Benjamin let out a cry of pain. He clutched his stomach and bent over. The woman placed her hand on his back. “Benjamin, it’s getting worse. The doctor is on his way.”
“No!” Benjamin roared. “Leave me alone! I need to look at my books. Get away from me, woman!”
Benjamin pushed the woman away and marched down the hall. At the bottom he turned right and disappeared.
“That’s the old library,” Charlie pointed out.
“Follow him!” Grace said. She ran down the hall and around the woman who was now sobbing. Grace didn’t think it was good manners to walk through her.
Charlie was already in the library. He was standing very still. Grace caught up with him, she noticed the strange look on his face.
She said, “What’s wrong? Where did Benjamin go?”
Charlie just raised his hand and indicated towards the other side of the library.
Grace looked over. Her breath caught in her throat. They weren’t in the past anymore, they seemed to be in modern times going by the laptop that was on a desk.
Grace took a step forward, she noticed something, or rather, someone. She looked down at a man lying on the floor. He was pale. Grace had seen a few dead bodies before and she was sure this person was dead too.
Charlie crouched down at the side of the figure. In a quiet voice he said, “It’s me.”
Chapter 9
Grace crouched down next to Charlie. The room began to fade. A few seconds later they were back in the shop.
The both stood up. Charlie said, “That was beyond weird. I never thought I’d see myself like that.”
“It must be a shock for you. Can you remember anything at all about how you died?”
He gave a small shake of his head. “I thought we were going to see something in the vision. What was that old man in the vision for? What’s he got to do with me?”
Grace said, “I think the pocket watch belonged to him before you ... found it. He seemed to be exhibiting the same symptoms as you. Perhaps he died in the same way.”
“Do you still think it could be poison?”
“It’s possible. Did you start to feel unwell after you moved into Heathville or before?”
Charlie shoved his hands in his trouser pockets and stared at the ground for a while. “I started to feel peculiar a few weeks after moving in. I seem to remember having an upset stomach, I thought it was food poisoning. But then the headaches started. And sometimes I’d start a conversation with someone and forget what I was saying. I put it down to stress.”
Grace made a mental note of his symptoms, she’d have to Google them later. She needed to raise a delicate matter. “When we saw your body I couldn’t see any evidence of physical trauma, could you?”
Charlie gave her a wry grin. “Like being stabbed in the back? Or bashed in the head with a blunt instrument? No, I didn’t see that. It looked like I’d fallen asleep. I wonder if that’s what happened?”
Grace could feel more questions forming but she wanted to check on Frankie, see if he had woken up. She told Charlie she wouldn’t be long. He gave her an impatient look. Grace gave him a look back as if to say he was lucky she was helping him at all.
Frankie was still asleep when Grace checked on him. Pearl was sitting at the foot of his bed, a motherly smile on her face.
Grace hated to intrude but she needed to talk to Pearl. Pearl felt her presence, she looked up and put her finger to her lips. She walked away from Frankie’s bed and told Grace to move out on to the landing.
“How did you get on? What happened? Did you see him meet a grisly end?”
Grace replied, “I’ll tell you in a minute. How’s Frankie? And how are you?”
Pearl waved a hand at her. “We’re both fine, I sorted him out.”
“Did you do that thing to Frankie that you did with Charlie?”
“I’m not following.”
“Where you sort of absorbed the pain from Charlie?” Grace said.
Pearl looked back at the sleeping Frankie. She turned to Grace and said, “Yes, I did. I think he’ll be all right now but I’ll keep an eye on him through the night.”
“But it hurts you, that absorbing thing, I don’t like seeing you in pain.”
“I can handle it, it doesn’t last long. And it’s better than the alternative.”
“What’s that?” Grace asked.
“For you to feel the pain. That’s what I was trying to tell you earlier. When you help these ghosts you can take on their pains and illnesses, sometimes their feelings. You have to know how to protect yourself. It took me a while to learn that when I was alive. If I had a penny for the times that I almost died ...”
Grace stared at Pearl. How could she be so light hearted about this? “How do I protect myself? You’re starting to worry me, Pearl.”
Pearl gave her a smile. “It’s not as hard as you think. The first thing you can do is distance yourself from the ghost. The second thing sounds weird but it works. You have to pretend that there’s a great big bubble around yourself, like it’s protecting you.”
Grace frowned with concern. “I don’t think I can do that. I don’t think I’m cut out for this job.”
Pearl moved closer and gave her a grin. “Just imagine yourself inside a great big condom! You have seen a condom, haven’t you?”
“Well, yes, I ...” Grace spluttered. Her cheeks felt warm. If she ever had to imagine herself inside a bubble it certainly wouldn’t be inside a condom.
Pearl laughed at her discomfort. “Don’t worry about this absorbing pain thing, I think I’ve got you covered for this particular ghost. Now, tell me everything.”
Grace told Pearl all that she had learnt.
Pearl folded her arms. “There’s a lot more we need to know.”
“I know. I’m going to do an Internet search.”
“Off you go then, I’ll stay here with Frankie. Don’t work too late, Grace, you’re getting that haggard look again. It doesn’t suit you.”
Grace wasn’t sure if that was an insult or genuine concern. She said bye to Pearl and went back to the shop.
She took the business card that Amy Ford had given her and sat down at her laptop in the kitchen. Charlie sat at her side expectantly.
“Right, we’ll find out more about you,” Grace said. She typed in the website address that was on the card.
Ten seconds later she slammed the laptop lid down. She could feel her body tensing as she looked at Charlie.
He moved back a few inches. “What is it? You look furious.”
In a barely controlled voice Grace hissed, “I’m not helping you, Charlie Ford! I didn’t realise you were one of them!”
Chapter 10
“One of what?” Charlie asked.
Grace’s hands curled into fists, she tried hard to control her rising rage. “You’re a loan shark. I hate loan sharks.”
Charlie let out a bark of laughter. “I’m not a loan shark! What are you talking about?”
Grace opened up the laptop and pointed to the screen. “Your site, you give loans to people.”
Charlie moved closer. “Yeah, for businesses, at a good rate too. I’m no loan shark.”
Grace took a deep breath and calmed herself down. “Your website says otherwise. Look.”
Charlie peered at the screen. He frowned as he read the details on the site. His eyebrows shot up as he got to the bottom of the page. “Look at that interest rate! I never agreed to that! I’d never agree to that, it’s daylight robbery. This isn’t the site that I remember, some parts are the same but this section about personal loans is new. I never authorised that, someone’s put it on after my death.”
Grace considered his comments. He seemed like he was telling the truth . She said, “Who had authority to change the site? Who has taken over your business?”
“Everything was left to Amy. She took an interest in the business but she never got involved, she always said it was too complicated for her. I wonder if she’s got a third pa
rty involved. She could have even sold the business to someone else if she didn’t want to deal with it.”
Grace looked at him. “Are you sure you’re not a loan shark?”
“I swear. Why do you hate them so much?”
Grace looked back at the screen. “I don’t want to go into details but my dad got into debt through a loan shark, it led to his, and my mum’s deaths. Let’s see what we can find out about Benjamin Heath.”
Grace’s search brought up a drawing of the man they had just seen along with pictures and photographs of Heathville.
Grace said, “There’s not much information about his death, it just says that he died suddenly at home. These drawings of when the house was first built are lovely.”
Charlie nodded. “It’s a beautiful house, I’ve admired it for years. I couldn’t believe my luck when it came up for sale.”
“For sale? I thought you or your wife were part of the Heath family. I’d heard that Heathville had belonged to the same generation since it was built.”
Charlie shook his head. “It came up for sale last year. The owner at the time was an elderly lady called Emily Heath. She does have a son but I got the feeling that she had to sell the house. These big houses cost a lot to run, there wasn’t a lot of furniture there when I first went to see it. I presumed that Emily had been selling it off to bring some money in.”
“That’s quite sad. She must have been devastated to leave.”
“She was but strangely relieved too. When I agreed to buy it it was like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She must have noticed my concern because she laughed and said she’d be glad to leave the bad memories behind. She wouldn’t elaborate though, probably didn’t want me to change my mind. And before you ask, I did give her a good price for the house.”
“I wasn’t going to ask,” Grace lied. “I wonder what the bad memories are of.”
Charlie folded his arms, Grace could see his mouth curling upwards. In a mock serious voice he said, “Perhaps the house is haunted.”
“This isn’t a joking matter. We know it’s haunted. Not just by Benjamin Heath but by you too! I hope there aren’t any more ghosts in that house. I hope your wife doesn’t come across any.”
“I don’t think it would bother her, she loves the house. She’s been wanting to live there since she was a little girl, she told me she often used to walk past it and daydream about living inside.”
Grace nodded at that information and stored it away. She definitely had questions for Amy Ford.
Grace made a final check on Frankie and Pearl before leaving the shop. Frankie was still sleeping and Pearl was still watching over him.
Grace decided to put the pocket watch in the shop safe. When she’d helped ghosts before she’d taken the item that they were attached to home with her. The ghost would then have chance to talk with her at home, this had proved useful more than once. But Grace didn’t want Charlie in her home, there was something about him that she didn’t like. She wasn’t entirely convinced that he had nothing to do with high interest loans.
She didn’t explain herself to Charlie, just bade him goodnight and left the shop.
Chapter 11
Grace returned to the shop at 8.30 a.m. the next morning. Frankie was already up and about. Grace noted that he looked a much healthier colour.
He grinned at her as she walked in. “I was out for the count yesterday! I haven’t slept like that since I went on Len’s stag night to Ibiza. I bet you thought I was dead!”
Grace forced a smile. “Are you feeling better? Have you got a headache? Stomach ache? Feeling dizzy?”
Frankie rubbed his stomach. “I had a bit of a dodgy tummy this morning, I’d give the toilet a good twenty minutes to clear. Other than that I feel great.”
“Good,” Grace said. “You don’t mind if I go out today? A woman came in yesterday asking about Georgian antiques and furnishings. She wants me to go round to her house. It’s Heathville, you know that fancy big house on the hill?”
Frankie gave a whistle. “Everyone knows about that house. Wipe your feet when you go in.” He looked at the rack of clothes at the back of the shop: Charlie’s clothes. “Did I give you a reason as to why I bought these? I can’t think now why I did. I’m sure there were other things that I wanted to bid on yesterday but for some reason I was drawn to these.”
Grace shook her head. “You didn’t say anything when you came in.”
A look of horror washed over Frankie’s face. “Oh, Grace, I’ve just remembered. I shouted at you, didn’t I? Acted like a right pig. I’m so sorry.”
Grace waved her hand. “Don’t worry about it.”
“I must have picked up a bug or something yesterday, I wasn’t myself at all.”
“No, I don’t think you were. Doesn’t matter, we all have off days.”
Frankie’s face wrinkled up, his hand rubbed his stomach. “Speaking of off days, I think I need the toilet again.”
He dashed towards the kitchen area, the toilet was located in a room at the far corner.
“Charlie Ford, show yourself!” Grace hissed quietly.
Charlie appeared. “Is that any way to say hello?”
Grace glared at him. “You’re still having an affect on Frankie, stop it! And where’s Pearl?”
“That nosy old bat? Haven’t seen her since yesterday. I can’t help having an affect on your brother, I can’t control it. I’m not feeling any pain today.”
Grace was just about to say, ‘Good for you,’ but she kept the words in. Charlie Ford was having a bad affect on her temper. She wanted this matter of his murder cleared up as soon as possible.
Frankie came back into the shop waving his hand in front of his face. “Made it just in time. We need some more air freshener. You can go out now if you want, I’ll be all right.”
“I can stay a while.” Grace had no intention of leaving him in this state.
She stayed for another hour in the shop. She helped Frankie price up the suits. She ignored Charlie’s comments of how they were pricing the items too cheaply.
At 9.30 Grace collected her coat and handbag. When Frankie wasn’t looking she took the pocket watch out of the safe and placed it into her handbag.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” she asked Frankie as she prepared to leave.
He grinned and said, “I think I’m all empty now, there can’t be anything left inside.”
“Ring me if you don’t feel well,” Grace said. She didn’t feel happy about leaving him.
Frankie walked over to the shop door and opened it for her. “Get out Grace, you’re getting on my nerves with all your fussing. I’ll be fine. See you later.”
He gently but firmly took her arm and pushed her through the door.
Well, he was certainly back to his normal self, Grace thought as she buttoned her coat. Heathville was only a ten minute walk away, she turned in that direction.
Charlie appeared at her side. He nodded towards their shop. “Could do with a bigger window display and a new sign. You really need to attract more customers.”
Grace took a tissue from her pocket and pretended to blow her nose, covering her mouth up in the process. She mumbled, “I can’t talk to you in public.”
She put the tissue away and strode onwards. Charlie said he didn’t care that she couldn’t speak to him, he had plenty to talk about. He had an opinion on everything: all the businesses that they passed, the clothes that people were wearing, even the route that Grace was taking.
“There’s a short cut you know,” he complained.
Grace stopped walking a few minutes later. There was no one around. She said, “We’re here now.”
Charlie looked up at Heathville. A horrified gasp escaped from him, his body started to shimmer.
Grace looked at him in concern. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
He raised a shaking finger. “The scaffolding! Look at what they’ve done to my beautiful house.”
Grace looked at where t
he scaffolding was. There were workmen perched halfway up it. They were aiming some sort of machine at the wall.
“They’re cleaning the house, aren’t they? Restoring it to its original colour, it looks good.”
Charlie’s hands were pulling at his hair. “No! This wasn’t supposed to happen. The bricks had darkened because of the soot from the mills. The stones had to stay black, it was part of the history of the house. Amy knew I loved the house like that. Why would she do this? I don’t understand.”
Grace looked at the part of the house that hadn’t been cleaned. It was black with soot and smoke from when the nearby mills were in operation. She felt a sudden pang of sadness, she could understand Charlie’s despair. Although the newly cleaned bricks looked beautiful the smoke blackened ones looked more attractive, in a funny sort of way.
“Why would Amy do it?” Charlie repeated.
Grace shook her head. That was another question for Amy. From all that she’d gathered so far it sounded like Amy had been making many changes since Charlie died.
Grace shivered. Was it possible that the small mouse like woman could have killed her husband?
Grace opened the iron gate and walked resolutely up the stone path. She rapped on the front door. She wasn’t sure how she was going to ask Amy questions about herself and the house but she knew she had to try.
Chapter 12
Amy was flustered as she opened the door. “Oh! Thank you for coming! The house is a mess. Do come in, watch the floor, it’s covered in dust sheets but they’re a bit slippery underfoot. I never caught your name yesterday.”
Grace walked through the front door. She told Amy her name. Then she stopped and looked around her. The sense of déjà vu was overwhelming, Grace’s legs weakened. Charlie muttered at her side, “This is so weird, I half expect that old man to come marching through you. Amy’s really got on with the work in here, I didn’t know she was so organised.”
A Different Shade Of Death: A Cozy Mystery Ghost Story (Storage Ghost Murders Book 2) Page 3
