An Isle of Man Ghostly Cozy Collection - DEF

by Diana Xarissa

  “It’s just friendly,” Shelly said. “You’d be more than welcome.”

  “Thanks, but I’m going to get a local paper and a few other things and then make myself a light lunch. Donald and I are going out for dinner later.”

  “That should cheer you up. He’d better take you somewhere splendid.”

  “I’m sure he will.”

  Fenella watched as Shelly crossed the promenade and greeted Gordon with a quick hug. As the pair walked away, Fenella turned and headed for the closest grocery store. What she really needed was some chocolate truffles and maybe some sort of indulgent cookies or something, she thought as she walked. The grocery store provided her with both of those, and a few other treats that weren’t healthy for her body but would soothe her soul. She added a local paper to her basket and then went and paid for everything. It only took her a few minutes to walk home.

  “What does the local paper say?” Mona demanded almost as soon as Fenella walked into her apartment.

  “The headline just says ‘Man’s Body Found in Luxury Apartment Complex.’ I’m hoping the article will tell us more,” Fenella replied.

  She put the shopping away and then sat down with the paper. Mona stood behind her until Fenella told her to move. “I can’t concentrate with you standing there. Go and sit down. I’ll read the article to you.”

  Mona frowned. “I’m quite capable of reading the article myself.”

  “Good, just don’t read it over my shoulder.”

  Sighing, Mona walked over and sat down on a chair. “Okay, fine, read it to me,” she told Fenella.

  “Last evening a man’s body was discovered in a third-floor flat at Promenade Views Apartments,” she began. “As we went to press, the body had yet to be identified.”

  “That much we knew.”

  Fenella quickly skimmed through the rest of the article. “That’s all it says. The rest is all about the history of the building and some of its more famous occupants over the years.”

  Mona yawned. “I’m sure Max gets several paragraphs and I get a single mention loaded with innuendo.”

  Fenella chuckled. “You’re right, actually. There are several paragraphs about Max, who was apparently wealthy, gorgeous, and incredibly generous to everyone. Then it says that the person who lived in the building the longest, from the time it was a hotel until long after it was turned into flats, was Mona Kelly, Max’s close friend and confidante.”

  Mona laughed. “I suppose that’s one way of putting things,” she said. “I’m surprised they’re still being so careful about what they say about me, actually. Max was very protective of my reputation when he was alive. I always thought the papers would be less kind once he’d passed away.”

  “Well, I’m glad they’re still being kind,” Fenella said. It was odd enough for her to have to hear about Mona’s wild past from nearly everyone she met, Fenella really didn’t want to read about it in the local paper as well.

  “And that’s all there is?” Mona asked. “No hint about the dead man’s identity or anything?”

  “None. It must have been Lance, though, surely. Who else could it have been?”

  “I’m inclined to agree with you, but really, it could have been anyone,” Mona replied. “Lance told you that he left the island for university, but maybe there was more to it than that. Maybe he left the island to get away from someone and that someone found out he was back. When our mystery someone turned up at Lance’s flat, Lance killed him or her.”

  “Maybe you have an overactive imagination,” Fenella suggested. “I think it’s far more likely that one of Lance’s friends killed him.”

  “We need to find out when he was murdered. Then we need to find out if any of his friends had an alibi. Then we…” Mona stopped when Fenella held up a hand.

  “We don’t need to do any of those things. We need to stay out of Mark Hammersmith’s way. This is his case and I’m happy to leave it to him.”

  “Until he arrests you,” Mona said.

  “He isn’t going to arrest me,” Fenella shouted. “I didn’t even know the man. Why would I want to kill him?”

  “He upset Shelly. Maybe you went to talk to him and asked him to leave Shelly alone, and he refused. Maybe you began to argue and then he grabbed at you and you gave him a shove. Maybe he tripped over something and hit his head on a table. Maybe…”

  Again Fenella held up her hand. “Maybe you should stop reading so many murder mysteries. I didn’t go and visit him. I didn’t kill him. I didn’t even know anything about him aside from what he claimed.”

  “But what if he was lying? Maybe he didn’t want to talk to you about Shelly. Maybe he knew some secret from your past and he was going to try blackmailing you about it.”

  Fenella shook her head. “You could do this all day, dreaming up increasingly bizarre reasons why I might have killed Lance Thomas. It isn’t doing any good, unless your object is simply to prove that you can dream up all sorts of nonsense when you want to.”

  “I’m simply trying to help you see things from Inspector Hammersmith’s point of view. His list of potential suspects can’t be very long. Lance had only been on the island for a few days. That means Inspector Hammersmith will be looking at you and trying to determine if you had any possible motive. While you can argue that you didn’t, nothing that I’ve said is outside the realm of possibility.”

  “Except none of it is true. I’m not going to waste my time on imaginary motives for myself or anyone else. Lance was probably killed by one of his friends because of a business deal gone wrong or something. That’s the only thing that makes sense.”

  “So tell me about his friends,” Mona suggested.

  “I would if I could, but I really don’t know anything about them. I’ve already told you how unpleasant I found them all. Beyond that, I don’t know anything besides their names. Did you know Neil Hicks?”

  Mona frowned. “What an interesting question. I hadn’t thought about that. Yes, I suppose I did know him, although not well. He and Max did business together once and that was enough for Max. Neil was still part of our social circle when he was on the island, but that was more out of obligation than because anyone enjoyed his company. He rarely came to anything, anyway. He was usually in London.”

  “Why didn’t you like him?”

  “He’s the type who thinks money can buy anything and everything. He would offer me huge sums of money for my car or a pair of earrings I was wearing, just to show off that he had money to spare. I often thought that I should take him up on an offer once in a while, just to see if he really had the money or if he was just bragging.”

  “He offered me a hundred thousand pounds for your car.”

  Mona laughed. “It isn’t worth it, really, although it is one of a kind. Actually, I’ve no idea what it’s worth. That’s something else you can ask Doncan tomorrow.”

  Fenella flushed. She hadn’t spoken to Mona about her appointment with the lawyer. It seemed rude to tell Mona that she wanted to understand exactly what she’d inherited, not when Mona wasn’t actually gone, as such. “I have a lot to discuss with him,” she said.

  “Give him my best,” Mona suggested.

  Fenella laughed. “He’d have me locked up.”

  Mona shrugged. “He might believe you. There are a number of ghosts on the island. He may even know one or two himself.”

  The idea made Fenella wonder. Maybe she wasn’t the only person having daily conversations with ghosts. Perhaps if she started telling people about Mona, she would hear many similar stories from her friends. There was always the risk, though, that they would all think she was crazy. It was probably best to keep Mona to herself.

  Fenella made herself a light lunch and then spent some time tidying up the apartment. As soon as the vacuum cleaner appeared, Mona faded away. What Fenella really wanted to do was either find out more about the murder or take Mona’s car for a drive, but she didn’t have any idea how to do the first and she wasn’t feeling brave en
ough to do the second. The phone was a welcome interruption.

  “Darling, what’s wrong now?” the voice said when she answered.

  “Jack? What makes you think something is wrong?”

  “You failed your driving test, didn’t you? You mustn’t be upset. You must just see it as the sign you need. The sign that you aren’t meant to be there. You’re meant to be here, with me.”

  “I passed my driving test,” Fenella replied.

  “You did?” Jack sounded disappointed. “But I was sure you were upset about something. After all of our time together, I can still feel your sadness, even from a distance.”

  “I’m not sad. I’m fine,” Fenella told him, not entirely truthfully.

  “Are you? I can hear something in your voice that suggests otherwise.”

  Fenella frowned. When they’d been together, the man had been able to listen to her complain bitterly for hours on end and never once notice that she was upset about something. How was it that he was now able to feel her distress from three thousand miles away?

  “Tell me what’s wrong,” Jack suggested.

  “It’s nothing, really. My friends and I just found an open apartment door last night, and when the police came to check it out, they found a dead man inside the apartment.”

  “You never found dead bodies in Buffalo.”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  “The island sounds like a very dangerous place. It seems to me that people over there are murdering one another at an alarming rate.”

  “I didn’t say anything about murder.”

  “Was it murder?”

  “Well, yes, I mean I think so, but still, it’s nothing to do with me or with the island. The man was from across and he simply brought his troubles with him.”

  “Across?”

  “Ah, yes, that’s what people here call visitors from the UK.”

  “What are they across from?”

  Fenella laughed. “They are from across the Irish Sea,” she explained.

  “Yes, well, I suppose so, but it seems the wrong way to describe them. I believe people in England refer to America as ‘across the pond,’ so I suppose I’m across, too, but across a different body of water.”

  “Yes, I suppose you are,” Fenella replied, not really interested in the conversation.

  “I was thinking about coming to see you, though,” Jack said. “I’m still busy teaching a few summer sessions, so I can’t get away right now. Maybe you’d like me to visit at Christmas?”

  “Oh, goodness, no,” Fenella said quickly.

  “No? What about in the spring break, then? I could fly over for a week or maybe a little bit more.”

  “Jack, you don’t want to visit me here. You wouldn’t like the island. It’s nothing like Buffalo.”

  “I’ve liked lots of places that aren’t like Buffalo,” the man countered. “Cleveland was nice.”

  “We were there for two days, and you complained the entire time about the traffic.”

  “But there isn’t that much traffic on the island, is there? I mean there aren’t that many people, right? I read that there are only about eighty thousand residents.”

  “That’s about right.”

  “So the traffic can’t be that bad. And it doesn’t get too hot and it doesn’t snow. It sounds perfect.”

  It was perfect, but Fenella wasn’t going to tell Jack that. “It rains all the time,” she said instead.

  “I don’t like rain, but I’m sure I can survive for a few weeks,” Jack replied.

  “A few weeks? What would you do with yourself all day?”

  “Be with you, of course.”

  “But I’m working on my book all the time,” Fenella lied. “And I may be doing some research here, as well. I won’t have time to entertain you.”

  “I could do some research, too.”

  “You’re a specialist in American military history. There’s nothing here for you to research.”

  “I could try something new, though. Once the fall semester starts, I can begin to think about spring. I could probably get a few extra days on either side of spring break. I’m sure Hazel would cover my classes for me, just for a few days. Once I’m there, we can talk about me relocating.”

  “Relocating? Here? You can’t be serious.”

  “Why not? I’m tired of snow and ice and cold, and this summer was very hot and uncomfortable. The Isle of Man sounds perfect for me.”

  “Yes, but you’d need a visa. You can’t just come over and live here without one.”

  “What visa did you get?”

  “I didn’t need one. I was born on the island. I have dual US and UK citizenship.”

  “Oh, well, I’m sure we’ll be able to work something out. I suppose I’ll need a passport to start with. Where do I get one of those?”

  Fenella sighed. “Someone is at my door,” she said. “I have to go.” She put the phone down before Jack could reply. If he couldn’t work out how to get a passport, he couldn’t come and visit her. And that would suit her just fine.

  “I only just got here in time to hear him say he was thinking about moving here,” Mona said. “I don’t understand why you keep encouraging the man.”

  “I’m not encouraging him. I’m doing everything I can to discourage him. He just doesn’t listen to me.”

  “Have Donald or Peter record your answering machine message,” Mona suggested. “If he rings and hears a man’s voice, maybe he’ll stop ringing.”

  “Maybe,” Fenella replied. But she didn’t want Daniel to ring and hear a man’s voice. And she wasn’t ready to ask Donald to do her any favors.

  “And now you should get ready for your dinner with Donald,” Mona suggested.

  Fenella glanced at the clock. Mona was right, it was later than she’d realized. “I don’t know where we’re going.”

  “But you know Donald only takes you to fabulous places. You must dress accordingly.”

  Fenella took a long shower and then stood in front of Mona’s wardrobe in her bathrobe. “What do you think?” she asked her aunt.

  “Try the dresses on the right side,” Mona suggested. “I don’t think you’ve ever looked at them. There’s a lovely little black dress that would be perfect on you. It’s just right for Donald, too. Sexy, but not too revealing.”

  Fenella flipped through a few of the dresses before finding a black dress. “This one? It’s, well, it’s skimpy.”

  “It looks that way on the hanger, but it covers everything and will look fabulous on you,” Mona assured her.

  Fenella slipped into the dress and then studied herself in the mirror. Mona was right. It was sexy. But was it too revealing, she wondered as she studied herself in the mirror.

  “Put your hair up and wear my pearls with it,” Mona told her. “The pearls will make it look classy.”

  Fenella found the necklace in the jewelry box next to the bed. She fastened it around her neck and smiled at her reflection. Mona was exactly right again.

  “Now let’s work on your makeup.”

  Fenella let her aunt talk her through applying more makeup than she normally wore. “I have to admit, I look good,” she told her aunt when they were done. “But what should I do with my hair?”

  “There’s a pearl hair clip in the bottom drawer,” Mona told her. “Twist your hair up and use the clip to hold it in place.”

  Fenella was still fussing with her hair when someone knocked on the door. “You look perfect. Don’t change anything,” Mona said as Fenella walked over to open it.

  “You look perfect,” Donald said. He pulled Fenella close and kissed her with far more passion than Fenella had been expecting. After a moment of shock, she found herself getting lost in the kiss.

  “I needed that,” Donald told her some time later when he’d let her go. “I missed you, and I had a horrible day.”

  “I’m sorry. Do you want to talk about it?”

  “Not really. A deal I’ve been working on for a few weeks fell throug
h, that’s all. It will cost me a little bit of money, but not too much. I’m just frustrated because someone I thought of as a friend went behind my back and soured the deal. Some people care more about money than friendship, and sometimes I forget that.”

  “I am sorry,” Fenella told him.

  “But tonight is all about you,” he said quickly. “Congratulations on passing your driving test.”

  “Thank you.”

  “This is for you,” he added, handing her a small wrapped box.

  Fenella took it and then shook her head. “I don’t want anything.”

  “No, of course you don’t,” he grinned. “But I want to give it to you. It’s only a small thing, a trinket really, to celebrate your accomplishment.”

  Fenella unwrapped the box. Even she’d heard of the very expensive London jewelers whose name was on the box’s top. “Whatever it is, it cost far too much,” she objected before she opened it.

  “Not at all. Open it.”

  Fenella frowned. “Open it,” Mona told her. “I’m sure whatever it is, it will be gorgeous.”

  Fenella opened the box and gasped with pleasure. The gold pin was shaped like a key and was studded with what had to be diamonds and pearls.

  “It’s exquisite,” Mona sighed. “One more stone or pearl and it would have slipped over into gaudy. As it is, it’s just perfect.”

  “It must have cost a fortune,” Fenella said.

  “Not at all. I thought the key could represent a car key. I thought about simply buying you a car, but as you already have Mona’s car, I didn’t think anything I could buy you could compete with that.”

  Fenella laughed. “I think you’re right. Mona’s car is pretty amazing.”

  “If you want another car, I can buy you one, if you’d like that better than the key,” Donald offered. “Or in addition to the key,” he added.

  “No, not at all. I don’t want to keep the key, though. It’s too extravagant.”

  “It’s not. It will look perfect on your dress tonight.”

  Fenella glanced down at the dress. He was right. The key was the perfect accessory, especially paired with Mona’s pearls. With Mona offering suggestions about placement, Fenella pinned the key onto her dress. Then she smiled at Donald.