Free Aunt Bessie Goes (An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Book 7) by Diana Xarissa Page B

your
father got Adam a job at the bank,” Bessie pointed out.
    “That always
puzzled me,” Sarah replied.   “I
applied for a dozen jobs there from the time I turned sixteen until I left home.   Dad never even considered me for a job
there.   Then, one day, he just up
and gave a job to Adam.”
    “What was Adam
doing at the bank?”
    “He was an
errand boy, really,” Sarah said.   “He used to deliver the post to the different offices, go out and collect
sandwiches at lunchtime and help with the filing, that sort of thing.”
    “But he didn’t
enjoy it?”
    “He hated
it.   Like I said, he was really
smart.   He was just bored and he
hated the fact that he had to answer to everyone else there, even though he
knew he was smarter than most of them.   He kept telling me he was going to leave one day, but I thought it was
just talk.”
    “You didn’t
think he was planning to move to Australia, then?”
    “No, I don’t
think he ever even mentioned Australia,” Sarah said.   “Why didn’t I hear alarm bells when mum
said that was where he’d gone?”
    “Do you
remember exactly what she said?” Bessie asked.
    “I went up to
see them on a Saturday morning.   I
was going to take Adam to lunch.   He’d been really upset the week before.   Apparently one of the big bosses from
the bank had been in the Laxey branch and he’d snapped at Adam to get him tea
or something.   I remember Adam saying
something about Grant Robertson not being anywhere near as smart as he thought
he was.”
    Bessie gasped
when she heard the name.   “Grant
Robertson?” she echoed.
    “Yeah, he was
already a junior vice president or something and Adam was always complaining about
how he threw his weight around when he visited the Laxey branch.”
    “I didn’t realise ,” Bessie said softly.  
    Grant had, of
course, continued to rise up through the ranks at the bank, eventually taking
early retirement as one of their most senior executives.   Bessie had only spoken to him a few
times, but she hadn’t been very impressed with him as a person.   He was close friends and business
partners with George Quayle, and Bessie was becoming increasingly friendly with
George’s wife, Mary.   Mary disliked
Grant, which did nothing to improve Bessie’s opinion of him.
    “Anyway, I was
going to take Adam to lunch, but when I got to the house, no one was home.   That was unusual, but not worryingly
so.   I just turned around and went
back to Castletown .   When I rang that evening, mum told me
that they’d been taking Adam to the airport, that he’d persuaded dad to pay for
a one-way ticket to Australia.”
    “And you had
no reason to doubt her,” Bessie said.
    Sarah shook
her head.   “I had every reason to
doubt her,” she said too loudly.   “I
just didn’t, and I don’t know why.”
    “You had no
reason to think she’d lie to you,” Bessie countered.
    “But Adam had
never mentioned Australia to me.   He
was forever talking about leaving the island, but he always talked about going
to London to live with Fred or going to America.   As far as I know, he never even thought
about Australia.”
    “But he might
have,” Mike interjected.   “The
skeleton could be someone else altogether and Adam might be living in
Australia, having a cold beer right now.”
    Sarah smiled
sadly.   “I wish I could believe
that,” she said, squeezing her husband’s hand.   “Dad would never have paid for his
flights, anyway,” she added.   “Dad
was a big believer in kids earning their own way and finding their own
opportunities.   That’s why I was
surprised he gave Adam a job in the first place, but he never would have funded
a move to another country.   I should
have challenged mum on that at the time, but I hated arguing with her.”
    “Was there
anything else that felt wrong to you?” Bessie asked.
    “He didn’t
ring to say goodbye,” Sarah replied.   “Mum said it was all last-minute and once dad agreed,