Archie laughed. “That could come in useful. If someone confronts you in a dangerous situation you could always launch yourself at them, it takes them by surprise. Then you could get out your lethal elbows!”
Grace nodded. “I’ll have to remember that.” She picked up her tea. “Ugh! It’s cold. How long have we been sitting her. Oh! Look at the time! We have to go.”
She grabbed her coat, handbag and keys and raced out of the front door, followed by Archie. Grace had the hammer necklace safely tucked inside her handbag. She cursed Frankie as she saw the red light of the petrol gauge flashing the minute she turned the key. After a quick visit to the petrol station Grace headed towards The Sycamore Tree.
She noticed Archie’s furrowed brow and asked him what was wrong.
“I could have sworn I just saw Jessie’s work van at the petrol station. It’s a smaller version of Gordon’s. I thought I saw Rob driving it.” He shook his head. “I must be seeing things.”
Grace asked Archie questions about his life as they drove along. He had a casual way of talking about himself that made it easy to listen to him. Grace had a fleeting thought about driving past the hotel and into the country. She could listen to Archie for hours.
Too soon, they arrived at the hotel. Archie lifted his chin and said, “Grace. Are you ready?”
Grace said, “I’m fine, it’s you I’m concerned about.”
Archie looked at her. “I want this sorting out. If Gordon did kill me I want him to be put away. I can’t forget the pain on Jessie’s face when he told her about my death. How could a father put his daughter through such pain intentionally?”
They made their way to the reception area of the hotel. Grace’s heart sank when she saw that Ms Berry was at the desk. Didn’t she ever have a day off?
Grace smiled politely. She saw the flicker of recognition in Ms Berry’s eyes, along with a look of disappointment.
Ms Berry spoke, “Ah, you’ve come back.” She gave an exaggerated look over Grace’s shoulder. “Still on your own? No fiancé?”
Grace wished for a second that Archie was real. Then she could link her arm through his and give Ms Berry a satisfied in-your-face look. Grace kept her smile in place. “I have an appointment at ten o’clock to see the honeymoon suite. You booked it.”
Ms Berry sighed as if disappointed with herself. She looked down at a book and wrote something. Grace shot a sideways look at Archie. His grin cheered her up immediately.
Ms Berry made to move away from the desk. She said briskly, “Follow me.”
Grace pressed her lips together. Bother! She wanted to go on her own. She could hardly talk to Archie in front of Ms Berry.
As if in answer to her thoughts the desk-phone rang. Ms Berry held a finger up to Grace as if ordering her to keep still. Grace had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at the woman’s rudeness.
Ms Berry answered the phone in a curt manner. Her facial expression turned from condescending to anger. It wasn’t a pretty sight. Ms Berry ended the call and crashed the handset back in to the receiver. She looked at Grace. “I can’t take you to the room, I have to be somewhere else. Can you come back another time?”
“No,” Grace lied. “I can go on my own.”
“We don’t allow that.” Ms Berry looked through Archie at something behind him, raised her hand and loudly clicked her fingers. “Beth! Here! Now!”
The maid that Grace had seen previously in the honeymoon suite scuttled over to them, her face white.
Ms Berry tutted. “Don’t look so worried, I’m not reporting you for anything today, yet. Show this woman to the honeymoon suite. She’s supposedly thinking of booking it at some point. Don’t just stand there!”
Beth actually curtseyed and then ran over to Grace. Without looking at her, Beth muttered, “This way, please.”
Grace felt the icy glare of Ms Berry’s on her back as she, Archie and Beth walked towards the lifts.
Grace remembered that Beth was the chattier of the two maids that she’d seen the other day, the one more liable to gossip.
Would Grace be able to get some information out of Beth?
Grace soon got more than she bargained for.
Chapter 20
Grace and Beth entered the lift silently, Archie at their side. As the lift began to move Grace decided to break the ice.
“Wow! I hope you don’t mind me saying anything about your boss, but that was an awful way to talk to you!”
Beth nodded and said, “Tell me about it, she talks to everyone as if they’re a piece of dirt. I’m sorry she spoke to you like that, it’s not professional.”
Grace waved a hand down over her clothes. “Might be because I’m not wearing designer clothes.”
Beth gave her a small smile. “Doesn’t matter what you’re wearing. Are you getting married soon? Are you sure you want to get married here?” Beth’s hand shot up and covered her mouth. She moved it down an inch. “Sorry, I shouldn’t be saying stuff like that. It’s a nice place, but overpriced, in my opinion.”
The lift doors opened and Beth indicated for Grace to step out. Grace did so and automatically turned the right way towards the honeymoon suite. Beth didn’t notice. They walked down the carpeted hallway until they reached the honeymoon suite door. Beth took out a key that was attached to a metal chain, the other end of the chain was attached to Beth’s waistband.
“Master-key,” Beth explained. “I’ve already lost two. I swear that Old Raspberry, sorry, Ms Berry, would sew it to my hand if she could. Hang on, this key always gets stuck. I don’t know why we still have keys, all the other hotels have those plastic card things that you shove in a slot.”
Beth jiggled the key in the lock. Grace was almost tempted to tell her to twist the lock twice to the left to open it.
Grace looked at Archie. His hands were clasped behind his back, a smile on his face. Grace could see the effort it was causing him to keep it there.
The door opened and they entered. Beth folded her arms and sniffed. “You wouldn’t believe the amount they charge for this room.” She stopped, her eyes widened in horror. “Sorry! Of course, if you’ve got your heart set on this hotel then I’m sure you’d be very happy with it.”
Archie began to walk about the room, his arms still tightly clasped behind his back. Grace left him to it. She moved closer to Beth and lowered her voice. “I’ve always wanted to have my wedding here but I’m a bit worried about what happened. You know? The break-in and the ...”
Beth finished her sentence in an awed whisper, “... murder!”
Beth looked behind her, she ran over to the door and shut it. She went back to Grace, glee shining out of her eyes in the manner of someone who has juicy gossip to share. She said, “The murder, happened in July 2012. I’ll never forget that day. The groom, I think he was called Archie, he was gorgeous! And so polite too. Kept saying thank you to everyone, called us by our names. Some of the girls, not me, were hoping he’d get jilted at the altar so they could have a chance with him!”
Grace glanced towards Archie, he was standing by the dressing table and looking down at it. Grace doubted that he was listening to them.
Beth went on. “Oh! I can’t believe he was murdered! The waste! We’ve never had anything like that here. We’ve had things going missing from rooms, all hotels do. But we’ve never had a beak-in from outside. The police said someone must have climbed on to the balcony from outside, they must have used a ladder, and they saw that lovely man asleep on his bed. Why did they have to kill him? Why didn’t they just get what they wanted and scarper?”
Beth shook her head. Grace did the same. She didn’t want to stop Beth’s flow.
Beth didn’t stop, she moved even closer to Grace. “I thought there was something fishy going on though. His new father-in-law, I can’t remember his name, had a face like thunder all the way through the wedding. I thought he was going to stop it at one point. And his bride, I shouldn’t say this, but when her dad told her about Archie being dead,
she fainted clean away. Didn’t cry out or anything, just fainted. Like she’d been practising it. It wouldn’t surprise me if they were in it together, the bride and her dad. You could tell that Archie had money, I bet they killed him for that.”
Beth folded her arms tightly and gave Grace a satisfied nod.
Grace said, “What did the police think? Did they question the bride and her dad?”
“They questioned everyone, but they still thought it was a break-in. I think they missed something.”
Grace nodded. Those were her thoughts too. She jumped as Archie called out, “Grace! I think I’ve remembered something. I have to talk to you.”
Beth gave Grace a curious look. “Are you all right? You seem jumpy. It wouldn’t surprise me if Archie’s ghost was still here, looking for revenge. Do you want to see the bathroom? Or the walk-in wardrobes? They’re huge, you could fit five people in there.”
Grace smiled at her and said, “Would you mind if I was left alone for a while? I want to get a feel for the place, see if it’s going to be suitable.”
Uncertainty crossed Beth’s face. Grace added, “I know Ms Berry said I shouldn’t be left alone but I really would appreciate it. I wouldn’t tell Ms Berry.”
Grace could see Beth making a decision. Beth’s mouth curved to a smile as if she was already enjoying the idea of going against Ms Berry’s orders. She said, “I’ll give you five minutes, I’ll wait near the lifts.”
“Thank you,” Grace said. She waited until Beth had left the room then she turned to Archie.
He was still standing near the dressing table. He said, “I feel like I’m reliving the events from that day, even my head is aching. On the afternoon of the wedding I came into this room and was about to close the curtains when something on this table caught my eye. I remember feeling bemused, or do I mean confused? Anyway, I walked towards it and I think I picked it up. There’s a blank in my memory but then I recall falling down. I still have that thought of murder in my mind as I ... died.”
Grace made her way to Archie’s side. She took the hammer necklace from her handbag and held it up. She explained, “I think we should try going into a vision. I told you earlier that when I touched something that belonged to a ghost at the same time as them, we could be taken in to a vision from the past. We could both touch this necklace. Are you willing to give it a go?”
The gold hammer dangled in front of Archie. He nodded and said, “Let’s do this.”
He reached out and touched the necklace, his hand slightly passed through the chain.
The honeymoon suite began to fade around them.
Chapter 21
Grace and Archie found themselves in the reception area of the hotel. Grace studied the scene in front of her. She said to Archie, “I think we’ve gone back to your wedding day. Look, I can see you coming through the main doors.”
Archie grimaced. “Well, this is the weirdest thing I’ve ever experienced. Can we talk to anyone? Can we touch anyone? Are you sure they can’t see us? I feel like I could reach out and touch Sylvia on the elbow.”
Grace shook her head. “It’s like we’ve stepped into a TV show. We can see and hear everything, but they can’t see us. Watch out!”
Archie flinched as the wedding day version of himself walked through his body.
Ghost Archie said, “What are we doing here? Why are we in this vision?” He looked around. “Is there some clue that we’ve missed? Was there a person at the wedding that we forgot about?”
Grace pressed her lips together and frowned. She took a step back and watched the activity around her. Wedding Archie was chatting away to the maids, asking them to take presents in to the ballroom. Grace could see the admiration in their eyes. Beth was amongst the maids, she was almost salivating as she gazed at Archie.
Grace pointed towards the main doors. “Gordon’s coming in now.” She paused. “That is definitely a face like thunder. But does he have murder on his mind?”
Archie looked behind Gordon and out into the car park. “I think I can see Rob, he’s smiling. That evil, slimy smile of his! What’s he up to? Has he just said something to Gordon? Been bad-mouthing me again. Can we go outside and follow him?”
“We can try.”
Grace and Archie walked towards the main doors. Grace walked straight in to something.
“Ouch!” she rubbed her head. “That hurt. It felt like we walked in to an invisible force field. Well, I guess we know the answer to your question.”
Archie moved closer to Grace. “Sorry about that. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. There must be something we have to see at this time, and in this place. But what is it?”
Grace and Archie moved back to the reception area. Ms Berry was on duty. Grace studied her face, the woman didn’t crack a smile at all.
Grace suddenly felt a tightening in her stomach. Was that what they were meant to see? She recalled the events on the CCTV footage and then looked at her watch. This would be about the right time.
Before Grace could warn Archie, Ms Berry did the thing that Grace was waiting for. She smiled. Not an ordinary smile, it was a smile that you gave to someone you loved. It transformed Ms Berry’s face and took years off her.
Grace’s head seemed to move in slow motion as she turned it to see who Ms Berry was smiling at. She saw Wedding Archie chatting to Sylvia and Gordon, and she saw a group of maids picking up various pieces of luggage. Grace saw Beth, and another maid that seemed familiar. The other maid had her back to her and had just bent over to pick up a small case. Was it the maid that Grace had seen in the honeymoon suite with Beth a few days ago? What was her name? Carol?
Grace was about to ask Archie if he recognised the other maid when the scene swiftly faded. Grace found herself back in the honeymoon suite with Archie.
Archie released his ghostly touch from the necklace. His eyebrows rose. “Well? Did you see something that I missed? Do we need to go back?”
Grace put the necklace back in her handbag. “I’m not sure. I think I was supposed to see who Ms Berry was smiling at but I didn’t quite catch who it was.”
“What’s she got to do with my death?”
“I don’t know. Had you met her before your wedding?”
“No. Were you thinking she was a jilted lover of mine? Out to get her revenge?” Archie said in a gleeful manner.
Grace’s cheeks felt warm. She looked down at her bag and made a fuss of closing the zip. She muttered, “That thought never crossed my mind.” She patted her handbag and looked back at Archie. He was smiling at her as if he could read her mind. Grace lifted her hand to the right and said, “We haven’t been out on the balcony yet. I want to see how high up it is. See if there’s a way someone could have climbed up.”
“Like some conveniently placed trellising,” Archie suggested. He moved towards the French doors and put his hand on the handle. “Oh! I keep forgetting I can’t touch things. Sorry, you’ll have to open the doors yourself.”
“I think I can manage. I appreciate your attempt at chivalry anyway.”
Grace opened the doors and stepped out on to the small balcony, Archie followed. Grace took a deep inhale of the fresh air. She looked across the hotel gardens and towards the woods that surrounded the hotel. It really was beautiful.
Archie was looking over the sides of the balcony. “I can’t see any trellising, and I don’t remember there being any on our wedding day.” He nodded and turned back to Grace. “You’d definitely need a ladder to get up to this balcony.”
Grace’s next thought was interrupted by a man’s laugh, followed by a male voice saying, “Come on, give us a quick kiss! No one can see us here.”
Grace looked at Archie. He had a funny expression on his face. Grace pointed to the floor of the balcony, the man’s voice was coming from underneath it.
There was the sound of a woman’s laugh. She said, “Get your hands off me, can’t you wait until we get home? We’ve got work to do.”
Grace was a
bout to smile at overhearing the secret lovers when she noticed something strange about Archie’s body. Her scalp prickled as if an army of ants had suddenly decided to hold a dancing competition there.
A black mist had covered Archie from head to toe. His fists were clenched at his side and his nostrils flared.
Grace had seen this happen before with a ghost that she’d met, the ghost had been permanently angry and his hate had manifested a black mist around him. Just like Archie was doing now.
Despite her fear, Grace took a step forward and calmly said, “Archie? I can see something has upset you. Please, try to calm down.”
Archie turned hate-filled eyes towards her. Grace flinched and involuntarily took a step backwards. Archie hissed, “Those voices below us ... I know them ... they belong to Jessie and Rob!”
Chapter 22
“Are you sure?” Grace asked.
The black mist around Archie moved in and out as if it was breathing. Through clenched teeth Archie said, “It is them.”
Grace looked over the side of the balcony. She could see a pair of men’s work boots but nothing else. She turned to Archie. “We’ll have to go downstairs and take a closer look. Your mind might be playing tricks on you, maybe because of where you are.” Grace paused and took a deep breath. “You have to calm down before we leave this room. Can you see the black cloud that’s surrounding you? I’ve seen this before, it’s a cloud full of hate. You can’t think straight whilst that’s around you. Do you think you can calm down?”
Archie blinked in surprise. He looked at the black mist. He moved his hands up and through it. He tried to smile. The mist began to evaporate. Archie’s smile became an apologetic one. “Sorry, Grace. I don’t know what came over me then. Are you okay? Did I scare you?”
“A bit,” Grace admitted.
Archie rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know what happened, it’s not like me to lose my temper. Jessie, on the other hand, could fly into a rage at the drop of a hat.”
Murder Vows (Storage Ghost Murders Book 4) Page 7
