Aunt Bessie Joins (An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Book 10) by Diana Xarissa

a copy of the report from
the ambulance personnel on the incident here yesterday,” he told Bessie as he
made a note.
    Some time later, Bessie finished up by
telling Pete about the phone call from Mark and their trip into Douglas that
morning to collect the man.
    “So everyone on the committee knew that Mr.
Hart had moved into a hotel?” Pete checked.
    Bessie thought for a moment.   “I think Mark said that he’d emailed the
committee and all of the volunteers, but you’ll have to check with him.   I don’t know if he mentioned which hotel
in his email, although there aren’t that many options this time of year.”
    “No, I think there are only a handful of
places open to guests at the moment,” Pete agreed.   “Everyone else is remodeling,
renovating, or wintering somewhere warm and dry.”
    “I don’t know what else I can tell you,”
Bessie said.
    “Who do you think killed him?” Pete asked.
    “Oh, goodness,” Bessie exclaimed.   “I’ve no idea.   No one liked him, but it’s a huge step
from there to murder.   He upset a lot
of people here yesterday, but he was only going to be here for another day and
a half.   I can’t see any reason for
anyone to kill him.”
    “What did he and Carolyn fight about?”
    “I haven’t the foggiest idea,” Bessie
replied.   “I know she said she’d
used him before to decorate several rooms in her home.   They seemed to be getting along just
fine when they were here yesterday.”
    “What about Richard Teare ?”
    “Her husband?   I think I’ve only met him once or
twice.”
    “He wasn’t involved in the planning for the
event here?”
    “Oh, no, he’s far too busy making money in
the city.   Carolyn makes sure that
she’s on all the right committees and appears at the important social events,
while he makes piles of money for her to spend.   I don’t even know if he’s on the island
at the moment.   He rarely is, as I
understand it.”
    “He’s here,” Pete told her.   “He drove Mr. Hart to the hotel last
night.”
    “How interesting,” Bessie murmured.
    Pete walked Bessie back to the partially
decorated room, where everyone else was sitting around looking miserable.   The inspector took Mark away for
questioning.   The silence in the
room was stifling, and after a moment, Bessie felt as if she couldn’t stand it
any longer.
    “I’m sorry, but can I put the radio on?” she
asked one of the uniformed officers.
    “Sorry, but we can’t risk anyone hearing the
news just now,” the man replied.
    “What if we play a tape?” Bessie asked.   “We have several tapes of Christmas
music.”
    The two men exchanged glances, and then one
nodded.   “I suppose that can’t
hurt,” he said.   “Inspector Corkill might not agree when he comes back, though, so you
may have to switch it off.”
    “That’s fine,” Bessie replied.   She walked over and put in the first
cassette tape she picked up.   A few
minutes later a traditional Christmas carol filled the air.   Bessie adjusted the volume down so that
it was unobtrusive, but it helped to fill up the tense silence, at least.   She sat back down for a few moments, but
felt too restless to stay seated.
    “Is it okay if I get back to work on my
tree?” Bessie asked the uniformed man now.
    He looked at his colleague and then
shrugged.   “We were told you weren’t
to speak to one another,” he said.   “If you can decorate without speaking, I suppose it should be okay.”
    “I’ll be good,” Bessie promised.   She quickly returned to stringing up
lights, and after a few minutes, most of the others went back to work as
well.   Bessie found herself smiling as the music played and the room began to
take shape.   If she ignored the two
men in the doorway, she could almost forget about Christopher Hart’s untimely
death.
    When Inspector Corkill returned a short time later, he stopped in the doorway and stared.   “Music?   And decorating?   Shall I guess that Miss