A Deadly Lesson (Storage Ghost Murders Book 5) (9 page)

Chapter 23

Grace
tapped away at her laptop. Abbie moved closer to her. Grace explained, “I met a
lovely ghost recently called Archie. He had a company that specialised in
security, including CCTV cameras and such. He told me that most businesses that
have CCTV erase their recordings after a while so they have room for new
footage. He also told me their company kept all the recordings ever made by all
their clients. They kept it secure online in case any footage was ever needed.
Archie showed me how to get access to that footage. I noticed that the CCTV at
your party was one that Archie’s company had installed.”

Abbie
frowned. “Isn’t that illegal? To go poking round other people’s businesses?
Looking at their private recordings?”

Grace
nodded. “Archie helped me install some sort of cloaking device which means I
won’t be detected.” She paused, and then added, “Hopefully. Right, here we are
at The Old Highway Man pub’s account. I’ll type in the date of your party
again.”

Abbie
moved slightly backwards. “I don’t think I want to see myself, you know, alive
and happy.”

Grace
noted Abbie’s concern. “You don’t have to watch. Feel free to fly around my
home. I’ll make notes and let you know what I’ve found.”

Abbie
considered Grace’s suggestion, her face screwed up as she thought. Finally, she
said, “No, I’ll stay. I might spot something that you miss.”

“If
you get upset at any point, let me know, and I’ll stop. Okay, I’m on the right
date. Let’s fast-forward to the start of your party. When did it start?”

“About
eight, but I got there with Mum and Dad at seven to set up. Mum made all the
food and Dad had made the decorations. Can we skip that part? I don’t want to
see it.”

“Okay,”
Grace replied. She could always come back to it another time when Abbie wasn’t
at her side.

The
CCTV system at the pub consisted of two cameras. One was placed facing the main
entrance doors, and the other looked over the car park. Abbie told Grace that
there was a back entrance too, but most people used the front door. Grace
sighed with irritation at the lack of a camera covering the back door. Never
mind, she’d make do with what they had.

They
watched the screen as people arrived at the party. Abbie stood at the door and
welcomed people in. Grace saw Abbie flinch next to her as Brooke arrived and
hugged the Abbie on the screen.

In
a hopeful voice Abbie said, “Do you think Brooke was kidding about not liking
me? Maybe she was saying that so she looked tough or something. She might be
covering up her sad feelings.”

Grace
gave her a direct look and said, “I wish I could lie to you and say that’s a
possibility, but I can’t. Brooke is a nasty and selfish woman. Try not to think
about her. Let’s fast-forward a bit. It’s getting darker in the car park, those
lights aren’t doing much to make it easier to see. Oh! Just a minute, someone
is driving out of the car park. They must have gone out of the back door.
Bother! I can’t make out the number plate.”

Abbie
giggled. “Who says ‘bother’?”

“I
do,” Grace retorted. “Look at this. Brooke is leaving by the front door. And now
she’s heading towards her car. What time is this?” Grace peered at the
grainy-looking time in the corner of the CCTV footage. “10.30 p.m. That’s a
funny time to leave the party. Did she say anything to you about having to
leave early?”

Abbie
shook her head. “We were planning on going to a nightclub later. Where’s she
going? There’s another car leaving, it looks like Dad’s. I bet he’d left
something at the house, he’s always doing things like that.”

Grace
didn’t comment. There seemed to be a lot of people sneaking out of the back
door of the pub and driving away.

They
turned their attention back to the screen. Ten minutes of footage passed.
Suddenly, Abbie screamed. Her hands flew to her mouth and her eyes squeezed
together.

Grace
said gently, “Don’t look, it’s okay. I’ll tell you when it’s over.”

Grace’s
heart felt heavy as she witnessed the next events on the screen. The Abbie at
the party ran out from the party area and towards the main doors. She glanced
back over her shoulder, tears pouring down her face. She flung the door open
and dashed through them. Grace’s attention flicked to the car park camera. The
top right-hand part of the screen showed the outside of the main door. Grace
saw CCTV-Abbie pause and look down at something in her hand. Her phone? Her
shoulders shook as a fresh bout of crying overtook her. Abbie ran forwards, and
out of shot. Grace didn’t need to see what happened next, she’d already
witnessed it by the side of the road. She wished she could reach into the
screen, grab little Abbie and pull her to safety.

At
her side Abbie said, “Why am I crying on the screen? Why can’t I remember?”

Grace
didn’t think her heart could feel any heavier, but it did at the sight of
Abbie’s mum moving towards the main doors on the first camera. She stepped
through and froze. Her hands shot upwards and towards the front of her face.
She must be screaming. How much of the accident did she see?

The
car park camera showed Abbie’s mum racing forwards. Grace heard Abbie crying at
her side.

It
wasn’t long before the cameras showed other people rushing through the doors
and outside. Grace was grateful that there was no sound on this footage.

Abbie
sniffed and said, “I saw Brooke running out after Carlos and Julianne. She
wasn’t away long. Where did she go?”

Grace
hadn’t noticed. She rewound the footage and looked closer at Brooke as she ran
out of the doors. Did she looked shocked? It was hard to tell. When had she
returned to the car park? Grace hadn’t seen any cars return. Was there another
car park? Maybe there was one round the back.

Grace
noticed Derek’s expression as he was jostled towards the main doors. He looked
bemused as if someone was playing a joke on him. It was obvious that he didn’t
know what had happened yet.

Grace
moved through the footage. People came slowly back inside, grief and shock
visible on their faces. She made a mental note of everyone who came back.
Dorothy was almost carried in by Derek and Carlos, Julianne at their sides.
Brooke was clinging on to Ethan’s arm as they walked back in. Ethan was staring
straight ahead, Grace couldn’t make out the emotion on his face.

“We’ll
fast-forward the next part,” Grace said. Abbie looked away as there was a
flurry of activity in the car park. Various emergency vehicles showed up, their
lights blazing in the growing darkness. Grace closed her eyes as a covered
stretcher was placed in the back of an open ambulance.

Grace
quietly closed her laptop and turned to Abbie. “I’ve seen as much as I need to
see. Do you want to talk about it?”

Abbie
vigorously shook her head and looked away.
 

Grace
had no option but to keep her thoughts to herself. It made her sad to consider
her next thought, but she had to.

Derek
had left the party in his car shortly before Abbie had been run over. That now
made him a suspect.

But
why would he want to kill Abbie?

Chapter 24

Grace
said, “Can you remember anything more about that night?”

Abbie
shrugged, pulled her knees up and laid her head on them. Grace could see she
wasn’t going to get any further information from her. She didn’t blame her, it
must be heart-breaking to see yourself minutes before your death.

Grace
made sure Abbie was okay to be left then she retired for the night. She didn’t
have an easy sleep. She was sure Abbie was covering something up, that she’d
remembered more than she was letting on.

Grace
checked her emails the next morning as she waited for the kettle to boil. Abbie
appeared to be in a better mood and said a cheery good morning to her.

“This
is interesting,” Grace held up her phone. “I’ve got an email from a Kevin
Thompson about my query over Last Hope Repossessions. Have you ever heard of
him?”

Abbie
shook her head and flew over to the kitchen window.

Grace
carried on, “He says that he’s got some insider information about that company.
Hmm, sounds intriguing. He says he wants to meet me.” Grace pressed her lips
together and looked over at Abbie. The teenager had her back to her and was
looking out of the window. Grace said, “I’m not sure about meeting him, he
could be anyone.” She then thought it could be Carlos, trying to trick her. She
read a bit further. “He works for a well-known bank. Apparently, he knows how
Last Hope work, he’s put ‘the real truth about how they operate’. He wants to
meet at Pizza Hut, the one down the road.” Grace lowered her phone. “I haven’t
been to Pizza Hut for ages. I suppose I could meet him, it’s a public place. I
can’t imagine that I’d be in danger. What do you think?”

Abbie
shrugged but didn’t turn away from the window. Grace gritted her teeth. As sad
as Abbie’s case was, there was no need for her to be so sulky. Grace was trying
to help her.

 
Pah! The time for tact was over. Grace
stormed over to Abbie and pushed the phone in front of her face. “Maybe I
should forget the whole thing? Tell Kevin Thompson I no longer care about that
dodgy repossession company? Maybe I should throw your driving book away.” She
stopped. She’d gone too far. She took a deep breath and said, “Sorry, Abbie,
that was mean of me.”

Abbie
turned a tear-stained face to Grace. “No, it’s me who should be sorry. I know
you don’t have to help me. It’s just that ...” she looked down at her top and
began to fiddle with the edges. “It’s just that I’ve remembered something about
the car that hit me. And it means ...”

Abbie
turned fully round to Grace and flung herself into Grace’s body. Grace jumped.
It felt like someone had thrown a bucket of icy water at her. She stiffened and
tried to stop her teeth from chattering whilst Abbie bawled into her chest.
Grace tried hard not to think about frostbite.

After
a few minutes, Abbie moved away. She wiped her tears with her top. In a quiet
voice Grace said, “Tell me what you remember.”

Abbie’s
shoulders dropped. “Just before the car hit me I saw L-plates, on the car. I
couldn’t tell what colour they were though.”

Grace
was puzzled. “Colour? I thought they were all red.”

“The
normal ones are, but there are green ones too. You know, for people who have
just passed their test.” She hesitated. “Brooke had some on her car. She bought
them for me but said that she’d probably need them before me. I don’t know why
she put them on her car, they looked cheap, not her style at all.”

Grace
mentally added, to rub your face in it, that’s why she did it. Out loud she
said, “Who else had L-plates on their car?”

“Carlos
did, well, they were on Julianne’s car. He promised to take me out driving but
Julianne wouldn’t let him, she said she’d take me. But she never did.”

“Who
else?” Grace persisted.

In
a barely audible voice, Abbie said, “Dad. He used to come out in the car with
me, he’d let me drive on quiet roads.”

Grace
thought back to Derek. Could that mild-mannered man really be a killer? She’d
met a few killers in her time, appearances could be deceptive. But Derek? “He
didn’t kill you,” Grace said in a definite tone. “His car left the car park but
that doesn’t mean he killed you. Anyway, someone else could have been driving
it. Did he ever let anyone else drive it?”

Hope
flared in Abbie’s eyes. “Yes! He did! He’s so generous. He let Julianne and
Carlos borrow it many times. He even insured it for Ethan so that he could take
me out on lessons when Dad didn’t have time.”

The
hope dimmed as Abbie realised what she’d just said. Grace interrupted her
thoughts and said, “From what I’ve seen of Ethan, I don’t think he’s a killer
either.”

Abbie
gave her a wobbly smile. Grace didn’t think it was prudent to point out that
she’d been wrong about possible killers before. She looked at her phone and
said, “I’ll meet with this Kevin person and see what he’s got to say. Do you
want to come with me?”

Abbie
nodded. “I wish I could eat pizza again.”

Grace
typed her reply and said, “Don’t you worry, I’ll eat enough for both of us.”

There
was a beep. Grace looked at her phone. “He’s keen. He wants to meet today.” She
texted a response and then put her phone in her handbag, along with Abbie’s
driving book. “Just one slice of toast this morning if I’m having pizza later.”

Abbie
stepped in front of her. “I’ve remembered something else about my party night.
I was holding my phone when I ran out of the pub. I got a message, it really
upset me, but I can’t remember who it was from. I keep seeing it in my mind but
it’s like the screen is all fuzzy, like I’m not meant to see it. Do you think
it’s important?”

“It
could be. Keep trying to remember more of that night. Thank you, Abbie, I know
this can’t be easy for you.”

Abbie’s
chin jutted out and for the first time Grace saw a new emotion on her face. It
was determination. Abbie confirmed this by saying, “I’m furious at being
murdered! I had loads of plans. Let’s find out who did it. What kind of a ...”

Grace
held her hand up. “I understand. No need for foul language before breakfast.
You sound like Pearl.”

Pearl!

Where
was that old ghost?