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

Wednesday,” Bessie said with
forced cheer.   “Mr. Hart is going
home tomorrow.   We just have to
survive today, and with Carolyn out of the picture, Mr. Hart should be much
more easily outvoted.”
    Mark smiled.   “I hope you’re right.”
    “Do you have any idea what he and Carolyn
argued about?” Bessie asked as they drove towards Douglas.
    “None at all,” Mark said.   “She wouldn’t tell me anything on the
phone except that he’d moved into a hotel and that she wouldn’t be back at the
castle until he was gone.”
    Mark was lucky to find a parking space on
the Douglas promenade right in front of Christopher’s hotel.   “I love the tourists, but it is quite
nice when they aren’t here and the parking is easier,” he told Bessie.
    He pulled his mobile out of his pocket and
punched in some numbers.   “Ah, yes,
Christopher Hart’s room, please.”
    Bessie could hear the sound of the phone
ringing from her seat.   After ten
rings, Mark disconnected.   “I rang
him last night and told him we would be here by eight,” he said angrily.   “I don’t intend to wait all morning for
him to show up.”
    “So what are our options?” Bessie asked.
    “I think we’ll head down to the castle,”
Mark said.   “I’ll leave a message at
the desk that he should get himself a taxi down when he finally gets up.”
    Mark was only inside the hotel for a few
minutes.   He looked happier when he
came back.   “Apparently Mr. Hart
went out last night and brought back a large bacon pizza and a six-pack of
beer.   He’s probably just sleeping
off his excesses.”
    “I thought he didn’t eat meat, dairy or
wheat,” Bessie said.
    “Presumably that’s only when he has an
audience,” Mark said dryly.  
    They were both more cheerful on their way to Castletown .   Bessie found herself hoping that the man might wake up feeling too
miserable to work at all that day.   At the castle, Mark told all of the volunteers to leave their rooms as
they were, at least until Christopher arrived.   Then he and the committee, minus
Carolyn, got to work on setting up the room that Christopher had been expected
to decorate.  
    “I’m going to ring Natasha,” Mary announced
after a while.   “She can come and
help out.   I’m sure she’s much
better at this sort of thing than I am.”
    “Not another designer,” Marjorie groaned.
    “Natasha’s far more sensible than
Christopher Hart,” Mary assured her.   “You’ll see.   Anyway, if she
starts being difficult, I’ll send her back to Thie yn Traie .”
    Natasha turned out to be far more helpful
than Bessie had expected.   They were
all working steadily an hour later when Henry walked in.   Bessie took one look at his face and
stopped what she was doing.
    “Henry, what’s wrong?” she demanded.
    “Thank you,” the man who was behind Henry
said.   “I’ll take it from here.”
    Bessie felt herself going pale as she recognised the man Henry had escorted into the room.   He was forty-something, with brown hair
streaked with grey, and brown eyes.  
    “Inspector Corkill ?   What’s going on?” she asked.
    “I’m sorry to tell you all that a body was
found at the Seaside Hotel this morning.   It’s been preliminarily identified as that of Mr. Christopher Hart,” he
said.

 
    Chapter Three
    There were shocked exclamations from around
the room.   Mary Quayle turned white
and Natasha quickly found her a chair.   Bessie opened and closed her mouth several times as she tried to work
out what she wanted to say first.   Before anyone spoke, the inspector held up his hand.
    “I’m going to need to speak with each of you
individually,” he said.   “There are
two uniformed officers who will sit in here while I interview you each in
turn.   I’d appreciate it if you
didn’t speak to one another until after I’ve talked to everyone.”
    “But we’re trying to decorate,” Natasha
said.
    “And I’m investigating a murder,” the