Aunt Bessie's Holiday (28 page)

“Well, he told me you were his new partner,
what with Charles gone and all.
 
I
want to change back to my old supplier and Lawrence said he’d listen to my
reasons.
 
If he isn’t around, I suppose
I can tell you.”

Doona held up a hand.
 
“I don’t know anything about suppliers,”
she said.
 
“And I’m not Lawrence’s
partner.
 
You’ll have to wait for
him.”

“But I wanted to start making the changes,”
Nathan said, in something close to a whine.
 

“Maybe you could talk to Herbert Howe,”
Bessie suggested, smiling at Nathan’s scowl.
 
“I understand he owns part of the
company as well.”

“I’d rather not,” Nathan replied
shortly.
 
He glanced around the room
and then shook his head.
 
“Never
mind,” he muttered before turning and walking away.

“Eat quickly,” Andrew suggested.
 
“Before anyone else arrives.”

They all laughed, but then did just as he’d
recommended.
 
Bessie was just
swallowing her last bite when her mobile rang.

“John’s here,” she announced after the short
call.
 
“He’s picked up a map and is
walking over now.”

“That’s good news,” Doona said.

It seemed only a moment later that the man
strode in.
 
Bessie felt a rush of
relief when she saw his familiar face.

“John,” she called, rising to her feet.
 
He had hugs for both her and Doona
before they introduced him to Andrew.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir,” he said
formally.
 
“I’ve read a lot of your
books.”

“You write books?” Bessie asked.

“Not really,” Andrew said, flushing.
 
“Just training manuals and the like.”

“Excellent ones,” John added.

Andrew shrugged.
 
“Anyway, welcome to Lakeview Holiday
Park,” he said to John.
 

John glanced at the remains of their lunch.
 
“I hope you don’t mind if I grab a bite
to eat,” he said.
 
“I skipped
breakfast.”

Bessie pressed her lips together.
 
It wouldn’t do to lecture him now, not
when he’d been travelling all day to get here for Doona.
 
She made a mental note to speak to him another
time about taking proper care of
himself
.
 
He was still far too thin, mostly, she
suspected, from the stress of his impending divorce.

When John returned with his tray of food,
Doona brought him up to date on the latest developments of the case.
 
He ate quickly and then pulled a
notebook out of his pocket.

“I’ve been taking notes all along,” he
said.
 
“Hoping I wouldn’t need
them.
 
As means and opportunity are
rather open, I’ve been focussing on motive.”

“That’s how I’ve been approaching it as
well,” Andrew said.

John smiled, obviously pleased at the
agreement.
 
“So, we have Jessica,
who may or may not have just been dumped by Charles.
 
Her husband, Herbert, may have personal
or professional reasons for killing the man.
 
Lawrence was his business partner, who
was doing something illegal, from what I’ve heard just this morning.
 
Harold lost his job to Charles.
 
Nathan was upset about the cost cutting
that Charles was doing.
 
I’m less
clear on motives for Mai and Monique.”

“Monique had some sort of relationship with
Charles,” Doona said.
 
“She claims
they were just friends.
 
She’s also
very protective of her husband, even though she also says they were having difficulties.”

John nodded and made a note.
 
“And Mai?”

“There’s something going on between her and
Lawrence,” Bessie said.
 
“They had a
very intense conversation in the arts and crafts studio and she said something
about Lawrence getting her the job here.
 
Apparently Mai used to get Charles to give her special privileges as
well.
 
Maybe that was connected to
her relationship with Lawrence, whatever that is.”

“You don’t think it’s a romantic
relationship?” John asked.

“No, it certainly didn’t feel like that to
me,” Bessie answered.
 
“Mai must be
half his age, anyway.”

“Which proves nothing,” Andrew pointed out.

Bessie frowned, but didn’t disagree.

“Did I miss anyone?” John asked.

“Joe Klein, the head of security, is on my
list as well,”
Andrew
told him.
 
“He wasn’t happy with the many changes
Charles was making here either.
 
As
far as I’m concerned, he’s last on my list.
 
I think
,
if he
were really unhappy here, he’d have just quit.
 
Murdering your boss is a pretty dramatic
step to take, even if you really hate your job.”

“And there is always the possibility of an
unknown person or persons,” John said.
 
“Someone who is operating under the radar.”

“Margaret’s team has done a lot of
background digging into the many guests staying here at the moment.
 
So far she hasn’t found anyone that
appears to have known Charles.
 
The
staff is being looked at as well, but apparently Charles spent most of his time
in his office, pushing paper around.
 
Harold dealt with the day-to-day running of the site.”

“So where does that leave us?” John
asked.
 
“Does anyone have a
favourite suspect?”

“Lawrence,” Bessie said firmly.
 
“They were business partners and
Lawrence was stealing from the company.”

“I hope it was him,” Doona said.
 
“Just so it can all be over.”

“The business angle is an interesting one,”
Andrew said.
 
“I wish I knew more
about how Charles, Lawrence and Herbert all fit together.”

“From the description of the crime scene,
I’m not convinced,”
John
said.
 
“Stabbing someone repeatedly suggests a
great deal of anger and a more personal motive.”

“Maybe Herbert was finally fed up with
Charles sleeping with his wife,” Bessie said.

John closed his notebook and shrugged.
 
“I really want to meet all of the
suspects,” he said.
 
“I can’t
formally question them, but at least I can get a look at them.”

“Jessica and Herbert are over there,” Bessie
told him.

“Come on, I’ll introduce you,” Doona said.

She got to her feet and she and John crossed
the room to where the couple was sitting.
 
Bessie followed a few steps behind, unable to resist listening in on the
conversation.

“I just wanted to introduce you to my
friend, John, who has come to join us for the last few days of our holiday,”
Doona said.

“Is he your solicitor?” Herbert asked.

“No, he’s just a friend,” Doona replied.

“It’s very nice to meet you,” Jessica said,
standing up.
 
“Any friend of hers is
a friend of mine.”
 
She threw her
arms around John and hugged him tightly, whispering something in his ear.
 
John didn’t reply, but his face turned
bright red.

“That’s enough of that,” Herbert snapped at
her.
 
“Sit down and behave.”

“I’m going back to the chalet,” Jessica said.
 
“If Lawrence turns up, you can ring
me.”
 
She flounced off, pausing at
the door to turn back and give them all a little wave.
 
“Remember what I said,” she shouted,
presumably to John.

“Never marry a younger woman,” Herbert said,
getting up from the table.
 
“You’ll
end up paying for it.”
 
He stormed
off after his wife, leaving Bessie and her friends to rejoin Andrew.

“What did she say to you?” Bessie had to
ask.

John blushed again and shook his head.
 
“I’d rather not repeat it,” he told
her.
 
“Let’s just say it was an
inappropriate suggestion.”

“Maybe we can have dinner at
L’Ex
périence Anglaise
tonight so you can meet Nathan and Monique,” Bessie suggested.
 

“That sounds good,” John replied.
 

“Harold is always around somewhere,” Doona
said, glancing around the nearly empty room.
 
“There he is, at the pizza counter.”

She waved and Harold walked over to
them.
 
“Is there a problem?” he
asked.

“No, not at all,” Doona assured him.
 
“I just wanted you to meet a friend of
mine.
 
John Rockwell has joined us
for the last few days of our holiday.”

“How nice,” Harold said in a distracted
manner.
 
“Your lodge is capable of
sleeping six, so you should have plenty of room.
 
You didn’t want a bigger one, did
you?
 
I’m not sure we can
accommodate a change at this point.”

“No, no, it’ll be fine,”
Doona
replied.

“If he wants to join in any of your
scheduled activities, just tell them I’ve
okayed
it,”
Harold said.
 
“Enjoy your stay,” he
said to John, before walking quickly away.

“There’s a man with something on his mind,”
John said.

“I imagine the situation with Lawrence will
cause all sorts of unexpected backlash,” Andrew said.

“But at least I’ve met another suspect, even
if that was rather unsatisfactory,” John replied.

“You’d have to ring Margaret if you want to
talk to Lawrence at this point,” Andrew said.
 
“And I don’t think he’ll want to talk to
anyone other than his solicitor.”

“That just leave Mai,” John said.

“And you can meet her now,” Doona replied.
 
“It’s time for our watercolour
class.
 
You may as well come along
and meet her before we get started.
 
Harold said you
can
even join in if you want
to.”

John laughed.
 
“Maybe I’ll just sit and watch,” he
said.

Chapter Fourteen

The sun was now shining and Bessie found
that she was quite looking forward to doing some more painting.
 
After trying to capture the lake in the
rain, she was eager to have a chance to attempt the scene in bright
sunshine.
 
They arrived at the
building to find the door locked.
 
A
moment later, Jack and Nancy Strong joined them.

“Where’s Mai?” Nancy asked.
 
“We thought we were late.”

“You are, a little bit,” Bessie answered,
glancing at her watch.
 
“I think Mai
is running behind as well.”

She introduced John to the couple and the
small group chatted amongst themselves for several minutes while they waited
for Mai.
 

“I’m surprised Andrea isn’t here, doing
classes for the little ones,” Bessie remarked.

“I don’t think many families stay through,”
Andrew said.
 
“My children have
visited in the past, and they said there isn’t usually much on offer on the
Fridays.
 
Everyone is too busy
either coming or going.”

“But this class was definitely today,”
Bessie said.
 
“I’m sure of it.”

“It was supposed to be, anyway,” Nancy
agreed.

A few minutes more passed before Bessie saw
a familiar face hurrying towards them.

“I’m so sorry,” Andrea gasped as she fumbled
with her keys.
 
“Friday is my day
off and I was half an hour away when Harold rang me to come in.”

“Where’s Mai?” Bessie asked.

Andrea shrugged.
 
“Harold didn’t say.
 
He just asked me to get here as quickly
as I could to take over this class.
 
It’s the only thing happening at the Rainbow Arts Centre today, which is
why I usually get the day off.”

She ushered them all into the building, locking
it behind them.
 
“We don’t need any
unexpected visitors,” she muttered, more to herself than the others, as she did
so.

“Everyone can find an easel and I’ll start
passing around supplies.
 
Basically,
this class is a follow-up to the previous one.
 
I won’t be showing you any new
techniques, just helping you get better at the ones you’ve already learned.”

“I wasn’t here last time,” John said, giving
the girl a friendly smile.

“Sorry,” she said, blinking at him.
 
“I was so distracted by everything I
didn’t even see you.”
 
She looked
him up and down and then winked.
 
“I
won’t make that mistake again.”

“If I’m going to be a problem, I’ll sit
quietly and just watch,” John told her.

“Oh, goodness no,” Andrea said.
 
“I’ll assume you’ve sorted out payment
for the class and registered properly.”
 
She winked at him again.
 
“You can choose an easel, and after I’ve given everyone their supplies,
I’ll come and help you get started.”

“Helps to be young and good-looking, I think,”
Andrew whispered to Bessie as they headed towards the easels.

Bessie glanced at John.
 
She often forgot just how attractive the
man was, even though his brown hair was just beginning to look as if it needed
cutting.
 
She worried about how thin
he was at the moment, but she supposed that he probably looked fit and athletic
to those who were just meeting him for the first time.
 
He worked out regularly, having
converted a spare room at the Laxey station into a gym for himself and the rest
of the staff.

Doona had already found a space in front of
the windows. so now Bessie moved to the easel next to her.
 
John took the one on Doona’s other side
and Andrew moved over next to Bessie.
 
Nancy and Jack settled in about as far from Bessie and her friends as
they could get.

“Nothing personal,” Nancy called across the
small space.
 
“But we were on that
side last time.
 
I want to try to
paint the boathouse this time, and this is a better angle.”

Mai had quickly filled cups and set up paint
trays.
 
Now she moved around the
room passing them out to everyone.

“Would you like music?” she asked after
she’d finished distributing supplies.
 
When no one replied, she laughed.
 
“I’ll put a local radio station on low volume.
 
If it bothers anyone, we can switch it
off.”

Bessie worried what local radio might play,
but the station that Andrea found was playing a fairly innocuous selection of
easy listening songs.
 
She settled
in to paint, letting the music fade into the background.
 
She could hear Andrea’s voice as the
girl worked with John, going over the basics, but Bessie ignored that as well
and focussed on the blank page in front of her.

The afternoon seemed to flash past as Bessie
worked on painting the beautiful lake that was sparkling in the sunshine in
front of her.
  
She was shocked
when Andrea spoke loudly.

“I’m afraid that’s all we have time for
today,” she announced.
 
“It’s just
gone half four, which is a little later than advertised, but I wanted to make
up for the late start.”

Bessie looked around at several surprised
faces.
 
It seemed everyone else had
also been concentrating quite hard on his or her artwork.

“That went too fast,” Doona complained as
she handed Andrea her brushes.

“I feel as if I didn’t work hard enough,”
Andrea told her.
 
“You were all so
focussed I didn’t want to interrupt, but I didn’t really do more than check in
with you each once or twice.
 
I hope
you don’t feel shortchanged.”

“Not at all,” Bessie assured her.
 
“I wouldn’t have welcomed any
interruptions, actually.”

“Everyone should take a minute to look at
all of the paintings,” Andrea said.
 
“They are all very good.”

Bessie had to agree with Andrea’s words, at
least on every picture but her own.
 
While they were all still obviously painted by amateurs, everyone had
clearly put in a great deal of effort, and Bessie was sure all of the others
had improved from the first class.

“You have real talent,” she told Doona as
she stood in front of her friend’s painting.
 
“You should take more classes at home.”

“I just might,” Doona told her.
 
“This is the first time in days I’ve
managed to forget about everything going on around me.”

“Leave your paintings to dry,” Andrea
instructed them.
 
“You can collect
them tomorrow or Sunday before you leave.”

“Can I just throw mine away?” Andrew asked.

“Don’t be silly,” Bessie chided.
 
“It’s lovely and it will be a wonderful
memento of your holiday.”

“I think it looks like a six-year-old did
it,” Andrew replied.

“A very talented six-year-old, maybe,”
Bessie said with a laugh.

“Maybe we should add painting classes to our
schedule at the station,” Doona said to John.
 
“You know, aerobics, weight training,
and watercolours.
 
I’m sure the
constables would love it.”

John shook his head.
 
“I didn’t love it,” he replied.

Bessie walked over and looked at his
picture.
 
“It isn’t bad,” she said
firmly.
 
“Remember, this was your
first class.
 
We’re all a class
ahead of you.”

Jack and Nancy headed out, but Bessie and
the others helped Andrea clean up.
 
Andrea was just locking up the supply cupboard when the five o’clock
news headlines came over the radio.

“A local businessman’s arrest might mean
trouble for Lakeview Holiday Park.
 
Two footballers were fined for inappropriate behaviour after last
night’s match, and the weather calls for more rain tomorrow.”
 

Andrea hurried over and turned up the volume.

“Lawrence Jenkins, a partner in HAJ
Enterprises, which owns Lakeview Holiday Park, has been arrested by local
police.
 
While we have been unable
to get any official comment, we have reason to believe that his arrest is not
in connection with the tragic murder of one of his business partners, Charles
Adams, on Saturday.
 
Police had been
questioning a female park guest in relation to the murder, but we understand that
she has been released without charge.
 
No word yet on why Mr. Jenkins has been arrested or on any arrest for
the murder.”

Andrea switched the radio off, a stunned
look on her face.
 
“But what’s
Lawrence done?” she asked, glancing at Bessie.

“I’m sure we’ll hear about it in due time,”
Bessie answered, evading the question slightly.
 

“I’d better go and talk to Harold,” Andrea
said.
 
“If he hasn’t heard, he needs
to, and if he has, well, maybe that explains why Mai’s not around.”

“What do you mean by that?” Bessie asked.

Andrea shook her head.
  
“Nothing, I’m just babbling,” the
girl replied.
 
She ushered them all
out now, quickly locking the door behind her.

“Don’t forget to pick up your pictures,” she
said before she rushed off down the path towards the Squirrel’s Drey.
 

Bessie looked at her friends.
 
“Does that mean it’s time for dinner?” she
asked.

“It better be,” Doona replied.
 
“Our castle tour starts at seven and
L’Ex
périence Anglaise
isn’t always the fastest place to eat.”

The little group made their way to the
French restaurant.
 
It appeared that
they were its first customers of the evening.

“We’ll be busy later, after everyone has
unpacked,” the girl behind the hostess desk told Bessie.
 

She showed them to a table for four and left
them with menus.

“What’s good?” John asked as he opened the
menu.

“That rather depends on what sort of mood
the chef is in,” Bessie replied wryly.
 
“The first night everything was excellent, but we had lunch here the
next day and it was very disappointing.
 
It was better on our third visit, but still not as good as that first
night.”

Before John could reply they heard a loud
crashing noise from the kitchen.
 
A
moment later a pretty brunette came out and glanced around the restaurant.
 
Apparently not seeing who or what she
was looking for, she walked back over to the kitchen door and pushed it open
tentatively.
 
The hostess joined her
in the kitchen doorway and the pair had a short, whispered conversation.
 
As she returned to her desk by the door,
the hostess gave Bessie and her friends a bright and obviously fake smile.

Another crashing noise was
followed by the kitchen door opening again
.
 
This time Monique strode
out, her cheeks flushed and her head held high.
 
She looked around quickly and then
plastered a bright smile on her face.

“Good evening, how are you?” she said as she
walked across the empty restaurant.

“How are you?” Bessie asked pointedly.

“Me?
 
I’m just great, thanks,” the girl replied, not meeting Bessie’s
eyes.
 
She read the day’s specials
off a card and then suggested drinks.

“Maybe a bottle of wine?” Andrew suggested.

“I don’t drink on, um, er, that is, I’d
rather stick to soft drinks,” John said.

“Well, I could do with a bottle of wine,”
Doona said stoutly.
 
“It’s probably
best if I share it with the rest of you, though.”

Bessie grinned.
 
“Let’s get one, then.
 
We are meant to be on holiday, after
all.”

John ordered a fizzy drink while Andrew read
through the wine list.
 
As neither
woman much cared what sort of wine they drank, he ordered a dry white
wine.
 
Monique nodded and
disappeared back into the kitchen.
 

“I’m thinking things aren’t great in the
kitchen,” Bessie whispered to the others.
 
“I wouldn’t suggest ordering anything too complicated.”

“Maybe we should eat somewhere else.” Andrew
said.

“John wanted to meet Monique and Nathan,”
Doona reminded him.