Murder Vows (Storage Ghost Murders Book 4) (10 page)

BOOK: Murder Vows (Storage Ghost Murders Book 4)
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The
lift doors opened and Beth indicated for Grace to step out. Grace did so and
automatically turned the right way towards the honeymoon suite. Beth didn’t
notice. They walked down the carpeted hallway until they reached the honeymoon
suite door. Beth took out a key that was attached to a metal chain, the other
end of the chain was attached to Beth’s waistband.

“Master-key,”
Beth explained. “I’ve already lost two. I swear that Old Raspberry, sorry, Ms
Berry, would sew it to my hand if she could. Hang on, this key always gets
stuck. I don’t know why we still have keys, all the other hotels have those
plastic card things that you shove in a slot.”

Beth
jiggled the key in the lock. Grace was almost tempted to tell her to twist the
lock twice to the left to open it.

Grace
looked at Archie. His hands were clasped behind his back, a smile on his face.
Grace could see the effort it was causing him to keep it there.

The
door opened and they entered. Beth folded her arms and sniffed. “You wouldn’t
believe the amount they charge for this room.” She stopped, her eyes widened in
horror. “Sorry! Of course, if you’ve got your heart set on this hotel then I’m
sure you’d be very happy with it.”

Archie
began to walk about the room, his arms still tightly clasped behind his back.
Grace left him to it. She moved closer to Beth and lowered her voice. “I’ve
always wanted to have my wedding here but I’m a bit worried about what
happened. You know? The break-in and the ...”

Beth
finished her sentence in an awed whisper, “... murder!”

Beth
looked behind her, she ran over to the door and shut it. She went back to
Grace, glee shining out of her eyes in the manner of someone who has juicy
gossip to share. She said, “The murder, happened in July 2012. I’ll never
forget that day. The groom, I think he was called Archie, he was gorgeous! And
so polite too. Kept saying thank you to everyone, called us by our names. Some
of the girls, not me, were hoping he’d get jilted at the altar so they could
have a chance with him!”

Grace
glanced towards Archie, he was standing by the dressing table and looking down
at it. Grace doubted that he was listening to them.

Beth
went on. “Oh! I can’t believe he was murdered! The waste! We’ve never had
anything like that here. We’ve had things going missing from rooms, all hotels
do. But we’ve never had a beak-in from outside. The police said someone must
have climbed on to the balcony from outside, they must have used a ladder, and
they saw that lovely man asleep on his bed. Why did they have to kill him? Why
didn’t they just get what they wanted and scarper?”

Beth
shook her head. Grace did the same. She didn’t want to stop Beth’s flow.

Beth
didn’t stop, she moved even closer to Grace. “I thought there was something
fishy going on though. His new father-in-law, I can’t remember his name, had a
face like thunder all the way through the wedding. I thought he was going to
stop it at one point. And his bride, I shouldn’t say this, but when her dad
told her about Archie being dead, she fainted clean away. Didn’t cry out or
anything, just fainted. Like she’d been practising it. It wouldn’t surprise me
if they were in it together, the bride and her dad. You could tell that Archie
had money, I bet they killed him for that.”

Beth
folded her arms tightly and gave Grace a satisfied nod.

Grace
said, “What did the police think? Did they question the bride and her dad?”

“They
questioned everyone, but they still thought it was a break-in. I think they
missed something.”

Grace
nodded. Those were her thoughts too. She jumped as Archie called out, “Grace! I
think I’ve remembered something. I have to talk to you.”

Beth
gave Grace a curious look. “Are you all right? You seem jumpy. It wouldn’t
surprise me if  Archie’s ghost was still here, looking for revenge. Do you want
to see the bathroom? Or the walk-in wardrobes? They’re huge, you could fit five
people in there.”

Grace
smiled at her and said, “Would you mind if I was left alone for a while? I want
to get a feel for the place, see if it’s going to be suitable.”

Uncertainty
crossed Beth’s face. Grace added, “I know Ms Berry said I shouldn’t be left
alone but I really would appreciate it. I wouldn’t tell Ms Berry.”

Grace
could see Beth making a decision. Beth’s mouth curved to a smile as if she was
already enjoying the idea of going against Ms Berry’s orders. She said, “I’ll
give you five minutes, I’ll wait near the lifts.”

“Thank
you,” Grace said. She waited until Beth had left the room then she turned to
Archie.

He
was still standing near the dressing table. He said, “I feel like I’m reliving
the events from that day, even my head is aching. On the afternoon of the
wedding I came into this room and was about to close the curtains when
something on this table caught my eye. I remember feeling bemused, or do I mean
confused? Anyway, I walked towards it and I think I picked it up. There’s a blank
in my memory but then I recall falling down. I still have that thought of
murder in my mind as I ... died.”

Grace
made her way to Archie’s side. She took the hammer necklace from her handbag
and held it up. She explained, “I think we should try going into a vision. I
told you earlier that when I touched something that belonged to a ghost at the
same time as them, we could be taken in to a vision from the past. We could
both touch this necklace. Are you willing to give it a go?”

The
gold hammer dangled in front of Archie. He nodded and said, “Let’s do this.”

He
reached out and touched the necklace, his hand slightly passed through the
chain.

The
honeymoon suite began to fade around them.

 

Chapter 21

 

Grace
and Archie found themselves in the reception area of the hotel. Grace studied
the scene in front of her. She said to Archie, “I think we’ve gone back to your
wedding day. Look, I can see you coming through the main doors.”

Archie
grimaced. “Well, this is the weirdest thing I’ve ever experienced. Can we talk
to anyone? Can we touch anyone? Are you sure they can’t see us? I feel like I
could reach out and touch Sylvia on the elbow.”

Grace
shook her head. “It’s like we’ve stepped into a TV show. We can see and hear
everything, but they can’t see us. Watch out!”

Archie
flinched as the wedding day version of himself walked through his body.

Ghost
Archie said, “What are we doing here? Why are we in this vision?” He looked
around. “Is there some clue that we’ve missed? Was there a person at the
wedding that we forgot about?”

Grace
pressed her lips together and frowned. She took a step back and watched the
activity around her. Wedding Archie was chatting away to the maids, asking them
to take presents in to the ballroom. Grace could see the admiration in their eyes.
Beth was amongst the maids, she was almost salivating as she gazed at Archie.

Grace
pointed towards the main doors. “Gordon’s coming in now.” She paused. “That is
definitely a face like thunder. But does he have murder on his mind?”

Archie
looked behind Gordon and out into the car park. “I think I can see Rob, he’s
smiling. That evil, slimy smile of his! What’s he up to? Has he just said
something to Gordon? Been bad-mouthing me again. Can we go outside and follow
him?”

“We
can try.”

Grace
and Archie walked towards the main doors. Grace walked straight in to
something.

“Ouch!”
she rubbed her head. “That hurt. It felt like we walked in to an invisible
force field.  Well, I guess we know the answer to your question.”

Archie
moved closer to Grace. “Sorry about that. Are you okay?”

 “I’m
fine. There must be something we have to see at this time, and in this place.
But what is it?”

Grace
and Archie moved back to the reception area. Ms Berry was on duty. Grace
studied her face, the woman didn’t crack a smile at all.

Grace
suddenly felt a tightening in her stomach. Was that what they were meant to
see? She recalled the events on the CCTV footage and then looked at her watch.
This would be about the right time.

Before
Grace could warn Archie, Ms Berry did the thing that Grace was waiting for. She
smiled. Not an ordinary smile, it was a smile that you gave to someone you
loved. It transformed Ms Berry’s face and took years off her.

Grace’s
head seemed to move in slow motion as she turned it to see who Ms Berry was
smiling at. She saw Wedding Archie chatting to Sylvia and Gordon, and she saw a
group of maids picking up various pieces of luggage. Grace saw Beth, and
another maid that seemed familiar. The other maid had her back to her and had
just bent over to pick up a small case. Was it the maid that Grace had seen in
the honeymoon suite with Beth a few days ago? What was her name? Carol?

Grace
was about to ask Archie if he recognised the other maid when the scene swiftly
faded. Grace found herself back in the honeymoon suite with Archie.

Archie
released his ghostly touch from the necklace. His eyebrows rose. “Well? Did you
see something that I missed? Do we need to go back?”

Grace
put the necklace back in her handbag. “I’m not sure. I think I was supposed to
see who Ms Berry was smiling at but I didn’t quite catch who it was.”

“What’s
she got to do with my death?”

“I
don’t know. Had you met her before your wedding?”

“No.
Were you thinking she was a jilted lover of mine? Out to get her revenge?”
Archie said in a gleeful manner.

Grace’s
cheeks felt warm. She looked down at her bag and made a fuss of closing the
zip. She muttered, “That thought never crossed my mind.” She patted her handbag
and looked back at Archie. He was smiling at her as if he could read her mind. Grace
lifted her hand to the right and said, “We haven’t been out on the balcony yet.
I want to see how high up it is. See if there’s a way someone could have
climbed up.”

“Like
some conveniently placed trellising,” Archie suggested. He moved towards the French
doors and put his hand on the handle. “Oh! I keep forgetting I can’t touch
things. Sorry, you’ll have to open the doors yourself.”

“I
think I can manage. I appreciate your attempt at chivalry anyway.”

Grace
opened the doors and stepped out on to the small balcony, Archie followed.
Grace took a deep inhale of the fresh air. She looked across the hotel gardens
and towards the woods that surrounded the hotel. It really was beautiful.

Archie
was looking over the sides of the balcony. “I can’t see any trellising, and I
don’t remember there being any on our wedding day.” He nodded and turned back
to Grace. “You’d definitely need a ladder to get up to this balcony.”

Grace’s
next thought was interrupted by a man’s laugh, followed by a male voice saying,
“Come on, give us a quick kiss! No one can see us here.”

Grace
looked at Archie. He had a funny expression on his face. Grace pointed to the
floor of the balcony, the man’s voice was coming from underneath it.

There
was the sound of a woman’s laugh. She said, “Get your hands off me, can’t you
wait until we get home? We’ve got work to do.”

Grace
was about to smile at overhearing the secret lovers when she noticed something
strange about Archie’s body. Her scalp prickled as if an army of ants had
suddenly decided to hold a dancing competition there.

A
black mist had covered Archie from head to toe. His fists were clenched at his
side and his nostrils flared.

Grace
had seen this happen before with a ghost that she’d met, the ghost had been
permanently angry and his hate had manifested a black mist around him. Just
like Archie was doing now.

Despite
her fear, Grace took a step forward and calmly said, “Archie? I can see
something has upset you. Please, try to calm down.”

Archie
turned hate-filled eyes towards her. Grace flinched and involuntarily took a
step backwards. Archie hissed, “Those voices below us ... I know them ... they
belong to Jessie and Rob!”

 

Chapter 22

 

“Are
you sure?” Grace asked.

The
black mist around Archie moved in and out as if it was breathing. Through
clenched teeth Archie said, “It is them.”

Grace
looked over the side of the balcony. She could see a pair of men’s work boots
but nothing else. She turned to Archie. “We’ll have to go downstairs and take a
closer look. Your mind might be playing tricks on you, maybe because of where
you are.” Grace paused and took a deep breath. “You have to calm down before we
leave this room. Can you see the black cloud that’s surrounding you? I’ve seen
this before, it’s a cloud full of hate. You can’t think straight whilst that’s
around you. Do you think you can calm down?”

Archie
blinked in surprise. He looked at the black mist. He moved his hands up and
through it. He tried to smile. The mist began to evaporate. Archie’s smile
became an apologetic one. “Sorry, Grace. I don’t know what came over me then.
Are you okay? Did I scare you?”

BOOK: Murder Vows (Storage Ghost Murders Book 4)
8.1Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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