An Isle of Man Ghostly Cozy Collection - DEF

by Diana Xarissa

  “I’m flying to London in the morning to spend the weekend with my daughter there,” he told her softly. “Otherwise, I might have tried rushing things a little bit more. I’ll ring you when I get back.”

  “I’ll be here,” Fenella said, trying to keep her tone light.

  “I’m counting on that,” Donald replied. He kissed her again, gently, and then turned and walked back down the corridor. Fenella opened her door and then waved to the man as the elevator doors shut behind him. She’d forgotten to leave any lights on in the apartment, but Katie didn’t seem bothered about it.

  Fenella kicked off her shoes and then checked the kitchen to make sure that Katie had everything she needed. By the time she made her way into the master bedroom, Katie was in place in the center of the bed.

  “It’s just us tonight,” Fenella told the kitten. “No hairy dogs to hog all of the space.” She did her best to ignore how empty the bed seemed to feel as she settled in. You’ll get used to it, she told herself firmly as she snuggled down and tried to get to sleep.

  10

  Katie woke Fenella at seven the next morning by tapping on her nose. “There isn’t any way you’re going to give up and let me sleep, is there?” she asked the kitten.

  “Merrowww,” Katie replied.

  Fenella stumbled into the kitchen and got breakfast for her. “And now I could go back to bed,” she said, feeling both happy and sad by the pronouncement.

  “You don’t really want dogs,” Mona reminded her.

  “No, I know, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t miss them,” Fenella replied.

  “I stayed away last night in case Donald stayed over. I gather he didn’t,” Mona said.

  “No, I, er, he, that is, he isn’t rushing things,” Fenella stammered.

  “Good,” Mona said. “While I’ve no objection to you having overnight guests, I must remind you to be careful of Donald. Once he feels he’s won you over, he’ll quickly get bored with you. The longer you can keep him chasing after you, the more expensive dinners and gifts you’ll get from him.”

  “I don’t want expensive dinners or gifts,” Fenella retorted. “I just want to get to know the man better before I go to bed with him.”

  Mona shrugged. “Donald can afford to be generous,” she said. “Let him.”

  “I think I’m going to go back to bed,” Fenella changed the subject. A knock on the door made her sigh.

  “If that’s Harvey bringing Fiona back, you should tell him he has to keep her,” Mona suggested.

  “Daniel? This is a surprise,” Fenella said, blushing as she realized she was still in her pajamas and hadn’t even combed her hair yet that morning.

  “I came by last night but you weren’t home,” he told her. “I wanted to ask you about another missing person.”

  “Come in,” Fenella said quickly, all thoughts about her appearance forgotten. “I’ve only just woken up, but I can put coffee on if you’d like some.”

  “That would be great,” Daniel said. “I haven’t been up long myself and I didn’t have time for coffee before I left home this morning.”

  Fenella set the coffee maker brewing and then turned to Daniel. “I can throw some clothes on in just a few minutes,” she offered.

  “I’d rather not take the extra time, if you don’t mind,” he replied. “I can ask my questions while the coffee is brewing and take a cup with me when I go, if you don’t mind.”

  “Of course not,” Fenella lied brightly. “Ask whatever you like.” She leaned against the counter, hoping it wasn’t obvious that she was trying to work out how best to keep the buttons on the front of her pajama shirt from gaping open.

  “Do you know a woman called Leonora Oster?” he asked.

  Fenella thought for a minute. “It doesn’t sound familiar. Does she live in the building next door?”

  Daniel shook his head. “She lives in this building,” he told her.

  “Shelly must know her, then,” Fenella said. “She knows everyone in the building.”

  “I spoke with Shelly last night. She was able to help some, but I thought I should ask you as well,” Daniel replied.

  “She’s missing?”

  “Yes. She was meant to be having lunch with a friend yesterday, and she never turned up and she doesn’t answer her mobile. Her friend was concerned enough to come over to check Leonora’s flat, and found the woman’s dog alone there.”

  “She has a dog,” Fenella said, feeling curiously unsurprised.

  “She does. And from the state he was found in, Rex had been alone in the flat for several days.”

  “The poor thing. He must have been starving.”

  “He’d managed to tear open a huge bag of dog food,” Daniel said dryly. “He was so full that he could barely walk.”

  Fenella chuckled and then stopped abruptly. “But he couldn’t get out to, um, take care of business.”

  “Gloria and her team weren’t too excited about searching the flat,” Daniel told her. “Although Rex did keep all of his, um, business in one corner of the room, apparently the smell wasn’t very pleasant.”

  “Where is Rex now?”

  “The friend Leonora was meant to be meeting for lunch has taken him. She and Leonora have been friends since their childhood days. She said it was least she could do.”

  “How well did Shelly know her?”

  “You’ll have to ask Shelly about that,” Daniel said. “I’m sorry, but I really can’t repeat what she said in her official statement.”

  Fenella nodded. “I shouldn’t have asked,” she said.

  “If I show you a few photos, will you see if you can remember anything about the woman?” he asked.

  “Of course,” Fenella said. The coffee pot was full, so she poured them each a cup of the steaming hot liquid while Daniel pulled out his phone and found the photos he wanted her to see.

  “There are four photos for you to look at,” he said as he handed her his mobile. “See if you recognize either her or Rex.”

  After flipping through them several times, Fenella shook her head. “I may have seen them in the building or walking along the promenade, but if I did, they didn’t make any impression on me. The woman looks vaguely familiar, but she also looks a bit like one of my former work colleagues in the US, so that might be why. Which floor does she live on?”

  “The third.”

  “I’ve never been on the third floor,” Fenella said apologetically. “Shelly dragged me to a party on the second floor a few weeks ago, and I’ve been on the fifth floor once or twice with Shelly, to drop off food to her friend there who’d recently had surgery, but that’s about it.”

  Daniel nodded. “I thought it was worth trying, anyway,” he said. “Leonora is something of a solitary figure. She never married and has always lived alone. Aside from the one friend from her youth, I can’t find anyone who is more than a passing acquaintance. She and her friend only met once a month for lunch. I can’t imagine how awful it would have been for Rex if he’d been shut up in her flat for much longer.”

  “You don’t have any idea what’s happened to her, then?”

  “Like the others, she simply seems to have vanished in the middle of a perfectly ordinary day,” he told her. “We didn’t find a mobile phone at her flat and her friend says she has one, so we have to assume it’s with her, wherever she is. We didn’t find a handbag, either, at least not one that was being used.”

  “What about her car? I mean, I assume she has one.”

  “She does. It’s parked in the garage under the building in its usual spot.”

  Fenella frowned. “I don’t suppose she said anything to her friend about seeing a doctor recently?” she asked.

  Daniel shook his head. “According to the friend, she was in excellent health and only saw her doctor on rare occasions.”

  “So what connects the cases?” Fenella asked.

  “Nothing, really,” he replied. “Except my gut instinct.”

  “That’s goo
d enough for me,” Fenella said. “What do they all have in common?”

  Daniel shook his head. “I wish I had time to discuss it all with you, but I really need to go. I promised Gloria that I’d help her with the report on Harvey now that that case is closed. She’s going to Ramsey this morning to talk with the inspector there about Mortimer.”

  Fenella found a large coffee mug with a lid in the cupboard and filled it nearly to the brim with coffee. “Just enough space for a drop of milk,” she told the man as she handed it to him.

  He added the milk and then screwed the lid into place. “I can’t tell you how grateful I am for this,” he said. “I got about three hours of sleep last night and I’ve a very busy day ahead today.”

  “Stop back tonight if you want to talk,” she suggested. “Now that the dogs are gone, I can give you my undivided attention.”

  “I won’t promise anything, but I’d like that. I’ll ring you later. Maybe I can bring pizza or something if I come.”

  Fenella let him out and then leaned against the door for a moment.

  “He always seems to catch you at your worst,” Mona said. “And he left just when the conversation was getting interesting.”

  “We can talk about it after my shower,” Fenella said. “I’m not risking him coming back and catching me in this state again later today.”

  Mona laughed. “I’ll be in the kitchen with Katie,” she told Fenella. “She’s feeling a bit abandoned by her canine friends.”

  After her shower, Fenella joined the others in the kitchen. Katie jumped into her lap when she slid onto a seat at the counter. “Are you missing Winston and Fiona?” she asked her pet.

  “Mmmmerrooww,” Katie replied.

  Fenella cuddled her close, rubbing the top of her head and scratching behind her ears. After a minute, the kitten had obviously had enough. She squirmed her way off of Fenella’s lap and disappeared into the bedroom.

  “She’s gone back to bed,” Fenella complained to her aunt.

  “Yes, well, she doesn’t have to worry about you getting any more unexpected guests,” Mona reminded her. The words were barely out of Mona’s mouth when someone knocked on the door.

  “Shelly, good morning,” Fenella said.

  “Good morning.”

  “Come in and have some coffee,” Fenella suggested.

  “Have you seen Daniel yet today?” Shelly asked in the doorway.

  “He was just here.”

  “So you know about the latest missing person?”

  “I do.”

  “I’ll come in then,” Shelly said with a smile. “Daniel didn’t tell me whether I could talk about Leonora or not. If you hadn’t talked to him, I would have come back later. I don’t think I could have kept my mouth shut if I stayed.”

  “Come in and tell me about Leonora,” Fenella said, pulling the woman into the apartment. “I can even make you some breakfast if you haven’t eaten.”

  “I had some cereal, but I’m still hungry.”

  “How about pancakes and bacon?” Fenella offered. “After talking about them with Harvey yesterday, that’s all that sounds good.”

  “It sounds wonderful to me. What can I do to help?”

  “Just keep me company and tell me about Leonora.”

  Shelly settled herself at the counter with her coffee. “I try hard to get to know people, I really do,” she began as Fenella mixed up the pancake batter.

  “I know you do,” Fenella replied.

  “I never quite managed it with Mortimer, in spite of my best efforts, and I’m sorry to say that Leonora is another failure, even though she lives in the same building as we do.”

  “Some people simply aren’t friendly.”

  “Mortimer wasn’t friendly. Leonora is, well, I’m not even sure how to describe her. She just has a way of ending a conversation before it even begins. When I see her on the lift and say ‘hello,’ she’ll simply raise an eyebrow at me as if I’ve said something odd or rude.”

  “That doesn’t sound friendly.”

  “It isn’t, but it always feels to me as if she simply isn’t sure of the social niceties she’s meant to be following. Maybe every third time I’ve seen her, she’s waved or smiled at me, but other times she’ll almost look right through me as if she can’t quite focus on me enough to work out what polite gesture is expected.”

  “She sounds rude,” Fenella said.

  “But I don’t think she means to be,” Shelly sighed. “I wish I knew more about her.”

  “She was the very sheltered only child of a wealthy couple, who raised her with a succession of nannies who were all incredibly dim,” Mona said. “She learned to read and write almost by accident and was taught very little else aside from how to attract a wealthy husband. Both of her parents died suddenly when she was nineteen, only days before her engagement was due to be announced. As soon as the funerals were over, she broke off the engagement and bought herself a little house in the country where she lived on her own for her entire life, only moving into the flat here when the upkeep on the house became too much for her.”

  Fenella found the story fascinating, but there was no way she could share it with Shelly, of course. “So you don’t know anything about her past?” she asked her friend.

  “Not really. I tried asking her about the dog once or twice and she gave me monosyllabic answers, but that was more than I usually got. His name is Rex and she’d had him since he was a puppy.”

  “Which doesn’t really help us work out what happened to her,” Fenella said with a sigh.

  “I do think it’s odd that all three missing people had dogs,” Shelly said.

  “I asked Daniel what else the three have in common, but he didn’t have time to talk about it. Do you have any ideas?”

  “Well, they are or were all elderly,” Shelly said. “I think Leonora was in her seventies, and I’m sure Mortimer was at least seventy.”

  “So Harvey is the oldest of the three,” Fenella said thoughtfully.

  “Does that matter?” Shelly asked.

  “I’ve no idea,” Fenella replied.

  Mona sighed. “Let’s try to stay focused,” she said. “What else do the three have in common?”

  “They all lived on the promenade,” Fenella said. “Although what that has to do with anything, I don’t know.”

  “None of them have any family on the island,” Mona pointed out.

  “They were all missing for some time before anyone discovered it,” Fenella said. “They don’t have family on the island or even close friends that they spoke to daily.”

  “If someone wanted to kidnap them, it probably wouldn’t have been difficult,” Shelly said. “I just can’t see why anyone would want to kidnap any of them.”

  “And yet, Harvey turned back up in good health. Someone must have been looking after him while he was missing, even if he can’t remember who it was,” Fenella pointed out.

  “I wonder if he’s checked his bank accounts since he’s been back,” Shelly said. “Maybe someone made him empty his accounts while he was missing.”

  “Maybe you should suggest checking them to Harvey,” Fenella said quickly. “I didn’t think of that, but it makes sense.”

  “Maybe I’ll ring Gloria, as well,” Shelly said thoughtfully. “Maybe they can check on the accounts for all three missing people.”

  “Donald knew Mortimer and he knows Harvey,” Fenella replied after a moment. She felt a bit guilty about pointing out the connection, but it wasn’t like she was suggesting that he’d done anything wrong.

  “That makes sense, considering how vast his business interests are. I wonder if he knows Leonora?”

  “I’ll have to ask him the next time I speak to him,” Fenella said. “He’s in London this weekend with his daughter, so it won’t be before Monday.”

  “There could be some sort of business or financial link between the cases, I suppose. I wonder if Gloria has considered that.” Shelly said.

  “If you’re goi
ng to call her anyway, you should ask her.”

  “Yes, I will,” Shelly nodded. “I don’t know what Leonora did for a living before she retired and moved to Douglas.”

  “She inherited enough money that she didn’t have to work,” Mona said. “As far as I know, she simply lived alone in her little house, reading books and watching television and keeping to herself.”

  “Lucky her,” Fenella said.

  “Pardon?” Shelly asked.

  “Sorry, I was just thinking how lucky Leonora was to be able to retire to our lovely building,” Fenella said, embarrassed.

  “I can’t imagine her working. She’s so distant and, well, odd. I can’t imagine what sort of job she could have done,” Shelly said.

  “Do you think she knew Harvey or Mortimer?” Fenella asked.

  “We should ask Harvey about that,” Shelly replied. “Although I’m pretty sure Daniel or Gloria already have.”

  The pair talked for a few more minutes as they finished their pancakes and bacon, but couldn’t work out any other obvious links between the three missing people. Mona kept quiet, just sitting and listening.

  “I think I’m glad these cases are Gloria’s problem and not ours,” Shelly said as she got up to leave. “I don’t think we’d get anywhere if we were asked to solve them.”

  “Two of them are already technically solved,” Fenella pointed out. “Harvey is back, and Mortimer was found, as well.”

  “Yes, I suppose she’ll only be worried about Leonora, then, won’t she?”

  “I don’t know. I suspect she and Daniel are still investigating all three disappearances.”

  After Shelly left, Fenella loaded the dirty dishes into the dishwasher and then tidied the kitchen. Mona didn’t move or speak until she was done.

  “I’m sure Donald knows Leonora,” she said. “In fact, I seem to recall his father being involved with the woman.”

  “His father? Oh, dear, maybe I shouldn’t ask him about her, then.”