Murder Vows (Storage Ghost Murders Book 4) (3 page)

“Can
you talk to her? Find out her name?” Grace asked.

Archie
shook his head. “She’s gone now.”

Grace
sighed. What did the young woman know? And why wasn’t she showing herself to
Grace?

Chapter 5

Grace
said, “I think I should go to The Sycamore Hotel, I can go today. I could
pretend I’m thinking of booking a wedding there.”

“Good
luck with that,” Archie said. “Be prepared to be intimidated. I never cared for
the hotel but Gordon insisted on having it there. I think he liked the status
that it gave him.”

Grace
looked down at her clothes. “Should I change? I think I might have a business
suit at home.”

Archie
smiled. “You look perfect, just as you are. Do you want me to go with you?”

Grace
glanced at the suitcase. “I’m not sure how it would look with me carrying that
suitcase around if I’m only enquiring about booking the hotel. Do you think you’re
attached to anything in particular inside the case? Do you mind if we take a
look?”

Archie
shrugged. “I don’t mind at all.”

Pearl
said, “I bet you’ve got some lovely clothes. You look like a man of taste.”

Grace
knelt, unzipped the case and opened it. Everything inside had been packed
neatly. Archie crouched at her side. He said, “These are my honeymoon clothes.
I’ve never worn them.”

Grace
could sense his sadness. “Would you mind if I took some items out? See if
there’s anything hidden away.”

“You
go ahead. Don’t mind me, I’m being a miserable so and so. There’s just
something sad about clothes that have never been worn.”

Grace
tried to lighten the mood. “I have plenty of clothes that have never been worn.
I get them in the sales, usually in a smaller size, in the hope they will fit
me one day. I call them my ‘optimistic clothes’. My problem is that I like cake
and chocolate too much!”

“You’ve
got a lovely figure, why would you want to lose weight?” Archie asked.

Grace
felt her cheeks heating up again. As lovely as his compliments were Grace
wished he would stop, she was trying to be professional.

Grace
laid Archie’s clothes out in a line at the side of the suitcase. Her hand froze
as she touched an item. “Oh. Sorry, Archie, these seem to be your wedding clothes,
the ones that you’re wearing now.”

Archie’s
brow wrinkled. “That’s strange. Why would my wedding suit be in there? I wasn’t
planning on taking it on honeymoon. In fact, Sylvia, that’s Gordon’s wife, told
me to leave my suit behind. She said she would arrange for it to be cleaned
whilst we were away.”

Grace
gently picked up the wedding suit jacket, trousers and shirt, and placed them
to one side. She peered into the case. “Even your wedding tie is in here. I do
like that colour. It’s like a deep red.”

“Yes,
I like it too. I chose it. Like I said, Jessie wasn’t interested in all of
this. It’s a good job I had Sylvia to help me with the organising of the
wedding, she’s got a good eye for fashion. She used to be a model in her
younger days. Jessie is nothing like her. She doesn’t bother with make up and
fancy products. Not that she needs to, she’s beautiful. She doesn’t even wear
perfume.”

Grace
looked at the wedding clothes. A niggling thought flew into her head, and just
as swiftly, it flew out again.

Archie
gave an embarrassed laugh. “Don’t look at all my lotions! I know it’s not very
manly but I like to look after myself.”

Pearl’s
voice floated down to them. “I like a man who looks after himself too.”

Grace
had almost forgotten Pearl was there. She looked again into the suitcase, it
was empty. She waved her arm over the items that she had taken out. “Is there
anything of sentimental value here? I could try taking each item outside and
see what you’re attached to.”

“Oh
no! I won’t having you doing that. I’m sorry, Grace, I’m not thinking straight.
My head feels like it’s stuffed with cotton wool.” Archie coughed. “My throat
is staring to feel sore again. What do you think it means?”

Grace
straightened up. “It could be related to how you died. I’ll go to The Sycamore
Hotel and see what I can find out. I’m not sure if I will find anything but
it’s always worthwhile visiting the ...” She stopped and stared at the
suitcase.

Archie
stood up. “It’s all right, you can say it. You need to visit the crime scene.”

Grace
gave a slight nod. “I’ll let you know what I find.”

Pearl
put her hand on Archie’s arm. “You stay here with me, I’ll look after you.”

Grace
didn’t miss the flash of panic in Archie’s eyes. Being the gent that he was, he
quickly recovered and said thank you to Pearl.

Grace’s
last view of the ghosts was Pearl leading Archie away towards the other side of
the shop. They slowly faded as they walked.

Where
were they going?

And,
more importantly, would Archie be all right?

Grace
smiled. He would have to fend for himself. She needed to get to The Sycamore
Hotel. It was already getting dark outside, she didn’t want to be out too late.

When
she arrived at The Sycamore Hotel thirty minutes later she was thankful for the
dark, it hid the rusty spots that covered Frankie’s van. She promised herself,
again, that she would get her own car soon.

Grace
gave her hair a quick brush before she left the van. She looked at herself in
the mirror and shrugged. She’d have to do.

She
entered through a huge revolving door. She took a few steps forwards and
stopped. It wasn’t the opulence of her surroundings that made her heart almost
stop, it was the sight of the wedding dress ghost. She was here and she was
waving to Grace.

Grace
moved towards her.

Chapter 6

The
young woman smiled at Grace and held her dress out. She said, “Do you like my
dress? Well, it isn’t really mine but I’m sure she didn’t mind me trying it
on.”

Grace
glanced towards the reception area. A smart-looking woman stood behind the desk
talking to a group of people. No one was paying Grace any attention.

Grace
whispered to the ghost, “Who are you? And who are you talking about? Who does
that dress belong to?”

“Jessie,
of course. I met her here. She’s lovely. She wouldn’t mind me wearing this
dress. It’s mine now.” The woman twirled around, the skirt of the dress flew
outwards.

Grace
said, “Do you mean Jessie that married Archie? The ghost that you were dancing
with earlier?”

The
woman nodded. “He’s gorgeous! Far too old for me but he’s cute. I’ve been
watching you in your shop. That old woman fancies Archie! She had her hands all
over him!”

The
woman put her hands to her mouth and giggled. Grace tried to guess her age.
Twenty-five? Maybe younger? Grace asked for her name again.

“I’m
Lily. Do you like my name? I love it. It’s Mum’s favourite flower. She used to
call me her ‘Little Flower’.” Lily looked down at the marble floor. “She
stopped calling me that a few years ago, after the trouble.”

Trouble?
What trouble? And did it have anything to do with Archie?

Grace
would have to save those questions for later. “Lily, when I saw you at the
storage unit place earlier you said I had to help someone. Who did you mean?
Why do they need help?”

Lily’s
hands flew to her ears, her eyes squeezed shut. “No! I don’t want to think
about it! The pictures won’t get out of my head!”

In
a soft voice Grace said, “It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me now. But if you
do want me to help someone I will need to know more. The person that you want
me to help – do they have anything to do with Archie?”

Lily’s
eyes were still closed. Grace wasn’t sure if Lily heard her question or if she
chose to ignore it.

Music
blared out from a nearby room. Lily’s hands dropped and her eyes sprang open.
She cried out, “Oh! The dancing! It’s the dancing time. I love dancing!”

She
picked up the skirt of her dress and ran towards where the music was coming
from. Grace checked behind her, the woman on reception was still busy with her
customers so Grace followed Lily.

Lily
skipped into a large room. As soon as Grace walked in she knew it was a wedding
party. On the dance floor the groom lovingly held his bride in a tender
embrace. They looked into each other’s eyes as they moved around the dance
floor watched by their family and friends.

Grace’s
eyes prickled. Thoughts of Archie flooded her head. Had he looked just like
that groom as he’d danced with his new wife? Were their heads full of shared
hopes and dreams for the future? What a waste. Grace felt a rush of sympathy
for Archie’s widowed wife.

A
voice chimed out in Grace’s head, it sounded very much like Pearl’s, ‘Don’t
feel any sympathy for his wife, she might have been the one who murdered him!’

Grace
pressed her lips together. That was true. She hadn’t met Jessie yet but it was
possible that she could have killed Archie. Grace didn’t know what Jessie’s
motive would have been, but that was something she needed to find out.

Lily
had skipped onto the dance floor. She spread her arms wide and began to dance
around the newly married couple. With a smile on her face she looked like some
sort of angel bestowing good wishes on the couple. The slow song ended and the
couple kissed. Faster music started up and people made their way to the floor.
Lily clapped in delight and began to dance amongst them.

Grace
could see that she wouldn’t get any more information from Lily at the moment so
she left the room and headed back towards the reception area.

The
woman behind the desk was now free. She looked up as Grace approached her.
Grace smiled. The woman didn’t return it. She looked Grace up and down and
moved slightly backwards. Grace’s smile faltered. She was quite sure she didn’t
have the plague. How rude!

“May
I help you?” the woman asked coldly.

Grace
noticed her name badge – ‘Ms R. Berry’. A snort nearly escaped from Grace. R.
Berry? Like ‘raspberry’? What an unfortunate name.

Grace
held her head high and said, “I’d like to enquire about making a booking.”

“For
what?” Ms Berry said.

“For
a wedding. My wedding,” Grace replied, keeping herself calm.

Ms
Berry looked at Grace’s left hand, her eyebrows raised. “Your wedding? And when
are you planning to get married? May I ask if you are already engaged?”

Grace
felt heat rush through her. There was no need for such rudeness. She said, “I
don’t think that’s any of your business. I want to book a wedding reception
here, are you able to accommodate me or not?”

Ms
Berry folded her arms, her lips curled as she looked Grace up and down again. “This
is an exclusive hotel, it’s out of budget for most people. Are you sure you
want to consider this hotel?”

Grace
took a step closer. In a firm voice she said, “Yes, I do. And what’s more I’d
like to see the honeymoon suite. Is that a problem? Or do I need to speak to
the manager?”

Ms
Berry stared at Grace. Grace held her stare and didn’t flinch.

Eventually,
Ms Berry blinked. She sighed and reached under the desk. She pulled something
out and handed it to Grace. It was a glossy brochure.

Ms
Berry said, “You’ll find all our information in there, including the prices. We
have a three- year waiting list, and if you do make a booking,” she paused and
looked at Grace as if highly doubting it, “you’ll need to pay a deposit of
£20,000.”

A
deposit?

Grace
nodded as if that sum of money meant nothing to her. “And the honeymoon suite?
I’d like to see it now, please.”

Ms
Berry allowed her smirk to fully develop. With great satisfaction she said,
“You can’t see it, it’s booked for tonight.”

Chapter 7

Grace
wasn’t going to be put off that easily. She said, “Then I’d like to book an
appointment to see it another day. I could make it tomorrow.”

Ms
Berry’s smirk dropped. She pulled an open book towards herself, looked down at
it and said, “We can’t do tomorrow. The earliest is Tuesday at 10pm. You could
look at the room online, you don’t need to see it in person.”

“I’d
like to see it in person,” Grace replied calmly. “Please could you book me in.
Thank you.”

Ms
Berry said, “Just for yourself or will your ... fiancé be coming with you?”

“I
don’t know yet.” Grace gave Ms Berry her details. Really! It was a wonder they
had any bookings at all with an attitude like that.

Satisfied
that her details had been written down correctly Grace said a polite thank you
and headed towards the main door. Grace jumped as Lily suddenly appeared in
front of her.