1 Aunt Bessie Assumes (22 page)

“We did,” Inspector Rockwell
answered.
 
“Although we didn’t know
then that you were pushed.
 
Regardless, they were all here, there and everywhere, and they all claim
they didn’t see or hear anything out of the ordinary.”

“Why am I not surprised?”
Doona said dryly.

“Did you get any impression
of the size of the person or whether it was a male or female?” Rockwell pressed
Bessie for more.

“He or she was a few steps
above me,” Bessie told him.
 
“I got
the impression that they were tall, but that could just be because of the
steps.
 
They also seemed strong to
me, but they wouldn’t have needed much strength to push me off slippery steps
in the rain.
 
I wasn’t holding the
railing properly because I was carrying the bag that Vikky gave me,” she
sighed.
 
“I’m sorry, but I’m fading
away here.
 
That tablet must have
been quite strong.”

Inspector Rockwell
nodded.
 
“I’ll be back in the
morning to talk to you again,” he told Bessie.
 
“I want to know what you said and did at
Thie yn Traie that might have made you a target.”

Bessie frowned and tried to
think, but the medication made her head feel fuzzy and she couldn’t focus.
 
“I’ll try to remember,” she promised.

“In the meantime, we’ve insisted on a
private room for you. I hope you enjoy it.
 
I’m going to leave Hugh here to keep an eye on you,” Rockwell told her.
 
“Someone was trying to get rid of you and
I want to make sure that whoever it was doesn’t get a second chance.”

Bessie nodded sleepily.
 
She tried to thank the inspector, but actually
making words felt like a huge effort.
 
She stretched her legs and various pains shot through her, momentarily
shocking her awake.
 
A moment later,
however, the drugs overcame everything and she sank into a deep and necessary
sleep.

The first thing she saw the next morning
when she opened her eyes was Bahey Corlett’s worried face.
 

“Ah, Bessie, you’re awake then,” Bahey
stated the obvious.
 
“I was so
worried when the police started arriving at the cottage saying something about
someone falling down the stairs to the beach.
 
What on earth made you try to get home
that way, anyway?
 
It was too dark
and rainy to be trying to get down those stairs safely.”

Bessie smiled at her friend.
 
“Good morning, Bahey,” she said
softly.
 
“It’s kind of you to take the
time to visit.”

“Of course I came to visit, as early as I
could,” Bahey answered stoutly.
 
“I
feel almost guilty about the whole thing, though I don’t know why I
should.
 
I never told you to go home
that way.”

Bessie shook her head.
 
“No, Robert Clague suggested it,” she
told Bahey.
 
“He figured it would be
faster so that I could get out of the rain more quickly.”

“But those steps are a hazard,” Bahey
said.
 
“Even the family don’t try to
use them when it’s raining.
 
They’re
strictly for nice bright sunny days when you can actually go and enjoy the
beach.”

“I expect Robert didn’t know what they
were like.
 
I doubt he’s had any
call to use the steps while he’s been working at the cottage.”

Bahey nodded slowly.
 
“I guess you’re right,” she said
grudgingly.
 
“But I still blame
him.
 
If he were going to suggest
you go that way, he should have seen you safely to the bottom.”

Bessie thought about arguing, but decided
against it.
 
Bahey had a valid
point.
  
“Anyway, I’m fine,
really,” she told Bahey.
 
“Just a
little bit banged up and bruised.”

“And thank goodness for that,” Bahey
sighed.
 
“They wouldn’t tell me
anything about your condition yesterday and I got really scared.”

“I’m fine,” Bessie repeated.
 

“I still can’t get over you slipping and
falling down those steps,” Bahey told her.
  
“Robert Clague is going to get an
earful when I get back to Thie yn Traie.
 
He should have seen you down.”

“He said he had to see to some ‘issue,’”
Bessie recalled.
 

“Aye, that’ll be Miss Vikky pitching a
fit,” Bahey rolled her eyes.

“What happened?” Bessie asked.

“Oh, Miss Vikky got this idea that she
needed a walk to clear her head.
 
Like there’s anything in there to clear,” Bahey scoffed.
 

Bessie grinned.
 
“She certainly wasn’t thinking about a
walk the last time I saw her.”

“Yeah, well, whatever, she got it in her
head that she wanted to get out of the house, so she took off towards the front
gate.
 
Of course the reporters that
were left jumped on the chance to ask her a few questions.
 
Apparently, within minutes it had turned
into
a shouting
match and the security guys had to break
it up.
 
I gather your friend Mr.
Clague spent the night in gaol, having ‘accidentally’ broken the video camera
that one reporter was using to capture the incident for posterity.”

Bessie sighed.
 
“I hope he doesn’t lose his job over
that.”

“Are you kidding?” Bahey asked her. “Mr.
Pierce gave him a huge bonus and sorted it out with the reporter so that all of
the charges were dropped.
 
Mr.
Pierce would not have been happy seeing footage of his daughter-in-law fighting
with reporters splashed all over the telly.”

“Can’t say as I blame him for that,”
Bessie said.

“No, I guess not,”
Bahey
answered.
 
“Still, I’d like to see
Mr. Clague fired for letting you fall.”

“He didn’t ‘let me fall,’” Bessie told
her.
 
“I was pushed.”

Bahey drew a sharp breath and then sat
back in chair.
 
“Pushed?” she choked
out.
 
“By who?”

“I have no idea,” Bessie admitted.
 

Bahey looked as if she wanted to say
something, but Bessie could see indecision wavering in her eyes.
 
After a moment she looked down at the
ground.
 
When she still didn’t
speak, Bessie did.

“I don’t suppose you saw anyone following
me out of the house yesterday?” she asked.

“No,” Bahey answered too quickly.
 
“I didn’t see anything.”

“I know the police have been asking as
well,” Bessie told her.
 
“But
apparently no one saw anything.”

“The police just asked about everyone’s
whereabouts,” Bahey shrugged.
 
“They
didn’t say anything about you being pushed.
 
In fact, I got the feeling, from what
they said, that they thought you’d just slipped and fallen.”

“They didn’t know I was pushed until I
woke up,” Bessie told her.
  

Bahey shrugged.
 
“I guess that makes sense,” she
said.
 
“Anyway, I need to get
going.
 
After the incident with
Vikky and your fall yesterday, Mrs. Pierce is in a bad way.
 
I want to keep an eye on her.”

She was up and out the door in seconds,
leaving Bessie convinced that she knew something she didn’t want to talk
about.
 
Bessie pondered whom Bahey
would be willing to
lie
to protect, but the answer didn’t
help her much.
 
There was no doubt
in Bessie’s mind that Bahey would do anything to protect the entire Pierce
family, probably even including Vikky.
 
Bessie sighed and snuggled back under the covers.
 
It was only seven o’clock; Bahey had
been an early bird.
 

Bessie had slept well enough, only being
woken twice to take additional tablets to help with the pain.
 
She had briefly considered arguing
against taking them.
 
Surely, if she
were able to sleep, she didn’t need any more pain medicine.
 
She had been too tired in the night to
argue, but now that it was morning, she decided that she would refuse to take
anything else.
 
Her mind made up,
she let herself drift back off to sleep.

She was rudely awoken a short time later by a
nurse’s aide bearing a breakfast tray.

“Well now, what we have here?” the very young
and almost pretty aide asked perkily as she set the tray down in front of
Bessie.

“It looks like runny oatmeal and burnt toast,”
Bessie said dryly, as she inspected the meal that had been put in front of her.

“I'm sure it's all super yummy and it will do
you a world of good,” the aide told her with a bright artificial smile.

Bessie raised an eyebrow, but didn't answer.
After the aide bustled out, she added some milk and sugar to the cup of tea
that was the only thing on the tray that looked even remotely appealing.

It was cold and she took only a single sip
before she put it back on the tray and pushed the tray table away from her bed.
 She sighed deeply and wondered what to do next.

“Here we are with another nice wee tablet to
make us feel all better,” the same night nurse burbled as she came into the
room.  “Giving you your tablet is my last job for the morning,” she told
Bessie.  “Then I can get off home and get some rest myself.”

“Yes, well, I think I have enough painkillers
for now,” Bessie told her.  

“Doctor's orders,” the nurse said with a forced
grin.

“Then I'll just take it up with the doctor when
I see him,” Bessie answered back.  “Thank you anyway.”

The nurse frowned and glanced at her watch.
“Well, if I can't change your mind….” she trailed off and looked at her watch
again.

Bessie steadfastly remained silent, smiling
politely at the woman.

“I really must be going,” the nurse said at last
as she spun on her heel. “I shall tell the doctor that you refused the last
tablet,” she said over her shoulder she left the room. 

Bessie sank back into her pillow, more tired
than she ought to have been from the short encounter.

When the door swung open again, Bessie braced
herself for another argument with the nurse. Instead Doona's smiling face
appeared at the door.

“Yuck,” Doona said as she took in the contents
of Bessie's breakfast tray.  “Good thing I brought breakfast,” she told
Bessie as she began to open the bags she was carrying.

Moments later Bessie was feasting on a still
warm and decadently delicious chocolate chip muffin from Ramsey's premier
bakery.  She took a swallow of the hot milky tea that Doona had also
provided.

“That's much better,” she told Doona a short
time later.  “I feel almost human again.”

Doona laughed and then frowned.  “How's the
pain?” she asked seriously.

“It's bearable,” Bessie answered.
 
“At least for now.  I had tablets
overnight, but I refused to take any more this morning.  We'll see how I
feel as they start to wear off.”

Doona nodded.  “I know you don't like to
take stuff,” she told Bessie, “but it's better than suffering.”  

Bessie nodded reluctantly.  Doona was
probably right.  

“What does the doctor say?” Doona asked.

“He hasn't been in yet,” Bessie told her.
 As if on cue, the door swung open yet again and the smiling face of the
young doctor peeked around it.

“How are you this morning?” he asked Bessie with
a cheery smile.

“I'm not too bad,” Bessie said cautiously.
 “Obviously, I’m in some pain, but it's bearable so far.”

The doctor nodded and checked something on the
chart he was carrying.  “Amy, the night nurse, tells me that you didn't
want to take your pain medicine this morning,” he remarked casually.

“The tablets just make me sleepy,” Bessie told
him.  

“They're supposed to,” he grinned at her, and
then frowned.  

“Seriously, though, your body had a huge shock
and some considerable trauma yesterday.
 
The more rest you can give it the better at this point.  You can be
strong and tough early next week when you've made a good start on healing.”

Bessie frowned.  “I would really rather not
take drugs I don't absolutely need,” she insisted.

“And I suppose you'll be wanting to get out of
here as well,” the doctor sighed.  “I work hard on my bedside manner,” he
teased, “but no one ever wants to stay here for more than a day or two.”