Aunt Bessie Finds (An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Book 6) (14 page)

“I hadn’t thought of that,” Hugh said.
 
“My car’s a bit of a mess anyway.
 
I’m doing it up.
 
Perhaps I’ll take the backseat out of it
so no one can ride back there at all.”

Bessie laughed.
 
“That
might be a bit extreme,” she said.

“Anyway, I’m sort of looking forward to the holiday and dreading it
as well,” Hugh confided.
 
“I just
have this feeling that it’s going to be a real test of how Grace and I feel
about each other.”

“I’m sure it will be,” Bessie said.
 
“You’ve a ferry crossing each way, long
drives and multiple nights staying with other people in strange places to get
through, not to mention meeting Grace’s extended family.
 
The holiday may just reveal a lot about
your true feelings.”

Hugh frowned.
 
“I’ve
always hated tests,” he said.
 
“In
school and in real life.”

“You should talk to Grace,” Bessie suggested.
 
She got up and brought more soup to the
table, carefully adding it to Hugh’s nearly empty bowl.
 
“I’m sure she’s just as nervous as you
are.”

“Really?” Hugh asked.
 
“I didn’t think about that.”

Bessie shook her head.
 
The
poor man had a lot to learn about women.
 
“I’m absolutely certain of it,” she said.
 
“And the more you two can talk about
such things, the stronger your relationship will be.”

Bessie dug out a tub of ice cream, grinning as Hugh helped himself
to a couple of huge scoops.
 
Clearly
his worries about the coming holiday hadn’t affected his appetite.

“Anyway, Bessie, I want you to take good care of yourself while I’m
gone,” Hugh said as he helped clear away the dishes.

“When do you leave?” Bessie asked.

“We’re on the overnight sailing tonight,” Hugh replied glumly.
 
“I hate sailing, especially when I
should be sleeping, but Mr. and Mrs. Christian prefer late sailings.”

“Well, I hope you have a wonderful time,” Bessie told him, giving
him a hug.
 
“You must come and visit
me as soon as you get back and tell me all about it.”

“But will you be here or in Douglas?” Hugh asked.

Bessie opened and closed her mouth several times before she could
reply.
 
“I suppose I shall be in
Douglas,” she said eventually, as reality sank in.
 
“I suppose I must have a housewarming or
something.”

“The inspector will be back by then as well,” Hugh told her.
 
“You can have us both over and Doona as
well.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Bessie said faintly, feeling as if her
life was getting rather out of control.

With one last quick hug, Hugh left.
 
Bessie quickly cleared away the washing
up and tidied her kitchen.
 
When she
was finished, she headed out to the rock behind the cottage.
 
The rain had stopped, but the day was
still somewhat cooler than was normal for August.
 
The beach was quiet as a result.
 
Bessie sat for several minutes, watching
the tide as it made its way in.
 
Hugh was exactly right; she felt excited and scared at the same time.

Chapter Seven

Bessie spent much of Sunday trying to figure out what furniture she
should take with her and what she should leave behind.
 
As she pictured the rooms in the new
flat, everything in her cottage seemed the wrong size, the wrong shape or the
wrong style.
 
By Sunday evening she
had just about decided that she was going to buy brand-new everything for the
flat.

There were many reasons why the idea appealed to her.
 
For a start, it had been years since she
had been furniture shopping and the idea of a spree made the thought of moving
far more exciting.
 
Besides, it was
difficult for her to picture any of the furniture she loved in a different
location.
 
If she bought everything
new, the move would feel even more like a holiday or a temporary
arrangement.
 
Once she was ready to
come home, she could sell everything she’d purchased.

She checked her bank balance.
 
She could certainly afford some inexpensive furniture for the little
flat.
 
And inexpensive furniture was
perfect for her little adventure.
 
With that decided, she headed for bed on Sunday night feeling far more
at peace with what was to come.
 

Monday morning was her appointment with
Doncan
Quayle to sign the lease agreement.
 
Bessie was dreading it, but a last-minute problem with someone’s will
meant that the man himself wasn’t even in the office when she visited.
 
Instead, Bessie met with his young son,
also called
Doncan
, to sign the papers.

“I know my father wanted to talk with you about this,” the young
man said.
 
“But he didn’t leave any
instructions other than where to have you sign.”

“Then I’ll just sign it all and be on my way,” Bessie told him.

Even though he was fairly inexperienced, young
Doncan
wasn’t the type to let Bessie just sign the papers.
 
He spent an hour taking her through each
document and making sure that she understood exactly what she was agreeing to
on every page.

“Your father explained all of this to me on the phone,” Bessie told
him at one point.

“And he’d fire me in an instant if he discovered that I didn’t go
back over it all with you in person,”
Doncan
had told
her.
 

Breesha
,
who had been the older
Doncan’s
secretary for many
years, brought in tea after the first twenty minutes.

“I figured you’d be needing this about now,” she said, winking at
Bessie.
 
“The young man is good and
thorough, he is.”

“Oh, aye,” Bessie said with a sigh.
 
“Too thorough.”

“No such thing in legal work,”
Doncan
told her cheerfully.
 
By the time
Bessie left, she felt as if she’d had quite enough of advocates for a good long
time.

Back at home
again,
she fixed a quick
lunch, planning on starting to think about shopping and packing once she’d
eaten.
 
The phone interrupted her
plans.

“Hello, Bessie,
it’s
Mary Quayle.
 
How are you?”

“I’m fine,” Bessie replied.
 
“How are you?”

“Oh, I’m very well, thanks,”
Mary
said
lightly.
 
“You know I’m off to
Portugal with
Georgie
and Diane in a few weeks.
 
I really want to help you get settled
into your little flat before I go.”

“Oh, Mary, that is kind of you.
 
I’ve signed all the paperwork, and I was
just going to start thinking about packing and furniture shopping when you
rang.”

“You mustn’t go furniture shopping,” Mary said firmly.
 
“I’ll pick you up tomorrow and we’ll go
out to our storage units and you can pick out whatever you like.
 
There’s enough out there to furnish at
least ten flats.
 
I’m sure you’ll
find plenty you can use.”

“Mary, I can’t let you lend me furniture on top of everything else
you’ve done,” Bessie replied.

“Bessie, please, it’s all just sitting out there, going to
waste.
 
The best thing you could do
for me is
borrow
all of it and then ruin it so I don’t
have to store it anymore.
 
I can’t
bring myself to get rid of it, but I’ll never use it again.”

Bessie was going to argue further, but she didn’t get the chance.

“I have to dash,” Mary said.
 
“George just walked in.
 
I’ll
see you around one tomorrow.”

Bessie hung up the phone slowly, feeling both annoyed with Mary and
grateful to her.
 
Before she could
decide what to do next, the phone rang again.

“Bessie?
 
It’s
Bahey.
 
What’s going on?”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“The flat next door to me, the one you looked at, it got a fresh
coat of paint yesterday.
 
Now today,
they’ve had some man here all day, working on the lift, and they’ve painted the
lobby and the corridors as well.
 
What have you done?”

Bessie shook her head and then laughed at herself.
 
“I’m shaking my head,” she told
Bahey.
 
“I don’t know what’s going
on, or rather, I don’t totally know what’s going on.
 
I’ve arranged to lease the flat for a
short time, but I can’t see why that would cause all of that activity.
 
I certainly didn’t expect them to paint
for me.”

“You’re moving in?” Bahey asked.

“Yes, probably later this week,” Bessie replied.
 
“I’ve just been to see my advocate to
sign the papers.
 
I guess I can move
in whenever I’m ready.”

“Hurray!” Bahey shouted down the phone.
 
“Things are getting weirder and weirder
around here.
 
I’m sure there
was
someone in the flat below me last night, walking around
and talking loudly.
 
I was going to
go down and knock on the door, but the lift was out of order and I don’t like
to take the stairs at night.
 
They
aren’t well lit.”

“Is that all that’s going on?” Bessie asked.

“My welcome mat disappeared a couple of days ago,” Bahey told
her.
 
“I’d only just bought it and
put it out in front of my door and the next morning it was gone.”

“Did you ask the building manager about it?”

“I did, but he didn’t know anything about it.
 
I kept walking around the building,
looking to see if it turned up in front of another door, but then this morning,
it was back in front of my door.”

“Really?
 
That is rather
strange, but at least you got it back,” Bessie said.

“Yeah, but now I can’t decide if I should leave it out there or
bring it inside.
 
I’m afraid it
might go missing again.”

“Ah, well, I guess you’ll have to decide whether it’s worth the
risk.
 
Is that all that’s been
strange?”

“Well, number ten hasn’t received any post lately, but yesterday I
was sure I saw something in the box for number five.
 
That’s the empty flat under mine.”

“Could it have been an advertising circular?”

“I don’t know.
 
I could
only just make out that there was something in the box.”

“I suppose, if someone does own it, they have a right to get post
to that address,” Bessie suggested.

“I guess so,” Bahey said.
 
“It just feels off, that’s all.”

“I suspect there are perfectly logical explanations for everything
that’s going on,” Bessie told her friend.
 
“But this is the perfect time for me to have a complete change of
scenery, so I’ll move in and see what I can find out.”

“Are you okay?” Bahey asked.

“I’m fine,” Bessie assured her.
 
“But life has been rather stressful
lately and a change is as good as a rest, they say.
 
Besides, August in the
worst month for tourists on
Laxey
beach.
 
It gets really noisy and at least one
cottage always seems to have a party late in the evening just about every
night.
 
A stay in Douglas might be
exactly what I need.”

“It’ll be great to get to spend some time with you,” Bahey
said.
 
“But don’t let me become a
nuisance.
 
I’m rather busy with
Howard most days, anyway.”
 
Bahey
laughed.
 
“I’m sorry, I’m just so
surprised that you’re coming that I can’t even think straight.”

“You did suggest it,” Bessie reminded her.

“But I never imagined that you’d actually do it,” Bahey
admitted.
 
“I was just talking,
like.”

Bessie laughed.
 
“Well,
whatever your intentions, I’m doing it.
 
I’ll probably be moved in by Friday, although I have a lot to arrange
before then.
 
I think maybe I’ll
have a housewarming party on Saturday afternoon.
 
I can invite the
neighbours
and get to meet them all.”

“Why would you want to do that?” Bahey asked.
 
“I mean, I’m sure they’re nice and
all.”
 
She sighed.
 
“I’m not really a people person,” she
told Bessie.
 
“I’ll come to the
party, since it’s you having it, but I don’t expect to enjoy it.”

Bessie laughed.
 
“Well,
that’s very honest, anyway.
 
I guess
I am a people person, and besides, I want to find out if anyone else has
noticed anything strange going on.
 
You said one of the
neighbours
mentioned
seeing Alan Collins every time the lift catches on fire.
 
I want to find out what else your
neighbours
know.”

“See, this is why I rang you in the first place,” Bahey said.
 
“Because you’re smart and you think of
things like that.
 
I never even
thought about asking the
neighbours
.”

“I’ll let you know when I’m actually going to arrive,” Bessie told
her.

“Wait until I tell Howard you’re coming,” Bahey said just before
she hung up.
 
“He’ll never believe
me.”

Bessie wasn’t sure what Bahey meant by that, but she hung up the
phone feeling a little bit more excited about her impending move.
 

She spent the afternoon doing laundry so that she’d have plenty of
clean clothes to pack.
 
There was no
point in taking anything more than summer clothes at this point, so she would
only need a few suitcases for them.
 
It was strange to think of her little cottage sitting empty while she
was in Douglas, but she supposed she could visit once in a while.
 
There had been a small combination
washer and dryer in the flat, but if she didn’t like the way it cleaned her
clothes, she might decide to head home once a week to do laundry at the very
least.

Stop trying to find excuses for coming back to
Laxey
,
she told herself sternly as she looked around the kitchen.
 
She’d need plates and cups and flatware
and pots and pans and the toaster and the kettle.
 
She sighed deeply.
 
She’d accumulated an awful lot of things
over the years.
 
Choosing what to
take and what to leave behind was going to be an interesting exercise.

Doona rang while she was looking through the wardrobe in the spare
bedroom.
 

“How are you?” Doona asked when Bessie picked up.

“I’m fine, just thinking about what I should take and what I should
leave behind when I move.”

“You’re really going, then?”

“I am,” Bessie said firmly, hoping to convince herself as well as
Doona.

Doona sighed.
 
“When?”

“I’m not sure.
 
I’ll
have to get a truck booked, I suppose.”

“Let’s have dinner tonight and talk it all through,” Doona
suggested.
 
“My treat, wherever you
like.”

They agreed on
La
Terrazza
, which was Bessie’s favourite.
 
“I’ll meet you there,” Bessie told her
friend.
 
“I can walk or grab a
taxi.
 
You don’t need to come for
me.”

With dinner plans sorted, Bessie headed back up the stairs.
 
A few minutes later she was certain that
there was nothing in the spare bedroom that needed to go to Douglas with
her.