Murder Vows (Storage Ghost Murders Book 4) (2 page)

Grace
nodded. She lifted her head and called out, “Please show yourselves. I’m Grace
and this is Pearl. We’d like to help you but we need to see you.”

There
was another deep laugh. A shape appeared in front of Grace, it was a human
shape. It shimmered for a while and then became solid.

It
was the man from the storage unit. He was tall and even more handsome close up.
He smiled at Grace. Grace felt her heartbeat quicken.

In
a deep soft voice he said, “Hello, Grace and Pearl. I’m Archie, Archie Goodwin.
It’s a pleasure to meet you both.”

Grace
glanced at Pearl to make sure she could see Archie too. Pearl was staring
intently at Archie, then she suddenly blinked and, just as suddenly,
disappeared.

“Oh!
Pearl? Where have you gone?” Grace called out. There was no reply. She turned
back to Archie and said, “I’m sorry about that. I’m sure she’ll come back. I’ve
found that ghosts do that a lot.” She paused. She’d had a case recently where a
ghost didn’t know that she’d died. Grace looked closer at Archie. Did he know
he was dead?

It
seemed like Archie caught her thought. “Don’t look so worried, I’ve worked out
that  I’m dead. And thank you for your offer of help, I think I’m going to need
it.”

Grace
looked to the left and right of Archie. “Where’s your wife?”

Archie
frowned. “Wife?”

“That
woman you were dancing with earlier.”

Archie
ran his hand through his dark brown hair. “Now, that is a mystery. I’ve never
seen that woman before but she was wearing my wife’s wedding dress.”

Chapter 3

Grace
asked Archie, “Did you die on your wedding day? Is it okay if we talk about
that?”

Archie
nodded and gave her a wry smile. “I’m guessing that’s why I’ve appeared to you.
Have you done this sort of thing before? Helped ghosts? Have you seen ghosts
all your life? You must be brave, I’m not sure I could cope with that.”

“It’s
a recent thing, and yes, I was scared at first but I’ve got used to it.” Grace
felt a warmth on her arm, she knew what that meant. Pearl had returned, she was
the only ghost that felt warm when she touched Grace.

Grace
looked over her shoulder. She felt her neck crack as she did a double take.
“Pearl! I didn’t know you could take your housecoat off.” Grace narrowed her
eyes. “Are you wearing lipstick? I didn’t know you could do that.”

Pearl
moved to Grace’s side and said, “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” She
extended her ghost hand towards Archie and treated him to a full view of her
teeth as she smiled. “I do apologise for disappearing so abruptly, please
excuse my bad manners. I’m Pearl, I help Grace with her ghost business. I used
to be in the same trade when I was alive.”

Grace
blinked. She had never heard Pearl talk so politely, she hadn’t sworn once yet.

Archie
took Pearl’s hand and shook it. Pearl actually giggled and then she drew Archie
towards herself, grabbed his face and planted a kiss on each of his cheeks.

“How
continental,” Archie said when Pearl finally let go of him. Grace didn’t miss
the dazed look on his face, he looked as if he’d been hit by a bus. Poor man.
And what was going on with Pearl? She was far too old to be giggling.

Grace
spoke, “Archie was just telling me that he died on his wedding day.”

A
spark of hope flared up in Pearl’s eyes. “Was that before or after the wedding
ceremony?”

Archie
looked at his left hand. He smiled. “I’m glad to say that it was after the
ceremony although I can’t remember much about it.”

“Memories
will come back to you in time. What can you remember? Pearl! What are you
doing?”

“I’m
looking for signs of bodily injury,” Pearl said. She ran her hands down his
back. “No, I can’t feel anything untoward here.”

Grace
was embarrassed on Pearl’s behalf, which was just as well because Pearl showed
no qualms about frisking Archie. To his credit, Archie smiled good-naturedly as
Pearl continued patting him down.

Grace
said, “Pearl, you’ve told me before that injuries don’t always show up straight
away.”

Pearl
gazed up at Archie’s face. “We’ll start as we mean to go on, thorough and
professional. Open your mouth please. Oh! Haven’t you got lovely teeth? If you
don’t mind me saying, you remind me of that George Clooney fella. Don’t you
think so, Grace?”

“I
suppose so. Archie, can you tell me what you do remember about your wedding day?
Do you feel any discomfort anywhere?”

Archie
frowned as he considered Grace’s questions. “My throat does feel sore, like
I’ve been coughing, and my nose feels blocked. I’m not sure if that is to do
with my murder or if I had a cold before I died.”

Grace’s
breath caught. “You said ‘murder’. Do you know that you were murdered?”

“I
certainly do. It was my last thought before I died. Sorry, I can’t tell you
more than that. I hope it does come back to me. I do remember that the wedding
took place at The Sycamore Hotel.”

Pearl
let out a low whistle. “That big fancy hotel? I thought only royalty and
millionaires got married there.”

Archie
nodded. “So did I. My fiancée, well, I should call her my wife, booked it. Her
name is Jessie West. Her dad, Gordon, paid for everything. He’s a builder and I
think he did some urgent work for the hotel when they were let down by another
contractor. The hotel gave him a discount.” Archie paused and looked into the
distance. “The wedding is starting to come back to me. I remember the dancing.
Then there was a pain in my body and I had to leave the room. I think I went to
our room. We had the honeymoon suite.”

He
stopped and sighed.

“Don’t
worry, you’ll remember more later. That gives us a start,” Grace said. “Do you
know when you got married?”

Archie
laughed. “I’ll never forget that date! I was forever quoting it for all the
bookings that we had to make. Jessie wasn’t one for making a big fuss so she
left it to me to book flowers, cars, catering and all the other stuff that goes
with a wedding. The date was 20
^th
July 2012. Just a few weeks ago.”

Grace
and Pearl shared a look. Grace said, “It’s the first week of November 2014 now.
You’ve been dead for over two years.”

“What?
That can’t be right.” Archie looked between the two women. “If I’ve appeared to
you then does that mean that whoever killed me has got away with it?”

“It
could be the case,” Grace admitted. Grace thought about the young woman ghost who
was wearing the wedding dress. She’d said to Grace, ‘Will you help her?’ Who
was she talking about? Was the person who murdered Archie planning to kill
again?

Chapter 4

Archie
sat on the suitcase that came with the locker contents, a frown on his face.
“Who would want to kill me? I don’t think I had any enemies. But then, I
suppose most people think that, don’t they?”

Pearl
sat next to Archie. Grace noted that Pearl was so close she was almost sitting
on Archie’s knee.

In
a gentle voice Grace explained, “From the murders that I’ve dealt with, the
murderer has been known to the victim. Sometimes it’s a member of the family.

Archie
said, “We invited all our family and friends to the party.” He paused, looked
down at his wedding ring and then back at Grace. “I seem to think we left
someone out. There was some sort of bad feeling but I don’t think it was on my
part. I try to get along with everyone, I don’t see the point of carrying
grudges round with me.”

Pearl
patted his knee. “That’s because you’re a real gentleman. I can tell, I’ve met
many men in my life, most of them weren’t gentlemen.”

Grace
said, “Can you remember more about this person that didn’t come to the wedding?
Was it male or female?”

Archie
shook his head. “No, sorry, I can’t remember. I’m being completely useless, I
do apologise.”

Pearl
patted Archie’s thigh. “No need to apologise. Grace will work everything out in
the end. She’s a bit slow with her investigations but, like the tortoise, she
gets there eventually.”

Grace
pressed her lips together. At times like this she never knew if Pearl was being
insulting or paying her a compliment. A bit of both, she supposed.

However,
back to Archie. Grace questioned him further. “So, we know you died after your
wedding, probably during or after the dancing. Did you die at the hotel? Or was
it somewhere else?”

Archie
ran his hand through his hair again. Grace briefly registered the thickness of
his hair, and the young style. It suited him. She blinked and gave herself a
mental shake. If she didn’t control herself she’d end up mooning over him, just
like Pearl was doing. Had Pearl moved even closer to him?

Archie
said, “I think I died in our suite, the honeymoon suite. The last thought I had
was that someone had done something to me. As my eyes closed I felt the
softness of the carpet on my cheek. It was a lovely carpet, one of those thick
ones you want to walk on in your bare feet.”

Grace
nodded. “Okay, so it would be a good thing for me to visit the hotel. I could
have a look at the honeymoon suite. It would help if you could come with me,
Archie.”

“How?”
he asked. “I’m not even sure how I moved from that locker to here. And speaking
of lockers, why was I in one?”

“Ghosts
sometimes attach themselves to something, an item that means a lot to them.
Wherever the item goes then the ghost goes too.” Grace looked at the contents she
and Frankie had brought in. “Do you recognise these items? Is there anything in
particular that you feel a strong attraction to?”

Archie
stood up and moved amongst the items Pearl was at his side like a shadow.
Archie shook his head. “I’ve never seen these things before. My gran used to
have a lamp like that one over there, but it was a different colour.”

“There
must be something. Please look again,” Grace insisted.

Archie
indicated towards the suitcase that he’d been sitting on. “Apart from my case,
there’s nothing. Oh! The suitcase! Of course. I’m attached to that. Sorry, I’m
not usually this slow, Grace.”

Grace
smiled at him. “It’s fine. Let me try something.” She picked the suitcase up,
walked through the kitchen and out of the back door. She stood in the yard,
placed the case on the floor and waited. Within two seconds Archie was at her
side.

He
laughed. “So, I am attached to it. That’s so strange. Be careful what you do
with that case! I don’t want to end up somewhere unsavoury for all eternity!”

Grace
looked at Archie for a moment. His good humour seemed forced, she could see the
sadness in his eyes. She said to him, “I’m sorry you’re having to go through
this, it can’t be easy. When I’ve found out who murdered you and, hopefully,
brought them to justice, then there won’t be any need for you to stay here.”

Archie
put his hands in his pocket. In a quiet voice he said, “But where will I go?
Will I be all alone? I’m not the kind of person who likes being alone.”

“The
other ghosts that I’ve helped have been happy to go. They sort of glow and then
head towards a white light. There’s always a feeling of joy and peace about
them so it must be a wonderful place that they go to. Once, I heard voices on
the other side of the light, they were cheering for the ghost to come forward.
I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.”

Archie
gave Grace a direct look. “Thank you for explaining that, and thank you for
helping me. I’ve only known you a short while but I can tell you’re a good
person.”

Grace
felt a warmth flood her cheeks. She mumbled, “It’s okay.”

She
jumped as there was a sharp rap on the kitchen window. Pearl glared out at them
and indicated, rather rudely Grace thought, for them to come back in.

Archie
laughed. “She’s, what my grandad would call, a real firecracker. Is Pearl
attached to something? Can she leave the shop?”

“Pearl
doesn’t tell me much about herself. She says she tells me what I need to know
and nothing more.” Grace picked up the suitcase and walked into the kitchen.

Pearl
looked furious. “There’s a bloody ghost that has been dancing around the shop!
She’s driving me mad!”

“What
ghost?” Grace asked.

“The
one in the wedding dress. She keeps wailing about helping someone. She’s
getting on my nerves! Grace, you’ll have to sort her out.”

Grace
took the suitcase into the shop and put it down. Archie appeared at her side.
Grace said, “I can’t see her anywhere, can you?”

Archie
pointed towards some shelves. “I can see her. I wish I could remember where
I’ve seen her before.”

“Oi!”
Pearl called out. “Dancing girl! Stop that right now!”

“Pearl!
You’ll scare her away!” Grace warned.

Archie
said, “She’s stopped dancing now. What’s she doing? She’s putting her fingers
to her lips as if she knows a secret.”