An Isle of Man Ghostly Cozy Collection - DEF

by Diana Xarissa

  Neil nodded. “As I said, I’d known him for many years. We used to talk about the island a lot. Not long after we met he told me that he’d grown up here, probably when I mentioned that I was from the island.”

  “So he’d been lying about his childhood for years,” Fenella said thoughtfully.

  “Surely it would have been hard for him to pretend to be Manx when you actually were from the island,” Shelly suggested. “I mean, you could have caught him in the lie with just a few quick questions.”

  “And I probably would have if I’d ever thought to question him,” Neil replied. “As it was, I simply took him at his word. When we did talk about the island, it was nearly always to discuss how things were in the present, anyway. We discussed the current cost of housing and changes in the tax laws. It’s all very different from when he would have lived here as a child, anyway.”

  “I suppose so,” Shelly sighed.

  “And none of the rest of us had ever been here before, so we simply believed whatever he said,” Adrian said. “It wasn’t the sort of thing that seemed worth lying about, really.”

  “Did he steal someone else’s identity, then?” Shelly wondered. “I mean, was there a Lance Thomas who grew up on the island and then moved across?”

  Neil shrugged. “You’d have to ask the police about that. I’ve no idea how anyone establishes a fake identity. I’ve always been Neil Hicks and that’s worked okay for me, at least so far.”

  “Of course, you could pretend to be anyone you’d like once you get to London,” Laura suggested. “We’d never know any different.”

  A couple of the men laughed. “She’s right,” Adrian said. “Maybe you should try being someone more interesting in London for a change.”

  “Yeah, maybe Lance had a few extra identities and you could have one of those. Who inherits a dead conman’s fake identities?” Eric asked.

  “I should think you’d want to stay as far away from those identities as possible,” Shelly said. “Someone killed the man, after all.”

  “As I said, it must have just been something random,” Neil insisted. “Lance always carried around a lot of money. He probably pulled out his wallet in a pub or somewhere and someone noticed and followed him home.”

  “What a horrible thought,” Shelly said, shivering.

  “He’d just bought an expensive flat in an expensive building, as well. It’s always possible that someone saw him moving in and made a note of which flat was his. When they went back to help themselves to a few things, they didn’t realize Lance was home and then they had to kill him,” Neil suggested.

  “Did he buy the flat?” Shelly asked. “Or was he just renting it?”

  Neil looked at the others and then shrugged. “I don’t know for sure. I mean, he told me that he’d bought it, but we’ve already learned that he couldn’t be trusted. Why? Do you know something about it?”

  Shelly shook her head. “Not specifically, but I did know the previous owner of the flat. He’d always told me that he was going to leave the flat to his son and that his son would probably rent it out for a few years, as his children are in school in the south of the island.”

  “Maybe the son changed his mind and sold it instead,” Jared suggested.

  “Maybe, but my friend always said that his son was smart enough to know to keep the flat, even if he never wanted to live in it himself. My friend believed very strongly in owning real estate and he always said that he’d taught his son the same thing,” Shelly replied.

  “Maybe the son was just telling his old man what he knew the man wanted to hear,” Eric said. “Lance definitely told me that he’d purchased the flat. He even told me what he’d paid for it. It seemed a bargain, but I’m so used to London’s prices that perhaps that isn’t surprising.”

  “What did he pay for it?” Fenella asked.

  Eric told her a number that made Fenella and Shelly both frown. “If he got it for that price, he did get a huge bargain,” Shelly said. “Flats in our building usually go for twice that.”

  “Maybe your friend’s son didn’t know what the flat was actually worth,” Adrian said.

  Shelly looked as if she wanted to argue, but she took a deep breath and then a long drink from her glass before she said anything. “I suppose it doesn’t really matter, aside from the question of who will inherit,” she said.

  “And that’s an excellent question,” Neil said. “And one I’d very much like an answer to. I’m not that bothered about who will be getting Lance’s money, but we were just finishing up a few business deals. I’d like to get them finished with whoever is taking charge of the estate.”

  “Did he leave a will?” Fenella asked.

  “That’s an interesting question,” Eric said. “I wish we knew the answer to it.”

  Fenella frowned. “You said the police haven’t located any members of Mr. Hanson’s family?”

  “I can only tell you what I’ve heard through various sources,” Neil said. “My sources suggest that they have not.”

  “Do your sources know where he was actually from if he didn’t grow up on the island?” Fenella wondered.

  “Someone suggested Devon, but I don’t know if that’s been proven,” Neil replied.

  “I’d hate to see that flat sitting empty again while this is all dragging through the courts. If he didn’t leave a will, it could take ages,” Shelly sighed.

  “He may well have left one under the name Lance Thomas,” Neil told her. “That was something we talked about before he moved to the island. He told me that he was getting all of his legal matters seen to before he left the UK. I’m not sure that a will in that name would be legal, however.”

  “It probably won’t be,” Laura said with a yawn. “But who cares? It isn’t as if any of us were going to inherit anything, anyway. Let the solicitors fight it out amongst themselves. It’s the sort of thing they enjoy.”

  “Lance might have left something to me,” Neil snapped. “We were very close friends.”

  “So close that you didn’t even know his real name,” Laura laughed. “I wouldn’t get my hopes up if I were you.”

  “Lance and I talked about wills one day,” Jared said. “He told me that he didn’t have anyone to leave anything to and mentioned leaving everything to be divided up amongst this friends. If he did that, under his real name, we all might be in line for something.”

  “No one would ever really do that,” Laura scoffed.

  “Actually, Fenella and I both just inherited some money from a man who did just that, or something very close to it,” Shelly told her. “He left instructions for his estate to be divided among everyone who came to his memorial service.”

  “We need to have a memorial service for Lance,” Neil said quickly. “Just in case there’s some similar provision in his will.”

  “There’s no point in having a memorial service over here,” Laura said. “No one knew him here. You should have it back in London.”

  “Laura’s right,” Adrian agreed. “We should do something when we get back to London.”

  “He had some gorgeous furniture pieces,” Laura said. “I’d love to get my hands on some of them.”

  “I’m not sure where they all came from,” Eric told her. “His flat in London didn’t have any antiques in it at all.”

  Fenella frowned. “That seems odd,” she said. “The moving company that he used to move over here came from across. If he wanted different things, why not get rid of his old furniture and then purchase new once he arrived on the island?”

  “Maybe he had the antiques in storage or something,” Neil said. “Perhaps he inherited them all from a relative or something and never used them because they didn’t work in his London flat.”

  Fenella looked at Shelly, who shrugged. “I suppose that’s one possibility,” Fenella admitted.

  “We could talk all night about possibilities,” Neil laughed. “I just hope the police can wrap things up quickly. Right now we’re rather stuck.”


  “They’ve asked you not to leave the island?” Fenella asked.

  Neil shrugged. “Not in so many words, but that’s what they meant. They don’t want us to leave until they’ve finished their preliminary investigation. What with Lance turning out to be someone else altogether, things will probably take even longer.”

  “It does complicate things, I’m sure,” Shelly said.

  “We were planning to be here for a fortnight or more, anyway,” Eric said. “I won’t complain about staying until we get past that point.”

  “I’d quite like to get back to London,” Jared said. “A few of my projects are struggling and I’d like to be able to see to them. I had planned on flying back and forth once or twice during the fortnight, anyway. It’s quite frustrating to feel as if I don’t have that option now.”

  “Inspector Hammersmith is just doing his job,” Shelly said. “Lance was murdered, after all.”

  “Yes, but that’s nothing to do with any of us,” Neil replied. “We’re always told that the crime rate on the island was very low, but clearly that isn’t the case. The police simply need to work out who broke into Lance’s flat. No doubt whoever it was has done similar things before, albeit perhaps without actually killing anyone.”

  “What if it wasn’t random?” Fenella asked. “Can you think of any reason why someone might have wanted to kill him?”

  “We talked about this before,” Neil told her. “If someone came over from across to get rid of him, it certainly wasn’t someone we’d know anything about.”

  “What if someone on the island found out that he wasn’t who he claimed to be?” Fenella wondered.

  “I don’t think that claiming to have been born on the island is at all likely to get someone murdered,” Neil said with a chuckle.

  Fenella flushed. “Maybe that wasn’t all he was claiming,” she suggested.

  “You’re very interested in this,” Eric said. “Almost obsessive.”

  Laura laughed. “Oh, you mustn’t mind Fenella. She makes something of a habit out of finding dead bodies. Everyone on the island is talking about it, but of course you wouldn’t know that.”

  “Really?” Neil asked, staring at Fenella. “How many have you found?”

  “Not many,” Fenella snapped. “And it isn’t something I want to talk about, either.”

  “But she’s great friends with one of the police inspectors,” Laura continued. “Otherwise everyone might start to think that she’s killing people herself.”

  Fenella stood up. “It’s nothing like that,” she said, swallowing hard. She was not going to cry in front of Laura.

  Shelly jumped to her feet. “It truly is nothing like that,” she said, putting an arm around Fenella.

  “Good night,” Fenella said, turning and starting to walk away.

  “Don’t rush off,” Neil said. “Things were just getting interesting.”

  Fenella didn’t stop. She and Shelly crossed to the bank of elevators and pushed the call button. Fenella frowned as Neil followed them across the room.

  “You mustn’t mind Laura,” he said to Fenella. “She’s just jealous because you’re younger, prettier, and richer than she is. And she knows that I’d drop her in a heartbeat if I thought I had a chance with you. Do I?”

  Fenella sighed. “No,” she replied.

  “Are you certain? I know I came on strong the other night, but there were other things going on that you don’t know about. I can be a perfect gentleman, truly I can. Maybe you could let me buy you dinner one night and we could really get to know one another?”

  “I’m sorry, but no,” Fenella said, pushing the elevator call button again.

  “Donald can’t be trusted, you know,” Neil said. “He’s out with another woman tonight. We saw them at a party earlier.”

  Fenella shrugged. “As I said before, Donald is welcome to date other women. I see other men, as well.”

  “But not me?”

  “No, not you,” Fenella replied. She hit the elevator button again, feeling frustrated.

  “Leave the poor woman alone,” Adrian said as he walked up behind them.

  The elevator doors suddenly opened. Fenella and Shelly jumped inside and pushed the button for the lower level. Adrian followed them into the elevator car. No one spoke as the car descended.

  “It’s late and dark,” Adrian said as the trio exited the elevator a moment later. “I don’t want you walking home alone.”

  “It’s only a few steps,” Shelly told him. “We do it all the time.”

  “And a few days ago someone broke into a flat in your building and killed the owner. I’d feel better if I walked you home. I’m not sure the security in your building is as good as it should be,” the man replied.

  Shelly glanced at Fenella, who shrugged. Adrian had always seemed the nicest of the men, and they all knew where Shelly and Fenella lived anyway. Fenella couldn’t think of a reason to argue, but maybe that was because she was still so upset about everything else that had happened.

  The walk from the Tale and Tail to their building only took a minute or so. “I’d like to see you both into your own flats,” Adrian said. “Just be sure that everything is okay.”

  “You’ll want to get back to your friends,” Fenella objected.

  Adrian made a face. “I’m not in any rush,” he assured her.

  “Why not?” Shelly asked as the threesome crossed the lobby toward the elevators.

  “They aren’t really my friends,” he told her. “They’re business associates. I never really bothered to make the distinction before, but the longer I spend with them, the more important the distinction becomes to me. I do have friends at home, you see, and Neil and the others are nothing like them.”

  “Were you friends with Lance?” Fenella asked.

  Adrian shook his head. “I barely knew him, really. Neil was the driving force behind getting us all over here. He knows we’re all getting close to retirement age and that we’re all looking for affordable options if we leave London. Also, he owns property around the island. I suspect he was hoping to offload a few properties on myself and the others.”

  “And now you’re stuck here until the police finish their investigation,” Shelly said. “What a shame.”

  “It wouldn’t be so bad, but I don’t actually know anyone else on the island,” he told her. “And I’m not like Neil. I can’t just start asking every woman I meet to have dinner with me. I’ve never been great with women. I’m sure my ex-wife would agree.” The man flushed and looked down at his feet as the elevator doors slid open.

  “You’re much nicer than Neil,” Shelly told him. “I’m sure lots of women would love to spend time with you.”

  “I wish you were right, but that hasn’t been my experience thus far,” he sighed. “That isn’t actually true, though. I do meet lots of women who want to spend time with me, but only once they find out my net worth. What I don’t ever meet is women who want to get to know me as a person, rather than as their own personal piggy bank.”

  They walked down the corridor on the sixth floor, stopping at Fenella’s door.

  “I won’t come inside, but I’d appreciate it if you’d check that everything is okay before I go,” Adrian told her.

  Fenella opened her door and looked into the apartment. “It looks exactly the same as when I left,” she said, nodding at Mona, who hadn’t been there earlier but was now sitting on one of the couches.

  “Great. And now yours?” he asked Shelly.

  Fenella stayed where she was, not trusting the man at all. Shelly opened her door and glanced into her apartment. “It’s all fine,” she said.

  Adrian nodded and then turned and began to walk away. After a few steps, he stopped. “I don’t suppose you’d both like to have lunch with me tomorrow? I mean, I’m really tired of eating every meal with Neil and the others. I’d be so grateful for the company that I’ll happily pay.”

  Shelly glanced at Fenella. “I suppose we could do that,” She
lly said when Fenella shrugged.

  “Anywhere you want to go; money is no object,” he told her.

  “Let’s just go to the Indian place on the corner,” Shelly suggested.

  “I’ll see you both there at midday,” Adrian replied. “And thank you very much.”

  He walked back down the corridor, and Fenella couldn’t help but notice something like a spring in his step as he went.

  She looked over at Shelly. “It seems we have plans for lunch tomorrow,” she sighed.

  “Yes, and another chance to find out more about Lance, Neil, and everyone else,” Shelly replied.

  13

  “Why didn’t you tell me how wealthy you were?” Fenella asked Mona as she gave Katie a snack.

  “Talking about money is in bad taste,” Mona replied.

  “Yes, but you knew I was worried about finances. I’m sure I told you that I was being really careful with my spending until I worked out exactly what I could and couldn’t afford.”

  “Which was a wise thing to do.”

  “Yes, but you should have told me that I can afford anything and everything,” Fenella countered.

  Mona shrugged. “Not quite. I left you a considerable sum, but there are still a great many things you can’t afford.”

  “Massive diamonds and super-yachts don’t interest me. I can afford to not work and to simply enjoy my life. That’s a huge weight off my mind.”

  “You must take care that you don’t get bored. You’re used to working, after all.”

  “But I haven’t worked in six months and I don’t miss it one little bit,” Fenella laughed. “And I’m not the least bit bored, either.”

  “It’s still a novelty. Anyway, you’ve spent some portion of your time since you’ve been here on research for that book you’ve always wanted to write. If you give up on that, you may find you’ve nothing to do all day.”

  “Maybe, but maybe I’ll keep working on it, just for fun. We’ll see. I don’t have to decide tonight, anyway.”

  “That’s true. But let’s talk about murder,” Mona said. “I don’t suppose you’ve had a chance to talk to any of the suspects in the case since we last talked?”