Holidays Can Be Murder

by

Chapter 1    The Death

Amanda sighed as she finished the autopsy she was working on. She wished she could think of a way to help Mark & Jesse. She felt depressed & miserable. She’d felt that way for seven days now, ever since the news had come through that Steve was dead, that he’d died in a road accident, thousands of miles from home, while on holiday. The irony of the situation was not lost on Amanda, that Steve, who’d lived with danger all his working life, & who’d dodged death more often than she could count should die in a road accident, on holiday was tragic. But at least all she felt was loss & grief, not regret & guilt like Mark & Jesse.

 Before he had left for his motorcycling holiday on the Isle of Man, three weeks, culminating in a week watching the TT races, he had begged both Jesse & his Dad to come with him, but they had both turned him down flat. “If you seriously think I am going to waste my time & money going to an island I’ve never heard of to watch motorbikes going round & round you must be even more crazy than I thought.” was the way Jesse put it & Mark’s sentiments were very similar. Now, they not only had the awful loss to contend with, but also their feelings of guilt.

  Mark had not been in to work since they had heard the news, he just sat around at the Beach House, doing very little except go through the motions of living, too consumed with grief & guilt to even eat properly & definitely not sleeping. Jesse, on the other hand, was working, working all hours God sends, no one could fault his work, but he worked like an automaton, never relaxing, never joking or even smiling, & to all who knew him, not Jesse.

Amanda knew she had to do something to help her two favourite men to overcome this feeling of guilt but the question was what. She was still trying to think of a solution to her problem when she dropped C.J. & Dion off at her mother’s that evening for a weekend stay. She decided to see if her mother had any ideas, after all she had helped both Dion & Amanda through some troublesome times & helped Amanda with C.J. when his father died.

Amanda’s mother did come up with an idea, an idea which gave Amanda a sleepless night as she looked at the pros & cons of the situation until, just before dawn, she decided on an action & at last got a couple of hours sleep before going in to work.

 That night, after she had finished work she went out to the Beach House to see Mark. “No arguments Mark” she said “We are going to The Isle Of Man to see the spot where Steve died & to collect his ashes to bring home. Without this closure you are never going to overcome your guilt feelings & be able to go forward. I’m not saying that this will take all the pain away  & make everything better, nothing can do that, but at least you will feel you have done all you can in the circumstances.” Mark just stared at her with eyes from which all the life seemed to have gone & then slowly nodded his head. “Now” said Amanda, “I’ve booked us on a flight in 3 days time & before that you need to keep your strength up, so there is a hot bowl of soup here & I’m not leaving without the empty bowl, SIT & EAT.” To her amazement Mark obeyed her without question, a fact that brought a tear to Amanda’s eye as she stood over him, watching him eat.

She had not actually known Mark when his wife Katherine was alive, but she knew that although at first, in the initial paroxysms of his grief, he had rented out the beach house, where the family had lived for many years & moved elsewhere, though still in Malibu, for 3 or 4 years, he had then had it converted into two semi self contained flats & after the work was completed they moved back in with Steve in the downstairs apartment. The latter had been having problems finding somewhere suitable to live since an earthquake had destroyed his apartment.

Now the memories & mementoes helped him to fully recover his joy in life & she wanted these kind of memories of what he had done & the life they had led there together before disaster struck, to be there for him with Steve. For him to be able to play it through in his head & get it into context, so he could move on. 

 Next she went to see Jesse, but with him she did not dictate what was to happen. Instead she appealed for his help. “Jesse “she said “I am taking Mark to the Isle of Man to help him start to recover from Steve’s death. I would like you to come with us & help me with him, but I’ll understand if you can’t help me”

Jesse knew he could not say no. He’d already betrayed one friend by refusing to go with him. Now here was a chance to redeem himself & help his other two best friends in the process. “Amanda I’d love to come & help you, ”he explained, “but I’m not sure that I’ll be able to have the time off.” “No worries there.” smiled Amanda, “It’s all taken care of. Two weeks leave & cover for all your shifts during this time, if you want it, courtesy of the board, Go home & get organised & packed. We leave the day after tomorrow.

  True to her word within three days they were off, first to New York, then on to Manchester &, finally in a small plane to Ronaldsay airport on The Isle Of Man. As it was evening when they arrived on The Isle Of Man Amanda had organised a taxi to take them to their hotel. She had arranged to pick up a hire car in the morning but felt that after nearly two days travelling, feeling weary & unsure it was not the time to start driving a strange car on strange roads & on the wrong side of the road.

 When they reached their hotel in Douglas, Mark was pleased to see it was on the sea front so although, unlike his house, it was separated from he beach by a road, his bedroom, at the front of the hotel, had the comforting sounds of the ocean, as he lay in bed.

Amanda had arranged for a light supper to be served in her room & the sight of Jesse picking at the food & hardly eating anything was enough to remind her what a lot of work needed to be done to help her ‘big boys’.

After supper they retired to bed where, to their astonishment, they all, exhausted by the journey & the change of air, managed to get some sleep.

 Next morning after breakfast in the hotel dining room Amanda went to collect the car & one other item she had arranged to collect, by using the internet back in Los Angeles. Meanwhile Mark & Jesse went for a stroll along the beach.

After collecting the car Amanda, picked up the two men & drove the short distance to the chapel of rest where Steve’s ashes were at present reposing. Here, they were met by a police inspector & a representative of the coroner’s office, the officials on the island had bent over backwards to help the American group, especially since the police had found that Steve had been one of their own.

After they had collected the casket the inspector arranged for one of his constables to show the group the exact spot where the accident took place. When they arrived at the spot the only indication was a mark on the road, where the fire had been so intense that it had damaged the road surface. “We were on the scene before the fire had burnt itself out,” explained the constable, “but we could do nothing till the fire brigade got here. The fire was too intense. At any other time of the year,” he went on, ”we may not have come across the accident nearly so quickly, but at TT time we send out extra patrols to cope with all the extra visitors & bikes. This time last week you would not have got a hotel room here for love nor money.  

With 40,000 extra visitors at this time, even though they had not all arrived by the time of the accident, it was fortunate for us

that the lieutenant had his documents with him, in a fireproof box on the bike he had hired, as it made identification so much easier. The others were more difficult to identify.”

“Yes,” thought Amanda, “I’ll bet normal means of formal identification were made just about impossible by the fire.” She knew, from experience, the problems of trying to identify badly burnt corpses. The only chance was often through dentistry  & even this was not always possible.

“We only managed to identify them,” explained the constable,  “when their hire car was due to be returned & the guest house where they were staying became worried by their continuing absence.”

 “Your son’s papers also explained to us,” he continued, “the presence of a gun in the wreckage.” Mark was surprised by this piece of information. While he knew that, at home, Steve very rarely went anywhere without his gun, he had not expected him to take it on holiday with him to a country where guns were not even worn on a regular basis by the police. He was also a little surprised that he had managed to get it through customs, when he landed at the airport. However he said nothing, just stored the thoughts in his brain for future reference.

While the constable had been talking everyone had climbed out of the car & Amanda went round to the trunk, opened it & took out three small wreaths made of laurel leaves & lilies. She handed one each to Mark & Jesse keeping the third for herself. Solemnly she walked across to the grass verge at the spot where the accident had taken place & laid it on the ground. Mark & Jesse then followed suite. They each bowed their heads in silent prayer & then Mark recited the first few lines of the 23rd psalm, with tears pouring down his face, but they were cathartic tears, tears of release & Amanda was pleased to see them. The short ceremony over, they returned to the car & drove back to Douglas.

When they returned they thanked the young police officer for his kindness & help & he returned to more normal duties, grateful that this particular job was over.

 Amanda then drove to the hotel where she left the car. They strolled along the front looking at the scenery, until they reached the church of St Thomas, where they spent some time in silent prayer, not speaking, but nevertheless feeling the close bonds of friendship helping them, as they prayed.

Emerging from the church, they set off to walk the rest of the way along the front to the northern end. When they arrived there they had a bite to eat & then returned to their hotel by horse drawn tram, tired but pleased with what they had accomplished.

 They went to their rooms & changed, then spent some time talking over the day’s events as they ate their evening meal.

After the meal Mark said he was going to his room as he felt he needed to rest. A statement that did not surprise Amanda at all, as she had slipped a little something in his drink, nothing too strong, just enough to relax him & allow his own exhaustion to take over & help him sleep. “I’ll come up with you Mark, ”she   said, “I’ve had a tiring day myself. How about you Jesse?” she continued, “What are you going to do?” Jesse wasn’t sure but one thing he knew it was no use his going up to bed as he was not ready for sleep nor, he felt, to be alone just at this time. So after a brief pause he replied, ” I think I’ll just go into the bar & see if I can find some locals to chat to. I want to find out as much as I can about the place, now I’m here. So the three friends went their separate ways.

Chapter Two   The Shock

 As he walked into the bar Jesse heard a voice say, “Here’s someone who may be able to help you Pete,” Looking up he saw a tall dark haired man with twinkling eyes standing at the bar chatting to the barman. “Oh no,” he thought, not someone expecting a medical opinion, not tonight.” But before he could continue with this line of thought the barman interrupted him.  “Dr Travers,” he said, “Meet Dr Jenkins. He’s a doctor at Peers Hospital here in town & he has a patient with amnesia.” “I’m afraid that’s not one of my fortes.” Jesse responded. “You’d do better talking to Mark.” Oh no,” the doctor laughed, “ That’s not my problem. With all his physical traumas I’m not surprised he’s got problems. No, my problem is, I think the fellows American or Canadian, but that’s a big area to search for a missing person. Now if he came from Britain, I pride myself, I could narrow the area down to about 30 square miles, which would mean only dealing with one police force, but I haven’t a clue about Americans. I was hoping you could meet him & see if you could help me narrow down the area where he is likely to live.” “ I could certainly try.” Jesse replied intrigued by the idea, “Great!” exclaimed the doctor, “could you meet me at the hospital tomorrow at eleven o’clock at the entrance to A & E?” “A & E” echoed Jesse, “I’m sorry I’m not sure “Sorry” interrupted the Englishman, “Um I think you call it the ER” “ oh right, thanks,” said Jesse. “I’ll see you there.” They continued to chat for about an hour, during which time Jesse found out more about the John Doe’s physical injuries, & how & where he had been found. He learned that Peers was the only hospital on the island with an A & E  & that it had been busier than usual the last few weeks because of the races. Then Dr. Jenkins went home & Jesse went up to bed glad to have something different to think about as he settled down to sleep.

Next morning Jesse went to Amanda’s room to explain where he was going. Mark & Amanda decided against going with him, as they had not been invited. Instead they were going to visit the museum in the town & do some shopping to get presents to take home for Amanda’s two boys, “But,” said Amanda, who was secretly intrigued by the idea of trying to work out where the John Doe came from, from his accent, “we’ll be back here for lunch about one & you can ring & give us a progress report then.” 

 They all went down to breakfast & then split up to go their separate ways. Jesse called a taxi to go to the hospital, leaving the car in case Mark or Amanda needed it. When he arrived at the entrance to A & E he was pleased to see Dr Jenkins waiting for him. “Excellent timing.” Smiled Dr Jenkins, “Come on, this way.”  He led the way down a corridor to a small side room, where he knocked & entered. What happened next astounded him. Not only did the John Doe jump to his feet with a strangled cry & fall back unconscious on the bed, but Jesse let out a loud shout of Steve  & fainted clean away.

Jesse was the first to recover, the fall having put him in the right position for the blood to come back to his head. Slowly he sat up shaking his head, & then remembering what had happened he quickly scrambled up the rest of the way & rushed to the bedside where he placed his hands on Steve as if doubting what his eyes were telling him. “I take it I’ve hit the jackpot, you actually know this man” said Dr Jenkins. “Not only do I know him” whispered Jesse, still in a state of shock, “but his ashes are sitting in our hotel room.” Now it was Dr Jenkins turn to do a double take. “I beg your pardon what did you say?” he queried.

“I don’t know what has happened or how.” Jesse continued “but this is the friend whose death I have been mourning for the past fortnight, & whose ashes we have come over here to collect.”

At this moment Steve began to show signs of coming round & all further conversation, if not thoughts, on the subject were shelved while they attended to the man on the bed. “Jesse is it really you? Where’s Dad? Where am I?” Steve exclaimed, as he grabbed Jesse’s arms. “Calm down Steve, take it easy” soothed Jesse. “Now take a deep breath & see what you can remember. You were on holiday & you got yourself injured. You’ve had a touch of amnesia but you seem to be better now. Can you tell us the last thing you can remember?” Steve’s brow furrowed as he tried to remember. “I was driving round the course, getting to know it,” he murmured at last, “I was looking for a good spot to watch from. Just as I came round a corner on the hilly country section I saw a car sideways across the road.” Suddenly Steve’s whole manner changed, his eyes became staring & his breathing ragged & rapid, but before either doctor could do anything he shouted, “Oh my God he’s got a gun. That was too close for comfort. He must be a pro. Think Steve think what can you do. Right throttle full open, aim at the car, ready-Jump & roll. Don’t hit that tree Sloan aaaah.” As he let out this final scream Steve flopped back on the bed exhausted and whispered “Sorry Jess I can’t remember any more ‘til I saw you standing there. “It’s ok buddy just relax & lie still. You’ve done very well.” As he said this Jesse gently stroked Steve’s hair back in a way he had so often seen Mark do. All the while his mind was racing, what to do next, how to tell Mark & Amanda, what about the authorities? It was so complicated. Obviously Pete Jenkins had been having similar thoughts & he spoke first. “Right Jesse,” he said, “first things first, we need to let your friends know what has happened, but not over the phone it would be too much of a shock. We must get them over here first. I’ll call them & say you have asked for them both to come over to help you.

 It will be better if I speak. They are not likely to bombard a stranger with questions & to be honest your voice sounds strange at the moment with the shock. I think they would know something was the matter if you spoke.” Much as he was longing to talk to them, Jesse could see the sense in this suggestion.

We’ll leave notifying the authority until your friends know the truth. Ok.” “Ok.” nodded Jesse. 

“Jesse is that you?” Amanda grabbed at the phone as it started to ring &spoke rapidly into it. “Dr Jenkins here,” came the voice from the phone, “Your friend Jesse says can you both come on over to the hospital, he needs your help. “Fine,” said Amanda, “we’ll be there A.S.A.P.” With that she replaced the phone on its hook, turned to face Mark & said “Come on, I’ll fill you in on the way, Jesse wants us at the hospital.”  As they drove along Amanda realised that there wasn’t much she could explain. She was puzzled why Jesse had not phoned her himself, but she had to satisfy herself with the thought that all would soon be explained. When they arrived at the hospital Dr Jenkins met them at the entrance, but instead of taking them to the patient & Jesse he took them into the relatives room. “Sit down please both of you,” he said, “Dr Travers will soon be here.” This statement was some relief to Mark, who had been worried when they were led into the relatives’ room that something had happened to Jesse. As Dr Jenkins handed them each a beaker of coffee, Jesse entered the room & went & crouched down at Mark’s side, a gesture which brought a tear to Amanda’s eye, as she thought how often she had seen him do that when he was bringing Mark news of Steve from the O.R. Jesse spoke quietly & hesitantly, “There’s no way I can do this without it being a shock,” he said, “Mark, Amanda, I don’t know how it happened but---,“ he paused for a moment, then went on in a rush, “the guy in there, the John Doe its Steve.” “WHAT!” Mark & Amanda both exclaimed & leapt to their feet. Mark was shaking like a leaf, & Jesse was worried about him, but there was nothing he could do now, except get this over as quickly as possible.

 “Come on,” he said, “This way,” & he led the way to Steve’s room. As they entered Steve’s eyes lit up & he sat up in bed, saying “Hi Dad” as he did so. Mark flew across the room & enveloped his son in such a tight bear hug that all the others were concerned for Steve’s health, fearing that Mark could cause Steve more injury, or aggravate the injuries he already had.      

Obviously Mark suddenly thought the same because he released his son but still kept both hands on his body, just gently caressing him, as his eyes feasted on a sight he thought he would never see again. “Dad,” whispered Steve, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to cause you upset, but I couldn’t remember who I was” “Don’t be silly son, none of this is your fault.” Mark smiled at his son as unshed tears moistened his eyes, eyes that had suddenly come back to life. Jesse then went on to explain to his friends what Steve had remembered after the shock of suddenly seeing Jesse had restored his memory.

This information worried everyone because it meant someone was out to get Steve &, in hospital, not yet fully recovered, he was very vulnerable.

  “Well,” said Mark, when they had reluctantly stepped out of Steve’s room for a moment to allow some treatment to take place, “one things for sure, we have to get in touch with the authorities here & let them know what has happened, but I’m not letting anyone back home know. I don’t want anyone coming after Steve ‘til he’s fully recovered.” “There’s one thing I don’t understand,” frowned Jesse “Surely the fact that this hitman hasn’t collected the second half of his fee must have alerted his employer to a problem.” “I can see two answers that might explain that,” Mark interjected, “One- he/she might assume that one of the other dead people is the killer, or, two, he might not be a pro.” “Steve thought he was, & he should know,” Jesse replied. “I agree, Jess, but think it all happened very quickly, & who else might be a crack shot?” After a moment’s thought Jesse replied, “A police marksman”  “Or even more likely,” interrupted Amanda, “a member of the military.”

 At this moment the doctor popped his head out of the door & beckoned them back in to Steve’s room, so the conversation was shelved for the moment. “I’m sure you want to stay with Steve as long as possible,” he said, “so I’ll go & notify the police & the coroner about what’s happened here.” “Many thanks Pete” beamed Jesse, “that’s really good of you.”

As the three settled down to sit with Steve, Dr Jenkins went to telephone the authorities, & explain the situation, puzzling as he went what to say. “Hello Duncan, Pete here,” he said, “’fraid I’ve got a bit of a problem for you. I’ve managed to identify my John Doe.” “Sorry, can’t see why that’s a problem for us,” said the coroner, in a perplexed voice. “You will when I tell you his name,” continued the doctor, “it’s Steven Michael Sloan.”  “So,” said Duncan & then the significance of the name hit him. “O my God, he shouted down the phone, “Do his friends know?” “Indeed they do,” said the doctor. “It was the sight of one of his friends which brought his memory back, “& we’ve got further complications,” he continued, & went on to repeat almost verbatim what Steve had said about the ‘accident’, which now turned out to be nothing of the kind. “Well we know from your efforts that no one is missing from a hotel, boarding house, rented apartment, or camp site,” he said, “so we’ll have to assume he was only here for the day. We’ll try checking the airlines & ferry company again but”------------, his voice trailed off.” At his end of the line Pete Jenkins gave a wry smile. He’d been there, done that, worn the t-shirt, & he knew the nigh on impossible task it was.

 The three stayed with Steve till the end of visiting & then left with promises to come again as soon as possible the next day. The police were also planning to visit the next day, having been advised, by Pete Jenkins, that Steve had sustained enough trauma for one day, He went on to say that he was more likely to be able to help them if they waited a while.

 Pete had realised that not being able to remember whom he was had affected Steve, but he had not realised how much. Every day his patient had lain there not attempting to get up, or help himself. Certainly he had done his physical therapy each day, but he had done no more than go through the motions.

 Next day, when the doctor arrived at the hospital, to his astonishment, Steve was up & dressed. Steve didn’t say that this achievement had taken him over an hour, due to his weakened state & lack of mobility but he had been determined to be dressed for his father.

 Not only had he achieved this, he was demanding exercises to help in his rehab. Something the physiotherapist was more than willing to comply with, only warning him about overdoing things too soon.

 So, for the next five days, things continued in this way with Mark, Amanda & Jesse visiting all day every day, & with visits on three occasions by the police, who talked, not just to Steve, but to all four, both individually & as a group.

 The doctor & therapist could not believe the speed with which Steve was recovering & regaining his strength. “At this rate,” said Pete Jenkins, “you’ll be ready to be discharged & go home in another week.” This thought delighted Steve, Jesse & Amanda, but Mark while delighted at his son’s progress, was concerned that they were no nearer discovering who had shot at Steve or why. Ok he would be ready to go home, but he wouldn’t be 100%  & he may need to be if someone tried again.

 When they got back to the hotel that night he expressed his fears to Amanda & Jesse. “Look Mark,” Jesse reasoned, “Neither we nor the police have come up with anything, I reckon this guy was acting for himself, & the problem died with him.” “You may be right Jess, but I’m not so sure, I think the answer lies back in LA.” Mark replied. “Much as I am loathe to leave Steve’s side, I am thinking of going back home to see what I can come up with, before Steve gets back.”

 Jess & Amanda were worried. They knew from experience how often Mark’s hunches turned out to be right; far too often to ignore the idea.

“Now,” Mark continued, “ here’s my plan, when we go in to see Steve tomorrow I need you, Amanda sweetie to tell him that your Mom needs you home to look after the boys. Then I shall tell him that, after all you’ve done for me while we thought he was dead, I feel that I must go back with you to keep you company. However, as Jess has been given two weeks leave by the hospital he’ll stay with Steve & come back with him, when the doctors say he is fit.

Chapter 3   The Case Solved

 Jesse was at first reluctant to stay behind & as he put it “Miss all the action.” However Amanda persuaded him that he was left behind as an extra guard for Steve until he was fully fit & that he had to be their eyes & ears & report to them every evening. This completely mollified Jesse, & before the evening was finished he had built up his part & was so busy boasting about what he would do if----, that Mark was seriously worried he would give the game away to Steve. Nevertheless, next morning, Jesse had calmed down & the trio proceeded to put their plan into action. 

 Steve was more than happy to concur with their plans, only being concerned for Amanda, & his Dad who, he felt, must be torn in two by his decision, a fact which was true about Mark, but not for the reasons which Steve imagined. Indeed he would have been happier with the scenario he had invented, than the truth, which, however you looked at it, meant he was choosing to fly home & leave his beloved son more than 6000 miles away.

 The next day Mark & Amanda went to the hospital early to say goodbye to Steve & Jesse, then set off to fly back to LA with stops in Manchester & New York, as on the outward journey.

 As soon as they arrived back in Los Angeles they went to Amanda’s mom’s & took their presents for the boys. When she heard what was happening Amanda’s Mom suggested that Amanda stay with her & the boys for a few days so she was free all day to help Mark, an offer which Amanda & Mark were delighted to accept.

 Next morning they both went down to the police station to ask the captain if they could look through the files to see if there were any people newly released from prison or any relatives of prisoners who had recently died in prison who might have ordered the hit on Steve. They explained that the Isle Of Man authority had now discovered that the accident was no accident & Mark was determined to find out who had ordered the hit.

 The captain was highly sceptical about the whole business, but Amanda persuaded him that it was helping Mark come to terms with the situation & he, himself, could see the tremendous difference in Mark since he had last seen him, so he put all the information at their disposal. However, after four days in spite of looking through all the information at least three times & following up the slightest hint of a lead they came up with nothing.

 Mark was completely baffled. “You know Mandy Sweetie,” he moaned, “I’m beginning to wonder if Jesse was right & the guy was just a loaner. He may not have even been targeting Steve specifically.” Well we’ve certainly checked all we can,” agreed Amanda. “I’m sure, if there were anything to find, we’d have found it.”

 At this point Mark asked to speak to the Captain & Cheryl, Steve’s partner, in private. He explained the situation, how they had found that Steve was alive & why he had kept it a secret until now. As can be imagined they were delighted at the news.

“Now,” proclaimed Mark, “I am going to prepare a ‘Welcome Home Party’ ostensibly for Jesse, but of course actually for Steve & Jess.” “When are they due back?” queried Cheryl, “All being well in three days time,” replied Mark. “Well if you ‘d like me to &, if you give me their ETA, I’ll meet the plane & take Steve’s gun to him & make sure I’m carrying too, just in case we’ve missed something,” offered Cheryl, an offer which was gladly accepted by Mark  & Amanda, who both expressed their extreme gratitude for this suggestion.

 Meanwhile, back on The Isle of Man, Steve had made such good progress that he was able to leave the hospital only two days after Mark & Amanda’s departure. He & Jess then spent the rest of their time on the island visiting places of interest & exploring the countryside.

 Amongst many other things, they drove all round the island, stopping of to watch the seals in the sea around the Calf of Man, visited Tynwald Hill where the parliament started, the enormous Laxey Waterwheel, Peel Castle & The Lifeboat House at Douglas, where they found out about The Tower of Refuge & how the RNLI was founded, & even visited the Fairy Bridge

To ‘talk to the fairies.’

They also spent some time with the police trying to help puzzle out what could have happened, & why, when Steve was shot at, but to no avail. Once they found out that the third body was not the motorcyclist, but that another man must have been in the back of the car the police had made further inquiries & discovered that the couple who had died in the car had been seen to stop & pick up a hitchhiker on the day of the incident & it was realised that this man must have been the shooter, but it got them no nearer to finding out who the third person was. He had obviously kidnapped the unfortunate couple & was intending to kill them as well, so that no links to himself would be left after he killed Steve.

Indeed they came to the conclusion that it was fairly likely that they were already unconscious if not dead, before the shooting started & Steve had used his bike as a weapon with such deadly effect, a conclusion which comforted Steve a little as he hated the thought of killing innocent bystanders, even if he had not intended the bike to actually cause the car to explode when it struck it, after he had thrown himself off. When they left the Island to fly home they felt they had got no further with the mystery of the second man’s identity. “Don’t worry,” said the inspector, with whom they were working, “if anything comes up we’ll phone or fax you at the police station back in LA. Have a good flight” “Thanks,” replied Steve “for that & all your other help, we’ll keep in touch, ok.”

As they were flying home & Mark & Amanda were preparing the welcome home party a report came into the police station at Peel about a missing person. The police did not feel it could have anything to do with Steve, after all it was not a visitor who was missing, but a resident of the island an ex soldier called Brian Flyn, reported missing by his wife, but as they had promised to keep them informed they faxed the details to the precinct.

 “Hey you lot,” yelled the sergeant who had collected the fax, “Anyone know anything about a Brian Flyn? What about you Bill, they don’t call you the memory man for nothing? “Gee come on,” answered Bill, “at least give me a clue in what connection.” “Steve Sloan,” came the reply. Bill frowned & thought for a few seconds then shook his head. Just as everyone turned back to what they had been doing Bill suddenly said, “Not Steve, but Dr Sloan!” “What do you mean?” said the Captain who had come in to find out about the fax. “About four months ago,” said Bill, “Dr Sloan had a patient who died of meningitis, a young girl called Lucy Flyn. Her uncle, Brian Flyn, flew in for the funeral & he & his brother Jim threatened Dr Sloan.

 Steve wanted him to do something about it but he wouldn’t press charges because he said that it was their grief at Lucy’s death that caused them to make such threats & they would feel differently when they had time to see that Lucy’s death was just a tragic accident.”

 “So,” reasoned the captain, “when Steve turned up in The Isle of Man, was it a spur of the moment thing to kill him or was it more planned?” “But why Steve, he had nothing to do with the girl’s death,” queried Bill. “Possibly as a reciprocal act,” replied one of the others. “You know, an eye for an eye, a child for a child.” “O God & the father would have been revelling in Mark’s misery, his loss, but now he’s back & cheerful again, Mr Flyn won’t know that Steve is still alive, what’s the betting he goes after Mark?” shouted the Captain, & at present he’ll be alone at the house. “Quick Pete, let me phone the Beach House & warn Mark what we have found out.” As he spoke the Captain was grabbing the phone & dialling the Beach House number. Then he stood, getting more & more frustrated, as he listened to the phone ringing out at the other end. In the end he gave up &, pushing a further button on the phone, he demanded to be patched through to dispatch & sent the two nearest cars to the Beach House to find out what was happening.

 Meanwhile Mark & Amanda had spent a busy morning cleaning, cooking & decorating & generally getting the house ready for the party. When they had done all they could Amanda went off home to shower & change, & collect her mother & the boys to come back as guests.

 After she had gone Mark decided to go down & make sure that Steve’s apartment was ready for him. He knew that after the journey & the excitement of the party Steve would be exhausted & want to just fall in to bed. While he was checking the bathroom he thought he heard the phone ring in his part of the house, but by the time he had finished putting out fresh towels & made his way back up the stairs the phone had stopped. “O well” thought Mark “if it was important I’m sure they will ring again. He padded into his shower & proceeded to change for the party.

As he stepped out of his bedroom, he noticed that the door to the steps at the beach side of the house was open. “Hello,” he called out, “is anyone there?” Only silence answered him, then, out of the corner of his eye, Mark saw a man standing in the hallway. “Who are you?  What do you want? he demanded. “O Dr Sloan you have let me down, whimpered the strange man looking directly into Mark’s eyes. How can you go on with your life with your child dead. You should want to die, not throw a party. Now I’m going to have to kill you. So saying Jim Flyn pulled a knife out of his coat & lunged at Mark, attempting to stab him. Instinctively Mark flung his arm up as Jim lunged at him & the knife sliced into his forearm causing blood to flow copiously.

 Mark was alarmed, the man was obviously mentally unhinged, & probably not in a state where he would listen to reason, & he was already starting to feel unwell from the shock & loss of blood, but he had to think quickly. He made a dive for the bathroom, jumped inside & locked the door. This had bought him a little time, but he knew that the bolt on the door would not delay a determined, fit person for very long. He staggered to the window to open it & as he did so he heard the most welcome sound in the world the wailing of a police car siren, now he thought if only I can attract their attention. But to his amazement he didn’t have to do anything, the police car stopped outside & two uniformed police officers entered, one from the front, breaking open the door, & one from the rear, through the open door to the beach. They quickly overcame Jim Flyn, took the bloody knife from him & handcuffed him. The site of the blood set alarm bells ringing & they were very concerned for Mark’s safety. “Dr Sloan where are you, can you hear us?” one called out. Mustering his strength, Mark staggered to the bathroom door, unlocked it & opened it. At the sight of his white face, one of the officers leapt to his side & supported him to a chair. “I’ll call 911,” he said. “No.” Mark quickly stopped him, “I’m not going to hospital,” he continued, “call Dr Bentley & tell her I need her to bring equipment to stitch up an arm. Reluctantly the police did as they were requested, but also put in a call to he chief, reluctant to take the responsibility on their own.

As a result of this, when Steve, Jesse & Cheryl arrived from the airport they discovered a, to them, horrifying sight outside the Beach House. There were three police cars present, in one of which sat a handcuffed prisoner, there was an ambulance, because the chief had called them from the precinct, not wanting to risk Mark’s health, & there was Amanda’s car with CJ, Dion & Amanda’s Mom peering through the windows. All three leapt from Cheryl’s car & raced inside. There they saw Mark with his arm in a sling sitting on the sofa, while the chief & Amanda were talking quietly in one corner, the paramedics were packing up to go, & the police were standing around waiting for instructions from the chief. With a cry of Dad, Steve leapt across the floor to his father’s side. “Nothing to worry about Steve, just a scratch with a knife,” Mark reassured him. “Don’t worry Steve it really is not too serious” Amanda cut in. “I’ve stitched it up & we’ve forced him to have some replacement fluids, now, apart from the shock, he should be fine. Steve turned to his father & said, with mock severity, “Dad I know they said that you were preparing a little surprise for my home coming, but don’t you think this is a little over the top, even for you?” At this everyone dissolved in laughter & Amanda went to the door to call in her family to join the happy party.

   Jim Flyn was later declared unfit for trial & locked away in a safe medical facility, while the specialists tried to help him with his problems. Mark & Steve had a couple of weeks off & life went back to normal.

And a whole year later an excited crowd, including two young boys stood on a roadside in the Isle of Man, watching as motorbike after motorbike roared by. “I wouldn’t have missed this for the world,” Mark enthused. “Thank God we are all here to do this Steve.” As Steve smiled & nodded his agreement, this sentiment was echoed by the whole group.  

The End