1 Aunt Bessie Assumes Read Online Free Page A

“Daniel, Daniel
Pierce.   We got married on Saturday
and came to the island to spend our honeymoon with his family at Theen-tray;
that’s his family’s summer house here.”
    “I don’t suppose you could spell that?”
Rockwell asked.   The woman looked at
him blankly.  
    “T-H-I-E Y-N T-R-A-I-E,” Hugh Watterson
interjected.   “It means ‘Beach
House’ in Manx.   The Pierce family
bought the land and built the house about twenty-five years ago.   It’s just up that way, past the new
cottages.”   Hugh gestured up the
beach.
    Rockwell nodded his thanks to Hugh and
turned back to Vikky.   “So you came
to honeymoon in the family’s summer home?”
    “The whole family came.   We came for the whole week to celebrate
Daniel’s father’s sixtieth birthday.”
    Bessie nodded to herself.   She knew the family, but only
distantly.   They were summer
visitors, not full-time residents.   That explained why the man seemed familiar.   She must have seen him on the beach,
during the summer months, many times over the last twenty-five years.   
    “Seems strange to honeymoon with your
husband’s family,” Rockwell remarked in a mild tone.
    “Oh, we all get along wonderfully,” Vikky insisted.   “I was just so excited about being Danny’s wife that I would have agreed
to anything anyway.”
    As the rain tapered off again and the
skies brightened slightly, all around the quiet hum of the investigation
began.   Rockwell turned back towards
Bessie and looked surprised to see her there.
    “Oh, ah, I am sorry,” he told her.   “I should have sent you home ages ago.”
    “I thought you had more questions for me,”
Bessie answered, trying to cover for the fact that she had been listening intently
to his conversation with the widow.
    “And I’m sure I do,” Rockwell agreed.   “But right now I think I need to focus
on my investigation and you need to get out of the rain.”
    “I’m sure you’re right.”   Bessie grinned at him as she had an
idea.   “Why don’t I take Mrs. Pierce
back to my cottage so that we can both dry off?   When you’ve finished down here, you can
find us both there and we can answer your questions.”
    Rockwell only hesitated for a moment.   It was clear to Bessie that she and the
widow were both unnecessary distractions at the crime scene at the moment.  
    “That’s a great idea,” Rockwell told
Bessie.   “I’ll be along as quickly
as I can.”
    “Oh, no rush,” Bessie answered.   “Mrs. Pierce and I have a lot in
common.   I’m sure we’ll find plenty
to talk about.”
    Bessie put her arm around the younger woman
and led her, unprotesting, up the beach.  
    As they reached the door to Bessie’s
cottage, the new widow drew a deep breath.   “I should stay with Danny,” she whimpered to Bessie.
    “Leave everything to the experts,” Bessie
said in her most soothing voice.   “You won’t do anyone any good standing there getting soaked.”
    “I suppose not,” the woman said
softly.   “Oh, your house has a funny
name, too,” Vikky said as she spotted the plaque next to the front door.
    “Treoghe Bwaane,” Bessie pronounced the
Manx words for her guest.   “It
basically means ‘Widow’s Cottage,’” she explained.
    “Oh, are you a widow too?” the younger
woman asked as she plopped herself down in a chair at the kitchen table.
    Bessie shook her head.   “The cottage already had its name when I
bought it,” she explained.   “But it
seemed suitable because I bought it just after I lost my one true love.”
    “Really?” Vikky was intrigued.   “Did he dump you or die or what?”
    Bessie turned to look at her young
guest.   Could she really be that thoughtless
and insensitive?   She sighed to
herself.   It was her own fault for
inviting the unpleasant woman into her home, she supposed.   Sometimes she let her nosiness win out
over her sense.
    “He died,” she answered shortly, hoping
that the subject would end