The Death Planner (Storage Ghost Murders Book 6) (8 page)

Chapter
19

Jenny
pulled her knees up to her chest and mumbled, “It can’t be Letty, she wouldn’t
do that to me.”

Grace
needed to take Jenny’s mind off her murder for a while. She pressed some keys
on her laptop and brought up some videos. “I’ve got a few things to do, have a
shower and all that. Look, here’s a video of local and national events over the
last five years. Do you want to watch it?”

Jenny
said quietly, “Has it got all the Olympics’ news on it? I had parties already
booked for that summer.”

Grace
nodded. “And it’s got all the pictures from the royal weddings and the births.”

Jenny
smiled and released her knees. She moved closer to the laptop. Grace pressed
play and then left Jenny alone for a while.

Grace
retreated to her bedroom and quickly wrote down the details of all the murder
suspects. Letty was top of her list, followed by Giles Redfern. She hadn’t had
time to check on him yet. What about Elsa? Was she really capable of murdering
her sister? Grace didn’t think so. But she didn’t rule her out.

Grace
took a long shower and tried to put all thoughts of murder from her mind. Once
those thoughts had gone, they were replaced with ones about Frankie and his new
girlfriend. Was he really serious about this one? It was early days. There was
no need for Grace to be concerned. A selfish thought pushed its way forward.
She didn’t want Frankie to leave the shop, she didn’t want him to move on with
his life. She didn’t want to be left behind, on her own.

She
gave herself a mental shake and told herself not to be silly.

Grace
returned to her bedroom and saw that she’d got a text from Frankie. She read it
and her heart missed a beat:

‘Do
you know any good estate agents? Thinking about getting a house. Have you got
any spare toilet rolls? I’ve run out.’

Grace’s
hands shook as she typed a reply. No, she didn’t have any spare toilet rolls.
He could buy his own. And, no, she didn’t know any estate agents. She left it
at that. Looking at houses was one thing, actually buying one was a totally
separate matter. There was no need for Grace to panic. Then why did it feel
like the earth was moving beneath her?

Grace
spent a few more minutes upstairs and then returned to Jenny.

Jenny
was looking at the bookshelf in Grace’s living room. She was writing on her
clipboard again. “You could put these in alphabetical order. Or in author
order.”

“Yes,
I suppose I could.”

Jenny
floated over to Grace’s CDs and DVDs. She waved her pen over them. “These
aren’t in order at all! I’m surprised that you find anything.”

“I
manage,” Grace replied. She sat on her sofa again. “Let’s have a quick look for
this Giles person.” She stifled a yawn. “Then I think I’m ready for my bed.”

Jenny
came to her side and watched as Grace typed in Giles’ name.

A
number of images came up. None of them lived locally and most of them were over
the age of fifty.

Grace
asked hopefully, “Do you recognise any of them? I know you haven’t met Giles
but you might have seen him in passing without realising who he was.”

Jenny
peered closer. She shook her head.

Grace
took her phone out and pulled up the photo that she’d taken of the back of
Giles’ head. They tried to match them to the photos on the screen. It was an
impossible task.

Grace
sighed. “He could have given Elsa a made-up name. I don’t really know where
else to go with this. I could try and follow him if he turns up at Elsa’s house
again.”

Jenny
nodded. “That’s a good idea. You could drive over there now and see if he’s
there.”

Grace
shook her head. “I’m too tired to think, let alone drive.” She made to turn her
laptop off but then paused. “Do you want to watch anything else on here?”

“No.
I’m going to have a good think about things. I feel like my mind is clearing up
a bit.” Jenny looked over at Grace’s shelves. “Are you sure you don’t want to
sort out your shelves? It won’t take long. I could make you a plan.”

Grace
turned her computer off and stood up. “No, thank you. I’ll see you in the
morning. I’ve got the day off work tomorrow so we can have a full day of
investigating.”

Jenny
gave her a hopeful smile. “I think we might find out who killed me tomorrow. Do
you?”

“Maybe.
Goodnight.” Grace deliberately left her phone downstairs. She could see that
another message had come through from Frankie. She was pleased that he’d met
someone but, at the moment, she didn’t want his happiness to be shoved in her
face. She muttered to herself as she climbed the stairs, “You’re turning into a
bitter woman, Grace Abrahams!” She suddenly smiled as she imagined what Pearl
would say about her feelings of self-pity.

Despite
all her worries, Grace had a good night’s sleep. She woke up with renewed
vigour, determined to find out who had killed Jenny Lorrimer.

And
she was going to start by visiting the two-faced evil friend who had betrayed
her.

Chapter
20

Grace
stopped outside the office of Letitia Leigh’s business. “Wow! This is
impressive. And right in the centre of Leeds too. The rent around here must be
sky high.” Grace held her phone to her ear to give the pretence of speaking to
someone who was … alive.

The
ghost at her side seethed with anger. Jenny clenched her fists. “That’s my
logo! It was my plan to set up an office here! How dare she! Grace, march in
there and give her a piece of my mind!”

Grace
carried on talking into her phone, “Look through the window, there are people
sitting at desks. They all look very young. Can you see Letty anywhere?”

Jenny
pressed her face against the window. “No. I can’t see her. Are you going
inside?”

Grace
nodded and put her phone down. “If I need to say anything to you I’ll type a
text, okay?”

Jenny
nodded, her mouth set in a thin line.

Grace
pushed the door open and walked into the brightly lit building. Jenny exploded,
“Look at those photos on the wall! Those are the events that I organised!” She
shot over to one picture. “Look! You can see the back of my head in this one.”
Jenny whooshed away from the photo and flew up and down the shop. “Where is
she? Where’s she hiding? I’d love to get my hands on her!”

Grace
would have typed Jenny a text asking her to calm down but she reasoned it was
better for Jenny to release her anger now.

A
glamorous-looking girl in a red uniform approached her. She smiled and said,
“Good morning. How may I help you today?”

Jenny
swooped to Grace’s side and hissed, “Letty’s in that office at the end! I can
see her, the witch!”

Grace
said, “I’m thinking about throwing a surprise party for one of my friends.”

“I
can help you with that.” The woman moved her open hand towards her desk.

As
nice as the woman was, Grace didn’t want to talk to her, she needed to talk to
Letty. “I was wondering if I could speak to the owner, Letitia Leigh.”

The
woman’s smile seemed slightly forced as she said, “Ms Leigh is busy at the
moment. I’m sure I could help you.”

Grace
held her head a bit higher. “I would rather speak to the owner. I intend to
spend a lot of money on the party and I want to know what my options are.”

“What’s
your budget?”

Jenny
swooped to Grace’s other side and warned, “You’d better pick a high number. You
should see the prices that they’re charging!”

Grace
tried to sound confident as she said, “£100,000.”

The
woman blinked but didn’t say anything.

Grace
carried on, “The party is for a good friend, a very good friend. That figure
was only my starting budget. I’ve heard good things from my friends about Ms
Leigh and I would rather speak to her.”

The
woman swallowed and said, “Just a moment please.” She walked towards the office
at the end of the room and tapped on the door. She shot Grace a curious look as
if she was deciding whether to believe her or not. Grace gave her a gracious
smile as if it was an everyday occurrence for her to be spending so much on a
celebration.

Jenny
was floating around the room and muttering to herself, “These are my clients.
These are my contacts.”

The
saleswoman returned to Grace a short time later and informed her that Ms Leigh
would see her now. She led Grace towards the small office, the door was open.
Grace thanked her and walked into the office. She stopped in her tracks when
she came face-to-face with Letitia Leigh.

She
looked like Jenny. She had the same colour hair and it was cut in the same
style as Jenny’s. She was wearing an updated version of Jenny’s business suit.
Her facial features were larger but, from a short distance away, Grace almost
thought she was seeing Jenny’s double.

Letty
held her hand out in greeting. Grace took it and immediately noticed Letty’s
eyes. They were calculating eyes. They quickly scanned Grace as if calculating
what her worth was. Grace knew immediately that she couldn’t trust this woman.

Letty
spoke, “Good morning, I’m Letitia Leigh. My colleague has informed me that
you’re interested in our services. Please, do take a seat. Would you like a tea
or coffee?”

Grace
wouldn’t normally turn down such an offer but she wasn’t intending on staying
in this office long. There was something about Letty that was sending shivers
down her spine. Grace refused the offer of refreshments and took a seat.

Jenny
moved to Letty’s side. Her mouth dropped open as she stared at her. Jenny
looked at Grace, pointed at Letty and raised her eyebrows. When she finally
spoke all she could manage was, “My hair! She’s stolen my hair!”

Letty
took her seat behind a large desk and laid her clasped hands on the desk. “What
kind of event are you looking at, Ms …?”

“Ms
Abrahams. It’s a surprise party for a friend. I went to an amazing wedding a
while back. It was in Manchester.” Grace gave a small chuckle and put one hand
on her chest. “I do believe the wedding cost over a million pounds! Perhaps
you’ve heard about it.”

Letty’s
smile didn’t falter. “No.”

“Liar!
You were there!” Jenny pointed an accusing finger at her.

Grace
carried on, “I think the wedding was organised by a big company in Manchester
but there was one person in particular who was really helpful. She worked for
that company. Now, what was her name?” Grace tapped her chin and made the
pretence of thinking. “Ah! Jenny! That’s it. Her name was Jenny Lorrimer! Have
you ever heard of her?”

Letty’s
smile now looked as if it was glued on. “No. That name doesn’t ring a bell.”

Jenny
folded her arms and stared at Letty.

Grace
wasn’t sure how much further she could push this line of questioning. Letty
looked as if she was ready to throw Grace out. She carried on anyway. “Jenny
gave me her business card at that wedding. I saw that she’d moved to Leeds soon
after and set up her own business. I didn’t need her services but I kept an eye
on her website in case my friends needed anyone. I looked up Jenny’s website
yesterday for my own needs, but it wasn’t there anymore. But I came across your
site. It looks remarkably similar to Jenny’s! Are you sure you don’t know her?”

Letty’s
smile finally dropped. She looked at her watch and said tightly, “I didn’t know
her. I am very busy this morning.” She looked back at Grace and tried to
resurrect her smile. Her smile was having none of it. “Can you tell me what
event you’d like us to plan?”

Grace
hadn’t missed Letty using the past tense for Jenny. She had one more thing to
try before she left. “Oh, yes. I’ve got the details in my bag.” Grace lifted
her handbag on to the desk and began to take things out. Her hand shook
slightly as she reached for Jenny’s headset. She placed it slowly on the desk
and watched Letty’s reaction.

The
colour drained from Letty’s face as she looked at the headset. She raised a
shaking hand and pointed at it. Her voice cracked as she said, “Where did you
get that?”

“Oh,
didn’t I say? I buy storage lockers. It was inside one of them. It caught my
eye for some reason.” Grace clicked her fingers. “I know what it was! I saw that
lovely girl, Jenny, wearing one of these at that wedding. I’ve kept this in my
bag to remind myself to organise a party for my friend.” Grace lifted the
headset up and held it out to Letty. “Do you ever use things like this? Would
you like a closer look?”

Grace
may have well been holding out a poisonous snake to Letty for she jumped out of
her chair and raced towards the door. The door was flung open and Letty ran
through it as if the hounds of hell were on her heels.

Jenny
looked towards Grace and shrugged. Grace waited a moment for Letty to return.

She
never returned and Grace was asked politely, but firmly, to leave the premises
by the same young woman who had first greeted her. She was informed that
Letitia Leigh would not be able to help her with her event.