1 Aunt Bessie Assumes (26 page)

Doona blushed.
 
“I know it sounds kind of crazy,” she
admitted.
 
“But I’m tired of sitting
around waiting for someone else to solve this case.
 
I just keep thinking that we have
everything we need to get the killer to walk right into our trap.”

“What do we have?” Hugh asked.

“Well,” Doona blushed again.
 
“Bessie.”

Bessie laughed.
 
“That’s it?
 
You think I’m enough of a temptation?”

“Whoever it was, they already tried to
kill you once.
 
I bet they’d like
another go.
 
Presumably, they
thought you were a threat or they wouldn’t have pushed you in the first
place.
 
We have to assume that they
still think that.”

“But surely they should expect that I’ve
told the police everything I know by now,” Bessie argued.

“We could say that you’re still dazed and
confused.
 
We can tell everyone that
you don’t remember much of anything from the last week or so,” Doona suggested.

“Who exactly are you planning to tell all
this to?” Hugh asked.

“Well, um,” Doona shook her head.
 
“I guess Bahey would be the best place
to start,” she said finally.
 
“I
haven’t thought it all the way through yet.”

“I don’t know whether I should stay and
try to talk you out of this or leave now before I get fired for taking part in
your crazy scheme,” Hugh complained.

“If you don’t want to get involved, we
understand,” Doona told him.
 
“I
would hate for you to get fired over this.”

“And yet, if I leave, you’ll still go
through with your plans, won’t you?” he challenged.
 
“And when the murderer kills you both,
I’ll have to live with knowing I could have stopped it.”

Doona laughed.
 
“No one is going to kill anyone else,”
she said firmly.
 
“Whether you help
us with the plan or not.”

Hugh sighed.
 
“Why do I know I’m going to regret
this?” he asked rhetorically.
 
“Okay, let’s see if we can figure out a plan that we think might work
but that doesn’t put Bessie in any danger.
 
If we can do that, I’ll think about helping.”

Doona grinned.
 
“It’s going to work, you’ll see,” she
insisted.

An hour later, after many more cups of tea
and two entire packets of biscuits, the trio had hashed out a rough plan.

“I don’t think we’re going to get anything
better than that,” Doona said, sitting back with a sigh.

“I’m still not convinced that this is a
good idea,” Hugh sighed.

“It’s not a bad idea,” Bessie
remarked.
 
“But maybe I just think
that because I’m full of drugs.”

They all laughed at that, but there was
tension in their laughter.
 
Bessie
had taken one of the lower-strength tablets as soon as she woke up, and it
wouldn’t be long before she would need another.

“So are we actually doing this?” Doona
asked.

Hugh opened and closed his mouth about ten
times before he actually spoke.
 
“As
I see it, I guess there isn’t any reason not to try.
 
I figure there are so many places where
it could all fall apart that Bessie probably won’t be in any danger.”

Bessie nodded.
 
“I sort of agree,” she told the
others.
 
“We’re relying on a lot of
little things that have fall into place in order for this to work.
 
Chances are something will go wrong
along the way.
 
At least if it goes
wrong and the killer doesn’t fall into the trap, we haven’t messed up the whole
case or anything.”

Hugh nodded.
 
“I think I might even get to keep my
job,” he said.

“So when should we make the call?” Doona
asked.

“How about right after lunch?” Hugh
suggested.
 
“I’m getting hungry, and
we’ll all perform better on full stomachs.”

“You just ate over a packet and a half of
biscuits,” Doona pointed out.
 
“How
can you possibly be hungry?”

Bessie just laughed.
 
“It’s nearly noon,” she pointed
out.
 
“Hugh’s right, we should have
some lunch and then Doona can make the call.”

“I brought bread and sandwich fixings,”
Doona told the others.
 
“Let’s make
ourselves some sandwiches and then we can go over the plan one more time.”

Bessie sighed.
 
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore,”
she said.
  
“Just thinking
about it is making me nervous.
 
Let’s
talk about something else while we eat.”

Sandwiches ready, the threesome settled
down and discussed recent island events.

“I don’t know, it seems like all these
banks and insurance companies are expanding and bringing all of their staff in
from across.
 
House prices are going
crazy,” Hugh said.

“I’m glad I bought my house when I did,”
Doona replied.
 
“I couldn’t afford
it anymore on what the Isle of Man Constabulary pays.”

“I don’t reckon I’ll ever be able to
afford to buy,” Hugh shrugged.
 
“Good thing I like my little apartment.”

Bessie let the discussion wash over her as
she nibbled on a sandwich.
 
After
taking that last tablet she had been left feeling slightly detached from
everything.
 
The feeling was
pleasant, but somehow it left the nagging dread in the back of her mind untouched.
 
After lunch they were seriously
considering trying to trick a murderer into trying to kill her.
 
That was nothing short of crazy.
 
Perhaps she wouldn’t have agreed to the
plan without the drugs in her system.

With lunch finished and the dishes washed,
Doona helped Bessie into the sitting room, where she settled into her favourite
chair.
 
Doona found her the book she
was in the middle of and stuffed pillows and a blanket around her until Bessie
insisted that she was as comfortable as she could possibly be.

“Enough fussing,” Bessie said.
 
“If we’re going to do this, we need to
do it now, before I lose my nerve.”

“Now don’t do that,” Doona replied.
 
“We’ve been over it enough.
 
The worst thing that can happen is that
the murderer doesn’t fall into the trap.
 
If that’s what happens, no harm done.”

Bessie nodded.
 
“Okay, then, make the call,” she said.

“Are you sure?” Hugh asked.
 
“We can forget about the plan and just
have a nice quiet afternoon at home if you want,” he told Bessie.

“I want the murderer caught,” Bessie said
quietly.
 
“If this actually works,
it will have been worth it.”

Doona gave Bessie a long and serious look
and then headed into the kitchen to take the first step in the plan.
 
 

Chapter
Fourteen

Hugh and Bessie sat together in the sitting
room, listening to Doona’s phone call.

“Oh hello, yes, is that Bahey Corlett?”
Doona’s voice floated through the room.
 
“Oh yes, this is Doona Moore, Bessie Cubbon’s friend?”

After a short pause, Doona’s voice carried
on.
 
“I was just calling to ask you
for a huge favour,” she said.
 
“I’ve
been staying with Bessie since her fall, you see, and now I have to run out and
get some shopping in, both for me and for Bessie.”

Another pause and then Doona continued.
 
“Yes, Hugh Watterson is here as well,
but he’s actually got to work this afternoon.
 
In fact, he’s already going to be late
for clocking in.”

That was Hugh’s cue and he almost missed
it.
 
“Are you sure?” he hissed to
Bessie.

“I’m sure; just go,” she whispered back.

She watched him walk into the kitchen and
heard him calling loudly as he went.
 
“Okay, then, Bessie, you get some rest,” he shouted.
 
“Doona?
 
I’ve got to go now.”

Bessie could hear her front door opening
and closing, and as Doona spoke again she heard Hugh’s car start.

“Anyway,” Doona was saying, “I’ve got to
go and do some shopping and I was hoping you might come and sit with Bessie
while I’m out.”

Another pause.
 
“Not until four?” Doona sighed
deeply.
 
“I suppose that’s fine,”
she told Bahey.
 
“The thing is,
though, I need to get to the bakery by half-two.
 
Maybe I can leave Bessie alone for just
that little while.
 
She’s so out of
it anyway, it isn’t like she’ll notice I’m gone.”

Bessie frowned.
 
Even though she knew Doona was lying,
the remark still annoyed her.
 

“I know she seemed fine yesterday morning,
but today she’s very confused.
 
The
police are actually waiting to interview her tomorrow, after she’s had some
rest.
 
I just hope she’s more
herself by then and can answer their questions.”

Bessie forced her lips together to keep
from talking out of turn.
 
Even
though Doona knew she was listening, it felt like she was overhearing
unpleasant gossip about herself.

“She said she thought she was pushed?”
Doona was talking again.
 
“She
didn’t tell me that,” Doona lied through her teeth.
 
“I think the poor dear is even more
confused than I realised.”

After another short pause, Doona wrapped
up the conversation.
 
“Well then,
I’ll just pop out now and grab what I need.
 
It’s getting on towards two
already.
 
If you can get over here
before four, that would be wonderful, but I suppose whenever you arrive should
be fine.
 
I expect I’ll be back
around five, maybe a bit later.
 
I’ll
leave the door unlocked.
 
It isn’t
like anyone’s likely to break in, not here.”

Only a week earlier, Bessie would have
agreed with that sentiment; now she was sad to find that she no longer felt
safe behind unlocked doors.
 

“That went well,”
Doona
said when she rejoined Bessie.
 
“I
was worried that she’d just drop everything and head over, but not being able
to get here until four gives us lots of time.”

“I told you she would need time to sort
out a ride,” Bessie replied.

“Well, I didn’t think it would take her
that long.”

“I do think you laid it on a bit thick,
the bit about me being ‘out of it,’ I mean,” Bessie said.

“We want her to think that you haven’t
given a statement to the police yet,” Doona reminded her.
 
“That way the killer will think you’re
still a threat.”

“Now we just have to hope that she
actually tells everyone at Thie yn Traie what’s going on,” Bessie sighed.
 

“Maybe we should have filled Bahey in on the
plan,” Doona said.
 
“She could have
made sure to tell everyone whatever we wanted.”

“No,” Bessie said.
 
“I think it’s best if as few people as
possible know about the plan.”
 
Bessie couldn’t shake the feeling that Bahey knew more than she was
letting on.
 
Telling her the plan
might have spoiled the whole thing.

“Right, well, I’ve got to go now,” Doona
told Bessie.
 
“I’m going to drive straight
over and park out of sight at the cottages.
 
Hugh should already be there.
 
If it takes Bahey five minutes to talk
to everyone at the house, the soonest the killer should get here is still at
least fifteen minutes away.
 
He or
she will have to drive because the police tape is still blocking the beach.
 
I can’t see any of them choosing to walk
over along the road, not with the reporters sitting at the gate.”

Bessie nodded.
 
They had been all through this, but that
didn’t make her any less nervous.
 

“Hugh and I will both be back and well
hidden before anyone else gets here,” Doona said reassuringly.
 

Bessie nodded and settled comfortably into
her chair.
 
“Off you go,” she said,
a touch of excitement in her voice.
 
Really, in spite of the danger, she was curious to see if they could
flush out the killer.

She listened as Doona walked through the
kitchen.
 
A moment later Bessie
heard her door open and close and then she heard Doona’s car roar to life.
 
Bessie sighed and closed her eyes.
 
In ten minutes both Doona and Hugh would
be back and hiding in the closet and they could all wait and see if the killer
turned up.
 

Bessie eyes flew open a moment later when
she heard an unexpected noise.
 
Her
front door was opening again.
 
Doona
and Hugh were going to use the back door from the beach so as not to be spotted
by anyone approaching from the road.
 
Could Bahey have found a ride over already?

“Hello, Aunt Bessie.”
 
The voice was cold, and Bessie pulled
the blanket across
herself
more tightly as a chill ran
through her.

“Donny, what brings you here?” she asked,
her voice shaking only slightly.

“I wanted to see how you were doing,”
Donny answered with an amused grin.
 
“How are you doing?”

“I’m fine,”
Bessie
answered, her mind racing.
 
“How are
you?”

Donny laughed harshly.
 
“Oh, I’m just fine as well,” he answered.
 
He sat down on the couch across from
Bessie and studied her for a moment.

“How long are your minders going to be
gone for?” he asked eventually.

“Not long,” Bessie answered.
 
“And Bahey is on her way.
 
Didn’t she tell you?”

“Bahey?” Donny frowned.
 
“I haven’t seen her all day.
 
I’ve been hanging out on the beach since
early this morning, hoping you might be left alone for a minute or two.”

And there was the obvious fault in their
plan, Bessie thought.
 
They hadn’t
expected the killer to be watching Bessie’s cottage.
 
“What did you want to talk to me about?”
Bessie asked, struggling to keep her voice calm.
 
She needed to drag the conversation out
until Hugh and Doona got back.

“Nothing really,” Donny shrugged.
 
“You know I killed Danny and Samantha,
so now I have to get rid of you as well.”

“I don’t know any such thing,” Bessie
replied.
 

“No?
 
I thought I was your chief suspect.”

“Not at all,” Bessie lied.
 
“I thought, that is, I still think, that
Vikky killed Danny and probably Samantha as well.”

Donny shook a finger at her.
 
“Now, now, Aunt Bessie, I just said that
I did it, didn’t I?
 
It’s no good
pretending you didn’t hear me.”

“But why?” Bessie asked.
 
She had to keep the man talking.

“Why don’t you guess?” Donny suggested.

Bessie frowned and tried to think.
 
“Maybe, when you talked about Danny’s
drug problems, you were really talking about yourself?” she began hesitantly.

“Very good,” Donny answered.

“I assume that Danny found out and tried
to get you to stop,” Bessie continued.

“Oh yes, he was such the good big
brother,” Donny said.
 
“He offered
me all sorts of help and promised not to tell the folks.
 
I knew he was lying, though.
 
He was just waiting for the right
moment.
 
I found out he’d been
talking to his lawyers.
 
He seemed
to think he could break up the trust if I was arrested for some drug offense.”

“That’s terrible,” Bessie said as
sympathetically as she could.

“It is, isn’t it?” Donny mused.
 
“He was suspicious of Jack White.
 
He knew that I knew him from across and
I think he thought Jack was my local source.
 
I wasn’t dumb enough to leave things to
chance like that, though.
 
I don’t
trust Jack White, not one little bit.
 
I brought more than enough with me to get through the long and boring
family weekend, even if I did have to use a few tablets here and there for
other purposes.
 
Of course, now it’s
dragging on and on.
 
If we don’t get
to leave tomorrow, I’ll start worrying about running low.”

Bessie thought about pressing him for more
information about Danny’s murder, but she wasn’t sure she could stomach the
details.
 
“What about Samantha?” she
asked instead.

“Ah, the lovely and misguided Samantha,”
Donny laughed harshly.
 
“She wasn’t
feeling well that night and she went to bed early.
 
If she’d stayed in bed, she would still
be alive today.”

“What happened?” Bessie had to ask.

“Talking to you is cathartic,” Donny
answered.
 
“I thought that at the
top of the Laxey Wheel as well.”

“I’m glad,” Bessie murmured.
 
What else could she say?

“My dear sweet Samantha was already
suspicious,” Donny told her.
 
“She
saw a bottle of tablets in my suitcase when we were unpacking.
 
I told her they were mild stuff for my
back problems, but I don’t know if she believed me or not.
 
Anyway, as I said, the night that Danny
died she went to bed early with a headache.
 
But a few hours later, when she started
feeling better, she decided to come and find me.”

He stopped there, his unseeing eyes gazing
at the wall behind Bessie.
 

“And where did she find you?” Bessie asked
after a moment.

“I was just coming back in,” Donny
answered.
 
“She was surprised that I
had been out walking on the beach in the dark.
 
It was raining as well, and I was
carrying my coat, not wearing it.”
 
He shook his head.
 

“I made up some story about a fight
between Danny and Vikky.
 
Said that
I went out to try to find Danny and calm him down, but I couldn’t find
him.
 
Then I got her back to bed
with one of my special tablets.
 
In
the morning I insisted that she must have dreamt it all.
 
She was still so groggy from the tablet
that I thought she believed me.”

He fell silent again, and this time Bessie
left him to his memories.
 
She
wasn’t in any hurry for the conversation to finish, after all.
 
After a brief period, he shook his head
and then smiled eerily at her.

“It wasn’t long before she started making
little comments that spooked me, though.
 
She was going to try to blackmail me.
 
Would you believe that she wanted me to
marry her?”

“No,” Bessie said softly.
 
“Not if she actually suspected you of
murder.”

Donny shrugged.
 
“I couldn’t marry her anyway,” he
continued.
 
“I’ve already got a very
convenient wife.”

“What does that mean?” Bessie asked.