A Deadly Lesson (Storage Ghost Murders Book 5) Page 12

  The corner of Pearl’s mouth lifted. “Go on.”

  Grace unfolded her arms. “I think Abbie’s pregnant and somehow you took away the spirit, or soul, of the baby until she was strong enough to deal with it.”

  Pearl cackled. “Well done! That’s exactly what happened. Although I didn’t know what I was letting myself in for when I first hugged her. I thought I would just absorb her obvious distress so that you could talk to her better. What a surprise I got! Found myself with a bun in the oven, at my age!”

  “Did it hurt? You should have said something,” Grace said.

  “The baby didn’t hurt, it felt nice to have that feeling again. And don’t look at me like that, Grace Abrahams! I’m not about to tell you anything about myself when I was alive!”

  Grace gave a nonchalant shrug. “I wasn’t even thinking that.”

  “You’re a terrible liar. I had to stay away, poor Abbie had been hurt emotionally in the months leading up to her death. She would have done nothing but cry if I’d returned too early. That baby of hers is strong, he wanted to get back into her body.”

  Abbie stroked her tummy. “A boy?”

  Grace stared at Abbie, “Your tummy is already growing. Pearl! Is she going to give birth soon? In our shop? What do we do?”

  Pearl flapped her hands at Grace, “Calm down, he’s not ready yet. When it’s time I’ll take Abbie away.” She paused and looked closer at Grace. “Go on, you might as well ask what you’re thinking, your face is going all twisty, like you’ve got wind or something.”

  Grace said, “I don’t understand how she can still be having a baby, with her being dead.”

  “It’s the baby that decides. Some baby souls wait for the next generation, some float out of the dead mother’s body and find a woman that’s alive.” She smiled at Abbie. “And some decide to be born in the spirit world and to stay with their original mums.”

  Grace wiped a tear away. “Ghost babies, that’s so sad.”

  “Not sad at all! You should hear the racket some of them make!”

  Grace turned to Abbie. “Did you know you were pregnant? Was that the secret that your mum was talking about?”

  Abbie nodded, her hand resting on her extended tummy. “I didn’t know that Mum knew. When I first found out I tried to deny it, I kept thinking it wasn’t happening, I thought it would go away. I think that’s why I couldn’t remember being pregnant these last few days, I’d blocked it out. I’m sorry, I’m causing you all sorts of problems.” She looked round the kitchen. “I don’t understand why I’m back here with you now. I thought I was attached to that driving book, the one you gave to Dad.”

  Grace frowned. “So did I. Abbie, I need to ask you something now, and, please, tell me the truth.”

  “You want to know who the father is, don’t you?” Abbie said.

  “I do.”

  “So do I,” Pearl added. “Whoever it was had a good motive for getting rid of you. But what sort of a man runs a pregnant woman over? Pah! If I was still alive I’d find that monster and ring his neck!”

  Abbie gave a sad sigh. “I can’t remember. Honestly, I just can’t remember. I can see a dark face in front of me but I can’t make out the features. I know it’s the same face that I saw in the car.”

  “Did the father of your child know that you were pregnant?” Grace asked.

  “Yes,” Abbie said with a smile. “He said he was happy, he said he’d look after me. He made me promise not to tell anyone, he said he had to sort some things out first then we could be a proper family.” Her voice broke. “I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone! I promised! Why did he kill me? Why did he kill my baby?”

  Pearl put her arms around Abbie and made soothing noises. She said quietly to Grace, “Don’t question her any more, she can’t take it.”

  Grace nodded. The fact that Abbie was pregnant changed everything. Or did it? She mentally went through the list of suspects.

  Carlos – Abbie had fond feelings towards him. If he was the father he would want to get rid of her, Grace didn’t see him as the family type.

  Brooke – if Carlos was the father she wouldn’t hesitate to get rid of Abbie.

  Julianne – would she be jealous enough to kill her own sister if she thought Abbie was carrying Carlos’ child?

  Ethan – was their friendship more than Abbie and Ethan let on? Grace remembered his blog comment about not being tied down. And he had borrowed Derek’s car shortly before Abbie was killed.

  “You’ve got that look on your face again,” Pearl said. “Are you thinking about ...?” she nodded towards Abbie.

  Grace gave her a quick nod.

  Pearl said, “Abbie’s still attached to something which means she’ll go home with you tonight. Can you give her a good night? Watch telly? Take her mind off things? I think we’re getting closer to a conclusion but it can wait another night.”

  Grace smiled and said, “Abbie, shall we have a night in front of the telly? Frankie will be there but I can tell him to go home if you like.”

  Abbie brightened. “No, let him stay. He’s cute, I can cuddle up to him.”

  Pearl held Abbie at arm’s length and said, “And I thought you were a sensible girl.”

  Grace laughed along with Abbie. How was she supposed to stop thinking about the father of Abbie’s child, the one who had murdered her? She blinked rapidly as she saw Abbie’s stomach grow a little more.

  Grace sent a silent prayer upwards, ‘Please don’t let Abbie have her baby in my house!’

  Chapter 33

  In the shop the next morning, Frankie rubbed his left arm. “You should get the heating sorted out in your house. I had a draft down this side all last night. Can’t you afford the bill or something?”

  Grace smiled. “Of course I can afford the bill. It must be your age catching up with you, I was fine.” She didn’t add that Abbie had been leaning against Frankie last night on the sofa as they all watched a film together. The young ghost was still at his side now.

  Frankie gave a shiver. “You might be right, I still feel cold now.” He took a nervous look round the shop. “I can’t hear any strange voices today. Someone must have had their radio on loud or something yesterday.”

  Pearl cackled at Frankie’s other side. “If he could see us now! A ghost at either side of him, he’d run a mile! Or have an accident in his underpants. Or both!”

  Grace glanced at Abbie’s stomach. Her once floaty top was now stretched tightly over her bump. She looked as if she was about to burst.

  Something caught Frankie’s attention outside. He moved closer to the window and peered out. “Hey, Grace, it’s that driving instructor again, he’s outside. Are you having more lessons? I thought you were all right now.”

  Grace’s hand flew to her forehead. “Oh knickers! I forgot about that. The instructor booked me in for another lesson when I saw him on Monday. What are you sniggering at?”

  Frankie grinned. “You’re so old-fashioned, no one says ‘knickers’!”

  Abbie was sniggering too. Pearl folded her arms and looked at them both. She said, “I’ve got a few choice words to say to these two, shall I let rip, Grace?”

  Grace gave a small shake of her head. She’d have to tell Ted Fairway that she didn’t need another lesson. Or ... she could ask him some more questions about Abbie. Maybe Abbie confided in him. That was unlikely, but she may have told Ted something about her life. Any detail, however small, would help.

  Grace grabbed her handbag and headed for the door. “I’d better take this lesson. It was kind of Ted to book me in.”

  Frankie raised an eyebrow. “Ted, is it? He looks a bit old for you, but I suppose you can’t be fussy at your age.”

  Grace pointed at him. “You’re older than me, and your body is starting to show signs of it, feeling the cold easier and that business with hearing voices. I’ll be an hour or so.”

  The smile dropped from Frankie’s face to be replaced with a look of concern as he lifted his left arm up
to examine it.

  Pearl laughed. “Good retort, Grace!”

  Ted had already moved into the passenger seat in the car. He wound the window down and said, “Morning, Grace, what a lovely morning it is! Are you okay with driving straight away? We can always swap if you like.”

  Grace looked at his cheerful face. She hadn’t the heart to tell him she’d been driving confidently on her own for the last few days. Instead she said, “I think I’ll be all right, thank you.”

  Ted gave her a thumbs up and said, “Righty-ho! Let’s go!”

  Grace placed her handbag on the back seat. Her breath caught as Abbie appeared. What was she attached to? Or was she a ghost that wasn’t attached to anything?

  Grace sat behind the steering wheel and made a show of taking a deep breath before starting the engine up. Ted muttered encouraging words. Grace heard a snort coming from Abbie.

  Grace pulled slowly away.

  “You’re doing fantastic! We’ll soon have you driving on your own. Do you want me to give you directions, or would you like to set off on your own like you did the other day?”

  “I’ll go my own route, if that’s okay,” Grace replied. A familiar route would help as she questioned Ted about Abbie. But where to begin with her questions?

  She drove down the main road. Ted suddenly raised his hand and waved at a woman in a similar car. He said, “There’s the missus, she’s got a young driver with her. She’s much better with them than me! Good luck to her!”

  Ted’s wife raised a hand as her car passed theirs, but she didn’t smile. A spotty teenager was at her side, gripping the steering wheel for dear life.

  Abbie said, “Sour-faced old cow. Look at her, giving you a filthy look! She used to look at me like that. I’m glad I didn’t have lessons with her.”

  Grace saw an opening for a question. “Do you ever teach teenagers? I thought you said you taught that young girl, Abbie.”

  Ted sighed and looked out of the front window. “I did teach Abbie. We had a really busy period and Kath, that’s my missus, said she was too busy to take any more students on. Abbie sounded so eager over the phone so I said I’d take her. Kath wasn’t too happy about it when she found out later, but I told her we can’t turn business away. Watch out for that pedestrian!”

  Grace carried on driving, thinking of other questions to ask. They turned into a quiet road. She jumped as Ted slammed his hand on the dashboard. “Stop!” he yelled.

  Grace did so. “What? What is it? Have I run over something?”

  “There’s danger up ahead. Look, those people are arguing, they’re standing too close to the road.” He tutted loudly. “One of them could step backwards and be knocked down. Drive slowly on, Grace. It’s not just other drivers you have to watch out for, it’s pedestrians.”

  Grace drove slowly past the arguing people. There were three of them, two women and a man. Her heart speeded up.

  Abbie leant forwards and said, “It’s Julianne and Carlos! And Brooke! That’s Brooke’s house over there. Look at Julianne! She looks ready to hit someone. What’s going on?”

  Grace’s scalp prickled. It really was none of her business what they were arguing about. But there again, it could be something to do with Abbie. She had to know.

  Grace drove a bit further down the road, stopped the car and switched off the engine. She turned to Ted as she unbuckled herself. “I’m so sorry, but I know those people. I have to see what’s going on. Won’t be a moment. Sorry!”

  Grace jumped out of the car before Ted could protest. She raced towards the arguing trio.

  As she drew close they stopped shouting and stared at her.

  Chapter 34

  “You!” Carlos roared at her, his accent even thicker. “You! This is all your fault! Everything was fine until you came along!”

  Julianne turned on him and cried out, “This has nothing to do with her! This is about you and this over-made-up cow! I knew you were up to no good but planning to run away together? Leaving me to deal with the business and all the police questions? I don’t think so!”

  Brooke smirked. “I don’t know what’s going on with you two. I don’t know why Carlos is here. Can you go away now? My neighbours are looking.”

  Carlos’ face whitened, he moved closer to Brooke. “What are you saying, my love?”

  Brooke took a step backwards. “Don’t touch me! I don’t know what’s going on with you, Julianne and the police but I don’t want anything to do with it!”

  “Why are you saying these things? We’ve been partners for years.”

  Julianne folded her arms. “She’s trying to deny everything now the police have been in touch with us. Brooke, really? You’re in this mess as much as us.”

  “You have no proof that I’m involved!” Brooke shot out.

  Grace wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but she could guess. She assumed that Derek had been in touch with the police about Last Hope Repossessions, and it seemed that Julianne had come across Carlos and Brooke trying to run away. Grace said, “Brooke, I spoke to someone called Kevin Thompson, does that name ring a bell?”

  Brooke blanched. She stammered, “No, I’ve never heard that name before.”

  Grace sighed. She’d had enough of these people and their lies. “Well, Kevin Thompson has heard of you. You probably know that I went to see Dorothy yesterday.”

  Carlos raised his fist towards her. “You have no right to interfere! Who are you anyway?”

  “A friend of Abbie’s. I promised Dorothy I would find out who murdered Abbie.”

  “No one murdered her, the stupid cow ran into the road without looking,” Brooke said.

  Grace raised her voice. “She was murdered and you make a likely suspect! You left the party in your car just before Abbie was knocked over.”

  Brooke lifted her chin, “You don’t know that.”

  “I do, and I have CCTV footage to prove it.” She faced Carlos and said, “And you left just before Brooke, you’re a suspect too. Why did you kill Abbie? Had she found out about you and Brooke? Or was there another reason you wanted to get rid of her?”

  Carlos threw his hands up. “I don’t know what you’re talking about! I would never hurt Abbie, she was like a little sister to me.”

  All eyes turned towards Brooke. Her head lowered slightly. “It wasn’t me! I wasn’t the only one that left the party that night. I saw Ethan leave.”

  Carlos glared at Brooke. “Ethan! Always going on about Ethan! You love him, you always have. You’ve been tricking me all along, trying to get my money, making me think you love me!”

  “I do love you!” Brooke burst out. Her hands flew to her mouth as if trying to put the words back in.

  Julianne smiled and shook her head. “I knew it, you can’t deny it now. And you can’t deny your involvement with Last Hope. I’m going to tell the police everything I know, and so are you two.”

  Brooke reached out for Carlos, all pretence gone. “I’m sorry! I would never leave you! Please forgive me!”

  Carlos wrapped his arms around Brooke and pulled her close. Julianne looked them up and down and shook her head again. She said, “I can’t believe I fell for all his lies. Grace, can I have a word?”

  Julianne took Grace to one side and said, “I saw Mum last night, she told me about Abbie being pregnant. Dad doesn’t know. Whatever you think of Carlos it’s not possible for him to be the father. He did treat Abbie like a little sister, but he can’t have children, he had a vasectomy years ago.”

  “Oh, I wished I’d known that earlier,” Grace said.

  Julianne added, “I wouldn’t put it past either of them to be capable of murder. When I see the police later I’m going to ask them to look into Abbie’s death again. I’ll let them know about Carlos and Brooke leaving the party. Which brings me to Ethan. Do you think he’s capable of murdering Abbie?”

  Grace shrugged. “I’ve only met him once. If he was the father of her baby he might have felt tied down. I know from his blog th
at he wanted to go travelling.” She sighed. “I don’t know what to think about Ethan really.”

  Julianne said, “I don’t think it was Ethan. He left the party that night because he’d forgotten Abbie’s present. He showed me it later. It was a beautiful necklace, it had a heart-shaped pendant. Ethan was going to declare his love for her, at last! And that necklace was going to be a token of his love. Even if Abbie was carrying his baby I don’t think he’d want to get rid of her. He was broken up when she died, he hasn’t really recovered.”

  Grace looked towards Ted’s car. She could see him looking back at her, she could also see Abbie peering at her. She suddenly realised that Abbie hadn’t come with her to see what everyone was arguing about.

  Julianne said, “I don’t know who the father of Abbie’s baby could be, she never said she was dating anyone else. Although, to be honest, I was too wrapped up in Carlos to notice what was going on in her life. I’ve been a terrible older sister, I should have been there for her more. I should have been kinder to her.” Julianne turned towards the hugging couple. “I’d better go, I’ve got things to do. Those two are going to face up to what they’ve done. I’ll let you know how I get on with the police. Could you give me your number?”

  Grace did so and then said, “I have to go too, I’m in the middle of a driving lesson. I don’t know what Ted must think of me!”

  “Ted? Ted Fairway? But he ...” Julianne said.

  Grace turned away. “Sorry! I really have to go!”

  She jogged back to the car, apologised profusely to Ted, and then drove off. She glimpsed at the scene behind her as she drove away. Why was Julianne waving frantically at her like that? Oh well, she’d speak to her later. Her phone rang. “Sorry,” Grace said to Ted. “I forgot to switch it off, it’ll go to answerphone.”

  “No problem.” Ted gave her a cheery smile.

  Grace’s thought turned to Ethan as she drove along. He was the only suspect left. She needed to find a way to talk to him.