The Death Planner (Storage Ghost Murders Book 6)

by Gillian Larkin

  A whimpering noise came from Elsa. “No, that isn’t true. My Giles would never hurt Jenny. And Letty wouldn’t, she was Jenny’s best friend.”

  Grace rubbed her head. “Elsa, there’s something that you need to know about Letty.”

  Angela folded her arms. “I want to hear this too.”

  Grace quickly explained about her vision and the subsequent conversations she’d had with Jenny about Letty. Elsa cried even more. Angela let forth a string of expletives. They weren’t on Pearl’s level, but they were close enough.

  Grace said, “So, now you know why I have to confront Giles and Letty.”

  Angela said, “If those two are married, it sounds to me like they planned this whole thing with Elsa. Would Letty have known about Jenny’s money?”

  Jenny said something. Grace repeated her words, “Letty was in the same room at university when Jenny’s parents visited once. They told her about their life insurance policies and their savings. They wanted Jenny to know in case anything happened to them. And Letty did work for Jenny for a while, she’d know how much money the company was making.” Grace gave Elsa a soft look. “I know she had issues with Jenny, but to take it out on Elsa is an incredibly nasty thing to do.”

  Elsa stood up and said, “I’m coming with you. I want to confront Giles too.”

  Angela spoke, “I’m going to give him a piece of my mind. And a piece of my fist!”

  Grace nodded in Jenny’s direction as she said something. “Angela, Jenny doesn’t want any violence. She said there’s been enough.”

  Angela gave Grace a small smile. “I can understand that but my fists don’t. Come on, no more messing around. Let’s find out who killed poor Jenny.”

  Chapter 29

  Grace decided that she should be the one to drive. Elsa sat in the back and chattered non-stop to Jenny about what she’d been doing since Jenny had died. Love shone from Jenny’s eyes as she listened to her sister.

  Angela sat in the passenger seat and muttered and mumbled to herself about the lies that Giles had told her. Her fists clenched and unclenched throughout the journey.

  Grace followed the directions that Angela gave her and stopped outside a detached house. There was a sudden stillness in the car.

  Jenny floated forwards and said, “Why have you stopped here?”

  Grace replied, “This is the right address, Angela’s just given it to me.”

  Jenny shook her head. “No! This can’t be the right house! Letty can’t have gone that far.”

  Elsa tapped Grace on the shoulder. Grace turned to look at her. Elsa’s eyes glittered with tears as she said quietly, “This is where Mum and Dad lived. We lived here when we were younger. We sold it because it seemed weird without Mum and Dad there.”

  Angela let out a low whistle. “That Letty’s got some nerve. And some mental problems by the sound of it. It’s like she’s trying to take over Jenny’s life.”

  Grace looked towards the house. She saw two cars in the driveway, one was Giles’. The curtains twitched and Grace saw a face peering out at them. It looked like Letty’s face.

  Grace said to Elsa, “You don’t have to come in if you don’t want to.”

  Elsa’s chin wobbled. “I will come in. I want to talk to Giles.”

  The four of them left the car and walked slowly up the driveway. Jenny stayed close to Elsa.

  The door opened before Grace had a chance to knock on it. Letty scowled as she looked out at the three visible visitors. “What do you want? I’m not buying anything.”

  Grace said, “We’re not selling anything. I came to your office earlier. I showed you the headset that belonged to your old friend, Jenny Lorrimer. You lied and said you didn’t know her.”

  Angela jumped in, “And I’m the woman who your husband has been seeing on the side!”

  Elsa lifted her chin bravely and tried to speak, “I’m Elsa and …”

  Letty smirked. “I know who you are. And I know what my Giles has been doing with you. We have such a laugh about it. You’re such a stupid girl.”

  Angela lunged forwards, her fists raised. Grace’s hand shot out and grabbed hold of Angela’s sleeve. Grace gave Letty a direct look and said, “We can either stand here and discuss how you’ve treated Elsa and Angela, or we can go inside and talk about it.”

  “I’m not letting you lot inside my house!” Letty threw them a disgusted look.

  Grace nodded. “Fine. We’ll talk on the doorstep. I may have to raise my voice so that your neighbours can hear me. Oh, and I’ll have to phone the police soon.”

  “The police? What are you talking about? I haven’t done anything wrong.”

  Angela started to tell Letty exactly what she and her husband had done wrong. Grace held a hand up to silence her. Then she looked at Letty and said, “I believe that you, or your husband, could have murdered Jenny Lorrimer. You were both at the wedding venue in 2010, and from the information I now have, I believe that you both had a motive to kill Jenny.”

  Letty blanched and held onto the door. “Killed Jenny? I would never … She was my best friend.”

  Grace waved her hand towards the house. “Friends don’t treat each other like this. You’re living in Jenny’s old house. You’re using the same website design that Jenny used. And, for some unbelievable reason, you’ve decided to steal Jenny’s money and business from her sister.”

  Letty looked down and opened the door wider. She mumbled, “You’d better come in.”

  Grace stepped in first. Jenny floated at her side and directed her towards the living room. Giles was sitting in a large chair, a confident smile on his face. He stood up when Grace entered and extended his hand. “A visitor! And a beautiful one at that. Let me introduce myself.”

  Letty entered the room and said dully, “Don’t bother. She’s not a friend or client.”

  Giles dropped his hand. His smile dropped just as quickly when he saw Angela and Elsa. “Letty, what’s going on? Why are these people in here?” He cleared his throat. “And who are they?”

  Angela put her hands on her hips. “You can stop lying now, you scumbag. You know full well who we are!” She looked him up and down. “I don’t know how you can live with yourself!”

  Giles looked around the room. He made a move towards the door. Letty held her hand up and said, “You’re not going anywhere. They know what we’ve been doing.”

  Giles tried to smile. “Doing? I haven’t done anything. I really must go. I’ve got an important meeting.”

  Grace saw Angela move but, this time, she didn’t stop her. Angela landed a fist on Giles’ face. He yelped and collapsed to the floor. Angela stood over him and said, “That wasn’t for me, that was for Elsa!”

  Grace looked over at Elsa. She was sitting in a chair with her hands over her face. She was crying silently and rocking backwards and forwards. Sudden anger rose in Grace. She said firmly, “Enough!” She pointed at Letty and Giles. “You two, sit down and explain yourselves. And before you do, look at Elsa over there. Look at what you’ve done to her! Does it make you feel good about yourselves?”

  Giles and Letty looked at Elsa. Grace thought she saw a flicker of remorse on Letty’s face, but it soon disappeared. Letty said, “We don’t have to take orders from you.”

  Grace sighed and took out her phone. “That’s it. I’ve had enough of all of this. I’m going to phone the police. You can explain everything to them.”

  Giles said, “The police? Letty, what is she talking about?”

  “She thinks we killed Jenny, at that wedding,” Letty told him. “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

  Giles ran his hands through his hair. “The police! Letty! We can’t have the police here! They’ll find out what we’ve done.” He looked at Grace and raised his arm towards Letty. “It was all her idea! She’s the one who hated Jenny. She’s the one who made all the plans!”

  Grace gave him a sad look. “But you’re the one who broke Elsa’s heart.” She put her phone away a
nd moved to the sofa. She lowered herself. “Let’s start at the beginning.”

  Chapter 30

  Grace kept a tight rein on her anger as she listened to Letty talking about Jenny. Letty told them how she was the one who inspired Jenny to take action on her dreams, and that Jenny wouldn’t haven’t been successful without her input. She went on to explain how betrayed she felt when Jenny moved to Manchester.

  Letty waved her hand around, full of self-righteousness. “She should have asked me if the job was right for her! I knew what was best for her. That’s why I followed her, I had to be there for when she made mistakes.”

  Jenny shook her head throughout Letty’s tale and muttered, “I can’t believe she felt like that.”

  Letty concluded with, “I had to set up a rival firm, I had to make myself known to Jenny’s clients. I knew she would fail eventually without my help, I had to have a business ready for her to step into.” She smiled as if expecting everyone to agree with her.

  Angela folded her arms and said, “You’re not right in the head. Have you had any counselling? If not, you should book some sessions.”

  Grace said, “I can sort of understand why you would be obsessed with Jenny when she was alive, but why have you done this terrible thing to Elsa?”

  Letty sniffed. “Jenny shouldn’t have left me. And all that money from her business should have gone to me anyway. She was noting without me.”

  “What about the money from her parents That didn’t have anything to do with you,” Grace pointed out.

  Letty gave Grace a smile, it was unnervingly bright. “I always considered myself part of the family. I was more like a sister to Jenny than Elsa was.”

  Elsa started to cry. Angela moved over to her side and put her arm around her shoulders. Angela said, “Don’t listen to a word she says, she’s crazy.”

  Letty spat out, “I’m not crazy! I knew the truth behind Jenny’s success!”

  Grace shook her head. She could see how deluded Letty was and nothing anyone could say would change her mind. Grace said, “If you wanted to get money from Elsa you could have gone about it another way. Why did you use your husband to trick her?”

  Letty sneered, “Why not? She’s daft enough to fall for his lies.” She nodded towards Angela. “Even that one fell for him. It was so funny to listen to Giles on a night, to hear the lies he’d told them.”

  Giles shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He managed a weak smile and said, “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”

  Elsa looked at him and said, “You said you loved me. Was that true?”

  Giles shrugged. “I was fond of you.”

  Angela pulled Elsa closer as she began to cry again.

  Grace frowned. “I don’t understand how you could let your husband sleep with other women just to get money.”

  Letty snorted. “He didn’t sleep with them!”

  Angela let out a loud laugh that made everyone jump. “Is that what he told you? Ha! Giles, why don’t you tell your lovely wife what you were doing in my bedroom today?”

  Giles looked at the carpet.

  Letty’s head snapped his way. “What is she talking about?”

  Elsa spoke quietly, “He slept with me too. He’s the only man I’ve ever been with.”

  Giles gave a nervous laugh. “Letty, love, it meant nothing. Honestly.”

  Letty’s eyes grew round and her nostrils flared. “Giles, we had an agreement!”

  Angela said what Grace was thinking. “It hurts to be lied to, doesn’t it? Now you know what kind of a man you’re married to.” Angela looked at Elsa. “And we’re better off without him in our lives. It’ll hurt for a while, but you will feel better in the future.”

  Letty stood up. “You can all go now. I want to talk to my husband, alone.”

  “We’re not going anywhere,” Grace said. “I want to know what you were doing at the time Jenny was murdered. You gave Elsa a note from Giles, it told her to meet Giles in a hotel room at 9 o’clock. He didn’t turn up until twenty minutes later. Where was he? And where were you?”

  “I … I … can’t remember! It was years ago,” Letty said. “I gave the police a statement at the time. Not that it’s any of your business.”

  Grace looked towards Giles. “You didn’t give a statement, you left the hotel before the police arrived. Where were you at the time of Jenny’s death? Did you kill her?”

  Giles held his hands out. “Of course I didn’t kill her! I didn’t even know her.” He looked at his wife. “Letty! You’ve got to believe me.”

  “I don’t know what to believe any more. Were you having an affair with Jenny?” Letty asked.

  Giles stood up and moved towards his wife. “Don’t be ridiculous! Of course not!”

  Letty turned away from him. She said to Grace, “Get out of my house, you’ve caused enough damage.”

  Grace stood up and gave her a direct look. “No, you’ve caused all this damage. And we’re not leaving until Elsa’s money situation is sorted out. You stole her money, and I’m going to make sure she gets every penny back.”

  Angela came to Grace’s side and added, “And I think I might report your business dealings to the police. How many other women has your husband been fooling?” She frowned. “Why did you come after me?”

  Letty looked her up and down. “Because you were friends with Jenny. I saw you chatting to her and trying to worm yourself into her good books. I knew you were trying to steal her from me. I had to teach you a lesson.”

  Angela shook her head. “You are one crazy person. Grace, do we really have to stay here a minute longer? I can help Elsa sort out the financial stuff tomorrow.”

  Elsa stood up and touched Grace’s sleeve. “Please can we go? I don’t like arguing in Mum and Dad’s house, it doesn’t feel right.”

  Jenny floated to Elsa’s side and said to Grace, “It’s time to go.”

  Grace really wanted to pin down where Letty and Giles were at the time of the murder, but she knew she couldn’t take it any further at the moment. Maybe she could return here tomorrow on her own.

  Grace had an uneasy feeling as she drove away from the house. There was something she forgot to ask Letty and Giles. What was it?

  Chapter 31

  Jenny wanted to stay up all night talking about Letty and Giles. Grace listened politely for ten minutes as she got ready for bed.

  Jenny swooped around Grace’s room, coming up with all sorts of theories about the couple. “They could have sneaked up on me in the cloakroom and one of them could have held me down … Maybe Letty has tried to kill me before! I had a bad case of food poisoning once when we were at university, perhaps that was her!”

  Grace climbed into bed, her eyes began to close. She yawned and said, “Jenny, if I’m going to help you at all, I really need to get some sleep. Would you mind swooping about in another room? Thanks.”

  Jenny smiled. “Sorry. I keep forgetting about you needing to sleep. Good night, Grace. Thank you for helping me. I do appreciate it.” Jenny flew through the bedroom door leaving Grace in peace.

  For a few hours at least. Grace bolted upright in the small hours of the morning and exclaimed, “Alwyn and Green! That’s what I was going to ask Letty and Giles about.” She shook her head at herself and went back to sleep.

  When she arrived at the shop the next morning, Frankie was already there. He was singing to himself as he straightened items on the shelves. He beamed at Grace. “Good morning, Sister! How are you today? Isn’t it a lovely morning?”

  “Morning, Brother. It’s okay, I suppose.”

  Frankie waved his hand towards the kitchen. “I’ve put the kettle on. I called at a bakers on the way here and got you a slice of apple pie. It’s that chunky one that you like.”

  Grace gave him a suspicious look. “Are you on drugs? Are you drunk?” She moved closer and sniffed him.

  “Just high on life, dear Sister. You go into the kitchen and make yourself a cuppa.” He looked at her face. “You could put a
bit of make-up on too in there.”

  Grace frowned. “I already have some on.” She walked towards the kitchen.

  Jenny floated at her side, her clipboard pulled close to her chest. “Oh, isn’t it exciting! He’s so in love. The wedding’s going to be wonderful. Ask him about venues, ask him about music. There’s so much to organise!” She looked down at her clipboard. Worry crossed her face. “And don’t forget about the food.”

  Grace called out for Pearl in the kitchen but the elderly ghost didn’t appear. Grace made herself a cup of tea. After a moment’s hesitation, she made one for Frankie too. She headed back towards the shop. She could hear the chatter of customers.

  Frankie was standing near a shelf of books. He had a smug look on his face as Grace walked over to him. Frankie said, “You never told me you had a boyfriend.”

  Grace handed him the cup. “Boyfriend? I don’t have a boyfriend.”

  Frankie’s smirk grew as he indicated his head to the right. “There’s a man over there who’s desperate to talk to you. He’s a bit older than you, but beggars can’t be choosers.”

  Grace looked over to see Derek waving at her, an eager expression on his face. She couldn’t help but smile at him. She turned to Frankie and said, “That’s Derek, he’s a friend of mine, not a boyfriend. And for your information, he’s a lot, lot older than me.”

  “Whatever,” Frankie said and he walked towards the counter where a customer was waiting.

  Grace made her way over to Derek. He waved his notebook at her and said, “I’ve made some investigations about Alwyn and Green.” He looked left and right. In a lower voice he said, “Is it safe to talk about it here?”

  “We can, but let’s go through to the kitchen. Would you like a cup of tea?”

  Derek grimaced. “I’d better not else I’ll be looking for the nearest public convenience all day. It’s an age thing.”

  Grace led Derek through to the kitchen. She ignored the sniggering noise that came from Frankie as he watched them leave the shop.