Grace mentally stored that nugget of information away. She returned to the room. Archie had no choice but to follow her. He said, “Now what?”
“We go downstairs and find out who those voices belong to. If they do belong to Rob and Jessie you’re going to have to find some way of keeping yourself calm. Can you do that?”
Archie nodded. “I’ll try. For you.”
Grace took one last look around the room. She didn’t think she was missing anything. They left the room.
Beth was waiting for them near the lift. She held up her hands and said, “I’m so sorry but you’ll have to see yourself out. Can you remember the way?”
“Yes, I’ll be fine on my own,” Grace said, stopping herself just in time from saying, ‘We’ll be fine’.
Beth nodded towards the lift. “Old Raspberry tracked me down, she’s got a new list of things she wants me to do.” She tutted to herself then frowned. “I shouldn’t really talk about her like that, she’s been through a tough time. Then again, that’s no excuse for being a miserable old trout. Bye!”
Beth walked quickly away.
Grace and Archie took the lift to the ground floor. Grace decided to use the garden exit door again. Hopefully, she wouldn’t be seen by whoever was under the honeymoon suite balcony.
Her plan worked. She skirted round the edge of the garden and found a spot to hide in.
Archie looked at the trees on either side of them. “Would have been better if the leaves were still on.”
Grace waved at him to be quiet. She was peering through the bare branches of the trees. There was the honeymoon suite. And underneath were two people dressed in overalls. They were working on a door that had been removed from the area under the honeymoon suite. Grace focused on the two people. Even at this distance she recognised them. She’d seen them on the CCTV footage.
She felt a cold breath on her cheek. She turned her head and was confronted by Archie, the sadness on his face made her own heart sink. At least he hadn’t made a black cloud appear this time.
It looked like Archie couldn’t bring himself to speak, so Grace voiced the obvious. “It is Jessie and Rob, isn’t it? Jessie’s hair is still the same. Rob’s changed a bit, lost a lot of weight, looks like he’s been working out.”
“The slimy toad,” Archie muttered. “What’s going on? I thought they were just good friends. Looks like more than that to me.”
Grace put her hand on Archie’s arm, it sank right through. She said, “They could have got together after the wedding. We don’t know the full story.”
“Hmm,” was Archie’s reply.
“They’re talking, I can’t hear anything from here. Let’s move closer.”
“May I ask what you’re doing out here? Apart from talking to yourself.”
Grace stiffened. She knew that icy tone. Slowly, she turned around to face the angry face of Ms Berry.
“You’re in trouble now,” Archie helpfully pointed out.
Grace’s brain went into overdrive as it looked for reasonable excuses. She came up with one. Grace stood up taller and tried to look indignant. Raising her voice she said, “I was checking out the safety of the hotel. I was on the balcony of the honeymoon suite and I heard loud voices below. Well! I don’t want that level of noise on my honeymoon night!”
Archie snorted with laughter.
Grace ignored him and carried on. “I came down here to see who was making that racket.” She waved her arm towards Rob and Jessie. “There’s building work going on. How long will it be before they’re finished? Or is this the kind of hotel that has work going on all the time? I’m not paying good money to have my honeymoon night ruined!”
For once, Ms Berry looked flustered. “Let me assure you that this is a temporary situation. Those builders have almost finished.”
Grace pursed her lips in what she thought was an angry manner. Then she said, “I’ll have to think carefully about any potential booking. I’ve heard about this hotel and that dreadful murder that happened a while back. The police said that someone climbed on to the balcony!”
Archie nudged Grace. It felt like someone had prodded her with an icicle. Archie was staring at Ms Berry.
Grace immediately lost her angry stance. Ms Berry was looking past Grace’s shoulder, her eyes glazed over as if in some sort of trance. Grace had seen that look several times over the last few days.
Sure enough, the cause of the trance appeared.
“Hi, Lily,” Grace said quietly.
Lily gave her a friendly wave. She stood at the side of Ms Berry. She leant against her and smiled.
Of course, it was obvious now. She should have spotted it earlier.
Grace looked at Archie. He nodded and said, “They’re mother and daughter.”
Chapter 23
Ms Berry snapped out of her trance, she frowned as she looked to her left. Unbeknownst to her, Lily was smiling lovingly at her. Ms Berry cleared her throat and brought her attention back to Grace. She said in a softer tone, “I’ll leave you alone to consider your future plans.”
She turned away and walked back towards the main entrance, her shoulders slightly bowed. Lily walked at her side, she was a bit shorter than her mum but had the same shaped body.
Grace said to Archie, “I could feel her sadness then, could you? I wonder what happened to Lily?”
Archie nodded. “I remember Lily now. She was a hotel maid, she was here on my wedding day.”
“That must have been who Ms Berry was smiling at on the CCTV footage and in our vision. Why do we need to know that? How is Lily connected to your murder? And why is she wearing Jessie’s wedding dress?”
“That’s a lot of questions. She was very helpful on the wedding day. Sylvia had Jessie’s dress covered up and ready to take to the honeymoon suite. Jessie was getting ready in that room, I was sharing with my best man. I made a move to pick up the dress, Sylvia practically screamed at me. She said it was bad luck for me to see it. Lily offered to take it, she said she’d dealt with wedding dresses before and that she knew how to hang them so that any creases fell out.” He paused. “She was a lovely girl, always smiling and humming to herself.” Grace said, “She must have tried the dress on at some point for her to be wearing it now. Before the wedding? Would she do that? I wish she’d come back, I need to talk to her.”
Archie looked towards the hotel. “Do you think Lily saw who murdered me? Perhaps the murderer saw Lily and then killed her too.”
“I was thinking the same thing. If I talk to Lily I can find out how, and where she died.” Grace sighed. “I seem to have more questions than answers. Come on, we may as well head back to the shop. We’ll have to fill Pearl in on what’s happened so far.”
They walked towards the car park. Archie abruptly stopped. “Look, it’s Jessie’s van.”
Grace looked at the van, it was a smaller version of the one she had seen Gordon standing next to in the cafe car park. Her eyes took in the logo, the telephone number, the website address and ...
“Ladders! Ladders on top of the van,” Grace pointed out. She didn’t need to say any more, Archie’s grim look probably mirrored her own.
Grace continued walking towards Frankie’s van. Then it was her turn to perform a sudden stop. “Oh! This is no good! I can’t wait for answers to come to me.” She turned on her heel and headed towards Rob and Jessie.
Archie said, “What are you doing? Don’t talk to them! I don’t want to see them!”
“Then disappear,” Grace said as politely as she could. Archie did so.
She approached the working pair, a friendly smile on her face. It wasn’t easy to do bearing in mind that the people in front of her were murder suspects.
Grace spoke, “Hello there! Sorry to bother you. I noticed your van in the car park. This is a bit cheeky but could I ask you for a quote for some building work?”
Rob put down his saw, nodded his head towards the car park and said, “There’s a telephone number on the van. Ring that and mak
e an appointment.”
Annoyance flashed across Jessie’s face. She gave Grace an apologetic smile and placed her hammer on the ground. The same hammer that had landed on Archie’s foot?
Jessie took out a notebook and pencil. “Of course you can have a quote. Where do you live?”
Grace replied, “It’s for a shop. I run it with my brother. He’s taken to living in the stockroom above the shop. I wanted to see if it’s possible to convert it into proper living quarters for him. He keeps saying he’ll get round to it one day but he hasn’t yet.”
Jessie smiled at Grace. “Men are pretty useless at things like that.”
Grace and Jessie ignored the muttered curse that came from Rob. He picked up his saw and turned his back on them.
Grace gave Jessie the address. Jessie nodded. “My dad is working nearby. I was due to work with him this afternoon, I can pop in to your shop later on today, if that’s all right?”
“Perfect. Thank you. I’ll see you then.” Grace turned away. As she made her way back to the car park she heard Rob say, “Any excuse to get away from this hotel, Jessie? I thought you were over him.”
There was a resigned sigh from Jessie. “Don’t start that again, you know I’m over him.”
Archie reappeared in the passenger seat as Grace drove away from the hotel. Grace said, “Did you hear our conversation? Or did you go to your quiet place?”
Archie looked straight forward. “I heard. I don’t like how Rob was talking to Jessie. I presume the ‘him’ she was talking about being over was me. It didn’t take her long to get over me.”
“We don’t know the full details yet. I’m sure Jessie loved you very much.”
Archie didn’t look convinced. “I’m beginning to doubt her innocence. What if she and Rob planned to kill me together? They left the hotel at around the time I died, and they had access to a ladder.”
They drove on in silence, both lost in thought.
Grace thought Archie could be right about Jessie and Rob. But why would they kill him? For love, to be with each other? That didn’t make sense, Jessie could have just called off the wedding.
That were a lot of things that didn’t make sense, including Lily, the dancing ghost.
Grace gripped the steering wheel. She was going to get to the bottom of this mystery somehow.
Chapter 24
Grace parked the van at the rear of the shop. She did a double take as she entered the main shop premises. There were customers everywhere. There was also a flustered-looking Frankie standing at the till, a queue of grumbling people in front of him.
Archie took in the scene and said, “I’ll find Pearl and tell her what’s happened, I think your brother needs you.”
Grace shoved her coat and handbag away and ran over to Frankie’s side. He gave her a grateful look. Grace nodded and called out, “Who’s next?”
She spent the next two hours dealing with the influx of customers, Frankie working just as frantically at her side.
When there was a lull in customers Grace asked Frankie why the shop was so busy.
He gave her an embarrassed smile. “I think it’s my fault. I put a message on my social sites saying that there was a 40 per cent discount on all goods this afternoon.”
Grace’s eyebrows rose. “Any reason for that?”
He shrugged. “Seemed like a good idea. It’s working, the shelves are getting emptier. I think we finally might be able to move some of that stuff out of the stockroom.”
“Talking of the stockroom,” Grace began. She never finished her sentence as another onslaught of customers barged into the shop.
It was another hour before Grace could take a proper breath. “Wow! Warn me next time about any discounts. Has it been like this all day? You should have called me.”
“It started at ten o’clock. Must be pension day or something. The old codgers had to collect their money first. I’m dying for a cup of tea, I haven’t had any lunch.”
“Me neither. Shall I make you something?”
Frankie rested on the till. “I could do with a sit down. My back is killing me, I’m not used to this hard work.”
“You go have a rest,” Grace said.
At that moment Jessie walked into the shop. Frankie’s mouth dropped open as he stared at her.
Jessie smiled and said, “Is this a good time?”
“Of course. This is Frankie, my brother.” Grace and Jessie looked at Frankie. Grace’s hand itched, she longed to reach over and close his mouth.
“Hi, Frankie. I’m Jessie, I’m here to look at your room.”
Frankie blinked and, thankfully, closed his mouth. “Pardon? You want to go to my bedroom?”
Grace shook her head. “I’ve asked Jessie to give me a quote to convert the stockroom so that you can have proper accommodation.”
Frankie stood up straighter. He addressed Grace but his eyes never left Jessie. “Really? My room?”
Grace could see she wasn’t going to get any sense out of Frankie. She said to Jessie, “It’s upstairs, follow me. Oh! Frankie, you said you wanted a rest.”
Frankie stood up even taller, he puffed his chest out, lifted his chin and, in an unusually deep voice, said, “I don’t need a rest. I could work all day without stopping. You two girls go upstairs, I’ll take care of business here.”
Grace saw Jessie’s mouth twitch.
“This way,” Grace said to Jessie.
Once they were out of ear-shot Grace apologised for her brother.
Jessie waved her hand. “Doesn’t matter, he’s sort of cute.”
Grace wasn’t sure about that. She took Jessie into the stockroom. Jessie took her notepad out and began scribbling on it. She had some electronic device that she pointed at the walls. Grace presumed it was to measure them. Grace discreetly looked around the room and out on to the landing. There was no sign of Archie or Pearl.
Jessie looked at her notepad. “It won’t take too much work. Do you still need a stockroom? This room’s big enough for both, we could put a dividing wall in.”
“That sounds good. Oh! I haven’t offered you a cup of tea. Would you like one?”
Jessie put her notepad away. “I’d love one, thanks. What kind of business are you running? You’ve got a real mix of stuff.”
“We buy things from storage locker auctions, you never know what’s going to be inside a locker.”
Jessie gripped Grace’s arm. Grace tried not to flinch. This elfin-faced woman had a strong grip. Jessie’s eyes shone as she said, “Storage locker auctions? Like those that are on the TV?”
“Exactly.”
Jessie’s grip tightened. “I love those shows! I watch them all the time. My favourite auctioneer is one that looks like Elvis Presley.”
“Sylvester Sylver? He does the auctions nearby, we’ve met him several times. Frankie’s a big fan of his.”
Jessie released her grip. Her mouth formed a huge ‘O’. “I can’t believe it! You have to tell me more.”
Grace turned towards the door. “I’ll tell you over a cup of tea, we’ve got a small kitchen downstairs. Do you need to look at anything else up here?”
“No. Have you spoken to Sylvester Sylver?”
Grace smiled. Jessie sounded like a female version of Frankie. Her smile faltered. She hoped Jessie wasn’t the one who murdered Archie, she seemed far too nice.
Grace settled Jessie at the kitchen table and then turned her attention to the kettle. Talking about the auctions would be a good way to introduce the subject of Archie’s suitcase. And the hammer necklace, she had to mention that. Grace paused. This was going to be awful. She felt as if she was tricking Jessie.
It had to be done.
Grace made the tea, brought out a plate of biscuits and sat down opposite Jessie. Jessie had a million questions about the storage business. Grace answered them all, waiting for an opportunity to mention the suitcase.
An opportunity arose when Jessie asked, “What unusual things have you found?”
Grace put her cup down, steeled herself and stood up. She casually said, “I found something on Sunday, it’s sort of sad really. Let me show you.”
Trying to keep her shaking hands steady Grace opened the cleaning cupboard and took out Archie’s suitcase. She placed it on the table in front of Jessie.
Jessie’s smile died, the colour drained from her face. In a quiet voice she said, “Where did you get this?”
Grace hated lying. “In a storage unit not far from here. You look as if you recognise it.”
“I do. I bought it, I had the initials put on it. You found it in a storage unit?”
Hating herself even more Grace opened the case. Jessie recoiled as if being hit. Grace picked up Archie’s wedding jacket and held it up. “It looks like someone’s wedding suit.”
Jessie blinked rapidly. “It is a wedding suit.”
Grace remembered that the necklace was in her handbag, which was in the shop. She couldn’t leave Jessie whilst she went to retrieve her bag.
A familiar voice whispered in her ear, “Your bag is under the table.”
It was Pearl’s voice but not Pearl’s body. She’d obviously made herself invisible. Was Archie here too? And how had her handbag appeared under the table? Was Pearl half poltergeist, half ghost?
Grace reached under the table and into her bag. She took the necklace out. She heard the wobble in her voice as she spoke, “I found this too, in one of the pockets.”
Jessie’s hands flew to her heart. Grace tried to move the necklace closer so that Jessie could take it.
Jessie jumped to her feet and screamed, “No! No!”
Grace pulled the necklace back. Jessie raised her face to the ceiling and let out a scream that was full of anguish and pain. She sounded like a wounded animal caught in a trap.
Grace dropped the necklace and rushed to Jessie’s side. Just in time to catch her as she fainted.
Chapter 25
Frankie raced into the kitchen. “What the hell was that noise?”
Grace struggled to hold Jessie’s weight. “She fainted.”
Murder Vows (Storage Ghost Murders Book 4) Page 8
