Aunt Bessie Volunteers

by Diana Xarissa

  “It’s Bessie. I was just coming back from a walk.” Bessie stuck her head into the cottage and smiled at Maggie as she emerged from the short corridor that led to the bedrooms.

  “Bessie, hello. You didn’t half give me a fright. There’s just something about this cottage that makes me anxious. I can’t wait until we can get it torn down.”

  “I thought you said you’d already cleared it out.”

  “We did, and then I checked it again the other day. This morning, someone from the police rang to say that there were lights on inside the cottage. I met a constable down here and we checked the place over and didn’t find anything out of place except one light that was switched on. After I got home, I started to worry that I’d forgotten to turn it back off, so I popped down here to double-check.”

  “And it was off.”

  “How did you know?”

  “I walked past a while ago and didn’t notice that there were any lights on inside the cottage. I would have noticed, too, as I’ve fallen into the habit of paying attention to this cottage.”

  “Haven’t we all,” Maggie sighed. “Anyway, yes, it was off. You can be my witness, actually, that all of the lights are off. If the police ring again, I’d love to have someone to back me up.”

  Bessie glanced around and then nodded. “Do you want me to check the bedrooms?”

  “Would you mind? I’m certain that I switched everything off the last time I was here, but there was definitely a light on this morning.”

  It only took Bessie a moment to walk through the small cottage, checking all of the lights. Everything was turned off, as expected.

  “If the police ring again, I’ll know for certain that someone is breaking into the cottage again,” Maggie said as she locked the door behind them.

  “Who would do that?”

  “I’ve no idea, but we both know it wouldn’t be the first time.”

  “Yes, of course. Maybe you should have the power cut to this cottage.”

  “We’ve been considering that, actually. We’ll have to have it done before we have it torn down, obviously. I suppose we haven’t done it yet because we’d rather people broke into this cottage than one of the others.”

  “That makes sense, although it would be best if no one broke into any of them.”

  “Talk to Inspector Rockwell about that. He keeps promising to increase the patrols down here, but I haven’t seen any evidence of it actually happening. I realise this cottage is the furthest from the road and that someone would have to actually walk down the beach to check that it was secure, but maybe if they had a constable do that for a day or two, whoever is breaking in would stop.”

  “Was there any evidence of a break-in this time?”

  “No, but I’m certain I didn’t leave the light on,” Maggie said firmly.

  Bessie shrugged. “Have you heard about the body from Peel Castle?” she changed the subject.

  “Yes, a woman in her mid-twenties who died in the late sixties. Of course, I was a mere child in those days, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have some ideas as to whom you might have found.”

  “I’ve been ringing around, trying to make a list for the police. In a case such as this one, they need all the help they can get.”

  “It’s that Inspector Lambert in charge, the one who used to work in Laxey. I didn’t like her. I’m not sure I want to help her.”

  “First of all, Inspector Lambert is a very hard-working member of the constabulary who deserves our respect, even if we don’t care for her as a person. Secondly, I’ll do whatever I can to help anyone if it means tracking down a murderer. I hate the thought that someone was killed all those years ago and no one knew about it until this week.”

  Maggie nodded slowly. “I suppose you’re right, although I’d still much rather help Inspector Rockwell than help Anna Lambert.”

  “You don’t have to help,” Bessie said. “I already have a short list of possible victims. I doubt you’ll know of anyone else.” Bessie knew Maggie wouldn’t be able to resist that challenge.

  “I don’t know about that,” Maggie snapped. “I have quite a few excellent sources, people even you don’t know, people who live on the west side of the island.”

  “I suggested that it might be Emma Gibson,” Bessie threw out the first name.

  Maggie nodded. “She came up in more than one conversation I had today. Everyone seemed to feel as if she’d simply gone on holiday and vanished.”

  “That’s how I remember it, too. What’s odd is that I don’t recall people talking about it at the time. No one seemed worried or upset when she didn’t come back, which suggests that some sort of explanation was given by her family or friends if anyone asked.” Bessie shook her head. “I simply don’t remember enough about it all now.”

  “Her mother is still alive. I’m sure she’ll be able to clear everything up without difficulty. She wouldn’t speak to me when I rang.”

  “You rang Emma’s mother?”

  Maggie flushed. “When Emma’s name first came up, I thought it would be easiest if I simply rang her mother and asked her what had happened to Emma. For some reason, Mrs. Gibson wouldn’t speak to me. She said something about having enough problems with the local reporters, that she didn’t want to have to deal with anyone at all.”

  “I’m sure Dan Ross got her name from one of his sources. No doubt he rang Mrs. Gibson and demanded that she tell him what happened to Emma. Maybe it isn’t a very happy story. That could be why Mrs. Gibson never shared it with anyone.”

  “Surely we’d have heard if anything had happened to Emma.”

  “Maybe, but I believe it was easier to keep things quiet in those days.”

  “You may be right. Actually, you are right, because we’ve no idea what happened to Emma.”

  Bessie nodded. “What other ideas do you have?” she asked.

  “I did wonder about Lauren Bell,” Maggie replied.

  Lauren was already on her list, Bessie thought with satisfaction. “I understand she left the island with a married man.”

  “She did, and then she came back, and then she left again, but no one seems to know when she left or where she went the second time.”

  “I was told that the married man she left with the first time is on the island.”

  “He is, which makes me wonder if she truly did leave again or if he killed her and hid the body.”

  “As I understand it, her parents disowned her when she ran away and refused to welcome her back when she returned.”

  “That’s the story I heard as well,” Maggie said. “So if she was murdered, there wasn’t anyone around to report her missing.”

  “She must have had friends,” Bessie speculated. “Maybe Inspector Lambert can find one of them.”

  “Hannah Butler left around the right time, too.”

  “She’s on my list, but no one could tell me much about her.”

  “I never knew her, but one of my friends in Peel mentioned her name. Apparently, she was quiet and shy. Her parents were both killed in a house fire about a year before she disappeared. My friend is about the same age and had been at school with Hannah. She couldn’t remember ever hearing anything about Hannah leaving, and she wasn’t even certain of the year when it happened. She said she just realised one day that she hadn’t seen Hannah for a few months or maybe even a year or more. She never saw her again.”

  “It’s sad to think that people can simply disappear unnoticed,” Bessie sighed. She hoped that someone would miss her when she was gone, but having lived alone her entire adult life, maybe she was being foolish.

  “At least Thomas would miss me if I vanished tomorrow,” Maggie said. “Probably not until he got really hungry, but at least he’d notice when his dinner wasn’t ready for him.”

  Bessie wondered if Maggie actually cooked dinner for Thomas, but she didn’t challenge the woman’s words. From everything Bessie knew of the couple, it seemed more likely that Thomas did the bulk of the cooking at the
ir house, but maybe that had changed since he’d been ill.

  “I only have one other name on my list,” Bessie said. “Joselyn Owens.”

  “I remember her. She came up while I was talking to my friends today, too. Even though she lived in Douglas, she was the talk of the island for a short while.”

  “Which is why it’s odd that she disappeared without a trace.”

  “Her husband knew where she went. He just wasn’t talking. He still isn’t, as far as I know.”

  “You didn’t ring him?”

  Maggie blushed. “I may have, but he wouldn’t speak to me either.”

  “I don’t blame him, all things considered.”

  “I suppose you’re right, but he didn’t have to be rude to me, anyway.”

  “I’m sure he’s already been questioned by Dan Ross. No doubt Inspector Lambert won’t be far behind, either. I feel sorry for the poor man.”

  “Unless he killed Joselyn and hid her body at Peel Castle.”

  Bessie nodded. “Did you hear any other names when you were ringing your friends?”

  “Just one,” Maggie said smugly. “Do you remember Meredith Houseman?”

  Bessie frowned. “The name is vaguely familiar. She wasn’t from Laxey, was she?”

  “No, she grew up in Ramsey. That was where she was living when she disappeared.”

  “You’ll have to tell me the whole story,” Bessie sighed. “I don’t remember it off the top of my head.”

  “She was Meredith Brown before she met Joe Houseman,” Maggie said, clearly relishing the fact that she knew something that Bessie did not. “She was around twenty-two when they got married. They settled into married life in Ramsey and were just a boring, ordinary couple, as far as I know.”

  “But?” Bessie asked when Maggie paused.

  “Oh, sorry, of course, you don’t remember the story,” Maggie said. “Joe was offered a job across, somewhere in the Lake District, I believe. They left together, even though her parents were opposed to the idea. They didn’t want their daughter so far away. They’d been very protective of her and I don’t think they cared for Joe Houseman.”

  “If she left the island with her husband, then she didn’t disappear.”

  “That’s just it. She left with her husband, but he came back to the island alone.”

  Maggie’s words triggered something in Bessie’s memory. “He came back about a year later, didn’t he?”

  “Yes, that’s right. Her parents thought that he’d murdered Meredith and buried the body in the Lake District.”

  “What did Joe say to that?”

  “At the time, he just laughed and said that Meredith was alive and well, living in the Lake District with some friends that she’d made while they’d been there. He never offered any reason as to why he’d come back to the island without her, though.”

  “Did her parents get the police involved?”

  “They insisted that they were going to file a missing person report, but I don’t know if they ever did. After a short while, the talk all died down and I never heard anything more about Meredith. Her father passed away in the eighties and I believe her mother died a few years later. Joe is still alive, though.”

  “Let me guess: he wouldn’t talk to you.”

  “I didn’t try ringing him. He was creepy and odd and I didn’t want to speak to him.”

  Bessie nodded. Now that Maggie had mentioned it, she remembered some of the things she’d heard about Joe Houseman over the years. He had a reputation for being mean and for drinking too much. What she couldn’t recall was whether he’d had the reputation before he and Meredith had moved away or if he’s earned it once he’d returned.

  “I’m going to give all of the names to Inspector Lambert. She’ll be able to track down the women in question, if they’re still alive,” Bessie said.

  “I’ll bet she won’t find many of them,” Maggie retorted. “Joe Houseman probably killed Meredith before they even left the island. All five women are probably dead now, otherwise they’d have come back, surely.”

  “Maybe they made new lives for themselves elsewhere,” Bessie suggested.

  “Maybe, but I doubt it,” Maggie replied gloomily.

  As Bessie finally made her way home, she realised that she was starving. It didn’t take her long to put together a satisfying evening meal. While she ate, she read a few chapters in her latest book. After she was done, she added Meredith Houseman’s name to her list for Anna. Bessie didn’t think the skeleton was hers, but she wasn’t entirely certain why. Maybe she just felt that way because Maggie was the one who’d come up with Meredith’s name. Shaking her head at the idea, Bessie debated spending more time with Onnee before giving into temptation and curling up with her book instead.

  Bessie had been in the habit of grocery shopping every Friday, but she’d had to rearrange things while she’d been busy with Christmas at the Castle. Now that life was returning to normal, she still hadn’t rescheduled her regular Friday taxi. When she woke up on Saturday morning, she realised that her cupboards were mostly bare. Keeping her walk short, she rang her taxi service as soon as she was home, requesting a ride into Ramsey.

  “Hello, Bessie,” Dave, her favourite driver, greeted her a short time later. “You never go into Ramsey on a Saturday.”

  “I may have done it once or twice before,” Bessie laughed. “I do try to avoid it, though, as it’s usually much busier than a weekday. I’m out of nearly everything, though, so I haven’t much choice.”

  “It’s still pretty early in the morning. The shops shouldn’t be too busy yet.”

  “I just need the grocery shop today,” she replied.

  Her trip around the large shop seemed to take longer than normal, as nearly everyone she saw wanted to talk about the body at Peel Castle.

  “I heard that all you could see were two skeletal arms, reaching desperately towards the door,” one woman said.

  Bessie sighed. “Not true.”

  “I heard that the skeleton was right inside the door and that there were scratch marks all over the door as if she’d tried to claw her way out,” another told her.

  “I didn’t look at the back of the door,” Bessie said, hoping the woman was wrong. “The skeleton wasn’t near it, though.”

  As Dave loaded her shopping bags into the boot of his taxi, Bessie did a quick mental tally. Three people had insisted that the body had to be Emma Gibson’s. Two had suggested Joselyn Owens, and one woman was convinced it was Lauren Bell. No one had mentioned either Hannah Butler or Meredith Houseman.

  Back at Treoghe Bwaane, Dave helped her carry the shopping into the house.

  “Sad what you found in Peel,” Dave commented as he put her bags on the table.

  “It was very sad,” Bessie agreed.

  “Have the police worked out whom you found yet?”

  “Not as far as I know. It’s very early days yet, anyway.”

  “Yes, I suppose so,” he replied.

  Bessie gave him a curious look. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong, exactly, I was just wondering if it could have been Lauren Bell. She’s my wife’s distant cousin and her name came up when the body was found, that’s all.”

  “If the police don’t already have her name on their list, I’ll be giving it to them. It’s come up several times when I’ve spoken to people about the body.”

  “My wife said she was rather wild, Lauren, I mean. She ran away with a married man, but then she came back. The family doesn’t really talk about her, but my wife heard that she then ran off with a different married man a few months later. I don’t know if that’s true.”

  “No one seems to know exactly what happened to her. I believe the family has always been deliberately vague about her whereabouts. Hopefully, someone will have an address for her and the police will be able to cross her off their list.”

  “Her mother would have been the most likely person to have stayed in touch with her, but she passed away years
ago. I’ll ask my wife who she thinks might know where Lauren is now.”

  “That would be helpful. Let me know what you find out.”

  Dave nodded. “I’ll ring you later.”

  Bessie nodded and then let Dave out. It only took her a few minutes to put the shopping away. Once that was done, she made herself some lunch and then did a quick tidy-up of the kitchen. Next, she rang Doona at home.

  “I wasn’t sure if you were working today or not,” she told her friend.

  “I am, but only for a few hours and not until the afternoon.”

  “I was just wondering how things were going with Sue.”

  Doona sighed. “No change, really. She rang last night, but she seemed very confused and only talked to John, not the children. He told me afterwards that she seemed to think that they were still married and that he was neglecting her by not being with her when she was ill. When he asked her about Harvey, she didn’t seem to know whom he meant.”

  “Oh, dear.”

  “The police are still involved in some way, too. Harvey had words with John after he’d spoken to Sue. He’s very unhappy and claims he’s being treated like a criminal.”

  “I hope Sue is being treated at the best hospital available.”

  “Apparently there aren’t any hospitals near where they are at the moment. Harvey keeps making vague promises about taking her to a proper city, but he keeps reminding John that he’s rather busy saving lives at the moment.”

  “Maybe he should be more concerned about saving Sue’s life.”

  “Yes, that’s exactly what John told him. That was the end of that phone conversation.”

  Bessie sighed. “I wish I could do something to help.”

  “If you see John, I suggest that you don’t mention any of this,” Doona told her. “He’s having to put it out of his mind during working hours.”

  Someone knocked on the door as Bessie put the phone down.

  “My goodness, it isn’t every day that I get two police inspectors here at the same time,” Bessie exclaimed as she opened the door to John and Anna.

  Anna made a face as John shrugged. “Two heads are better than one,” he replied.

  Chapter 6