Read The Last Reading (Storage Ghost Murders Book 1) Online
Authors: Gillian Larkin
Chapter 22
Tom
pushed the gun harder into Grace’s back and pushed her towards the sofa.
“Sit,”
he ordered. He pointed the gun at Brenda and walked around to face her. “Keep
your hand steady, you can’t give me an accurate reading with your hands shaking
like that.”
Brenda
looked over her shoulder at Grace, tears rolled down her cheeks. “I’m sorry to
get you involved.”
Tom
sneered. “She got herself involved. She was there at the auction, bidding
against me. I followed you back to that shop of yours. That got me wondering
what you wanted with the items in the unit. Then you turned up here asking for
Mae. I knew her regulars, you weren’t one of them. You were looking for the
pendulum, weren’t you? What did you want with it?”
Grace
shook her head. “I don’t know anything about a pendulum. I bid on that locker
because I liked the curtains.”
“Liar!”
Tom spat waving his gun at her. “It doesn’t matter now, I’ve got the pendulum.
Get on with it Brenda, it can’t be that hard.”
Mae
stood in front of Brenda and saw what she was doing. Mae said, “There are
pieces of paper with numbers on placed on the floor, they look like lottery
numbers. The childhood memory box is at Brenda’s side, she must have taken it
down from the wardrobe.”
Brenda
began to cry. “I can’t do it, I don’t know how to.”
Grace
said, “Was it worth murdering Mae for? Pushing her down the steps like that?”
Brenda
cried out, “You killed my sister?”
Tom
shrugged. “I was in a bad mood that day. Why didn’t she just do another reading
for me? It only took her ten minutes, it was hardly work for her. I needed her
to do it, my friends at work thought I’d lost my magic touch, there was talk of
someone else doing the lottery. I couldn’t let that happen, that’s the only
reason anyone ever spoke to me. It was her own fault, selfish cow.”
“Why
did you kill Autumn Rose? What did she do wrong to you?”
Tom
smirked. “Well worked out. I did consider asking her for the winning lottery
numbers but she never gave me chance. She started wittering on about a book I
needed to buy and to see a doctor before I bought a certain type of medicine. I
could tell she was a fake. The way she kept moving that eye shaped necklace
gave her away, she made sure it was always facing forwards. I soon worked out
that it was some sort of recording device. I had great pleasure ripping that
from her neck.”
“Did
you really have to kill her?” Grace asked.
Tom’s
eyes glazed for a moment. Then his mouth corners turned upwards. He let out a
laugh. “I actually enjoyed it! It made me feel powerful, it made me feel ...
tall. Anyway, she deserved it, she was a fake. I tried getting readings with
other fortune tellers but they wouldn’t help me, they’re all fake. Except her.”
He indicated towards the trembling Brenda. “Stop shaking and get on with it.”
“You
can’t keep us at gunpoint forever. This is madness, you won’t get away with
it,” Grace said.
Tom
nodded. “I will. I’ve got away with two murders.”
Grace
said, “How did you know about the storage unit? Why were you looking in there?”
He
sighed and said, “Is this the part where I have to tell you how my plan played
out? This isn’t Scooby Doo.”
“Did
you hear something when Mae fell down the stairs? Like something falling out?”
Grace asked.
Tom’s
eyes narrowed. “I did hear something, I thought it was the pendulum. I had a
quick look in Mae’s clothes but couldn’t find it. I had to run before anyone
found me. When I thought about it later I thought it could have rolled into
those old curtains. How do you know about things falling out?”
Grace
didn’t comment on that. “And the unit? Did you follow Autumn Rose when she took
them away?”
“Might
have.”
“But
how did the unit come up for sale? Autumn Rose must have stopped paying the
rental fee for some reason. Ha! I bet you intercepted her post, found a letter
from the storage unit and got in touch with them on Autumn Rose’s behalf! You
then said you couldn’t afford to pay for the unit anymore. That’s it, isn’t
it?”
Tom
gave Grace a cold look. “What are you? Some sort of psychic? Or just a freak?
If your psychic powers are so good tell me what’s going to happen next.” He
pulled out a slip of paper. “These are last weeks’ winning numbers. Brenda is
working out what they are. If she gets them right I know she’s got the same
talent as Mae.”
Grace
swallowed. “And if she gets them wrong?”
Tom
held the gun out in an obvious gesture. “Then I shoot her.”
Chapter 23
Mae
and Brenda let out a scream at the same time.
Grace
forced herself to remain calm. A plan was formulating in her mind. Was she
brave enough to do it?
She
had to.
She
held up a hand and said, “I’ll do it, I’m the one with the real talent.”
“What?
You haven’t any talent, you just got lucky with all that stuff about the unit,”
Tom said.
Grace
let out a big dramatic sigh. “Okay, you’ve forced my hand. Sorry, Auntie
Brenda, I knew we were trying to keep it a secret.”
Tom
frowned. “Auntie Brenda? What are you trying to say?”
“I’m
Mae’s secret daughter. She gave me away when I was a baby. You were right about
the pendulum, I was after it. Me and Auntie Brenda made contact a few years
ago. You weren’t the only one that Mae did a pendulum reading for, she was
really accurate with it and word about the pendulum spread. I’ve got friends in
the fortune telling business, I had a client lined up for that pendulum ready
to pay a good price. I didn’t owe my mum any favours, not after what she did
for me.”
Grace
paused. Had she gone too far? She thought her story sounded ridiculous and far-fetched.
From the looks on Mae and Brenda’s faces they thought the same.
Tom
waved his gun at her. “I knew it! I knew you were up to something. I knew that
Mae and Brenda had fallen out and now I know why, it’s because she gave you up!
Typical! So selfish. Get round here and do a reading. You might have a bit of
Mae’s talent, we’ll soon find out.”
Grace
stood up and then helped Brenda to her feet. Brenda tried to protest but Grace
firmly and gently pushed her down on to the sofa.
Grace
knelt down and confidently picked up the purple coloured pendulum. She shot a
look at Mae hoping she’d understand.
Grace
carefully went over every number. She forced the pendulum to circle when it
came to a correct number.
It
was easy with Mae calling out the right numbers, she read them from the paper
that Tom was holding.
Tom’s
eyes got wider and wider. In a voice full of awe he said, “Amazing! Even better
than Mae.” He paused for a moment. “I’ll have to keep you locked up somewhere.
Not sure where though. Get up, I’ve got some plastic ties in my bag.”
Grace
didn’t move. She closed her eyes and said, “I can see next week’s numbers in my
mind, clear as day, I don’t need the pendulum. Quick! They’re fading! Get a
pen!”
Tom
patted his pockets in panic. “I haven’t got one!”
Grace
opened her eyes and said urgently, “There’s one on that table behind you.
Quick!”
Still
holding the gun Tom turned around.
Grace
leapt from her kneeling position and launched herself at him. All the pretend
fights that she’d had with Frankie growing up paid off.
Tom
went down like a small child.
“Get
the gun!” Grace screamed at Brenda.
A
gun shot rang out.
Chapter 24
“Don’t
leave it there!” Pearl shouted at her. “I can see that you’re okay, who got
shot? Was it that slimy postman? Don’t tell me it was Brenda?”
Grace
leant back on the kitchen chair. She had returned to the shop. It was late but
she couldn’t leave it until tomorrow to tell Pearl.
“The
window got shot. Brenda ran over to get the gun. It was Tom’s last attempt to
try and get control over us, the bullet went straight through the double
glazing. I was shocked, I was half hoping the gun was a fake. You don’t expect
to see postmen with guns.”
Pearl
nodded. “You’d be surprised, don’t trust anyone when it comes to murder. Did
the police come round? Did he confess?”
Grace
squirmed in her chair.
“What
is it? What did you do?”
Grace
said, “We called the police. They came round in minutes. We had a recorded
confession. Tom had phoned Brenda to make an appointment. The minute he came
through into the living room she pressed the record button on a CD player at
the side of the sofa. We got everything that he said. The police couldn’t
believe it.”
Pearl
leaned across the table. “What aren’t you telling me?”
Grace
picked at her fingernail. “Well, you know I sat on Tom to keep him down? It
seems I may have been a bit too heavy for him, he passed out.”
Pearl
burst out laughing.
Grace
gave her an indignant look. “The police thought it was funny too, I didn’t. A
few more minutes and I could have killed him.”
Pearl
eventually stopped laughing. “And what about Mae and Brenda? Have they sorted
things out?”
Grace
nodded. “I had to speak on Mae’s behalf but yes, they sorted everything out.
Brenda’s going to carry on as a psychic in Mae’s memory. Mae told me to give
her the tarot cards that used to belong to her. I could tell it was sorted out
because Mae did that glowing white thing, do you know what I mean?”
Pearl
nodded. “It’s when they’re ready to move on, I’ve seen it many times. It’s a
good thing, you know they don’t need any more help.”
Grace
smiled. “They both said thank you a hundred times! Mae moved on, I told Brenda
I’d stay the night if she wanted me to but she said she was okay. Then I
thought I’d better come here and let you know what’s going on. You must have
wondered what happened to me.”
“I
did, but I knew you’d be all right.”
“Did
you? I wasn’t so sure, I was ready to give up,” Grace admitted.
“But
you didn’t. You did really well for your first murder, I’m proud of you,
Grace.”
Grace
sat up a bit straighter. “Thank you, I’m sort of proud of myself.”
Pearl
sat back in the chair. “Good. You’ll be ready for the next murder victim now.”
Grace
sagged a little. “Now?”
“No,”
Pearl said. “You can start tomorrow. Go home and get some sleep, you look
awful. And try not to squash anyone on the way home.”
A
note from the author
I
love watching storage auction programmes. I’ve never been to one but I’d love
to visit one of the big ones in America, I’m sure I’d be useless at bidding
though – I’d be too excited.
When
I watch the shows I always wonder where the items have come from, and who they
belonged to. I wondered what would happen if some of the items had ghosts
attached. I reached a point where I couldn’t stand it anymore and I knew I had
to write some stories down, I was inspired by the variety of items that have
been discovered in storage lockers. Also, I am a big fan of ‘cozy’ murder
mysteries and I wanted to combine items found in a locker with a murder!
I
hope you enjoyed this story. If you did could you post a quick review? Thank
you, I read all my reviews and I really do appreciate them.
Grace’s
next murder mystery is now available: A Different Shade Of Death
(It’s
slightly longer than this one. I’ve taken my readers’ comments on board and I’m
now working on a full length murder mystery for Grace.)
Grace’s
adventures with ghosts that weren’t murdered are available as a box set, there
are 5 short stories in the set:
You
can see all my books at:
You
can email me at:
Best
wishes
Gillian