Aunt Bessie Joins (An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Book 10) Read online

  Chapter Two

  Mark glanced over at Bessie. “Manx National Heritage approved the plans,” he told the man. “The theme is ‘Christmas Around the World,’ and we quite liked the idea of the different trees, each representing a different country and showcasing some of that country’s unique Christmas customs.”

  “Yawn,” Christopher said. “I don’t like the theme, to start with, but then, if we must go with that, let’s at least do something interesting and fun with it.”

  “Like what?” Mark asked.

  “Like celebrating infamous people from each country or interesting people from each country, rather than boring old Christmas traditions,” he replied.

  “Infamous people?” Mark echoed.

  “Sure. Everyone country has its share of mass murderers and the like. We could do Jack the Ripper for the UK and cover the tree in knives dipped in red paint,” Christopher suggested.

  “ But ‘Christmas at the Castle’ is an event for families,” Bessie said tightly. “I don’t think celebrating mass murderers is what we had in mind.”

  “The kids would love it,” Christopher said dismissively. “Look at how many flood to the wax museums. They don’t go to see the pretty waxworks, they go to see the scary stuff in the basement.”

  “Yes, well, I think the committee will have to discuss that idea,” Mark said. He looked around the room. “Perhaps everyone would like to head to their own rooms and start thinking about any changes they’d like to make? I’ll walk back through with Mr. Hart for a second look and we can talk again about the best way to make each space exactly right.”

  “I’m a very busy man,” Michael Beach said crossly. “I don’t have all afternoon to waste, waiting to hear what some egotistical designer has to say about the room I decorated. As far as I’m concerned, you can do what you like with the space and simply send me a cheque for my share of the proceeds from the event.”

  “Why don’t we start with your room,” Mark suggested. “It shouldn’t take long.”

  “I don’t want to work with that man,” Christopher said loudly, as Michael turned and walked out of the room. “He’s very disagreeable.”

  “Pot,” Bessie muttered to herself. Liz was standing near enough to hear her and she giggled.

  “Now, darling,” Carolyn said to Christopher. “You mustn’t mind Michael. Not everyone can recognise genius. He doesn’t have your vision or your creativity. Please, try to be patient with him.”

  “I’ll try,” Christopher said.

  “Oh, you are wonderful,” Carolyn cooed at him. They turned and followed Michael into the next room with Mark on their heels.

  Everyone left behind began to talk amongst themselves. Only a moment later, however, conversations stopped as the sound of an argument reached them.

  Michael’s deep baritone carried well from the next room over. “You really are nothing but an arrogant…”

  Christopher, whose high-pitched voice was raised to almost a squeal, interrupted him. “Don’t you dare call me names, you horrid little man. I’ll have you thrown out of here and redecorate this room myself.”

  “Oh, I’m scared now,” Michael said mockingly. “Throw me out of here? That’s the best threat you can come up with? I should have known better than to get involved in this stupid event anyway. Nearly everyone is a total amateur with no idea how to go about raising money. You can take your ‘Christmas at the Castle’ and shove it up your…’”

  “That’s enough,” Mark’s voice cut through the fight. “Mr. Hart, you’ve had your say on this room. Michael can choose to follow your advice or leave the room as it is. Let’s move on and let Michael get back to his office.”

  “You’d better fix this room,” Christopher said. “I won’t be associated with this event if this room isn’t redone.”

  Bessie could hear Carolyn saying something, but she couldn’t make out the words. As nearly everyone was inching closer to the doorway in order to hear better, Bessie deliberately took a step away. She wasn’t the type to snoop, at least not where other people could see her doing it.

  “I can’t be expected to work in these conditions,” Christopher wailed.

  “I’m surprised you get any work at all,” Michael snarled back. “I wouldn’t hire you to decorate my dog’s house.”

  Bessie winced when she heard the slap. Now she headed straight for the door. As a committee member, she felt she should be there as things were clearly getting out of hand. She arrived in the room just in time to see Michael’s fist connect with Christopher’s jaw.

  Christopher fell backwards, nearly knocking Carolyn over. She grabbed him almost instinctively, and then lowered him to the floor. He appeared to have been knocked out, so Bessie focussed her attention on Michael.

  “Are you okay?” she asked the man, who was flexing his hand and frowning. Bessie could see a bright red mark on his cheek.

  “He slapped me,” Michael said. “I’m afraid I just reacted.”

  “I hope you’re prepared for charges to be brought,” Carolyn said from where she was sitting on the floor next to Christopher. “I’m going to suggest that Christo sue you as well. I doubt you’re worth much, but we’ll make you pay as much as we can get.”

  “Mr. Hart hit him first,” Mark said steadily. “If anyone has to worry about charges and lawsuits, I’d suggest it’s Mr. Hart and not Michael.”

  Carolyn flushed and shook her head. “I’m sure my advocate won’t see it that way.”

  “I’m certain Mr. Hart won’t want to press charges,” Bessie said. “Think of all the negative publicity that would generate. He’s about to start filming a new television show, I believe. I’m sure he’ll be happy to just put the whole thing behind him.”

  “We’ll see,” Carolyn said. “In the meantime, I think he needs a doctor.”

  “I’ve rung 999,” Mary said from behind Bessie. “There’s an ambulance on its way.”

  “Maybe you should get back to Douglas,” Bessie suggested to Michael. “I know how busy you are.”

  “I should, but I don’t want the police showing up there to accuse me of leaving a crime scene or something,” he replied.

  “No one considers this a crime scene,” Mark told him. “You go. Mr. Hart is only here until Wednesday. We can talk about your room once he’s gone.”

  “Thanks,” Michael said. “I hope he’s okay,” he said, gesturing towards the man on the floor. “But I can’t say I’m sorry I hit him.”

  Bessie and Mary walked out of the castle with Michael, having suggested that they go and wait for the paramedics in the courtyard.

  “They’ll never find their way up here,” Bessie pointed out.

  Mark looked as if he didn’t really want to be left alone with Christopher and Carolyn, but he agreed that they should go.

  It was only a few minutes later that they were back with two paramedics. Christopher was just struggling to sit up.

  “What happened?” he asked Carolyn, rubbing his jaw gently.

  “That horrible man, Michael Beach, punched you,” she said. “I told him you were going to press charges.”

  “However, you did hit him first,” Mark said.

  “Let’s take a look at you, then,” one of the paramedics suggested. He knelt down next to Christopher and shined a light in his eyes. After a short exam and several questions, he shrugged.

  “Head injuries are tricky,” he said. “You lost consciousness for a while. It would probably be best if you went up to Noble’s for the night.”

  “I don’t need a hospital,” Christopher replied. He shook his head and then groaned. “Some headache tablets would be nice, though.”

  “I have some,” Carolyn told him. She dug around in her handbag and then handed Christopher a small bottle. “You keep it and take what you need,” she told him.

  “I still think hospital is the best place for him,” the paramedic said.

  “I’ll look after him,” Carolyn replied. “He’s staying at my home in Dougl
as tonight. If he isn’t feeling well, we can take him over to Noble’s at any time.”

  The man nodded and got to his feet. “I think my work here is done,” he said with a smile. “The castle looks wonderful, by the way. I’ll have to bring the kids to see it once it’s open.”

  Mary offered to walk the men back out, but Bessie stayed behind. She wanted to make sure that nothing further was said about pressing charges against Michael.

  “I think you should take the rest of the afternoon off,” Mark suggested to Christopher as he slowly got to his feet. “We can look at the rest of the castle tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow I shall be decorating my room,” Christopher reminded him. “We still have to work out what I shall be using for that.”

  “We’ve boxes and boxes of things that we ordered when we originally chose the theme for that space,” Mark told him. “I’m afraid there probably isn’t time to get anything else.”

  “I shall have to go shopping tonight, then,” Christopher replied. “I do wish I’d had more notice, but the show must go on.”

  He gave everyone what Bessie was certain he thought was a brave smile. It looked more like a self-satisfied grin to Bessie, but she forced herself to smile back.

  “Let’s talk to the woman who did that rainbow thing,” Christopher said now. “I’m sure she’ll be more reasonable to work with than that nasty man.”

  Mark found Agnes, and the group moved into the next room together. Within minutes, Christopher had Agnes in tears and Bessie ready to scream.

  “I don’t think this is working very well,” she said as Agnes rushed away. “Maybe we should just leave things the way they are.”

  “I’m paying darling Christo a lot of money,” Carolyn snapped. “He’s here to improve things, remember? We want this event to be a success, don’t we? Christo will make everything so much more wonderful if everyone would just listen to him.”

  “The volunteers who’ve decorated the rooms have worked very hard,” Bessie said levelly. “We don’t want to upset them any more than we want to upset Mr. Hart. Our job, as a committee, is to make everyone happy.”

  Christopher laughed harshly. “Impossible,” he said scornfully. “Surely you’re old enough to know better than to even try.”

  “I’m old enough to realise that life on a small island runs much more smoothly when people make an effort to work together,” Bessie told him. “You’ll be gone back to London on Wednesday, but we’re hoping to be working with these charity volunteers for years to come. This is meant to be the first annual ‘Christmas at the Castle,’ after all.”

  “Well, it’s my last ‘Christmas at the Castle,’” he replied. “By this time next year I’ll be a household name, and lending my talents to dreary small town festivities like this will be nothing but a distant, albeit painful, memory. But let’s move on, I don’t want to be here all night.”

  An hour later, the man had managed to insult and upset every single person in the castle. Bessie comforted Liz and Margaret after he’d shouted at them each in turn. She also talked a furious Harriet out of leaving the castle and never coming back. When he finally decided that he’d had enough and headed back to Douglas to do some shopping for the room he’d be decorating, Bessie felt as if the castle itself let out a sigh of relief. Certainly all of its occupants did.

  “I don’t understand why everyone isn’t embracing Christopher’s wonderful ideas,” Carolyn hissed to Bessie before she followed the man out of the building. “I do hope you can do something to persuade the rest of the committee to get behind him. You haven’t been very supportive of him thus far.”

  Bessie didn’t reply. She didn’t want to start an argument, not when the woman was actually leaving.

  “I’m going to take Christo home and then I’ll be back,” she told Bessie. “Mark wants the whole committee to meet just before five.”

  For the next hour, Bessie found herself going from room to room, working to undo the damage that Christopher had done. It was far too late to start looking for other groups to decorate rooms if anyone decided that they weren’t going to take part. By the time she and the other committee members met in the banquet room, it was nearly five o’clock and time to close the castle for the night.

  “People are being incredibly unreasonable,” Carolyn said as she slid into a seat.

  “People want to keep their rooms the way they decorated them,” Bessie replied. “That seems fair enough to me. I’m sure Mr. Hart’s ideas are very clever, but I’m not convinced that they’re right for our event.”

  “You’re as bad as the rest of them,” Carolyn dismissed her with a wave her hand. “Mary, you have exquisite taste. Surely you agree with me.”

  Mary smiled tentatively. “I think Mr. Hart had some very, um, inventive thoughts, but I quite like the rooms as they are, as well.”

  “What about you?” Carolyn turned to Natasha. “You’re a designer. You can see how amateurish the rooms look, can’t you?”

  “I think that’s what makes them so charming,” Natasha replied. “If I were in Christopher’s place, I’d make a few small changes here and there, just to try to unify the themes a bit more, but I certainly wouldn’t make the sweeping changes he’s suggested.”

  “Perhaps it’s time for me to resign from this committee,” Carolyn said angrily. “As my contribution to it doesn’t seem to be appreciated.”

  “We all appreciate everything you’ve done very much,” Mark told her. “Even if we don’t all agree with Mr. Hart’s ideas for the rooms, that doesn’t mean that we aren’t enormously grateful to you for paying for his assistance. We all need to find a way to work together to make this event worthwhile. Our committee wouldn’t be the same without you.”

  “Yes, well, I’ve no more time to debate things tonight. I’d better get back into Douglas and help Christo with his shopping. We’ll be here bright and early tomorrow morning to start working on his room.”

  Carolyn sailed out of the room, her head held high. When the sound of her heels on the stone floors finally faded, Bessie sighed with relief.

  “We aren’t going to let him turn his room into a gallery of murderers, are we?” Bessie asked the others.

  “No,” Marjorie said firmly. “And I made that very clear to Carolyn earlier. She wasn’t happy, but she did promise to work with Mr. Hart to find a workable theme.”

  “I thought the theme we had was wonderful,” Mark said, glancing at Bessie. “And we’ve all the decorations in place as well. I’m sure he could do something quite wonderful with what we have.”

  “But he won’t,” Natasha said. “He’s all about drama and conflict. I wish you all good luck. I’m ever so grateful I just have Thie yn Traie to worry about.”

  “At least he’s leaving on Wednesday,” Bessie said. “We’ll have a few days to change things around once he’s gone.”

  “I wonder why he’s rushing back so quickly,” Natasha said.

  “Apparently he’s going to be starting filming for a new television show,” Bessie told her.

  “Really? I’d heard rumours, but I didn’t realise it was actually happening,” the girl replied thoughtfully.

  “Design shows are quite popular at the moment,” Mary remarked. “Unfortunately, they give George somewhat unusual ideas.”

  “I hate to interrupt, but we’re getting ready to lock up. Will you be much longer?” Henry asked from the doorway.

  “No, I think we’ve done all we can for tonight,” Mark said in a tired voice. “I’d be grateful if you could all be here tomorrow at nine. Mr. Hart and Carolyn aren’t due until ten, so that gives us some time to plan a strategy to deal with the man.”

  Everyone made their way towards the nearest exit, with Henry following and locking doors behind them.

  “Oh, Bessie, can you meet me in the car park?” Mark asked as they reached the street. “I just have to check on the catering for Friday.”

  Mark lived in Ramsey, so he’d kindly offered to drive Bessie back a
nd forth to the castle when she needed to be there. As Bessie had never learned to drive, she was grateful. She’d always been very careful with her money and that meant she could indulge herself a bit now that she was older, but she’d have felt extravagant if she’d taken taxis every day that she’d needed to be in Castletown. When she’d agreed to join the committee, she hadn’t given that aspect of things any thought at all.

  Now she made her way across the road and into the small car park. A lone figure was sitting on the bench that overlooked the sea. As Bessie drew closer, she recognised Laura Meyers. It wasn’t until she was much nearer that she realised the woman was crying. While Bessie wondered whether she should tiptoe quietly away, Laura looked up.

  “Oh, Bessie, hello,” she said, blinking hard and trying to smile.

  “Are you okay, my dear?” Bessie asked.

  “I’m fine. I’m just a little upset, that’s all.”

  Bessie sat down on the bench beside her. She found a pack of tissues in her pocket and handed one to the other woman. Laura wiped her eyes and then blew her nose loudly. They both chuckled at the noise.

  “There, all better,” Laura announced. “I suppose I should find Henry.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Bessie asked.

  “He’s just such an unpleasant man,” Laura told her.

  “Henry?”

  “Oh, no, not Henry,” Laura exclaimed. “Henry is a dear, sweet thing. No, it’s that Mr. Hart who has upset me, although it isn’t really his fault.”

  “I’m happy to listen if you want to talk,” Bessie said.

  Laura shrugged. “It’s nothing, really. He just, well, he reminds me of someone, that’s all. His arrogance and his attitude and the way he spoke to me, they just all remind me of someone else. As I said, it isn’t really Mr. Hart’s fault at all.”

  “Can I do anything to help?” Bessie asked.

  “No, it’s fine,” Laura insisted. “I might ask Mark to let me work somewhere else for a few days, until he’s gone. I hope Mark won’t mind.”