1 Aunt Bessie Assumes (28 page)

Doona nodded and then sniffed
loudly.
 
“I’m sorry, I just keep
remembering seeing him standing there with that pillow….” she trailed off and
drank the rest of her tea.
 
Then she
took a deep breath.

“Okay, I got to the cottages
and no one was there, so I tried calling Hugh’s mobile, but he didn’t answer.”

“I was tied up at the
accident and couldn’t hear my phone,” Hugh explained.

Doona nodded.
 
“I wasn’t sure what to do next.
 
I couldn’t decide if I should head for
your cottage on my own or wait for Hugh or what.
 
After a few minutes, I gave in and
called Inspector Rockwell.
 
I
figured that was in everyone’s best interest.”

Inspector Rockwell
nodded.
 
“She was right about that,”
he muttered under his breath.
 
“My
turn to pick up the story,” he said.
 
“Doona called and told me about your, um, plan.
 
I immediately headed up from Ramsey.
 
I had told Doona to wait at the cottages
for me, so I headed straight there.
 
We were still assuming that the killer was going to drive over from Thie
yn Traie after Bahey talked to everyone, so Doona was watching for anyone
leaving.
 
We weren’t too worried
about you because no one drove past the cottages while she was there.”

“What about Bahey?” Bessie
asked suddenly.
 
“I thought she was
going to come across to stay with me.
 
What happened to her?”

“She was still trying to find
someone to bring her over when I called and told her not to bother after Donny
was arrested.
 
She was stunned when
I told her what had happened.
 
I’m
sure she’ll be in touch soon to hear all about it from you.”

“Maybe,” Bessie answered,
“and maybe not.
 
I’m pretty sure she
saw or overheard something that made her suspect Donny, but she kept it to
herself to protect the ‘son she never had.’
 
I suspect she’s feeling very guilty about
that right about now.”

“I think I need to have
another chat with Ms. Corlett,” Inspector Rockwell said, making a quick note in
his notebook.

“Sorry, I interrupted,”
Bessie said.

“It’s fine,” the inspector
told her.
 
“Anyway, as soon as I got
to the cottages, Doona and I headed across the beach.
 
We got here just in time to see Donny
waving a knife around.
 
At that
point we just watched and waited.
 
I
didn’t want to barge in and startle the man.
 
I was afraid he would shove the knife
into you without thinking.
 
It was
hard to watch him threaten you, but we couldn’t figure out what else to do.
 
Doona tried calling you, hoping to
distract Donny, but your phone never rang.”

Bessie frowned.
 
“I guess the ringer must have been
turned off and forgotten,” she said.
 

“I turned it off,” Doona
confessed.
 
“I turned it off after
we got you home from the hospital because I wanted you to get some sleep.
 
And then I just forgot all about turning
it back on.”

“Anyway,” Rockwell continued
the story, “once we saw him put the knife down and grab the pillow, we came in
through the back door.
 
I called for
backup and an ambulance at the same time.”

“Did Donny try to get away?”
Bessie wondered.

“At first he just stared at
us, like he couldn’t believe that we were there.
 
And all the while, he was holding the
pillow over your face,” Doona told her.
 
“He didn’t let go of it until Inspector Rockwell grabbed his arm.”

“By that time I was coming in
the front door,” Hugh told her.
 
“I
got to see the ending.”

Doona smiled.
 
“Donny ran towards the front door and
then tripped over his own feet and fell over.
 
By the time he managed to get back up,
Inspector Rockwell had handcuffs ready, and that was the end of that.”

“He demanded his lawyer right
away, of course,” Hugh told Bessie.
 
“But once we searched his room and found the bloody coat, Samantha’s
phone and enough illegal pharmaceuticals to keep Noble’s going for a year, he
decided to confess.”

“Confess?” Bessie said.

“Yeah, I think he’s going to
claim insanity or something,” Hugh shrugged.

“I suppose some high-priced lawyer will step in
and he'll end up in a nice private mental hospital for a few years and then be
out,” Bessie sighed.

“I doubt it,” Rockwell answered.  “When I
told Mr. Pierce that we'd arrested his son, he told me to call the public
defender's office.  Apparently he's cutting Donny off without a penny.”

“Can he do that?” Doona asked.

“According to his lawyer, absolutely.
 Donny's income was paid to him through a generous trust.   There are
numerous clauses within the trust that were meant, I suppose, to encourage good
behaviour.  Donny's drug abuse was already enough to get him cut off, but
the trust specifically states that its funds cannot be used for legal
representation in a criminal case.  If Donny's found innocent, he might be
able to fight his way back into some of the money, but since he's confessed, I
think he's out of luck.”

“Surely he has to realise that?” Bessie asked.
 

“I think Donny believed that his father would do
everything in his power to help him, regardless of the specifications within
the trust,” the inspector replied.  “He looked stunned when I told him
that his father wasn't sending his lawyer to help.”  

“So he killed Danny so that his father wouldn't
find out about his drug problem and cut him off, but now he's cut off anyway,”
Doona summarised the situation.

“Pretty much,” Rockwell said.
 
“I suspect his drug use had escalated to
the point where he wasn’t thinking very clearly, and poor Danny and Samantha
died for nothing.”

“I think I feel most sorry for Mrs. Pierce,”
Bessie said.  “She's lost both of her sons now.”

“She had to be sedated again after we told her
that Donny had been arrested,” Rockwell told Bessie.  “But I think she was
mostly surprised that he was caught and arrested, rather than anything else.
 I think she knew he was the killer, but expected our incompetence and her
husband's money and influence to protect him.”

Everyone was silent while they digested the
thought.

 
“What
about Jack White?  What happens to him now?” Bessie questioned.

“We have plenty of evidence that he was
supplying prescription drugs illegally back in the UK as well as here.
 
He was dumb enough to keep very complete
records of every transaction.
 
We
can even trace Donny’s addictions back through Jack’s records.
 
I think it’s safe to say that he’s going
to be behind bars for a very long time.”

“Where does Vikky fit into all of that?” Bessie
asked.

“There doesn’t seem to be enough evidence to
prosecute her for her part in the crimes,” Rockwell told her.
 
“It does seem clear that she knew what
was going on.
 
I suspect she might testify
against her former lover in return for immunity from prosecution for the part
she played.
 
Anyway, White claims
that the two of them were still a couple, in spite of her marriage to Danny.”

“So she never really loved Danny?” Doona asked.
 “That's so sad.”

“She still claims that she loved him,” Rockwell told
her, “but when she came across, supposedly on her honeymoon, she made
arrangements to get together with Jack again.”

“She did?” Bessie asked.

“Yep, the racy text that Danny got so angry
about was actually a reply to a message Vikky had sent earlier in the day,”
Rockwell explained.  “She’d suggested that they meet at midnight on the
beach, and Jack was simply confirming the time and place.”

“So Jack was on the beach that night, expecting
to meet Vikky?” Doona asked.

“Apparently so,” the inspector answered.  “Instead
he ran into Vikky's angry new husband.  By that time, though, the drugs
Donny has slipped him were taking effect.  Jack claims that Danny shouted
at him a bit and then staggered off, back towards Thie yn Traie.” 

“And right into Donny's arms,” Bessie guessed.

“Exactly.  Jack says he took off as soon as
Danny turned his back, and I'm inclined to believe him.
 
If he witnessed anything on the beach
that night, I think he would be trying to use it as leverage for a reduced
sentence on his own charges.”

“So Vikky caused all the trouble and gets away
with it all, including some share of Danny’s money?” Doona asked.

“Apparently she’d already signed away her claims
to Danny’s estate.
 
She’s now
arguing that she signed the documents under false pretenses.”
  
Inspector Rockwell shrugged.
 “It's a case for the lawyers now.  I expect they'll do very well out
if it anyway.” 

“So that's it then, I guess,” Bessie said.
 “Donny and Jack get locked up and the rest of us get on with our lives.”

“I'm going to feel a little less safe here than
I used to,” Doona said sadly.

“You shouldn't,” Rockwell told her firmly.
 “The island is a wonderful and very safe place and you shouldn't let bad
behaviour by one or two people change how you feel about it.”

Doona smiled at him.  “I'll try to remember
that,” she said.

“I talked to the Chief Constable last night,”
the inspector told the others.
 
There are going to be a few changes at the station after everything
that’s happened.”

“Oh no,” Doona exclaimed.
 
“You're not firing me, are you?  I
mean, I probably broke a dozen rules, but I love my job and....”

Inspector Rockwell held up his hand to stop
Doona's outburst.

“No one is getting fired,” he said.

Bessie grinned as both Doona and Hugh sat back
with relieved expressions on their faces.

“However, Inspector Kelly is moving to the
Ramsey headquarters building.
 
He'll
be taking over responsibility for the drugs and alcohol division for the north
of the island.”

“That should please him,” Doona smiled.

“In the short term, I'll be taking over the
day-to-day running of the Laxey station,” Inspector Rockwell continued.  “I'll
still have CID responsibilities as well, but primarily for investigations here
or in Lonan.”  

“Is that a promotion?” Bessie asked, blushing
slightly at the nosiness of the question.

Rockwell grinned.  “I'd call it more of a
sideways move,” he told her.  “But not one I'm unhappy about.  I've
become quite fond of Laxey in the last week.  I'm looking forward to
spending more time here.”  

“You'll be doing lots of driving up and down the
coast road,” Doona remarked. 

“Maybe,” Rockwell shrugged and changed the
subject.  “One of the things I'm going to do, once I get settled in, is
start some formal CID training up here for a few of the young constables.”

Hugh raised his eyebrows.  

Inspector Rockwell gave him a grin.  “Are
you interested in some more intensive training into criminal investigations?”
he asked Hugh.

“Yes sir,” Hugh said smartly.  “Very
interested.”

Rockwell nodded.  “I'll keep that in mind,”
he told him.

“Meanwhile,” Doona grinned, “maybe one of you
would like to take a beginner’s Manx language class with Bessie and me?
 It starts right after Easter.”

Both men laughed.  

“I learned a little bit in primary school,” Hugh
said.  I can just about remember ‘moghrey mie’ and that's it.  It was
hard work when I was eight and I'm sure it would be even harder now.”

Doona looked at Inspector Rockwell.

“Oh, now, don't look at me,” the man laughed.
 “I'm not even sure how much longer I'm going to be here.  Scotland
Yard might make me an offer I can't refuse.”

“You'd refuse,” Bessie said keenly.  “You're
hooked on the island now, I can tell.  You'll be staying here for good.
 The island doesn't take everyone that way, but sometimes, for some
people, it's just the only place that ever feels like home.”

The foursome ate the rest of the pastries and
drank another pot of tea.  The conversation wandered aimlessly through
topics of local interest.  Just before nine Doona, Hugh and the inspector
headed into the station to begin their working day.

Along the way Doona dropped Bessie off at her
doctor's surgery where she was, once again, thoroughly checked over.  

“You'll still have some aches and pains for a
few days,” the doctor told Bessie.  “You'll want to take it easy, but
otherwise, you should be fine.”