you still thinking about Castletown for today?” Bessie asked.

  Joan hesitated. “Has there been any news on the, um, man we found last night?”

  “The body has been identified as Jackson Smythe,” Bessie told her.

  Joan nodded. “So nothing to do with us, then,” she said happily.

  Bessie shook her head. “He had several aliases, including Julian Snyder.”

  Joan’s face fell. “Oh, dear, I was afraid of that,” she said. “Janet has always had a good memory for faces. Now what do we do?”

  “You don’t have to do anything,” Bessie assured her. “John and the Laxey CID are on the case.”

  Joan nodded. “Janet and I talked about it last night, though. We might be the only people on the island who can identify Julian’s partner, Norman Glover.”

  “That’s true, although if they were working together here, then whoever they were working with must know both men.”

  “Maybe. Janet and I thought, if it did turn out to be Julian Snyder, that maybe we should spend today looking for Norman Glover,” Joan said.

  “Where would you look?” Bessie asked, surprised.

  “I don’t know, but maybe we should start in Douglas,” Joan said. “We could walk up and down the streets, at least. Norman won’t know that we’re here, which might give us an advantage.”

  “With his partner turning up dead, I can’t imagine he’ll be out walking the streets,” Bessie said.

  “Maybe not, but, well, Janet and I thought maybe we should try. It’s odd, feeling as if we’re caught up in a murder investigation. Neither one of us feels as if we should be out sightseeing when there’s a
murderer on the loose.”

  Bessie nodded. While she thought Joan’s plan was foolish, she could understand the woman’s desire to do something that might help. “I need to ring a few people,” she told Joan. “Why don’t I come over to your cottage once I’ve done that and we can work out exactly what we’re going to do today. I might have some other ideas after I’ve finished ringing around.”

  “That sounds good,” Joan agreed. “I’ll go and pour more coffee into Janet to get her going.”

  Bessie laughed, and then the pair walked back up the beach together. Joan’s remarks had reminded Bessie that she had coffee brewing. She helped herself to a cup and sipped it slowly before she settled down with the phone and a pen and paper. If she was lucky, maybe she could find out exactly where she and her friends should start looking for Norman Glover.

  CHAPTER 4

  “Bessie, how nice to hear from you,” Agnes Clucas said. “I do hope you aren’t ringing to tell me that you and your friends aren’t coming on Thursday.”

  “Oh, no, not at all,” Bessie said. “We’re looking forward to it. I need to ask you a few questions, though, if you have the time.”

  “I’m run off my feet, of course, but I’ll make the time for you.”

  “Thank you. And please bear with me if the questions seem odd,” Bessie replied. “Is it just you who’s organising the event on Thursday?”

  “Of course not,” Agnes laughed. “You know I wouldn’t get very far without all of my lovely volunteers. Nicola is doing far more than her fair share of everything, but there are at least half a dozen men and women working on the auction and the food and, well, everything.”

  “Do you have any help from anyone across?” Bessie asked.

  “As it’s a local charity, we don’t have anyone across that we work with, if that’s what you mean.”

  “Not really. I suppose I was wondering if any of your volunteers are from across. I mean, I know that many of them probably are, but have any moved over here very recently?”

  “Well, Jonathan and Nathan haven’t been here long, but they haven’t moved here, either. They’re just having a long holiday for poor Nathan’s wife’s convalescence.”