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

by Diana Xarissa

  An hour later, she found herself wishing that she’d grabbed her book instead. The paper felt boring and badly researched to her as she read it through for what felt like the millionth time. Annoyed with herself for giving in to her insecurities, Bessie put her notecards back in the envelope that she had ready for Sunday.

  “Just leave it alone until Sunday morning,” she told herself sternly. “It’s too late to start making changes and the more you think about it, the more you’ll question everything you’ve done so far.”

  In her bedroom, Bessie glanced in the mirror. Her reflection looked concerned. “It’s only a minor paper at a minor conference,” she told herself. “No one will be paying any attention, anyway.”

  Her reflection frowned at her. “Anyway, you’re being too hard on yourself,” Bessie added. “You know you worked hard and that the research is sound.” The face in the mirror looked happier with that, so Bessie turned her focus to getting ready for the party. She’d treated herself to a new dress and shoes, especially for the event. As she usually wore very little makeup, she felt overdone with just a few extra touches, but she had to admit that her eyes looked larger when she was finished. She was in her kitchen, deleting messages off of her answering machine, when someone knocked a few minutes before five.

  “Janet, come in,” Bessie said. “You look wonderful.”

  Janet was wearing a dark blue dress that suited her curvy figure and low heels that matched exactly. “Thank you,” Janet said. “I told Joan that I was coming over early to see if you had a safety pin that I could borrow.”

  “Of course I do. What do you need pinning?”

  “Oh, nothing, that was just my excuse. I wanted, that is, I thought I should tell you about Jacqueline, but I know if Joan hears she’ll laugh at me.”

  “What about Jacqueline?”

  “The thing is, you know we’ve had some criminal activity in Doveby Dale since we’ve been living there, right?”

  “Yes, of course,” Bessie said.

  “This is going to sound crazy, but Aggie has always told me who the criminal was before the police found him or her,” Janet said in a rush.

  “Aggie has?”

  “Yes, she makes a fuss whenever their name is mentioned,” Janet told her.

  “And she started making noise when we were talking about Jacqueline last night,” Bessie recalled.

  “Not only that, but once we were home and tucked up in bed, I said the names of every single person on the committee,” Janet told her. “The only one she reacted to was Jacqueline’s.”

  “Which could just mean that she doesn’t like the name,” Bessie suggested.

  “Of course it could,” Janet said, her face falling.

  “Or it could mean something else altogether. I suggest that we do our best to keep a close eye on Jacqueline tonight. Maybe we’ll get a hint of something that we can take to John tomorrow.”

  “That sounds like a plan,” Janet said.

  “The other thing I think we need to do is keep an eye on Linda Cotton,” Bessie added. “I think she knows something. If the killer has the same suspicion, whether it’s Jacqueline or someone else, Linda could be in danger.”

  “Maybe we should tell Joan about Linda,” Janet suggested. “With three of us watching out for her, she should be okay.”

  Joan knocked a moment later. “Are we all ready?” she asked.

  “You look wonderful as well,” Bessie told Joan. Joan’s dress was a silvery grey that matched her hair and seemed to highlight her blue eyes. The straight, almost severe cut was perfect on Joan’s very slender frame.

  “Thank you,” Joan replied. “It’s nice to have a reason to get dressed up once in a while.”

  “You do more than your fair share these days,” Janet told her. “What with all the romantic evenings you’ve been having with Michael.”

  Joan blushed bright red and spun on her heel. Bessie and Janet followed, with Bessie locking the door behind them.

  The trio chatted about the conference that was due to start the next day as they made their way across the island. Bessie tried to give them some idea of what to expect from the different speakers, so that they could make their choices as to which talks they wanted to attend.

  “I’m just planning to go to whichever talks you go to,” Janet told Bessie. “I’m sure you’ll make wise choices.”

  “Keep an open mind for now,” Bessie suggested. “Once you’ve seen the schedule, you might find there are some talks you don’t want to miss, whether I’m going or not.”

  They were pulling into the car park when Bessie remembered what she and Janet had discussed. “Joan, I’ve already mentioned it to Janet, but if you can, keep an eye on Linda Cotton tonight,” Bessie said. “I have a feeling she might know something which could mean she could be in danger.”

  “What sort of something?” Joan asked.

  Bessie shrugged. “I’m not sure. John may have already questioned her, in which case I may be worrying unnecessarily, but if he hasn’t, he definitely wants to speak with her. I’ll feel better knowing that we’re all looking out for her.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Joan promised.

  The trio headed towards the building. Signs directed them around the to “Event Entrance,” rather than the front door.

  “I suppose ‘event entrance’ sounds better than ‘come in the back door,’ doesn’t it?” Janet asked.

  Bessie chuckled. “Yes, definitely.”

  Agnes was standing the centre of the room, talking on her mobile phone again, as the women entered. Bessie waved.

  “I’m just going to walk around and, well, make sure everything is okay,” Janet said, glancing around the room.

  “Everything is wonderful,” Bessie told her. “Take a quick walk around and then go and get a few slices of pizza.”

  “I’m not sure I can eat,” Janet muttered, most uncharacteristically.

  “Go and get some pizza,” Agnes suggested as she joined Joan and Bessie near the door. “Everything is ready, and the security crew has already eaten. I hope they left some food for the rest of us, actually. Anyway, they’ll be keeping an eye on things in here.”

  “Are there drinks in the conference room?” Bessie asked.

  “There are soft drinks,” Agnes told her. “What the heck, let’s take a bottle of wine with us. We’ll all be good and only have a single glass each, right?” Agnes didn’t wait for a reply before she crossed to the bar and grabbed a bottle of wine. Janet rejoined Bessie and Joan and then all four women headed for the conference room.

  “I wasn’t sure if white or red was best with pizza,” Agnes said. “So I just brought the closest bottle.”

  She poured red wine into plastic cups for everyone while they filled plates with slices of pizza and garlic bread. As they settled in around the table, Trevor and Kathryn arrived.

  “We’ve eaten, thanks,” Trevor said as Agnes pointed out the pizza. “I thought maybe we’d go and take a look at the auction items. We need to work out what we want to bid on, after all.”

  “I shouldn’t have told everyone to be here so early,” Agnes muttered. “Everything is done. We’ve nothing to do now until the guests start to arrive.”

  “Since it’s only Trevor who has actually arrived early, aside from us, I wouldn’t worry too much,” Bessie said. “Anyway, it’s nearly six. At least if they arrive soon, the rest of the committee won’t have to worry about parking.”

  The next half hour passed quickly as Agnes chatted with Bessie, Janet, and Joan. Trevor and Kathryn returned to the conference room at the same time as most of the other committee members arrived.

  “I’m so sorry we’re late,” Mary exclaimed as she rushed through the door. “There was an accident just past Tynwald Hill and we couldn’t get through.”

  “I hope no one was hurt,” Bessie exclaimed.

  “They weren’t,” Mary assured her. “A horse trailer tipped over and blocked the road in both directions. The car that was pullin
g the trailer didn’t suffer any damage and the driver was fine. He’s in some trouble for not securing the trailer to the back of his car correctly, but otherwise, he was fine.”

  “What about the horse?” Janet demanded.

  “Oh, the trailer was empty,” Mary told her. “It was so old and in such bad repair that I’m not sure the driver could have put a horse in it if he’d wanted to,” she added. “That was part of the problem. When it hit the ground, it broke into many, many pieces. It took the police a while to gather everything up and get it off the road.”

  “I was caught just behind Mary and George,” Anthony said. “And Scott was stuck behind me.”

  “But we’re all here now,” Scott said brightly. “Oh, and this is Jenny.” He nodded towards the pretty blonde on his arm. The girl, who looked to be about nineteen, giggled and waved at everyone. Bessie wondered where Scott had told her they were going. Jenny was wearing a tiny cocktail dress that appeared to be held together by a few sequins and some good fortune. If she sneezed, Bessie reckoned everyone would get quite an eyeful of Jenny.

  “But what happened to Amber?” Bessie couldn’t resist asking.

  Scott shrugged. “Amber who?” he retorted.

  “I’m here,” Jacqueline announced from the doorway. “And I need a drink.”

  Agnes poured out the last of the red wine into a cup and Jacqueline took it eagerly. She drained the cup in a single swallow and then slid into a chair.

  Bessie quickly turned her head as Jacqueline’s tiny dress slid upwards, revealing the woman’s scanty underwear. Next to Jacqueline, Jenny looked almost demure, Bessie thought as she looked over at Janet and Joan. Janet looked amused, while Joan looked shocked.

  “We should move next door,” Agnes suggested. “We should be ready to greet the guests as they arrive.”

  “But where’s Nicola?” Jacqueline demanded. “I wanted a word with her before the party started.”

  “I’m sure she’ll be here,” Agnes replied. “But both of her children are ill, so she might not make it.”

  “Linda is coming, though, right?” Jacqueline checked. “It won’t be a party without my dearest friend.”

  “She said she was coming when she was here this afternoon,” Agnes told her. “But with the children unwell, you never know.”

  Jacqueline nodded and then stood up. She took a moment to pull her dress down, which very nearly exposed her top half to the room. Bessie focussed on adjusting her own dress and slipping back into the shoes that she’d kicked off under the table when she’d sat down.

  In the party room, the two security guards were in position on either side of the door.

  “We’ll take tickets at the door,” Agnes told them. “I’d like you to stand at the main auction table. Some of the items on there are quite valuable.”

  The two men moved into position while Agnes addressed the others. “Who would like to work at the door?” she asked.

  “Oh, goodness, not me,” Jacqueline said. “I’ll be over at the bar, encouraging everyone to bid high and often.” She walked away, but stopped to talk to one of the security men. Bessie couldn’t hear what was being said, but the man blushed and shook his head before Jacqueline moved on.

  “I’ll take tickets,” Anthony said cheerfully. “If they don’t have a ticket, do we charge them double and let them in anyway?”

  “I wish we could, but the event is officially sold out,” Agnes replied. “We don’t want to break any rules about occupancy of the space. I’m afraid we’ll have to send anyone without a ticket away.”

  “After we ask them if they’d like to make a donation, anyway,” Bessie suggested.

  “Oh, that would be good,” Agnes said. “We do have a few people for whom we are holding tickets, as well. I have the list.”

  “I’ll take it and help Anthony,” Bessie said.

  “Thank you,” Agnes replied. “We’ll open the doors in five minutes, I think. We’re ready to go. There’s no reason to wait until exactly seven.”

  Bessie and Anthony took up positions on either side of the entrance doors. As everyone else moved around the room, Bessie was amused but unsurprised to see nearly everyone heading to the bar. As soon as Trevor and Scott took up places behind the table, they were pouring wine and drinks for the rest of the committee. Janet and Joan walked slowly around the room as Agnes gave Bessie a tight smile.

  “Here goes nothing,” she muttered as she unlocked the doors.

  Bessie smiled brightly at the short queue of people who were standing outside. “We just need your tickets,” she announced. It only took a few minutes to let everyone in. John and Hugh were at the back of the queue.

  “There was an accident on the road on the way here,” John said to Bessie after he’d given her a hug. “We were caught up in it, otherwise we would have been here an hour ago.”

  “You haven’t missed anything,” Bessie assured him.

  “Which one is Linda Cotton?” John asked, glancing around the room.

  “She isn’t here yet,” Bessie replied. “I suspect a lot of people were caught behind that accident.”

  “No doubt. I’m going to get a drink and then stand nearby and try to look inconspicuous. Please let me know when Linda arrives.”

  Bessie nodded. For the next half hour she and Anthony were moderately busy taking tickets. Nearly everyone arrived complaining about the traffic snarl-up on the main road into Peel. Eventually, Agnes relieved them both.

  “Nearly everyone is here,” Agnes said. “I’m going to send one of the security guards over to watch the door for the rest of the night, but there’s no point in you two standing here as well. The rush is over, anyway.”

  Bessie took a step away just as Nicola Cotton arrived. “I’m so, so sorry,” she told Agnes. “The kids wouldn’t settle for Walter, and then Linda came over to help and they demanded extra stories from her and I simply couldn’t get away.”

  “I hope that means they’re feeling better,” Agnes said.

  “Oh, they’re both feeling a bit too good,” Nicola replied. “They’re wide awake and full of energy, but just ill enough to be cranky about it. I was glad to get away, really.”

  “Does that mean that Linda isn’t coming?” Bessie asked.

  “She should be here soon,” Nicola said. “She needed to run home and change because my darling son spilled apple juice all over her.”

  Bessie checked to make sure that John was close enough to have heard the conversation before she moved away from the door. She worked her way through the room, chatting with people as she went. At the bar, she waved to Scott. “Anything,” she said.

  Scott laughed. “How about some white wine? We have a couple of good bottles tucked away for special guests.”

  “I’m hardly a special guest,” Bessie replied. “And I don’t know enough about wine to properly appreciate it, anyway. Just pour me a glass of something drinkable.”

  Scott nodded and filled a glass from the bottle nearest him. “Try this,” he said.

  Bessie took a sip and sighed happily. “It’s delicious,” she told him.

  “I’m glad you like it. And I’m sorry if I was a bit rude earlier about Amber,” he added. “Amber and I had, well, we had a bit of a disagreement earlier today. Jenny was kind enough to agree to come at the last minute.”

  A dozen thoughts popped into Bessie’s head, but she swallowed all of the questions that she wanted to ask. They all seemed rude, really. After a moment Scott sighed.

  “I’m sure you think I’m crazy, going out with a woman who is so much younger than me,” he said.

  “Your personal life isn’t any of my business,” Bessie told him.

  “But I’m sure you have an opinion on it,” Scott countered. “And I suppose I would rather people were talking about my personal life than my business, at least at the moment.”

  “Is there a problem with your business?” Bessie asked.

  “There are a few, um, issues,” Scott replied. “Nothing I can�
��t handle, of course. It’s just unfortunate that I won’t be able to bid on anything tonight. I’m sure Agnes was hoping, when I joined the committee, that I’d donate generously.”

  “I’m sure Agnes was just happy to have your help,” Bessie said.

  Scott shrugged. “I’m sorry. This is meant to be a party and I’m boring you with all of my problems.”

  “I don’t care,” a woman shouted loudly. “It’s time for you to think about someone else.”

  Bessie spun around. Kathryn was staring at a red-faced Trevor, who was behind the bar several feet away from Bessie.

  “This isn’t the time or the place for this discussion,” Trevor said tightly.

  “It never is, is it? I own half of everything, remember that!”

  Trevor nodded. “Of course, darling,” he said. “Let’s talk about that when we get home.”

  “I won’t be there when you get home,” Kathryn replied. “I’m going back to London tonight.”

  She spun on her heel and stalked out of the room. Trevor watched her go and then shrugged. He picked up the bottle of wine at his elbow and poured himself a drink. As everyone in the room watched, he raised the glass. “Cheers,” he said before draining it.

  “Oh, that was fun,” Jacqueline drawled as she walked to the bar. “I should go home with you tonight. If Kathryn is there, she’ll be furious, and if she isn’t, well, we can have some fun.”

  Trevor flushed. “It’s an interesting idea, but I think I’ll have to pass. Thank you, anyway.”

  Jacqueline shrugged. “I’ll be around if you change your mind,” she said lightly.

  Bessie glanced at Scott. When their eyes met, he shrugged. “It appears I’m not the only one having a bad night,” he muttered.

  “This is better than collecting tickets,” Anthony said to Bessie as he joined Scott. “There wasn’t any wine at the door.”

  Bessie laughed. “There seems to be a lot more excitement over here, too,” she said.

  “Oh, that fight has been a long time coming,” Anthony told her. “I think the recent murders have everyone on edge, though. The sooner the police can find the killer, the better.”