A Deadly Lesson (Storage Ghost Murders Book 5) Read online

  Abbie let out a sigh and unclenched her fists. Her lips trembled as she nodded at Grace. “I’d like to try again.”

  “Thank you. I’ll get the book.”

  Ten seconds later they placed their hands gingerly on the driving book. Grace’s stomach felt like a family of snakes were nesting there, all coiled up and ready to spring into action. Abbie looked as if she felt the same.

  “Ready?” Grace asked.

  Abbie nodded.

  Grace pressed her hand more firmly on the book.

  Abbie’s eyebrows rose. “Isn’t something supposed to happen?”

  Grace nodded. “Give it a minute.”

  After two more minutes she said, “For some reason it’s not working. I’m sorry.”

  “Can’t you force it to work?”

  “No, I don’t even know how it works in the first place, it just does. Never mind, thanks for trying.”

  Abbie’s hand dropped to her side. “What are we going to do now? If I can’t remember who knocked me over, what are we going to do about getting more information? Do I have to hang around here for ever?”

  Grace put the book down. “I’ll think of something. We need more details about the night that you died. I need to know who was there, and if they were driving. We could make a list.”

  “What if it was a stranger who knocked me down? I might have just thought that I knew them. I can’t think of anyone who would want to kill me.”

  Grace could, she already had three suspects in mind – Julianne, Carlos and Brooke. She knew they all had something to hide. She even suspected Ethan. He’d been at the party that night, she didn’t know much about him.

  Normally, she’d share this information with the ghost, get their input and opinion. But not with Abbie, she was too young, and too fragile.

  “I can’t remember everyone who was there, and I don’t know who was driving. Can we watch something on the telly? I don’t want to talk about the party.”

  “We need to talk about it,” Grace said firmly. “Photographs! Someone must have taken photos. Although, whether they’ll be published online is another matter.”

  “Why?” Abbie asked.

  “It’s not a considerate thing to do, is it? Post photographs of someone’s party when that person had died the same night. Who would be that inconsiderate?”

  They looked at each other. In a quiet voice Abbie said, “Brooke might.”

  Grace took Brooke’s details and soon found her online. She had her own blog, it was filled with images, mostly of Brooke. Grace said, “She gets around a bit, doesn’t she? Doesn’t seem to have many friends. And I can’t see any of her and Ethan which seems strange if they’re supposed to be a couple. Let’s see how far back this blog goes.”

  Grace typed in the date of Abbie’s death. There was a photo of Brooke smiling. Her spider-eyelashes looked bigger than ever.

  Abbie said, “That was taken at my party, I can see Julianne and Carlos on the dance floor behind her.”

  Grace said, “Brooke’s got a funny smile on her face, almost like a smirk.”

  Abbie nodded. “I’ve seen that smile before, it’s her, ‘I’ve got a secret,’ smile. What does it say under the photo? Grace! Don’t try and hide it! I have to know!”

  Grace scrolled back down and read out what Brooke had posted two hours after Abbie had been killed: ‘Tonight was the best night of my life! All my dreams came true!’

  Chapter 22

  A scream erupted from Abbie. It was full of pain and anger. Her face twisted as she spat out, “That cow! That ...! How could she! She was the one that killed me! I know it! The nasty, sour-faced cow!”

  Grace cringed as Abbie found more colourful words to describe Brooke. She ended with, “I can’t believe I was taken in by her! All those years! I bet she laughed as she ran me down in that fancy car of hers, that fancy car that her dad bought her. I hope I dented it!”

  Grace waited for Abbie to run out of steam, then she gently said, “We don’t know for certain that Brooke killed you. She could have been happy for another reason ...” She trailed off, it sounded false to her ears. Brooke was definitely up to something.

  Grace said, “We need more photos, we need to know who else had a car that night.”

  “Why?” Abbie exploded. “Go round to that lying cow’s house and confront her!”

  “We need evidence. Was there anyone else who might have posted photos?”

  Abbie let out a snort of impatience. She folded her arms and glared at Grace.

  Grace went on, “I’ll keep Brooke as a suspect, but we have to know about all possible suspects. Did anyone else have a blog?”

  Abbie relented, “Ethan had a blog. It’s funny, he used to put photos on of places he wanted to travel to. Not posh hotels or big mountains, but stuff like the local toilets and run-down trains. He said he didn’t want to be a tourist, he wanted to be a visitor.”

  Grace smiled. “I can appreciate his style, but I’m not sure about seeing local toilets. What’s his full name?”

  Within a minute they were reading Ethan’s blog. Abbie was laughing and calling him an idiot. Ethan had been on his travels and there were many images of local amenities with Ethan standing at the side of them, thumbs up.

  Grace typed in the date of Abbie’s death. Tears sprang to her eyes as she read Ethan’s post.

  Abbie pointed and said, “He’s devoted a whole post to me. Where did he get all those photos of me from? I bet he got those from Mum and Dad. Oh, look at what he’s written. That’s nice, isn’t it?”

  Grace gulped and brushed a tear away. “It’s very moving. It’s obvious that he loved you.”

  “I like that bit about his heart breaking as I took my last breath. Bit soppy, but I like it.”

  Grace stood quickly and strode towards the kitchen, calling out over her shoulder, “I think my curry is ready!”

  She took a few minutes to compose herself. She wasn’t ruling Ethan out as a suspect, even if he did have the heart of a poet. She wasn’t sure what his motive could be, or if he even had access to a car on the party night. She returned with her meal and sat on the sofa again.

  Abbie said, “I wish I could still eat, that looks lovely.”

  Grace waved her fork at the screen. “He’s said, that as a mark of respect, he’s going to post the photos of your party – at some point. Let’s have a look at his other posts. Oops! I’ve gone backwards.” Grace stared at the words on the screen. “That’s a funny thing to write. This is one week before your party. He says he’s off on his dream adventure soon, and nobody is going to stop him, especially not some interfering so and so who’s trying to tie him down.” She looked at Abbie. “What does that mean?”

  Abbie shrugged. “Don’t know. He didn’t have a girlfriend.” She frowned. “If he did, he never said so. Maybe he’s talking about his mum? She was always nagging him.”

  “Maybe,” Grace said. She took mouthfuls of food as she scrolled through Ethan’s blog entries. She stopped at a collection of photos. They were posted six months after Abbie had died. The first one showed a smiling Abbie at her party, wearing the same clothes that she was wearing now.

  Grace put her finished meal down and said, “Are you okay to look at these?”

  “Yes. What are we looking for? Any suspicious behaviour? Any nasty spider-eyed witches staring at me? I wish I could go into one of them vision things at the party. I’d whack that Brooke over the head with my book.”

  Grace ignored her last comment. “I’m not sure what we’re looking for. Any unusual behaviour, anyone looking nervous, that sort of thing. Did Ethan take lots of photographs that night?”

  “Yeah, he was a right pain.” Abbie stopped and looked down at her top. She looked back at Grace, an embarrassed smile on her face. “He said he wanted me to remember how beautiful I was that night.”

  Grace smiled. “That’s nice. Right, let’s start going through these photos. You’ll have to tell me who everyone is, although I do recognise so
me people. There’s your dad. Oh! Is that your mum? You look just like her.”

  Abbie sniffed. “Can we go and see Mum? Please? You can ask Dad for the address. Promise me, please.”

  “I’ll try,” Grace reassured her. “I’d like to speak to her too.”

  They spent the next twenty minutes going through the photographs. There were a few surprises.

  Abbie swore at the photo of her and Brooke together. She muttered, “Look at her face! I’ve got my arm around her but she’s leaning away from me! She’s not even smiling, she looks like she’s in pain. Two-faced ...”

  Grace pointed to a photo of Julianne and Carlos on the dance floor. Abbie nodded and said, “They make a lovely couple, don’t they. She’s so lucky.”

  Grace didn’t point out what was obvious to her. Julianne had her head on Carlos’ chest as they danced. Carlos’ eyes were fixed on a buxom brunette behind Julianne. The brunette was smiling at Carlos. No doubt the camera had caught him just before he started winking at her.

  There was another picture of the ‘lovely couple’. Julianne had her hands on her hips and looked angry. Carlos had his hands up in an apparent helpless expression. Had Julianne just found him up to no good?

  “Finally! A photo of Ethan!” Grace said. “You two look good together, smiling into each other’s eyes. It’s so clear that you love each other. It must have been obvious to others.”

  “Nobody said anything, they thought we were just good friends.”

  “Even Brooke?”

  Abbie gave a slow shake of her head. “I don’t know what to make of Brooke any more. Do you think she found out about me liking Ethan so much? Is that why she killed me?”

  “We don’t know if she killed you. That’s a nice shot of the CCTV system. Did Ethan take that?”

  Abbie giggled. “That was me. You can see Ethan’s hair in the corner of the photo. We were fighting over his camera and I pressed it.”

  Grace wasn’t listening. She moved closer to the photo. She smiled, turned to Abbie and said, “We’re now going to do something illegal.”

  Chapter 23

  Grace tapped away at her laptop. Abbie moved closer to her. Grace explained, “I met a lovely ghost recently called Archie. He had a company that specialised in security, including CCTV cameras and such. He told me that most businesses that have CCTV erase their recordings after a while so they have room for new footage. He also told me their company kept all the recordings ever made by all their clients. They kept it secure online in case any footage was ever needed. Archie showed me how to get access to that footage. I noticed that the CCTV at your party was one that Archie’s company had installed.”

  Abbie frowned. “Isn’t that illegal? To go poking round other people’s businesses? Looking at their private recordings?”

  Grace nodded. “Archie helped me install some sort of cloaking device which means I won’t be detected.” She paused, and then added, “Hopefully. Right, here we are at The Old Highway Man pub’s account. I’ll type in the date of your party again.”

  Abbie moved slightly backwards. “I don’t think I want to see myself, you know, alive and happy.”

  Grace noted Abbie’s concern. “You don’t have to watch. Feel free to fly around my home. I’ll make notes and let you know what I’ve found.”

  Abbie considered Grace’s suggestion, her face screwed up as she thought. Finally, she said, “No, I’ll stay. I might spot something that you miss.”

  “If you get upset at any point, let me know, and I’ll stop. Okay, I’m on the right date. Let’s fast-forward to the start of your party. When did it start?”

  “About eight, but I got there with Mum and Dad at seven to set up. Mum made all the food and Dad had made the decorations. Can we skip that part? I don’t want to see it.”

  “Okay,” Grace replied. She could always come back to it another time when Abbie wasn’t at her side.

  The CCTV system at the pub consisted of two cameras. One was placed facing the main entrance doors, and the other looked over the car park. Abbie told Grace that there was a back entrance too, but most people used the front door. Grace sighed with irritation at the lack of a camera covering the back door. Never mind, she’d make do with what they had.

  They watched the screen as people arrived at the party. Abbie stood at the door and welcomed people in. Grace saw Abbie flinch next to her as Brooke arrived and hugged the Abbie on the screen.

  In a hopeful voice Abbie said, “Do you think Brooke was kidding about not liking me? Maybe she was saying that so she looked tough or something. She might be covering up her sad feelings.”

  Grace gave her a direct look and said, “I wish I could lie to you and say that’s a possibility, but I can’t. Brooke is a nasty and selfish woman. Try not to think about her. Let’s fast-forward a bit. It’s getting darker in the car park, those lights aren’t doing much to make it easier to see. Oh! Just a minute, someone is driving out of the car park. They must have gone out of the back door. Bother! I can’t make out the number plate.”

  Abbie giggled. “Who says ‘bother’?”

  “I do,” Grace retorted. “Look at this. Brooke is leaving by the front door. And now she’s heading towards her car. What time is this?” Grace peered at the grainy-looking time in the corner of the CCTV footage. “10.30 p.m. That’s a funny time to leave the party. Did she say anything to you about having to leave early?”

  Abbie shook her head. “We were planning on going to a nightclub later. Where’s she going? There’s another car leaving, it looks like Dad’s. I bet he’d left something at the house, he’s always doing things like that.”

  Grace didn’t comment. There seemed to be a lot of people sneaking out of the back door of the pub and driving away.

  They turned their attention back to the screen. Ten minutes of footage passed. Suddenly, Abbie screamed. Her hands flew to her mouth and her eyes squeezed together.

  Grace said gently, “Don’t look, it’s okay. I’ll tell you when it’s over.”

  Grace’s heart felt heavy as she witnessed the next events on the screen. The Abbie at the party ran out from the party area and towards the main doors. She glanced back over her shoulder, tears pouring down her face. She flung the door open and dashed through them. Grace’s attention flicked to the car park camera. The top right-hand part of the screen showed the outside of the main door. Grace saw CCTV-Abbie pause and look down at something in her hand. Her phone? Her shoulders shook as a fresh bout of crying overtook her. Abbie ran forwards, and out of shot. Grace didn’t need to see what happened next, she’d already witnessed it by the side of the road. She wished she could reach into the screen, grab little Abbie and pull her to safety.

  At her side Abbie said, “Why am I crying on the screen? Why can’t I remember?”

  Grace didn’t think her heart could feel any heavier, but it did at the sight of Abbie’s mum moving towards the main doors on the first camera. She stepped through and froze. Her hands shot upwards and towards the front of her face. She must be screaming. How much of the accident did she see?

  The car park camera showed Abbie’s mum racing forwards. Grace heard Abbie crying at her side.

  It wasn’t long before the cameras showed other people rushing through the doors and outside. Grace was grateful that there was no sound on this footage.

  Abbie sniffed and said, “I saw Brooke running out after Carlos and Julianne. She wasn’t away long. Where did she go?”

  Grace hadn’t noticed. She rewound the footage and looked closer at Brooke as she ran out of the doors. Did she looked shocked? It was hard to tell. When had she returned to the car park? Grace hadn’t seen any cars return. Was there another car park? Maybe there was one round the back.

  Grace noticed Derek’s expression as he was jostled towards the main doors. He looked bemused as if someone was playing a joke on him. It was obvious that he didn’t know what had happened yet.

  Grace moved through the footage. People came slowly back inside, gri
ef and shock visible on their faces. She made a mental note of everyone who came back. Dorothy was almost carried in by Derek and Carlos, Julianne at their sides. Brooke was clinging on to Ethan’s arm as they walked back in. Ethan was staring straight ahead, Grace couldn’t make out the emotion on his face.

  “We’ll fast-forward the next part,” Grace said. Abbie looked away as there was a flurry of activity in the car park. Various emergency vehicles showed up, their lights blazing in the growing darkness. Grace closed her eyes as a covered stretcher was placed in the back of an open ambulance.

  Grace quietly closed her laptop and turned to Abbie. “I’ve seen as much as I need to see. Do you want to talk about it?”

  Abbie vigorously shook her head and looked away.

  Grace had no option but to keep her thoughts to herself. It made her sad to consider her next thought, but she had to.

  Derek had left the party in his car shortly before Abbie had been run over. That now made him a suspect.

  But why would he want to kill Abbie?

  Chapter 24

  Grace said, “Can you remember anything more about that night?”

  Abbie shrugged, pulled her knees up and laid her head on them. Grace could see she wasn’t going to get any further information from her. She didn’t blame her, it must be heart-breaking to see yourself minutes before your death.

  Grace made sure Abbie was okay to be left then she retired for the night. She didn’t have an easy sleep. She was sure Abbie was covering something up, that she’d remembered more than she was letting on.

  Grace checked her emails the next morning as she waited for the kettle to boil. Abbie appeared to be in a better mood and said a cheery good morning to her.

  “This is interesting,” Grace held up her phone. “I’ve got an email from a Kevin Thompson about my query over Last Hope Repossessions. Have you ever heard of him?”

  Abbie shook her head and flew over to the kitchen window.