A Deadly Lesson (Storage Ghost Murders Book 5) (8 page)

Chapter 20

Derek
began, “Dorothy always treated the girls the same, like they were both her
natural daughters. In fact, she was a bit tougher with Abbie, as if she had to
compensate for the time that Abbie had spent inside her. Dorothy didn’t want to
make Julianne jealous of Abbie. Dorothy sometimes gave in to Julianne when she
shouldn’t have. She didn’t even mind when Julianne went on holiday and brought
a boyfriend back with her, a young chap called Carlos. Dorothy was happy that
our family had got bigger. She was such a kind soul.”

Was?
Grace registered the word. Abbie stiffened at her side.

Derek
wiped away a tear as he continued. “When Abbie died it was like Dorothy died
too. She was hysterical for days, shouting out that Abbie had been murdered. We
tried to tell her that it was a hit-and-run driver. She wouldn’t listen. The
doctor had to give her medication to calm her down. She couldn’t cope with the
loss. She went to psychic after psychic trying to contact Abbie. She forgot to
look after herself, forgot to eat. I had to keep an eye on her constantly.

“When
we first got wed we made an agreement. We said that if one of us lost our minds
we’d make sure that person would be put in a place where they would be looked
after. We said that the other person should not be expected to carry the burden
of a sick spouse. I often thought of those words in the early days following
Abbie’s death, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t lose Abbie, and Dorothy too.
I’d retired soon after Abbie died, so I had time on my hands. I did the best I
could.” He shook his head sadly, a tear trickled down the side of his nose. “I
did put her in a home eventually. I had to. She was becoming a danger to
herself. Kept going on about Abbie being murdered. She kept humming a song over
and over again. It was Julianne who persuaded me to do it. I had some money in
savings to pay for Dorothy’s care, but I’ll have to go back to work soon as
it’s running out. Julianne is going to help me sell this house. She set up a
company with Carlos after Abbie died, I gave her some money to help get things
running. That Carlos chap says he’ll give me a good price for my house, and
I’ll be able to stay here and rent. That’s so considerate of him, isn’t it?”

“Hmm,”
Grace muttered. Why was Dorothy insistent that Abbie had been murdered? Had she
seen something on that night? Grace looked at Derek, he was weeping openly now.
She passed him a tissue. She couldn’t push him for any more information at the
moment.

Derek
smiled and wiped his eyes. “Sorry, I’m a sentimental old fool. Thank you for
listening to me, it helps to talk about it. Poor Dorothy, she’s happy in that
home. I visit her several times a week. I could swear sometimes that she has
moments of clarity, she looks like my old Dorothy. She keeps telling me to look
into Abbie’s death. She says Abbie’s spirit won’t rest until I do.”

Abbie
jumped up. “Grace! We have to see her! We have to see Mum!”

Grace
agreed. But she couldn’t just ask Derek for details of where she now resided.

She
didn’t need to. Derek said, “I know this is an imposition, but would you mind
going to see Dorothy with me next time I go? She’d love to see that book. You
could tell her where you found it, she’d be amazed. There’s also the chance
that she’ll sit there saying nothing.”

“I’d
love to go,” Grace began. “When should ...”

“What
the hell are you doing here?”

Julianne
burst into the room, followed by a grim-faced Carlos.

Julianne
pointed at Grace and hissed, “I thought that was your car outside. What are you
up to? You’re not in financial trouble at all, we checked. What are you talking
about with Dad? Who do you work for?” She turned to Derek. “What’s she been
saying? Has she been talking about my house business?”

Derek’s
eyebrows rose. “We’re having a nice chat, that’s all. Why are you shouting,
Julianne? That’s not very polite.” Derek looked at Grace and said, “I’m very
sorry about this, Miss ...? I didn’t get your name, I think you told me at the door
but ...”

Julianne
smirked at Grace. “I know her name. Wait until you hear this, Dad. It’s Ms
Abrahams, Grace Abrahams.”

Derek’s
hands flew to his chest, just like they had done before. He stammered, “No, no,
that can’t be true.”

Grace
was roughly pulled to her feet by Carlos. He marched her out of the room and
pushed her through the open front door. He stepped out after her and pulled the
door close. He was so close that Grace could smell his coffee-breath. She tried
to take a step backwards but Carlos clutched her arm tightly.

He
looked straight into her eyes and snarled, “We know all about you and your
money situation. I don’t care what you’re up to, or who you work for. Keep away
from me and my family, you hear me?”

Grace
pulled her arm free. She’d been threatened by scarier people than Carlos. She
said, “I know what you and Julianne are up to. I’m going to make a formal
complaint about your company. The way you treat people is disgusting!”

Carlos
gave her a slow smile. “You do that, Grace, and your brother will be involved
in a car accident – just like your parents. Or maybe you will be in an
accident, maybe driving that car of yours, or maybe crossing the road.
Accidents happen.” He gave a mirthless laugh and went back into the house.

Grace
was too shocked to speak for a moment. Would he really hurt Frankie? He seemed
nasty enough to. She turned to Abbie, she had witnessed the whole thing. She
expected Abbie to be as shocked as she was.

Abbie
let out a heavy sigh. “Why did you do that? You’ve upset Carlos now.”

Chapter 21

Grace
didn’t speak to Abbie on the drive home. She was annoyed with Abbie for
reprimanding her over the Carlos incident. Carlos had been threatening Grace,
but it seemed that Abbie couldn’t see that. Was there some history between the
two of them?

Abbie
stared out of the window all the way back to Grace’s house. Once inside she
flung herself onto the sofa and pulled her knees up to her chest. Grace
politely smiled and headed to the kitchen. She couldn’t work Abbie out, she was
moody, that was obvious. But why was she so moody? Was that how she was when
she was alive, or had it something to do with her death? It helped when a ghost
spoke about their death but Grace felt like Abbie was trying her best not to
think about it. It was almost like she was hiding something.

Grace
opened the freezer and took out a portion of chicken curry that she’d made the
previous week. As she put it in the oven an idea came to her. She returned to
the living room and brightly said, “I think we should try going into a vision
again.”

“No!”
Abbie jumped up. “No! It was scary! I didn’t like it! They wouldn’t stop the
car!”

Grace
sat down and pulled her laptop towards her. “I know but there’s something I
wanted to check. Hang on a minute, let me get the right page.” Grace tapped
away. Abbie scrunched her top with her fists nervously.

“A-ha!
Thought so. I haven’t been past The Old Highway Man pub for a while. The car
park is at the front.”

Abbie
lowered herself next to Grace. “So?”

“So,
if we go into the vision we could turn around and see whose car is missing, or
if someone drives from the car park as you come out of the pub.”

Abbie
didn’t look convinced. Grace continued, “We know from which direction the car
is coming from, I could try and get a registration number. It slowed down,
didn’t it?”

Abbie
nodded. “The driver lifted a hand to me. Oh! I wish I could see their face! Why
can’t I remember?”

“The
memory could be too painful, you could be trying to protect yourself.” A pause.
“Well, Abbie, what do you think? Are you willing to go into a vision again? We
really don’t have to, if you don’t want to. I understand.”

Abbie
let out a sigh and unclenched her fists. Her lips trembled as she nodded at
Grace. “I’d like to try again.”

“Thank
you. I’ll get the book.”

Ten
seconds later they placed their hands gingerly on the driving book. Grace’s
stomach felt like a family of snakes were nesting there, all coiled up and
ready to spring into action. Abbie looked as if she felt the same.

“Ready?”
Grace asked.

Abbie
nodded.

Grace
pressed her hand more firmly on the book.

Abbie’s
eyebrows rose. “Isn’t something supposed to happen?”

Grace
nodded. “Give it a minute.”

After
two more minutes she said, “For some reason it’s not working. I’m sorry.”

“Can’t
you force it to work?”

“No,
I don’t even know how it works in the first place, it just does. Never mind,
thanks for trying.”

Abbie’s
hand dropped to her side. “What are we going to do now? If I can’t remember who
knocked me over, what are we going to do about getting more information? Do I
have to hang around here for ever?”

Grace
put the book down. “I’ll think of something. We need more details about the
night that you died. I need to know who was there, and if they were driving. We
could make a list.”

“What
if it was a stranger who knocked me down? I might have just thought that I knew
them. I can’t think of anyone who would want to kill me.”

Grace
could, she already had three suspects in mind – Julianne, Carlos and
Brooke. She knew they all had something to hide. She even suspected Ethan. He’d
been at the party that night, she didn’t know much about him.

Normally,
she’d share this information with the ghost, get their input and opinion. But
not with Abbie, she was too young, and too fragile.

“I
can’t remember everyone who was there, and I don’t know who was driving. Can we
watch something on the telly? I don’t want to talk about the party.”

“We
need to talk about it,” Grace said firmly. “Photographs! Someone must have
taken photos. Although, whether they’ll be published online is another matter.”

“Why?”
Abbie asked.

“It’s
not a considerate thing to do, is it? Post photographs of someone’s party when
that person had died the same night. Who would be that inconsiderate?”

They
looked at each other. In a quiet voice Abbie said, “Brooke might.”

Grace
took Brooke’s details and soon found her online. She had her own blog, it was
filled with images, mostly of Brooke. Grace said, “She gets around a bit,
doesn’t she? Doesn’t seem to have many friends. And I can’t see any of her and
Ethan which seems strange if they’re supposed to be a couple. Let’s see how far
back this blog goes.”

Grace
typed in the date of Abbie’s death. There was a photo of Brooke smiling. Her
spider-eyelashes looked bigger than ever.

Abbie
said, “That was taken at my party, I can see Julianne and Carlos on the dance
floor behind her.”

Grace
said, “Brooke’s got a funny smile on her face, almost like a smirk.”

Abbie
nodded. “I’ve seen that smile before, it’s her, ‘I’ve got a secret,’ smile.
What does it say under the photo? Grace! Don’t try and hide it! I have to
know!”

Grace
scrolled back down and read out what Brooke had posted two hours after Abbie
had been killed: ‘Tonight was the best night of my life! All my dreams came
true!’

Chapter 22

A
scream erupted from Abbie. It was full of pain and anger. Her face twisted as
she spat out, “That cow! That ...! How could she! She was the one that killed
me! I know it! The nasty, sour-faced cow!”

Grace
cringed as Abbie found more colourful words to describe Brooke. She ended with,
“I can’t believe I was taken in by her! All those years! I bet she laughed as
she ran me down in that fancy car of hers, that fancy car that her dad bought
her. I hope I dented it!”

Grace
waited for Abbie to run out of steam, then she gently said, “We don’t know for
certain that Brooke killed you. She could have been happy for another reason
...” She trailed off, it sounded false to her ears. Brooke was definitely up to
something.

Grace
said, “We need more photos, we need to know who else had a car that night.”

“Why?”
Abbie exploded. “Go round to that lying cow’s house and confront her!”

“We
need evidence. Was there anyone else who might have posted photos?”

Abbie
let out a snort of impatience. She folded her arms and glared at Grace.

Grace
went on, “I’ll keep Brooke as a suspect, but we have to know about all possible
suspects. Did anyone else have a blog?”

Abbie
relented, “Ethan had a blog. It’s funny, he used to put photos on of places he
wanted to travel to. Not posh hotels or big mountains, but stuff like the local
toilets and run-down trains. He said he didn’t want to be a tourist, he wanted
to be a visitor.”

Grace
smiled. “I can appreciate his style, but I’m not sure about seeing local
toilets. What’s his full name?”

Within
a minute they were reading Ethan’s blog. Abbie was laughing and calling him an
idiot. Ethan had been on his travels and there were many images of local
amenities with Ethan standing at the side of them, thumbs up.

Grace
typed in the date of Abbie’s death. Tears sprang to her eyes as she read
Ethan’s post.

Abbie
pointed and said, “He’s devoted a whole post to me. Where did he get all those
photos of me from? I bet he got those from Mum and Dad. Oh, look at what he’s
written. That’s nice, isn’t it?”

Grace
gulped and brushed a tear away. “It’s very moving. It’s obvious that he loved
you.”

“I
like that bit about his heart breaking as I took my last breath. Bit soppy, but
I like it.”

Grace
stood quickly and strode towards the kitchen, calling out over her shoulder, “I
think my curry is ready!”

She
took a few minutes to compose herself. She wasn’t ruling Ethan out as a
suspect, even if he did have the heart of a poet. She wasn’t sure what his
motive could be, or if he even had access to a car on the party night. She
returned with her meal and sat on the sofa again.

Abbie
said, “I wish I could still eat, that looks lovely.”

Grace
waved her fork at the screen. “He’s said, that as a mark of respect, he’s going
to post the photos of your party – at some point. Let’s have a look at
his other posts. Oops! I’ve gone backwards.” Grace stared at the words on the
screen. “That’s a funny thing to write. This is one week before your party. He
says he’s off on his dream adventure soon, and nobody is going to stop him,
especially not some interfering so and so who’s trying to tie him down.” She
looked at Abbie. “What does that mean?”

Abbie
shrugged. “Don’t know. He didn’t have a girlfriend.” She frowned. “If he did,
he never said so. Maybe he’s talking about his mum? She was always nagging
him.”

“Maybe,”
Grace said. She took mouthfuls of food as she scrolled through Ethan’s blog
entries. She stopped at a collection of photos. They were posted six months
after Abbie had died. The first one showed a smiling Abbie at her party,
wearing the same clothes that she was wearing now.

Grace
put her finished meal down and said, “Are you okay to look at these?”

“Yes.
What are we looking for? Any suspicious behaviour? Any nasty spider-eyed
witches staring at me? I wish I could go into one of them vision things at the
party. I’d whack that Brooke over the head with my book.”

Grace
ignored her last comment. “I’m not sure what we’re looking for. Any unusual
behaviour, anyone looking nervous, that sort of thing. Did Ethan take lots of
photographs that night?”

“Yeah,
he was a right pain.” Abbie stopped and looked down at her top. She looked back
at Grace, an embarrassed smile on her face. “He said he wanted me to remember
how beautiful I was that night.”

Grace
smiled. “That’s nice. Right, let’s start going through these photos. You’ll have
to tell me who everyone is, although I do recognise some people. There’s your
dad. Oh! Is that your mum? You look just like her.”

Abbie
sniffed. “Can we go and see Mum? Please? You can ask Dad for the address.
Promise me, please.”

“I’ll
try,” Grace reassured her. “I’d like to speak to her too.”

They
spent the next twenty minutes going through the photographs. There were a few
surprises.

Abbie
swore at the photo of her and Brooke together. She muttered, “Look at her face!
I’ve got my arm around her but she’s leaning away from me! She’s not even
smiling, she looks like she’s in pain. Two-faced ...”

Grace
pointed to a photo of Julianne and Carlos on the dance floor. Abbie nodded and
said, “They make a lovely couple, don’t they. She’s so lucky.”

Grace
didn’t point out what was obvious to her. Julianne had her head on Carlos’
chest as they danced. Carlos’ eyes were fixed on a buxom brunette behind
Julianne. The brunette was smiling at Carlos. No doubt the camera had caught
him just before he started winking at her.

There
was another picture of the ‘lovely couple’. Julianne had her hands on her hips
and looked angry. Carlos had his hands up in an apparent helpless expression.
Had Julianne just found him up to no good?

“Finally!
A photo of Ethan!” Grace said. “You two look good together, smiling into each
other’s eyes. It’s so clear that you love each other. It must have been obvious
to others.”

“Nobody
said anything, they thought we were just good friends.”

“Even
Brooke?”

Abbie
gave a slow shake of her head. “I don’t know what to make of Brooke any more.
Do you think she found out about me liking Ethan so much? Is that why she
killed me?”

“We
don’t know if she killed you. That’s a nice shot of the CCTV system. Did Ethan
take that?”

Abbie
giggled. “That was me. You can see Ethan’s hair in the corner of the photo. We
were fighting over his camera and I pressed it.”

Grace
wasn’t listening. She moved closer to the photo. She smiled, turned to Abbie
and said, “We’re now going to do something illegal.”