A Sweet Murder (3 page)

The woman yelped
and looked over at Grace. “Help! Please! Help me get
out!”

Grace pushed a
clenched fist against her mouth to stop her from shouting out. Her
instincts were to run forward and comfort the ghost but she
couldn’t do that in front of everyone, they would think she was
mad.

Perhaps she
could move closer and use the excuse of wanting a better look? That
might work, then she could whisper something to the ghost. She
turned to Frankie to let him know what she was going to do. Her
words got stuck in her throat.

Frankie’s eyes
were glistening with unshed tears, he was staring straight ahead at
the locker. Grace looked at where he was looking. Her eyes widened
as she realised he was staring at the chair where the ghost had
been sitting, the chair that the ghost now returned to.

Could he see the
ghost?

Could he feel
her sadness?

Grace gently
tugged on his sleeve. He blinked quickly and looked at her, an
over-bright smile suddenly on his face. “Yeah?”

“
What’s wrong, Frankie? Have you seen something
upsetting?”

Frankie’s smile
faltered. He looked as if he was considering what to say next. He
nodded towards the locker and said, “It’s a blast from the past,
shook me for a moment.”

“
What did? Something in the locker?”

He pointed.
Grace didn’t miss the slight shake of his hand. “That chair, I’ve
seen it somewhere before, it’s something to do with Mum and Dad but
I can’t remember what. I think we all went to a shop once and I saw
that chair.”

Grace looked
back at the chair. She could make out a bit of the pattern beneath
the ghost, it was brown with a painting of something green twisting
around the legs.

Frankie said,
“Can you see the green stuff, it looks like ivy going up the legs?
I’ve never forgotten that chair. When we went to the shop Dad said
the tree that made the chair was still alive and that the chair
would try to get me! I believed him. You know what he’s like for
joking.”

There was a
pause. Grace saw Frankie’s chin wobble. He coughed and said
gruffly, “What he was like. Do you remember that chair? You came
with us to the shop but you were little.”

“
I
don’t remember that.” Grace tried to lighten the mood. “But I do
remember you being scared of chairs at home. Didn’t you say that
they were trying to eat you? Is that because of what Dad told you
about that chair?”

Frankie frowned.
“I don’t remember that. It’s funny the things you
forget.”

Grace saw her
chance. “Why don’t we buy it? The locker? There’s not much in it,
it shouldn’t cost much. It looks like someone has put bits and
pieces from an old shop in it. We could use those shelves and
jars.”

Frankie smiled
and nodded. “And we could keep the chair in my room, we don’t have
to sell it. I’d like that.”

Grace gave him a
mock serious look. “As long as it doesn’t chase you around the
shop.”

He snorted.
“Yeah, right! Look, Sylvester’s starting the bids. I’ll act all
casual as if I’m not bothered about buying it. If anyone thinks I’m
serious they’ll start pushing the bids up.”

“
Okay,” Grace said. She put her hands in her pockets and
crossed her fingers. She really needed Frankie to win this locker,
she really needed to help that sad looking ghost.

Sylvester called
out, “Okay folks, I can see from your faces that you’re not excited
by this locker but there’s always money to be made! Look at that
chair, it looks ... interesting! Who will give me £50?”

There were
laughs from the bidders.

Sylvester’s
smile didn’t falter. “Okay. How about £40? £35?”

Grace smiled as
Frankie actually sauntered closer to the unit. He gave an
over-casual shrug and, with a dramatic sigh, said, “I’ll give you
£20.”

Sylvester shot
him a grateful smile. “£20, thank you Frankie! Any more? No? Okay,
going ...going ...”

Frankie nodded
towards Grace and gave her a triumphant smile.

Big
mistake.

One of the other
bidders caught the look. His hand shot up and he yelled, “I’ll give
you £200! If Frankie Abrahams is bidding on it then there must be
something valuable in there!”

Grace watched in
horror as a bidding war broke out. Frankie’s look matched her own.
He said, “I’ve only brought £500, if the bidding goes any higher
we’ve no chance.”

Grace felt her
heart drop into her boots as the storage unit was sold for
£700.

What was she
going to do now?

Chapter 6

The man who
bought the locker was small and wiry-looking, he had mean beady
eyes and a big nose. Grace thought he resembled a rat as he
scuttled towards the locker with a smug look on his
face.

Frankie sighed.
“You win some, you lose some. Come on, let’s move on to the next
one.”

Grace couldn’t
move, she couldn’t leave that old woman behind. She said to
Frankie, “I’ll catch you up in a minute, just have to check my
messages.”

“
Who’s going to leave you a message?” Frankie said.

It wasn’t said
unkindly this time, Grace knew he was only stating the truth. The
only person who sent her messages was her brother. She used to have
a full and active social life but her friends had slowly
disappeared from her life. She’d let them, she couldn’t deal with
their pitying looks after the car crash. She pressed her lips
together, was it time to get back in touch with them? For her to
make the effort?

Frankie didn’t
move. Grace made a big show of taking her phone out and tapping on
the screen. Frankie still didn’t move.

Grace said
pointedly, “I’ll catch you up.”

Frankie frowned
but walked away. Grace waited until he rounded a corner then she
put her phone away. She walked over to the rat-faced man who was
looking through his newly bought locker. Grace gave a polite
cough.

The man looked
up, his little eyes narrowed so much that they almost disappeared.
“Yes? What do you want? Come to see what you’ve lost? Ha! Serves
you right! You shouldn’t be here with the big bidders if you
haven’t got the money.”

Grace swallowed
her angry reply and forced a polite tone into her voice. “I’m glad
you won it, you’re obviously a professional bidder.”

He stopped what
he was doing, his chest puffed out. His currant-sized eyes looked
Grace up and down. “Yeah, I am a professional. Now I’ve got this
locker you can tell me what your brother spotted in here, he must
have seen something.”

Grace didn’t
miss the calculating look in his eyes. Out of the corner of her eye
she saw that the ghost was watching him too. Grace said, “It’s
those glass jars over there, he’s seen some online and thought they
might be valuable. They look really old but I don’t know much about
antiques.”

The man walked
towards the jars. “Yeah, I can see them, they do look old. He might
be right. Well, it’s his loss. What an idiot, letting this locker
go! I bet I can triple my money on it.”

A sudden feeling
of fear washed over Grace. Had she made a terrible mistake? She was
assuming that the ghost was attached to the chair that she was
sitting on. What if she was attached to the glass jars? That man
would never let her buy one off him now that he thought they were
valuable.

She needed to
act fast. Feeling ashamed of what she was about to do Grace put her
hand to her head and swayed. She let out a pathetic,
“Oh!”

She heard a
chuckle coming from the ghost.

Mr Rat Face
hadn’t noticed her swoon, he was examining the glass
jars.

“
Try
again, lass!” the ghost shouted out.

Grace took a
step closer to Rat Face and said even louder, “Oh! I feel terribly
faint! I need to sit down!”

Rat Face turned
to look at her. “Sit on that chair. How much did your brother say
these were worth?”

“
I
think I’m going to faint!” Grace repeated in a hysterical voice. “I
have to get out of this locker.”

“
Then get out. Was it over a £100 each?”

Through gritted
teeth Grace said, “I’m going to faint in here, I need to sit down
in the fresh air! Move that chair outside for me,
please!”

The man muttered
a curse and grabbed the chair. He roughly shoved it outside.
“There! Stop your wailing and sit down. Which website did he look
on?”

Grace swooned
dramatically onto the chair and closed her eyes. She could feel Rat
Face staring at her. After a few seconds he swore again and walked
away. Grace heard him rummaging in the locker, she opened her
eyes.

The old woman
was smiling down at her. She said, “That was quite a show. It
worked, I’m out of that locker now. I don’t know why I was stuck in
there. Or how long I’ve been in there. I don’t know what you did to
get me out but thank you.”

Grace returned
her smile and whispered. “I can’t talk to you in front of
him.”

The ghost
frowned. “Why not? He probably wouldn’t notice, he’s totally
absorbed in those glass jars. Are they really valuable?”

Grace shrugged.
“I’ve no idea. I need to get this chair home. Or back to the
shop.”

“
Why?” the woman asked.

Grace stood up
and said quietly, “I’ll explain everything later.”

She walked back
into the locker and called over to Rat Face, “Thank you for letting
me use that chair. I hope you’re going to be careful with those
jars. I can’t remember exactly what Frankie said but he mentioned
something like £500, or was it £1,000?”

Rat Face paused.
Grace saw the greed light up in his eyes. “£1,000?
Really?”

Grace nodded.
“What shall I do with that chair, it’s cute. Needs repainting
though.”

“
Where was he looking online?”

“
Some company in Italy, I think. What should I do with the
chair?”

Rat Face waved
his hand dismissively. “You can have it, it’s a piece of tat. Can
you remember anything else about these jars?”

Grace shook her
head. She felt a pang of guilt for misleading him, but it was only
a pang. He seemed the type to sell his own grandmother if she’d
make a half decent-profit for him.

Rat Face took
out his phone. “If you’ve finished fainting can you get
out?”

Grace swiftly
walked away before he changed his mind. She grabbed the chair and
almost ran towards the van.

Just as she was
about to open the back doors someone grabbed her arm.

Chapter 7

“
Where did you get that chair?”

“
Frankie! You scared me half to death!”

Frankie let go
of her arm. “Did you pay for it? Don’t tell me you gave Sneaky Sid
favours in kind for that chair, I didn’t want it that
much.”

Grace tutted.
“You have a low opinion of me sometimes. Sneaky Sid, is that his
name? He said I could have it.” Grace turned her back on Frankie
and opened the van doors.

“
Just like that? I don’t believe you, he’s as tight as a ...
well, I won’t say what. Did you steal it from him?”

Grace looked
over her shoulder and tried to look offended. It was hard to do so
when she felt guilty for tricky Sneaky Sid, and for now lying to
Frankie. “As I said, he gave me the chair. Are you going to help or
just stand there?”

Frankie picked
the chair up and placed it in the back of the van. Grace’s breath
caught as the ghost whooshed straight through Frankie and into the
van.

Frankie said,
“I’m going into the office, Sylvester wanted to have a chat with me
about something.”

Despite his
nonchalance, Grace could see the excitement on Frankie’s face. She
said, “Take your time, I’ll wait here.”

Frankie turned
towards the office. Grace smiled as she watched him walk away, he
had a definite spring in his step.

With Frankie out
of the way she could talk to the ghost. She climbed into the back
of the van and pulled the doors closed behind her.

The ghost was
sitting on the chair again, she looked confused. “What happened to
me? Just then, I was about to climb into the van but I sort of flew
in. Did you see me? Did that really happen?”

Grace’s scalp
began to prickle, a feeling of unease settled in her stomach. She
hadn’t dealt with this kind of thing before, the ghost always knew.
How should she start?

The ghost
smoothed down her dress. She reached into her dress pocket and
pulled out a white paper bag. She opened it up and popped a red
coloured sweet into her mouth – a ghost sweet?

Grace sat down
next to the ghost. “I know what those are, I’ve been eating them
all morning.”

The ghost
grinned, Grace got a whiff of strawberry. The ghost said, “These
are my very favourite. I love other sweets but I can’t live without
my strawberry bombs!”