The Death Planner (Storage Ghost Murders Book 6) (7 page)

Chapter
16

Grace
didn’t have time to think about Jenny as there was a sudden influx of
customers. She was constantly busy until 4 p.m. when the shop became strangely
quiet.

Pearl
appeared at Grace’s side and said, “Where did they all go?”

Grace
shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe there’s something good on the telly. Or
someone’s having a sale nearby.” She rested her hands on the counter and sighed.
“I’m exhausted! How’s Jenny?”

Pearl
folded her arms. “She started crying again when you left. I had to be firm with
her. I told her that she couldn’t keep breaking down like that or we’ll never
get to the bottom of her murder!”

“Did
she tell you anything else about Letty?”

Pearl
made a clicking noise with her tongue. “She tried but the words wouldn’t come
out. I’ve seen this before. I think you need to go and see Elsa again, see if
she can give you some information about Letty. And you can find out more about
that slimy married man who she’s carrying on with.”

Grace
checked the time on her watch. “Elsa won’t be closing her van up for another
hour. And I don’t want to leave the shop in case there’s another rush of
customers.” She turned to Pearl and gave her a bright smile. “Which means we
have time to talk about those ghosts that are bothering you. Why won’t you let
me help you with them?”

Pearl
sighed, her arms dropped to her side. “They’re not your problem, they’re mine.
I will deal with them, and I will need help. But not your help.”

Grace
frowned. “Whose help? Who else can see ghosts? Frankie?”

Pearl
tutted. “I’d never ask Frankie to help me. No, there’s someone else who’s going
to help. I’m not quite sure who it is but I’ve feeling that we’ve met before.”

“Who?
When?”

Pearl
said, “That’s all I know at the moment. Right! I’m off, I’ve got things to do.
I’ll have another word with Jenny and then send her through to you, if she’s up
to it. It’d be better if she went with you to see Elsa.” She winked at Grace
and then vanished.

Grace
sighed to herself. Great. Now there was another mystery person to add to the
mix. Grace thought about all the people that she’d helped recently. Who had been
able to see ghosts? She couldn’t recall anyone. She sighed again. She’d just
have to wait.

She
had two more customers over the next hour. She closed the shop at precisely 5
o’clock. She headed to the kitchen and made herself a quick cup of tea to fortify
her strength.

Jenny
appeared at her side and gave her a small smile. “I’m sorry for earlier, for
causing you pain. And I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to give you much help.
And I’m sorry for crying all the time.”

Grace
took a seat and indicated for Jenny to do the same. “It’s okay. Jenny, it must
be very difficult for you. I can’t imagine what you’re going through. But we’ll
get there. We will find out who killed you. Can you tell me any more about
Letty?”

Jenny
looked away but not before Grace saw her eyes welling up. Jenny looked back at
Grace and said sadly, “The memories won’t come to me. Have you ever had that?
Maybe it’s a word, or the answer to a question on a quiz show. You know the
information is there in your head but it just won’t come out.”

Grace
nodded. “I do know what you mean. I went to a pub quiz a few weeks ago with my
brother. I was useless! The information was in my brain somewhere but, like you
say, it just wouldn’t come out. I remembered it later of course. And I’m sure
that you will too.”

Jenny
gave her a grateful smile. “Pearl said that you’re going to see Elsa and that I
should go with you.”

“Yes.
Is that okay?”

Jenny
nodded. “What will you tell her about me?”

“The
truth. That I can see you.” Grace paused. “Jenny, a lot of people are murdered
by someone they know. I want you to prepare yourself for whatever we find out,
no matter how unpleasant.”

“You
think Elsa might have something to do with my murder, don’t you? She didn’t. I
just know she didn’t.”

“I
hope we can prove that. We need to find out more about what happened on the
night you died. Who was at the hotel? What were they doing at the time you
died?”

Jenny
spread her hands out. “I wish I could tell you.”

Grace
quickly drank her tea and then collected her coat and handbag. “Let’s see what
we can get out of Elsa.”

Jenny
stood up. “Can we buy some peppermint creams for her on the way? She loves
those. I used to buy them for her all the time.”

“Sure.”

Thirty
minutes later, Grace stood with a packet of peppermint creams outside Elsa’s
door. Jenny was at her side moving from foot to foot.

The
door opened. Elsa looked at Grace without recognising her. “Yes?”

“Hi.
I bought flowers from you yesterday. I’m Grace Abrahams.”

Elsa
frowned. “Are the flowers alright? Did you want to buy some more? I can open my
van, if you like.”

“No,
thank you. I work at an antiques shop in the town centre.” Grace realised she
was losing Elsa’s interest. “The thing is, I can see ghosts. And at this
moment, the ghost of your sister, Jenny, is standing at my side.”

The
door began to close.

Grace
shoved the packet of peppermint creams towards Elsa. “Jenny made me buy these
for you. She told me about the time that you tried to make them at home once.
She said it was a disaster and even your dad wouldn’t eat them.”

There
was a strained silence as Elsa stared at Grace. Finally, Elsa reached out for
the peppermint creams and pulled them to her chest. “Are you telling me the
truth? Is Jenny really standing next to you?”

Grace
nodded. “She wants to talk to you.”

Fear
flicked across Elsa’s face. “She’s mad at me, isn’t she? She’s mad at what I
did on the night she died! I’m sorry, Jenny! I didn’t know what I was doing!”

Chapter
17

Elsa
burst into tears, the peppermint creams dropped to the floor as her hands covered
her face. Grace stepped through the door and put her arm around Elsa’s shaking
shoulders. “Please don’t cry. Can we talk about what happened?”

Elsa
moved her hands away from her face and nodded. “I’d like to talk about it. I
feel so guilty. Is Jenny still with you?”

Grace
said, “Yes. Can we go into your living room?”

Elsa
wiped her tears away and closed the front door. She picked the sweets up and
took Grace into a small room. Grace caught the delicate aroma from a nearby
vase of flowers. Grace made a quick scan of the room. There was a floral theme
running throughout the decorations and furnishings. Grace noted the photographs
of Jenny and Elsa. There were other family photographs that appeared to be of
Jenny and Elsa’s parents. They looked so happy. There were no photographs of
the mystery man who had been at Elsa’s house the previous evening.

Elsa
insisted on making a hot drink for them both. Jenny floated around the room and
pointed out different things to Grace. “This is a shell from Scarborough. I
didn’t realise she’d kept that. And this is a menu from a party I organised for
her teddy bears.”

Grace
nodded as Jenny continued. It was obvious that Elsa had loved her big sister
very much. Was she really involved in her murder?

Elsa
returned with two full cups and a plate of biscuits. Grace wasn’t sure how to
begin her conversation, she didn’t want to accuse Elsa of anything. She took a
cup and sat down.

Elsa
started the conversation. “It must be cool to see ghosts! How long have you
been seeing them? What do they look like? Are they scary?”

Grace
told Elsa a bit about her ability but then steered the conversation back to
Jenny. It was going to be a difficult conversation, no matter how she looked at
it.

Just
as Grace was about to ask about the last wedding, Jenny hissed, “Don’t tell her
I was murdered! She won’t be able to deal with it! Please!” Grace closed her
mouth and tried to fight down her feelings of annoyance. That was the reason
she was here. She changed tactics. “Elsa, you said you were sorry about
something, something that happened on the night that Jenny died.”

Elsa
lowered her head. “I’m sorry, Jenny. I tried to break it off with Giles. But he
wouldn’t let me.” She looked back up. “He said he couldn’t live without me. He
was at the hotel on the night you died. I’m sorry, Jenny, so sorry.”

Grace
said, “Can you explain yourself from the beginning? I came to see you last
night and saw a man going into your house. Jenny told me about your affair with
someone called Giles. Was it Giles who came to see you last night?”

Elsa
gave a small nod.

“What’s
his surname?”

“Giles
Redfern. Jenny said he was using me, and that he’d never leave his wife. But he
couldn’t leave her, she’s too poorly. He has to look after her. I told Jenny
I’d broken up with him. I tried to, but I love him too much.”

“Is
Giles still married?” Grace asked.

Elsa
nodded again. “He sees me whenever he can. I don’t mind.”

“Tell
me about the night that Jenny died.”

“We
were really busy that day. Jenny was stressed out. I was helping with the
flowers. I love arranging flowers especially at weddings. I was watching the
dancing in the ballroom when I got a message from Giles. He’d booked a room for
us at the hotel! He’d never done anything like that before, it was so romantic!
He said that I was to meet him at 9 o’clock in the room that he’d booked.”

Grace
noted the time. It was the same time that Jenny had gone into the cloakroom.

Elsa’s
brow wrinkled. “I didn’t tell Jenny that Giles was there ’cos she’d know that I
lied to her. I went to the room just before nine. He wasn’t there but I waited.
He turned up about twenty minutes later. He was smiling as soon as he came into
the room, he was so happy to see me!” Elsa grinned at the memory. Her smile
died as she remembered something else. “Then everything changed. I heard
someone shouting outside, I think someone screamed. I ran out of the room and
someone told me about Jenny.” Elsa started to cry again.

Grace
passed her a tissue. “And what did Giles do?”

Elsa
wiped her eyes with the tissue. “He said he had to go. He said he didn’t want
his wife finding out that he was at the hotel, she’d get upset. He left before
the police arrived. I had to promise him that I wouldn’t tell the police he was
there.”

Jenny
floated over to Elsa. “Get rid of him! He’s no good!” She looked over at Grace.
“Ask her about my company, and the money that I left to her.”

Grace
did so.

Elsa
smiled. “Giles helped me with all of that. I’m useless at business stuff so Giles
took over the running of Jenny’s company. I’m glad he did because the company
was losing money! Giles had to sell it. He didn’t get much because there
weren’t many buyers.”

Jenny
shook her head vehemently. “Liar! He’s a liar!”

Grace
said, “What about the money? Where did that go?”

“Giles
looks after it. He’s better at money than me. He’s put it in a bank, in joint
names. He lets me have £500 every month. He’s told me that the rest is tied up
in investments and stuff like that. He bought the flower van for me. I love
working with flowers. Giles really takes care of me. I know that he can’t leave
his wife. I don’t mind.”

Jenny
began to swoop around the room. “Liar! Cheat! He’s evil! Grace, you have to
stop him!”

Grace
changed the subject. “Elsa, can you tell me about Letty? She was one of Jenny’s
friends.”

Elsa’s
face lit up. “Letty! I like Letty. She went to university with Jenny, they were
best friends. Letty came to work with us. Then she had to leave. I met up with
her sometimes, but I couldn’t tell Jenny about it in case she got jealous.
Letty loved hearing about our work. I think she set up her own business but she
didn’t want Jenny to know about it.”

Grace
had another question for Elsa. “I told you that I found Jenny’s things in a
storage unit. Who put them there?”

Elsa
gave her a proud smile. “It was Giles. He said he didn’t want me to get upset
by seeing Jenny’s things. He’s so kind to me. He takes care of everything. Do
you want some more tea?”

Chapter
18

Grace
stayed with Elsa for another half an hour. Elsa kept asking if Jenny was mad
with her. Grace assured her that Jenny wasn’t. She didn’t add that Jenny was
furious about how Giles had treated Elsa. Grace tried asking more questions
about Letty but it was obvious that Elsa didn’t know about Letty’s true nature.
Elsa never asked why Jenny had appeared to Grace, and Grace was grateful for
that. She didn’t want to have to make up another lie.

On
the drive to Grace’s house Jenny said, “I can’t believe Elsa is still involved
with that money-digger! You have to find him, Grace. You have to stop him! What
if he’s spent all of Elsa’s money?”

“I’ll
find him, somehow. Tell me more about Letty. Is Letty short for something?
Maybe a shorter version of Elizabeth?”

Jenny
shook her head. “No. But it’s funny you say that because Elsa is named after my
grandmother, her name was Elizabeth. Letty’s full name is Letitia but she never
liked it. She was named after an aunt or something.”

Grace
gave her a small nod and turned left on to a side road. “And what’s Letty’s
last name?”

Jenny
thought for a moment. “Hang on, it’s on the tip of my tongue. Leigh! That’s it,
Letitia Leigh.”

Grace
nodded again and pulled into her driveway. “I had a feeling that it might be. I
came across her name when I was looking for party organisers online. I’ll have
to show you her website.”

Jenny
was eager to look at Letty’s website and flew over to Grace’s laptop as soon as
they entered Grace’s house. Grace held a hand up and said, “Don’t forget that
I’m still alive and I have needs! I won’t be a moment.”

Grace
changed into her pyjamas and put the kettle on. She made a quick fruit salad
and spooned some yoghurt over the top. She wasn’t in the mood for a hot meal
and she decided she’d been lacking her vitamin intake of late.

When
she was ready, Grace sat next to Jenny on the sofa and fired up her laptop. She
soon found Letitia Leigh’s website.

Jenny’s
hands flew to her mouth and an outraged gasp escaped from her. She lowered her
hands. “I can’t believe it! The scheming … oh! The nerve of her! And look at
those reviews! Those are my customers! The … oh! I’m too mad to speak.”

“You’re
going to have to,” Grace said. “Calm down and start from the beginning.”

Jenny
pointed a shaking finger towards the screen. “That website design, that’s mine!
She stole it! The only thing that she’s changed is her name and contact
details.”

Grace
crunched on a piece of apple and nodded.

Jenny
went on. “And those reviews are from some of my most loyal clients.” She looked
closer. “All of them are my clients! She stole them too!”

“How
would she have got their details?”

Jenny’s
mouth dropped open. She looked into the distance for a moment and then turned
her attention back to Grace. “I think I’m remembering more now. I told you that
Letty followed me to Manchester, and that she turned up at the events that I
was doing. Well, when Mum and Dad died I had no option but to move back to
Leeds and take care of Elsa. Letty came to the funeral. She broke down in tears
and said she was sorry for all the trouble she’d caused me. She said she missed
us being friends, and she wanted to help me in any way she could. I was in a
bad way, I wasn’t thinking straight. Grief does that to you, doesn’t it?”

Grace
suddenly found it hard to swallow the grape in her mouth.

Jenny
said, “I’d already thought about starting up my own business but I didn’t plan
to start it so soon. Letty encouraged me to talk about my future plans. She
said she would help me with everything. I was at such a low point that, against
my better judgement, I said yes. She helped me set up my new business and
everything went well for a while. But then money started to go missing. We
employed temporary staff now and again and I thought it could be one of them.
But it wasn’t just the money. I’d noticed that my paperwork had been interfered
with, particularly my client lists and also the lists of suppliers I’d used.
I’d spent a long time building up those lists.

“I
soon began to suspect Letty but I was too afraid to say anything. But it all
came to a head one day when one of my regular clients came to me and asked if
I’d organise a surprise birthday party for her husband. She mentioned one that
I’d done a week ago. I told her I hadn’t organised any birthday parties for
over a month and it must have been someone else. But she was insistent that it
was me because my business cards were there, and the caterer was one that I
regularly used. She showed me the photos on her phone. I saw Letty in the
background. She was in business attire and talking to the caterers.” Jenny
looked down at her lap.

Grace
put her empty bowl on the table. “I’m assuming that Letty was setting up
parties and events on her own but using your name and contacts?”

Jenny
didn’t look up from her lap but gave Grace a small nod.

“So,
what did you do about it?”

Jenny
looked up. “I had to confront her. She was using my name and my reputation. She
admitted it.” Jenny shivered. “I’ll never forget the look on her face when I
confronted her. I thought she’d be embarrassed. But this evil look came over
her, as if she was glad I’d found out. She didn’t show any remorse. In fact,
she gloated and said she’d been going behind my back for months. That had been
her plan all along. She said she was teaching me a lesson for thinking I was
better than her. I was in tears at that point which seemed to make Letty even
happier.” Jenny wiped away a tear that had escaped. “I’m sorry for getting
upset again. I thought me and Letty were friends. I felt so betrayed.”

“Was
that the end of it? Did she then set up her own company?”

Jenny
gave Grace a wry smile. “I wish that had been the end of it. I did hear that
she’d set up her own company, she stole some of my clients to do so. But some
of them soon came back to me, they weren’t happy with the service that Letty
provided. But it seemed that Letty hadn’t finished teaching me a lesson. At
almost every event that I organised, she would show up. She’d often be in
disguise and it would take me a while to find her. She’d even have the nerve to
dress as one of the waiting staff.”

“I
think Pearl was right when she said Letty sounds like a stalker. Didn’t you
ever tell the police?”

“No.
I should have. I thought that if I ignored her, then she would soon leave me
alone.”

“Jenny,
think about the night you died. Was Letty there? Did you see her?”

Jenny’s
face creased in thought. “I’m not sure. She might have been. I don’t remember
talking to her.” Jenny’s hand flew to her neck, her eyes widened. “Oh! You
think that Letty killed me! No! She wouldn’t!”

Grace
didn’t say anything for a moment. Then she said, “Jenny, someone did kill you.
And from what you’ve told me about Letty, there’s a strong chance that it could
have been her.” Grace looked towards her laptop. “I think we need to pay
Letitia Leigh a visit.”