An Isle of Man Ghostly Cozy Collection - DEF

by Diana Xarissa

  I do mind, quite a lot, Fenella thought. “If I’m going to do that, I’m going to need a drink,” she told the man. She walked over to the kitchen and got herself a soft drink before she sat back down. “Okay, Shelly and I were meant to be meeting Lance at his apartment around seven,” she began.

  It felt like many hours later when she finally finished bringing Daniel up to date on everything. “So Shelly is going to arrange to meet Adrian tomorrow to visit one of the castles,” she concluded. “But that’s only because Shelly wants to understand how Lance found her.” She sat back and took a long drink of her soda. Daniel was silent for what felt like several minutes.

  “I’m sorry,” he said eventually. “I’m just trying to take it all in. Mark is struggling to get Neil and his associates to talk to him and you seem to bump into them around every corner. It simply doesn’t make any sense.”

  “I’ve told you exactly how it has all happened. I haven’t been going out looking for them,” Fenella said. “And I shouldn’t have to defend myself, especially to you. You should know that it isn’t my fault I keep getting caught up in these things.”

  “I should, shouldn’t I?” Daniel said with a sigh. “But since you are caught up in this one, who do you think killed Lance?”

  “It couldn’t have just been random, the way Neil suggested?”

  “Of course it could have, but for the sake of argument, let’s say it wasn’t.”

  “Right, okay then, it must have been one of Lance’s associates. They were the only people on the island who knew him, after all.”

  “Which one?”

  “How should I know?”

  “I meant, who do you think might have done it? What do you think of each of the men?”

  Fenella shrugged and looked at Mona, who gave her an amused smile. “They’re clearly grasping at straws if they’re asking you,” she said.

  “I don’t like Neil, but that doesn’t mean he’s a killer,” Fenella told Daniel. “I don’t like Eric, either. I’ve barely spoken to Jared, but Adrian seems nice enough. I can’t imagine any of that information helping you solve the murder, though.”

  “Tell me again what they said about how long they’d known Lance.”

  Fenella swallowed a sigh and then did her best to repeat the various conversations she’d had with the men. “Of course they could all be lying, or some of them could be lying, or they could all be telling the truth,” she added when she was done. “We know Lance was a conman. The others may be as well.”

  “Mark is checking into exactly who they all are,” Daniel told her. “But that fact isn’t to be repeated.”

  “Neil said Lance was really someone called Robert Hanson. Maybe the motive for the murder is tied to that in some way.”

  “Mark is also checking into that.”

  “So there you are. Mark is checking into everything, and now you know that I know exactly nothing. Are you satisfied?”

  “If you had to pick one of the four men to be pulled in for additional questioning, which one would it be?”

  “I’ve no idea. Probably Neil, because he is the one who’d known Lance the longest. I find it hard to believe that he knew someone for that many years and never knew his real name.”

  “I’ll pass that along to Mark. Thank you for your time.”

  “Thank you for your time? Seriously? What is going on?” Fenella demanded. “A few days ago you practically accused me of being involved in Lance’s death in some way. Now you call and have me tell you about every little thing I’ve done since the murder. Then you thank me for my time? Why are you even involved in this? If Mark Hammersmith thinks I had something to do with Lance’s death, why isn’t he beating down my door? Or is it just your opinion that I’m involved?”

  “I don’t think you had anything to do with Lance’s death,” Daniel said. “But I do think that you have a knack for finding yourself in the middle of murder investigations. Mark chose to believe that you simply happened to stumble across the body and that the murder has nothing to do with you. I was certain that you’d find yourself involved, whether you wanted to be or not. As it happens, I was correct. As I said earlier, you’ve spent more time with the suspects than Mark has.”

  “And as I said, it has all been coincidental. You can’t imagine that Donald planned for us to have dinner with those men at the next table.”

  “No, I don’t suppose he did. I’m surprised he didn’t whisk you off to Paris or somewhere as soon as the body turned up, actually. I’m sure he offered.”

  “He may have. I don’t remember. Donald is always offering such things.”

  “Yeah, great. One of these times, you’ll probably take him up on it as well.”

  “I don’t know. If I want to go to Paris, maybe I’ll just take myself.”

  “Look, I have to go. Believe it or not, I thought this was going to be a quick phone call. I actually thought you’d probably only seen one or two of the men, maybe once since the murder. I didn’t realize…” he trailed off. “But never mind. I’ll pass all of this along to Mark and he can decide what he wants to do next. Don’t be surprised if he turns up on your doorstep later today or tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, I won’t,” Fenella sighed. “When someone gets murdered in his bed, I would hope the police would be chasing every lead.”

  “What makes you think Lance was murdered in his bed?” Daniel asked.

  Fenella frowned. “I don’t know. I suppose I just heard that somewhere. I really don’t remember where.”

  “You need to try,” Daniel said. “Really, really hard.”

  Fenella sat back and closed her eyes. Someone had said those words at some point over the past few days. But who was it? She tried to think, but she was tired and grumpy and her brain didn’t want to cooperate.

  “I can’t remember,” she said. “It was one of the men, during one of the conversations I had with them, but I can’t really recall which one or when.”

  “I’m going to ring Mark now. While you’re waiting for him to come to see you, I want you to do your best to remember the various conversations again in as much detail as you can. Even if you could simply remember if it was when you were with Donald or with Shelly, that would help.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Fenella promised.

  “I’ll talk to you soon,” Daniel told her.

  Fenella pushed the end call button on the speakerphone and then sat back in her chair.

  “I don’t remember you telling me that anyone said that,” Mona said. “I’m sure I would have picked up on it as well.”

  “Yes, of course you would have,” Fenella said sarcastically. “I can’t believe I missed it.”

  “But who said it?” Mona asked.

  “Yeah, that’s the question, isn’t it?” Fenella got up and began to pace around her living room. She’d only made a few trips back and forth when someone knocked on her door.

  “Inspector Hammersmith, I wasn’t expecting you quite this quickly,” she said as she pulled the door open.

  “Call me Mark,” he replied. “Daniel tells me you’ve solved my case.”

  “I hardly think so. I can’t remember who said the part about someone being murdered in his bed, and even if I could, they may have heard it somewhere themselves.”

  Mark nodded. “It isn’t much, I agree, but it’s a tiny wedge that I can definitely use at this point. We just have to get you to remember who said it.”

  “Do you want tea or coffee? Maybe a soft drink?” Fenella asked.

  “Sure, whatever you’re having,” he replied.

  Fenella was too distracted to trust herself with hot water, so she got them each a soft drink and then sat down on the chair next to the man.

  “So let’s start with your dinner with Donald,” Mark suggested. “Shut your eyes and let yourself relax. We aren’t worried about exact words or who is saying what, just try to take me through the conversation as it went along.”

  Fenella did her best, but her mind kept wandering.
She so desperately wanted to remember who had said the words that seemed to matter that she couldn’t stay focused on anything else.

  “I’m sorry,” she said after she’d stopped and started about ten times. “It’s all just a muddle now. The more we talk about it, the more muddled it gets. I’m pretty sure it was the night I was out with Donald, rather than at the pub with Shelly, if that helps at all.”

  “What if I have Donald join us? Do you think he would help or hinder the process?”

  “I don’t know,” Fenella told him. “I don’t know how reliable his memory is, really.”

  “Let’s see if he’s available,” Mark suggested. “Do you want to ring him or shall I?”

  “You probably should. The request would sound better coming from you,” Fenella told him. And we sort of aren’t speaking, as well, she added to herself.

  Mark made a phone call. “My office is going to ring him and ask him to meet us here,” he told Fenella when he’d disconnected. “That’s if he’s even on the island at the moment. While we wait to hear back, let’s talk about something else and give your brain a break.”

  “Like what?”

  “Seen any good movies lately?”

  Fenella chuckled. “I haven’t been to the movies on the island yet. Is there anything showing that you would recommend?”

  It turned out that Mark was a huge fan of science-fiction films. He filled half an hour with reviews of a number of movies that Fenella had never heard of and had no interest in seeing. When someone knocked on the door, she was relieved to end the conversation.

  “Are you okay?” Donald asked, his face full of concern as Fenella let him into the apartment.

  “I’m fine. Mark just wanted to talk to you about something I remembered from our dinner the other night,” Fenella replied.

  Donald pulled her into a hug. “Thank goodness. I was called out of a meeting to be told that the police needed to see me at your flat immediately. I came in a taxi because I was too upset to drive.”

  Fenella hugged him back. “I’ll give you a ride back to wherever you need to go,” she replied. “Thank you for dropping everything to get here.” She turned and looked at Mark. “I do think that things could have been handled differently,” she said sharply.

  “Yes, I’ll have a word with my office. They were meant to make it sound important, but they certainly should have offered some reassurances as well,” Mark said, making a note in his phone.

  “But what is this all about, then?” Donald asked.

  Fenella opened her mouth to reply, but Mark held up a hand. “I’d like you to do your best to repeat everything that was said over the dinner that you had with Fenella in Laxey. She’s remembered someone saying a particular phrase that’s of interest to me. I’m hoping you’ll remember the same phrase and that you’ll be able to tell me who said it.”

  Donald nodded. “I can do my best, but it was several days ago.”

  “I understand that. Perhaps you’d like a drink before we begin?” Mark offered.

  “No, no, I’m fine,” Donald said. He sat down on one of the couches and then settled back on the seat. “I’ll begin when the others came in, shall I? I immediately suggested to Fenella that we should move to a different table, but she was happy to remain where we were.”

  “And then what happened?” Mark asked.

  “Neil told us that they were celebrating Lance’s life,” Donald recalled. “Fenella asked how long they’d all known the man.”

  Fenella was relieved that Donald remembered the conversation much the same way she had. Mark took him as slowly as he possibly could through the evening.

  “When the wine came, everyone did a toast of sorts, to Lance,” Donald recalled.

  “Can you remember exactly what was said?” Mark wondered.

  “They were all along the lines of what a good businessman Lance had been, things like that.”

  “Try to recall what each man said in turn,” Mark urged him.

  Donald nodded. “Neil started and said something about the man deserving friends but being stuck with him instead. I believe Adrian went next and said he wished he’d had a chance to get to know the man better. This was before we knew that he wasn’t really Lance Thomas, of course.”

  “Yes, of course. What did the other two say?” Mark asked.

  “Eric said something about how much money he’d made thanks to Lance and Jared said that Lance had almost persuaded him to retire to the island before he’d managed to get himself murdered.”

  Fenella jumped up. “That was it,” she exclaimed. “He said he’d almost decided to retire here before Lance was murdered in his bed.”

  “Is that how you remember it, too?” Mark asked Donald.

  “I truly don’t remember the exact words, but it was something like that,” Donald agreed.

  Mark frowned. “The exact words matter, but at this point I’ll take what I can get. Are you both sure it was Jared who was talking?”

  “Yes,” Fenella said definitely.

  “Pretty sure,” Donald told him. “It was either him or Eric, as I remember what the other two said pretty clearly.”

  Mark nodded and then made some notes before he continued. “Take me through the rest of the evening,” he told Donald.

  Fenella sat and listened as Donald did his best to recall the conversation. As far as she could remember, he got things mostly right. When he was done, Mark nodded and got to his feet.

  “Thank you both for your time,” he said. “I’d appreciate it if you both stayed away from Neil Hicks and his business associates for the next couple of days. They should be off the island before too much longer, one way or another.”

  “I’m meant to be going sightseeing with Adrian tomorrow,” Fenella said.

  “Yes, well, we’ll see about that,” Mark replied. He strode to the door. “I’ll be in touch,” he said.

  Fenella let him out and then turned to look at Donald, who was on his feet as well. When he reached Fenella, he enveloped her in another embrace.

  “I’ve been telling myself that I didn’t really miss you, that there are plenty of other women out there, and that you were just a passing fancy,” he whispered as he held her close. “And I was wrong on all counts. When I was told the police needed me here, I was convinced that something awful had happened to you.”

  “I’m fine,” Fenella reminded him.

  He squeezed her tightly and then lifted his head. “And I’m well and truly crazy about you,” he said softly before he kissed her gently. As the kiss deepened, Mona began to cough lightly. As Mona got louder, Fenella had to stop Donald.

  “I’m sorry,” she said as she pushed him away gently. “But we need to talk.”

  “Yeah, I know, but kissing is more fun,” Donald replied.

  “I think diamonds are the most appropriate apology, don’t you?” Mona asked.

  “Merrwoow,” Katie said.

  Fenella looked at the clock. “It’s later than I realized. It is time for your dinner,” she told the cat.

  “And mine,” Donald said. “Join me?”

  Fenella hesitated and then nodded. “I’d like that,” she said. “Let’s just hope we don’t run into Neil and his friends.”

  Since Donald didn’t have his car with him, Fenella drove.

  “This is a wonderful car,” Donald said as he settled into the passenger seat. “Let’s go down to Castletown for dinner. The trip won’t take long in this car.”

  Donald was right. Fenella was almost disappointed at how quickly the journey seemed to go. If she hadn’t been so hungry, she might have kept going to Port Erin or even made a compete trip around the entire island.

  The restaurant that Donald had suggested was small and quiet. They got a table in a small nook and settled in.

  “The food is excellent,” Donald told her. “And so is the wine list.”

  “I don’t drink when I’m driving,” Fenella replied.

  Donald nodded. “Very sensible. They have s
ome unique nonalcoholic drinks as well.”

  Fenella settled on a fruit juice concoction that sounded interesting. “It tastes like summertime and sunshine,” she told Donald.

  He laughed. “It tastes like berries and lemons to me, but your description is more interesting.”

  “I’ve really missed you,” Donald told her while they ate. “I hope you can forgive me for behaving like an idiot and give me another chance.”

  “I don’t think you behaved like an idiot,” Fenella said. “You were trying to protect your heart.”

  “Unfortunately for me, I hadn’t realized that it was already too late,” Donald sighed. “Now that I’ve realized how I really feel, though, I will be putting more time and effort into pursuing you.”

  Fenella wondered what that meant, but was afraid to ask.

  “Perhaps we should celebrate our reconciliation with a trip,” he suggested. “I keep mentioning Paris and you never agree, so how about somewhere else? Venice? Rome? Barcelona? Where would you like to go?”

  “I’m not ready to go away with you,” Fenella told him. “I really want to take things slowly.”

  “We can go away and stay in separate rooms,” Donald offered. “No pressure, I promise. I just want to get to know you better. And when I’m on the island, I seem to end up working all the time.”

  “Let’s not worry about it for tonight. Let’s just enjoy dinner.”

  After dinner, they put the top down on the car and Fenella drove back to Douglas. With Donald’s encouragement, she then kept driving north all the way to Ramsey.

  “It’s a great car,” Fenella said. “I’m so glad I learned how to drive it.”

  “It suits you,” Donald told her.

  “I don’t know about that, but I do love it.”

  Donald walked her to her door. “I’ll say good night here,” he said. “I truly don’t want to put any pressure on you.” He gave her a kiss that made her toes curl. What could he have done if he was actually trying, she wondered as she let herself into her apartment.

  “Did you have a nice evening?” Mona asked.