A Sweet Murder (11 page)

“
He
hasn’t come home, the dirty stop out,” Pearl appeared at her
side.

Panic grabbed
Grace. Please let him be all right! She grabbed her phone and rang
his number. A cheerful Frankie answered on the second
ring.

“
Yo!
Sis! How ya doing?”

“
Never mind me! Where are you?” Grace exploded.

“
I’m
still at the club, having a crazy time! Come down, I’ll introduce
you to everyone,” Frankie said, laughter in his voice.

“
What do you mean, you’re still at the club? It’s eight
o’clock in the morning! Did you sleep there?”

More laughter
from Frankie. “Chill out! I haven’t been to bed, I don’t need to.
I’m running high on life!”

Chill out! Chill
out!

Grace grabbed
her phone tighter. She tried to control her anger. “Frankie, you
need to come home, we’ve got a business to run.”

“
Okay, okay! Stop nagging. I’ll set off now. Get a life,
Grace!”

He rang off,
Grace bit back the hurt. Why did he have to talk to her like
that?

“
Don’t let him get to you, he’s an idiot. He’ll learn,” Pearl
said.

Grace gave her a
small smile. “I was wishing yesterday that he’d be able to see you
too, then you could give him a good telling off. I wouldn’t even
mind if you swore at him.”

Pearl smiled. “I
would do too, I know some words that would make your ears turn
blue! Forget about him for now. I’ve got something to tell you, I
know how Connie died.”

“
Was
she murdered?”

Pearl nodded.
“She was.”

Chapter 23

Connie appeared
at that moment and sank heavily onto the bed. She raised sad
looking eyes to Grace. “It’s true, I was murdered. I think I’ve
been trying to block it out. Pearl said that’s why I kept leaking
all that grey stuff, I wanted to stop my thoughts.”

Pearl sat down
next to Connie and patted her hand. “Come on, Connie, tell Grace
all about it.”

Grace sat down
on the Flamingo chair and waited.

Connie reached
into her pocket and put a sweet in her mouth.

Grace jumped
slightly and touched her cheek. “That’s strange, I can taste what
you’re eating. Strawberry bomb? I love those.”

“
Me
too. Sorry about that, I’ll try not to eat any more, it’s a habit.”
Connie stared to one side of Grace as if deciding how to
begin.

“
Get
on with it,” Pearl said.

Connie began. “I
died in the bath. Which is strange because I hardly ever have
baths, I prefer having a shower.”

“
How
exactly did you die? Did you drown? Did someone hold you under?
Sorry to ask these questions,” Grace said. She recoiled as she felt
Pearl glare at her.

Pearl pointed a
finger at Grace and said, “What have I told you about being wishy
washy? You need to be direct, stop caring about what people think,
you’re not responsible for their thoughts.”

“
I’ll try,” Grace said. “Sorry, that was a bit wishy washy.
You don’t have to stare at me like that, Pearl! I said I’ll
try.”

Pearl looked
away from Grace, her lips pressed together.

Grace sat up a
bit straighter and said, “Connie, why did you decide to have a bath
that day?”

“
I
didn’t, it had been run for me. I don’t know who by, all my
children had access to my house, they were free to come and go. The
bath was waiting for me when I got back from work. It looked so
inviting, there were lit candles around the side. I don’t know
where the candles came from, I never bought them. There were even
bowls of sweets on the shelf next to the bath. I thought someone
had done a kind and thoughtful thing for me, it would be rude not
to get in. I checked around the house first, there was no one there
except me.”

Grace nodded.
“So, you got in the bath. What happened then?”

“
Nothing, I had a good soak and helped myself to the sweets. I
felt great, I suffer from arthritis and the bath was making me feel
wonderful. I filled it up with hot water a few times. It was when I
stood up to get out that I had problems. I felt sort of woozy, like
I’d stood up too quickly. I remember looking down at the water and
putting my hand on the wall to steady myself. My other hand must
have been outstretched because I felt ...”

Connie looked
into the distance, Grace saw the strawberries on her dress fade.
“Pearl! She’s doing it again! Can you stop her?”

Pearl shook her
head. “We’ll let her be this time. I know what happened next. Her
hand touched somebody, or rather somebody grabbed her. They twisted
her arm and shoved her towards the tap end of the bath. Connie
remembers hitting the back of her head on the taps, she can’t
remember the pain, thank goodness for that. But, this is the awful
bit, this person who was in the bathroom lifted Connie back up and
flung her into the taps again – and again.”

Grace’s hand
flew to her mouth. “That’s awful! Poor Connie. Oh, Pearl, why would
someone do that to her?”

Pearl shrugged.
“That’s for you to find out.”

Grace looked at
the frozen Connie, no wonder she was blocking the memories out. She
said, “There must have been a lot of bruises on her head, surely
the doctor must have suspected something?”

“
It
depends on the doctor, they could have been at the back end of a
long shift, it could have been someone different to the family
doctor, those travelling locums that they have now. We don’t know
who discovered the body. Who was it, and what did they tell the
doctor? Maybe they gave such a reasonable explanation that the
doctor didn’t think Connie’s death was anything other than an
accident. You’ve got a lot of questions to ask. Look, she’s coming
round now.” Pearl moved over to Connie. “Connie, it’s okay, I’ve
told Grace everything, you don’t have to say anything
else.”

Connie gave
Pearl a grateful look.

Grace was about
to speak when she felt something peculiar. She shifted in the
chair. No, it was still there, a hot sensation on her bottom. And
it was getting hotter.

Grace yelped and
jumped to her feet. She put her hands on her bottom and turned to
look at the chair.

“
What’s wrong with you? Got ants in your pants?” Pearl
said.

“
That chair, it got hotter and hotter.” Grace put a hand out
over the chair. “I can feel heat coming from it, that’s
strange.”

Pearl stood up
and examined the chair. “Perhaps it’s trying to tell you something.
Can you touch it?”

Grace gingerly
lowered her hand. She touched the seat. “It feels warm here, not
too hot. Hang on, it gets warmer towards the back of the
seat.”

Grace moved
around to the other side of the chair and put her hand on the back
of the seat. She flinched and said, “It’s definitely warmer here.”
She got down on her knees and peered at the back of the seat. “This
seat is quite thick. Pearl, do you suppose there’s a hidden drawer
or something?”

“
Don’t know, give it a bash.”

“
I
can’t bash it, it’s an antique!” Grace exclaimed.

Pearl looked
down at Grace and raised her eyebrows. “I’m going to change your
name to Wishy Washy Wendy. Give it a bash.”

Grace made her
hand into a fist and thumped it against the back of the
seat.

“
Harder! Be a man about it!”

Grace thumped
the seat harder. A pain shot through her hand, she bit down on her
lip.

Connie joined
them, her face lit up. “The drawer! Of course! I’d forgotten about
it! You don’t need to thump it, reach underneath, there’s a button,
press it.”

Grace did
so.

The back of the
seat slid open a few inches. Grace pulled it out. “There’s
something in here.”

In a proud voice
Connie said, “That’s the original recipe book, the one that Alfred
brought with him from Poland. I’d forgotten all about it! I found
the secret drawer when I was a little girl. That recipe book must
be worth a lot of money now!”

Grace stood up,
she looked at Pearl. Pearl gave her a slight nod. Grace said, “Did
any of your children know about this book?”

Connie smiled.
“Yes, Della knows, she said she’d never tell anyone about
it.”

Chapter 24

Della.

Grace had
another reason to suspect her now. Grace picked the book up. She
found a plastic wallet on a shelf at the side of Frankie’s room and
carefully placed the book inside.

“
What are you doing that for?” Connie asked.

Grace considered
whether or not to say anything, but then decided she should. “Della
knows about this book. For all we know it could be worth thousands,
or even millions. That would be reason enough to kill
you.”

“
Never! Della wouldn’t kill me, she loves me!”

Grace surprised
herself by the hard tone in her voice. “Somebody killed you, and I
think it’s somebody you know. You showed yourself to me for a
reason, you want justice. I’m going to confront Della with this
book and see what her reaction is. In fact, I’ll show it to Lucinda
and Vincent too, they might know it exists.”

Connie looked
down at the floor. “You’re right, I suppose. Please take care of
the book.”

In a softer
voice Grace said, “I will.”

Pearl added, “If
Della was after the book wouldn’t she look in the chair? She didn’t
need to kill Connie for it.”

“
Maybe she wanted to sell it without Connie knowing. Connie,
would you ever sell this book?”

“
Never! It’s part of our history!”

Grace looked at
Pearl as if to say, ‘There’s your answer’.

“
Good morning, Grace! Where are you hiding?” a voice hollered
out.

The two ghosts
and Grace looked towards the open door. Pearl said, “Is that
Frankie? What’s he shouting for?”

They heard a
thudding on the stairs along with a song that Frankie was
attempting to sing. He burst into the room, his arms wide. He
grinned at Grace and pulled her into a bear hug.

“
Get
off!” Grace muttered, her face squashed against his
shirt.

He released her.
Grace took a few steps back from him. He said, “Isn’t it a
wonderful morning! Can you believe I’ve been up all night? I knew
my body would get used to it.”

Unbeknownst to
Frankie, Pearl was inches away from his face, she was standing on
tiptoes and peering into his eyes.

Grace narrowed
her eyes, something wasn’t quite right. “Are you going to bed now?
Shall I open the shop?”

Frankie waved an
arm in the air. “No need, little Sis, I’m all fired up. I don’t
feel tired at all, I’ll deal with the shop. Take yourself off for
the day, buy some make-up.”

Pearl turned
around to Grace and snapped, “He’s taken something! Some sort of
drug, I can see it in his eyes. I always knew he was an idiot but
this takes the biscuit.”

Grace looked
closer at Frankie’s eyes, they did seem unnaturally bright. She
said, “Frankie, do you remember those black sweets that you
mentioned, the ones that people were eating at the
club?”

“
I
do remember! In fact, I bought some last night, they’re amazing,
they’ve given me a real boost of energy. I’ve got some left.”
Frankie reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, brown paper
bag.

“
Who
did you buy them from? What have they got inside them?” Grace said
in a calm voice.

Pearl yelled
out, “Drugs! That’s what’s inside them. He probably did a dodgy
deal somewhere, in the toilets or outside in a dark
alley!”

Frankie opened
the packet and looked inside. “I bought them off a woman, she was
going round the club with them, everyone was buying them. The woman
said they were liquorice sweets mixed with herbs, she said they
were organic and totally natural, she said they were non-addictive.
Which is good because I can’t stop eating them.”

Grace put her
hand out to grab the bag but Frankie dodged to the side. He opened
the bag and shoved a small, dark sweet into his mouth. Grace shot
forward and grabbed the bag.

“
Hey! Give them back!” Frankie cried out. “Get your
own!”

“
Which nightclub did you get them from?” Grace
asked.

Frankie folded
his arms and stuck his lip out. “Not telling you.”

Pearl pointed to
a stamp on Frankie’s hand. Grace gave her a small nod. The stamp
showed the name of the nightclub – The Black Panther. She’d never
been in but she knew where it was.

“
I
think you’ve had enough for now, and I think you should lie down,”
Grace said.

“
You
can think what you like,” Frankie retorted.

“
Give him a slap! Knock some sense into him!” Pearl yelled
out.

“
Please yourself, I’ll leave you to it,” Grace said, trying
not to sound hurt.