Murder Vows (Storage Ghost Murders Book 4) (16 page)

Frankie
jumped up in alarm. “No! They’ll come back! They’ll try to buy the kitchen! I
have to go!”

Frankie
turned towards the stairs. He paused and cocked his head to one side. “Have
they gone yet?”

“Who?”

“That
woman and her big friend, you know, that woman who was giving us a quote for
upstairs. Did you say that man was her fiancé?”

“Jessie?
Is she here?” Grace made her way to Frankie’s side.

Frankie
nodded. “I can’t hear anything upstairs. They came here just before nine. She
said she needed to have another look upstairs, that man went with her. I was
going to take them a cup of tea but they were having an argument, so I left
them to it.”

“What
time did they leave?” Grace asked.

Frankie
shook his head. “I don’t know, I was under attack. The site! Grace stop
nattering, I’ve got to take that notice down!”

Frankie
thudded upstairs.

“Hmm,
I wonder what they were arguing about,” Grace mumbled to herself.

“We
know exactly what they were arguing about! Just wait ‘til you hear this!”

Pearl
appeared at Grace’s side, her hands on her hips. Archie appeared at Grace’s
other side, looking less ready to impart what he’d heard.

“You’d
better sit down, Grace, this could take a while,” Pearl instructed.

Grace
did so, Archie and Pearl sat at either side of her.

Pearl
began, “Your brother’s right. Jessie turned up this morning. It was obvious she
didn’t want that gorilla with her. When she came in she was looking around the
shop, I think she might have been looking for you.”

“I
wonder why,” Grace mused.

Pearl
glared at her. “Don’t interrupt. And you,” she pointed at Archie. “You speak
when I tell you too. And stop smiling! I’m serious. I’m only little but I can
still wallop you!”

Grace
said, “Pearl, I’m listening, you don’t need to threaten Archie.”

Pearl
suddenly grinned, “I can’t help it, I like controlling him, I wish I could keep
him. Anyway, Jessie went upstairs to the stockroom, the big lump followed her. Jessie
told him to go away but he said he wasn’t leaving her, she was in shock and he
wanted to be there for her. Jessie went on about her dad, saying there was no
way he was guilty. She was going to find out the truth, find out why Gordon was
lying. Then that brute got hold of her arm.”

Archie’s
fist clenched. “I wish I could hit him. Why can’t I hurt him? You hear stories
about ghosts hurting people.”

“It’s
not in your nature,” Pearl patted his hand. “Now, shut up, I’m telling Grace
what happened. That brute grabbed Jessie and said Gordon did do it. He said
that he’d been working on the doors underneath the honeymoon suite balcony when
Archie died. Jessie said she knew that because he called her out to help him at
some point. Rob then said she was only there for a while, he stayed there all
day. He said that nobody broke in to the room, not from outside as Gordon had
claimed. Rob knew that Gordon was lying the minute he gave his statement to the
police.”

Grace
looked from Pearl to Archie. “So, does that mean that Gordon killed Archie and
then staged a break-in? And Rob knew about this? Why didn’t Rob say anything?”

Pearl
continued, “That’s exactly what Jessie asked. There was a silence and I could
see the cogs working in her brain. She pointed at Rob and accused him of
blackmailing Gordon. Rob asked why would he do that. Jessie replied that he’d
got Gordon to say nice things about him, to get Jessie to go out with him. Rob
denied that, he thought Jessie wanted to go out with him of her own accord.
Then it was Rob’s turn for the cogs to turn. He shouted at Jessie and said the
only reason she was marrying him was because he was going to put his money into
Gordon’s firm. There was a lot of shouting and swearing going on. That Jessie
knows a few good ones, I’ll have to remember them!”

Pearl
chuckled. Grace looked at her expectantly. Pearl said, “What? Oh, the rest of
the conversation? They shouted, Rob stormed out. Jessie swore a bit more and
then she went out.”

Archie
said, “You left out the best part. The wedding’s off, between Jessie and
Archie.”

Grace
nodded. “That is good news. But their argument hasn’t given us much more
information. If we’re to believe Rob, then it wasn’t him who killed Archie, it
was Gordon.”

They
were all silent. Grace spoke first, “No, I don’t believe it was Gordon, but I
think we’re getting nearer to the truth.”

Chapter 33

Pearl
said, “Tell us what you found out at Lily’s house. Did her mum slam the door in
your face?”

“She
did,” Grace began. She told them about her visit, about how Lily had died and
the items that Ruth Berry had found in Lily’s room.

Archie
frowned. “Perfume? But Jessie didn’t wear perfume. Lily must have taken the
perfume from someone else’s room.”

“It
was her perfume!” Lily flashed into view, her hands were clenched to her chest.
“It was in her room, with her dress and her shoes! Why won’t anyone believe
me?” Her bottom lip jutted out, she folded her arms and turned her back on
everyone.

Grace
remembered something. “Archie, when we were at the hotel you said you remembered
something on the dressing table that caught your attention. Could it have been
a bottle of perfume? It could have caught your attention because it was an
unusual thing for Jessie to have.”

“Aha!”
Pearl cried out. “It was poisoned perfume. You found it in the honeymoon suite,
thought, ‘What the heck? My Jessie doesn’t wear this stuff’, then you squirted
it on yourself and down you went, dead as a doornail.”

Archie
shook his head slowly. Then he stopped. His mouth dropped open.

“It’s
all coming back to him now!” Pearl declared.

“Archie,
is that what happened?” Grace asked.

Archie
rubbed his forehead and grimaced. “It did. Oh, that memory hurts. No wonder
I’ve been blocking it out. Pearl’s right, I did see a bottle of perfume on the
dressing table, an expensive-looking one. I’d gone in to the room intending to
lie down, I walked over to the French doors to draw the curtains. I saw the
perfume and was immediately intrigued. Was Jessie going to wear perfume on our
special night? I picked the bottle up and looked at the label, it wasn’t a
scent I recognised. Being curious I thought I’d have a quick sniff. I squirted
some in the air but couldn’t make out any fragrance. So, I squirted a good deal
on my sleeve. Then I took a big inhale and ...”

“Fell
to the floor, dead as a dodo,” Pearl finished for him.

“Yes,
but I didn’t die immediately, I recall being suddenly unable to breathe and I
knew it had something to do with the perfume. I knew I’d been murdered.”

“Murdered
by Jessie’s perfume,” Grace said. “She was outside with Rob whilst this was
going on. Gordon came into the room and found you on the floor. He must have
seen the perfume bottle at your side, he must have thought that Jessie murdered
you. That’s why he tried to make it look like a break-in.”

Archie
shook his head. “I don’t believe Jessie would do that. Why is Gordon confessing
to the murder now?”

Grace
said, “Jessie’s been going through a hard time recently, she’s broken down in
front of me a few times. Gordon may have been concerned that she was going to
admit to your murder. He’s protecting her.”

Pearl
added, “And, meanwhile, Rob thinks Gordon did the deed and, whether he admits
it or not, has been using that information to blackmail Gordon in some way.”

“But
Gordon has seen how upset Jessie is becoming about marrying Rob so he
confesses, knowing that Rob can’t blackmail him any more,” Grace concluded.
“That does make more sense, but I don’t think Jessie did it. I’ve only met her
a few times but I can see how much she loves Archie. Why would she do it? And
what happened to the perfume bottle?”

Lily
spun round. “I told you! I found it, I tried to give it back to that lady but
she said I could have it!”

“Where
did you find it?” Grace asked gently, she didn’t want Lily to disappear again.

“In
a cleaning trolley, we have bins on them. I saw a cleaning trolley near the
honeymoon suite. It was when the police were on their way, I heard their
sirens. I thought Mum would be mad if she saw this cleaning trolley so I moved
it. The perfume was sticking out. I didn’t know it was perfume ‘til I unwrapped
it.”

“Unwrapped
it?” Grace asked.

Lily
nodded. She reached down the front of her dress and pulled something out. “It
was wrapped in this.”

“My
handkerchief!” Archie declared. “That’s where it went!”

Grace
nodded. “Gordon must have wrapped the perfume bottle up in it, he must have put
it in that cleaning trolley. Lily, why didn’t you give it to the police?”

“It
didn’t belong to them, that older lady put it in the room. I saw her when I was
hiding. I tried to give it back to her but she said I could keep it, she told
me to take it home.”

Grace
put her elbows on the table and rested her face in her hands. She closed her
eyes. She’d missed something so obvious. Or rather, someone so obvious.

She
opened her eyes, put her arms down and looked at Archie. “Tell me about your
relationship with Sylvia.”

Chapter 34

“Sylvia?
What do you mean?” Archie said. “We were good friends, she was always on hand
to help me out. I couldn’t have managed without her at the wedding.”

Pearl
put her hand on Grace’s shoulder and said, “Of course, Sylvia. We haven’t heard
much about her.”

Grace
shook her head. “I should have thought about it earlier. Archie, what do you
mean about being good friends?”

Archie
said, “When I first met Jessie, Sylvia was the only one to welcome me with open
arms Literally open arms She was a hugger, with me anyway. She phoned me every
day, made sure me and Jessie were getting on well. She helped plan our wedding.
She used to joke and say it was like we were planning our own wedding. She
helped me book the honeymoon, she told me about her ideal destination, it
looked amazing so I booked the place that Sylvia suggested. She said if Jessie
couldn’t make it to the honeymoon she’d gladly go with me. She was always
making jokes like that.”

Grace
and Pearl shared a look, they didn’t need to speak. Lily sat down near Archie
and stared at him.

Grace
said, “How did she help you on your wedding day?”

“She
was concerned about my migraines. She insisted that I give her a packet of my
pills so she could put some in her room, which was nearer to the wedding
reception rooms than mine. I saw her speaking to the DJ early on in the day,
she must have told him again that we didn’t want any flashing lights.”

“Did
she?” Pearl muttered the question in a way that said she doubted that’s what
Sylvia had done.

Archie
went on, “I told you that she helped put all of Jessie’s things away. She had
her own key to the honeymoon suite, she insisted on putting Jessie’s dress
away. Lily, you helped her, didn’t you?”

Lily
merely nodded, not taking her eyes off Archie.

“What
happened when you got your migraine?” Grace asked.

“Sylvia
was right at my side, she’d been keeping an eye on me all day. She started to
lead me out of the room but then Jessie caught up with us and stopped her.
Sylvia looked annoyed and so did Jessie. Sylvia said something funny, she told
Jessie to go upstairs and change into her other clothes. Jessie said she’d got
used to wearing the dress and wanted to keep it on. Sylvia said Jessie didn’t suit
dresses, her arms were too muscular. I wanted to intervene but my vision was
starting to go. I remembered the migraine tablets in my pockets, I quickly took
them whilst Sylvia and Jessie were arguing. Sylvia was still going on about
Jessie needing to change, said she needed to freshen up and that she’d put
something special out for Jessie. I staggered out of the room when no one was
looking. I thought I’d deal with Jessie and Sylvia later. Then ... you know the
rest.”

Pearl
leant back on her chair and folded her arms, a satisfied look on her face. Lily
jerked her thumb at Archie and raised her eyebrows as if she couldn’t believe
what she’d just heard. Grace slowly nodded her head.

Archie
looked around the table. “What’s going on? What have I missed?”

Lily
burst out, “Are you kidding? That Sylvia was in love with you!”

“No,
she wasn’t. We were good friends, that’s all,” Archie said.

Grace
said, “She was in love with you, Gordon probably knew it which is why he hated
you. And Sylvia was probably the one who told the DJ to have flashing lights so
that you’d have to go to her room. I think it was Sylvia who put the perfume in
the honeymoon suite.”

Archie’s
brow wrinkled. “If she was in love with me why did she kill me?”