The Death Planner (Storage Ghost Murders Book 6) (2 page)

Chapter
3

Grace
called out for Jenny but she never reappeared. Grace had no option but to lock
the unit back up and then to go and find Frankie.

She
found him near an open locker. Frankie was just reaching up to pull the locker
door down when Grace approached him.

Frankie
hissed from the corner of his mouth, “Go away! You don’t know me!”

The
stench of Frankie’s coat caught in the back of Grace’s throat and she was more
than happy to walk away. She made her way towards Big Bob who was standing a
few feet away, an amused smile on his face.

Big
Bob nodded towards Frankie and said, “Does he really think he’s fooling people
with that get-up?”

“Yes,
he does. Did he fool anyone? He must have if he’s got a locker,” Grace pointed
out.

Big
Bob chuckled. “He fooled a few people. I think it was the smell from the coat
that put people off. Are you happy with the locker that you bought?” He gave
her a gentle smile.

Grace
hesitated in her reply as she looked into the kind eyes of Big Bob. He’d become
a father figure for her and Frankie. She’d love to tell him that she could see
ghosts. But would he believe her? Or would she ruin their friendship by saying
such a thing? Grace couldn’t take the chance. She smiled and told Big Bob that
she was more than happy with the locker.

Frankie
shuffled past them both. Grace tried not to breath in his aroma. He looked at
the floor and mumbled, “I’m going to get the van and load my locker up.” He let
out a little laugh. “I fooled them all. Suckers.”

Grace
said, “What about my locker? Can I load it into the van too?”

Frankie
frowned and looked towards her. “You haven’t thought this through, Grace. We’re
not supposed to know each other. It’ll give the game away if I start putting
your locker contents into my van.”

Grace
folded her arms. “I don’t think you’ve thought this through, Frankie Abrahams.
The name of our shop is splashed across the van in big letters. People will see
that as soon as you drive the van round here.”

“Ah.”
Frankie gave a slow nod. “That’s a good point. I’ll go and change out of my
disguise and then come round with the van. I’ll tell people that I did a deal with
that tramp who just bought this locker.” He laughed again. “I’m such a genius.”
He shuffled away, limping on his other leg this time.

Big
Bob shook his head in despair. “I don’t know how you put up with him, Grace. I
hope he gets rid of that foul coat before you get in the van or else you won’t
be able to breathe.” He gave her another kind look. “Are you okay today? Your
face keeps wrinkling up as if you’re lost in thought. Is there something you
want to tell me?”

Grace
shook her head and shook away the temptation to confide in this kind man. “No,
I’m fine. Honestly. I’d better go back to my locker and get ready for Frankie
and the van. You have a good day.”

“You
too. If you need to speak to me at any time, just give me a ring.” He gave her
another smile and ambled away.

Grace
walked back to her locker and started to think about the ghost inside. Whenever
she’d helped ghosts before they had been attached to something in the locker.
The ghost, Jenny, had said that the contents of the locker had belonged to her
so it shouldn’t be too hard to find the one item that she was attached to.
Grace had to make sure that every item from the locker was loaded into the van
and then taken back to their shop. Hopefully, Jenny would reappear later.

Frankie
soon arrived with the van. Grace was pleased to see that his disguise had gone,
although there was a slight whiff of the old coat surrounding him. Grace wasn’t
pleased when Frankie complained about the locker she’d bought. He gave her many
reasons as to why it wasn’t a good locker. There was only one reason as to why
it was a good locker, and that was because there was a ghost inside who needed
her help. But she could hardly tell Frankie that so she pressed her lips
tightly together and ignored his complaints as they loaded the contents into
the van.

She
helped Frankie with his locker and then they headed towards their shop. It was
located in a good position on the high street. It had been an antiques shop
when their parents owned it, but now it was a more like an Aladdin’s cave type
of shop. They sold all sorts of things depending on what they found in the
storage lockers. Grace smiled as they pulled into the parking space at the rear
of the shop. There was something, or someone, inside who was more valuable than
any antique.

It
was heading towards 9 o’clock by the time they started to unload the items from
the van.

Frankie
said, “We’d better hurry up, the customers will be banging on the doors soon.
They know I’ve got new stock coming into the shop today.”

“How
do they know that?” Grace said from inside the van.

Frankie
gave her an incredulous look. “From my blog of course! I made a post last
night. I thought you followed my blog.”

Grace
waved a hand at him. “Oh, yes. I didn’t have time to read it last night.”

Frankie
shrugged. “I don’t know why not, it’s not like you were out on the town, was
it? Pass me that vase.”

Grace
was tempted to throw the vase at his head but something caught her eye at the
back of the van. It was Jenny. She was perched on the top of a table and was
looking at Grace.

Grace
turned to Frankie and said, “Why don’t you go into the shop and open up? I’ll
unload the rest of this. There’s nothing too heavy.”

Frankie
didn’t needed telling twice. He jumped out of the van and disappeared through
the back doors of the shop.

Grace
turned to Jenny. “Hello again. We’re not at the storage unit any more.” She
pointed towards the shop doors. “This is our shop. That delightful young man
that you just saw is my brother, Frankie. How are you feeling?”

Jenny
frowned. “Confused. I think I’ve come to terms with being dead.” She looked at
her feet. “I think I sort of knew that anyway.” She looked back at Grace. “I
don’t understand why I’m here though. Shouldn’t I be in Heaven or somewhere?”

Grace
moved closer to Jenny. It was hard enough telling a ghost that they were dead.
What she had to tell Jenny now was even worse. “Jenny, I’m sorry to say this
but I think you were murdered. And I think you’ve appeared to me so that I can
find the person who murdered you.” She waited for Jenny’s reaction.

Jenny
studied Grace for a moment. “I know that I was murdered.” She put her hand on
the side of her neck. “Someone strangled me. With this.” She reached out for
the lead that was connected to the headset. “Who would want to kill me? I haven’t
done anything wrong to anyone.” A single pale tear rolled down her cheek.

Grace
moved closer. “I don’t know yet but I will find out.”

Jenny
touched Grace on her shoulder. A chill shot through Grace. Jenny said sadly,
“Will you? Do you promise?”

“I
promise.” Grace didn’t hesitate. She’d always managed to help ghosts before,
she hoped that Jenny wouldn’t be the one ghost that she couldn’t help.

Chapter
4

Jenny
had floated at Grace’s side when Grace had picked up a box of files from the
back of the van. That meant that Jenny was attached to something inside the
box. Grace took the box into the small kitchen at the back of the shop and put
it on the table. She didn’t want the box to be bought by an eager customer. She
explained to Jenny she wouldn’t be able to talk to her in front of anyone.

Jenny
nodded and pulled her ghost clipboard closer. She followed Grace out of the
kitchen. “What sort of a shop do you have here?”

“I’m
not really sure. Follow me through to the main part. You can have a look around
whilst I deal with some customers.”

Frankie
was holding court when Grace entered the shop area. He was standing in the
middle of the shop surrounded by awestruck customers.

Grace
shook her head as she heard him explaining in full detail how he’d managed to
fool the other bidders by wearing his amazing disguise. There were many ‘oohs’
and ‘aahs’ from the customers. Or should that be, the audience?

Jenny
laughed when she saw Frankie waving his arms around. “Your brother’s funny.”

“He’s
hilarious,” Grace noted drily. She needn’t have worried about speaking to Jenny
in the shop as no one was paying Grace the slightest bit of attention, all eyes
were on Frankie. Grace decided to put some of the new items on the shelves in
case any of Frankie’s fans decided they wanted to buy something.

Jenny
wandered around the shop. She made notes on her clipboard as she went. Grace
wondered what she was writing, she’d have to ask her later.

Grace
jumped as Frankie suddenly clapped his hands and declared, “Down to business!
Have a good look around the shop, there are bargains here that you won’t find
anywhere else! You can trust me on that.” He held up a finger in mock warning
and added, “When these items have gone, they have gone for good!”

It
was like someone suddenly set a timer off. The customers scattered in all
directions around the shop as if it was some sort of competition. A lamp was
snatched out of Grace’s hands by an elderly man with a manic look in his eyes.

Grace
felt as if she’d been thrown into a pit of hungry lions as customers swarmed
around her. Someone tugged at her blouse and yelled, “Is this for sale? Is it
vintage?”

Grace
pushed the woman away and ran towards the safety of the till area. Frankie was
already there serving a customer. Grace stood behind him and said, “They’re
mad! Have you seen the look on their faces?”

Frankie
finished serving the customer and turned to Grace. “This is what marketing
does, little sister. These customers will buy anything that I put on the
shelves. Trust me, I know what I’m doing.” He turned back to another customer
who had appeared with an armful of dishes and cups.

Grace
reluctantly admired Frankie’s efforts. He was a pain most of the time but he
had turned this shop around. He had promised her that he would make it a
success, and he had. There had been a time, when their parents had first died,
that they thought they would have to sell this lovely shop. But things had
worked out well for them in the end.

Grace
rolled up her sleeves and turned towards an eager-faced, and spotty, teenager
who had staggered up to the counter, his arms full of cuddly teddy bears.
Frankie was right, his fans would buy anything from him.

They
were busy throughout the morning. Grace kept an eye on Jenny who seemed
absorbed in the contents of their shop. She continually made notes on her
clipboard as she flitted from one part of the shop to the other. Grace was
desperate to talk to her and find out what her story was, but that would have
to wait.

The
last customer left the shop at 2 o’clock. Frankie slammed the till drawer shut
and said, “What a marvellous day! A productive day with a lot of profit. We can
even shut up early today. We’ve already made our money back on that useless
unit you bought.”

Fear
trickled down Grace’s back. “What do you mean?”

“Those
tables and chairs that you bought have gone. Even those celebration banners! I
moved them into the shop when you were busy with a customer. You’d left them
right at the back of the shop! No one was going to find them there.”

Grace
quickly scanned the shop. She couldn’t see Jenny. When was the last time she’d
seen her? Grace gripped Frankie’s arm. “I put a box on the kitchen table. Did
you sell it?”

Frankie
winced and shoved her hand off his arm. “I didn’t go anywhere near the kitchen.
What’s wrong with you? What’s so special about that box?”

Grace
relaxed a little. “Nothing. It’s got some folders in it. I could always use a
new folder.”

Frankie
gave her a look. “You are weird sometimes, do you know that?” He looked at his
watch. “I think we’ll close up now.” He tapped his watch and nodded to himself.
“I’ve got somewhere to go.”

“Where?”

Frankie
suddenly lost his confident look. He cleared his throat. “I thought I might
treat myself to a new watch. I’ve had my eye on one in that jewellers down the
road. Do you think it would be alright if I bought a new watch?”

Grace’s
heart softened at his worried expression. “Of course it’s alright. You’ve made
enough profit lately to be able to treat yourself.”

Frankie
gave her a lopsided smile. “I know. I’m not used to spending money on myself.
I’ll have another look at the watch before I decide whether to buy it. Are you
sure it’ll be okay?”

Grace
nodded. She gave him a little push and said, “You go now. I’ll close the shop.”

Frankie
gave her a grateful smile and said, “I won’t be too long. See you later.”

Grace
followed him to the shop door and locked it behind him.

Good,
she was alone. Now she could see if Jenny was still here. She hoped that Jenny
was attached to the box in the kitchen. She didn’t relish the thought of
chasing up whoever had bought the other items in Jenny’s locker.

Grace
walked away from the shop door. She called out Jenny’s name.

A
ghost appeared. But it wasn’t Jenny.