Chapter 4
Derek walked towards the local park. It should be quiet at this time of the day. It was school time so the park wouldn’t be overrun with noisy children. Not that he minded, he loved the sound of laughing children. They didn’t have a care in the world. And that’s how it should be.
He entered the park and followed the path round to a quiet area. There were a few benches dotted around, all of them empty. Derek picked one and sat down. He placed his shopping at the side of him. Pearl sat at his other side and Gabby settled herself on the ground, her legs crossed again.
Pearl gave Derek a little nudge. “I’m sorry that you got so upset in there.” She looked closer at him. “Don’t tell me you used to come in this park with Dorothy too?”
He nodded. “This whole town is full of memories for me. I can hardly run away from them all. I’ve decided that I’ll only think about the good times I had with Dorothy. I was lucky to know her, and I was lucky to have Abbie in my life too.”
Gabby’s eyes narrowed. “Hang on, you’re that fella, aren’t you? The one who lost his daughter in a hit and run. And then you lost your wife ’cos she went mad. I never met her but I heard everyone talking about it in the hairdresser’s.”
Pearl snapped, “Don’t talk about Derek like that! He’s been through a lot.”
Gabby held her hands up. “Alright, granny. I’m just saying.”
Pearl waved her finger at Gabby. “Don’t talk to us in that manner! Don’t you know how disrespectful it is?”
“Whatever,” Gabby muttered. She began to play with the length of pink hair at the side of her face. Her jaws worked furiously as she chewed.
Pearl shot over to her side and held her hand out. “Spit it out. I can’t talk to you if you’re chomping away like some dozy cow chewing grass.”
Gabby looked as if she wanted to say something, but she wilted slightly under Pearl’s stare. She spat something into Pearl’s hand. It looked like a wad of chewing gum. It glowed slightly.
Pearl said, “Thank you. It’s a disgusting habit.” She deposited the gum in a bin at the side of the bench. She sat back down and folded her hands on her lap. “We can get started now. Tell us about yourself.”
Gabby shrugged. “What’s to tell? You know my name, and how old I am. I work at the hairdresser’s, sweeping up hair, making hot drinks, all the dogsbody jobs. Lydia is my cousin. She was forced to give me the job by her mum. I hate it but what else am I going to do? I didn’t do well at school. Mum and Dad never said anything but I knew they were disappointed in me. They were happy when Lydia gave me a job. They thought it might lead to something better.” She looked down at the ground. “It doesn’t matter now, does it? I’m dead.” A tear rolled down her cheek.
Derek spoke softly, “I’m so sorry about that, lass. I know this must be difficult for you. You talked about my daughter, Abbie. She was actually murdered and a very kind woman called Grace helped me to find her murderer. Abbie was stuck here on Earth, just like you. Grace told me that once Abbie’s murderer was found, she was at peace and was able to move on to a better place. I can find your murderer. I can help you find peace.”
Gabby looked up. “Can you? Really?” She wiped the back of her hand across her eyes. “I hope you can because my heart feels really heavy. It’s like it’s made of stone and it’s weighing me down. I don’t like feeling like this.” More tears began to flow.
Pearl moved off the bench and sat next to Gabby. She put her arms around the young girl and said, “Derek is amazing. He’ll help you - if you help him. This is going to be difficult, the memories will hurt. But you have to tell us everything about your life, and your death.”
Gabby nodded. “Okay. I told you that I work in the hairdresser’s.” She shook her head. “I keep forgetting I’m dead. I don’t work anywhere now. Okay. I worked in the hairdresser’s. I didn’t hate it all the time. There’s a lot of gossip going on there. You wouldn’t believe the things that people tell their hairdressers!” Gabby’s face lit up. “You wouldn’t believe the things that I’ve found out! If some people knew what I’d found out about them they’d …” A look of horror came over her face.
Pearl finished her sentence, “They’d kill you. Gabby, think carefully. What have you found out? And who does it concern?”
Chapter 5
“Morning.” A man walking a dog nodded at Derek.
Derek jumped slightly and returned the man’s greeting. He’d been so caught up in Gabby and Pearl’s conversation that he’d forgotten about the outside world. He looked around, the park was starting to get busy. He got to his feet and mumbled, “I think we should go back to my house.”
Pearl stood and gave Derek a closer look. “Did your knees just creak then, Derek, love? Do you want me to give them a massage?”
Gabby made a retching sound. “Gross.”
Pearl shot her a filthy look and pulled her to her feet. “It’s not gross at all. When I touch Derek it sends a warmth through his body. It makes him feel better, doesn’t it, Derek?”
Derek nodded. When Pearl touched him it made him feel like a new man. But he didn’t want to voice those thoughts, not in front of Gabby.
Gabby pulled a disgusted face. “If you’re gonna be touching each other up, let me know and I’ll clear off.”
Pearl tutted. “What sort of a word is ‘gonna’? Do you mean ‘going to’? If so, why don’t you say that?”
Derek shook his head slightly. “It’s how the youngsters talk today. We were all young once. We all had our own way of talking. My car’s not far away. Let’s get home and we can have a good chat about everything.” He could have sworn he heard Gabby mutter ‘whatever’ but he didn’t say anything.
Ten minutes later they arrived at Derek’s home.
Gabby flew out through the car door and stood on the pavement. Derek came to her side. Gabby said, “Your house is a bit boring, isn’t it? Why don’t you have one of those makeover things like they have on the telly? They could make it look more fashionable. I saw this programme once when …”
Pearl joined her on the pavement and held up a hand. “We don’t need to know. Derek’s home is lovely. It’s cosy.”
Gabby’s jaw began to move up and down again. She peered at Pearl, and then she looked at Derek. “Hang on, do you two live together?”
“We certainly do not!” Pearl answered. “What a rude thing to say.” She held her hand out. “Gum. Again.”
Gabby frowned. “I haven’t got any gum. I spat it out earlier.” She opened her mouth to Pearl.
Pearl looked in her mouth and then made a clicking sound with her tongue. “Then why are you acting as if you’ve got chewing gum in your mouth?”
Gabby shrugged. “Habit, I suppose.”
Derek let out a little chuckle. “It seems that some habits stay with you, even after death. Come on, let’s go in. I could do with a cuppa.”
It was another five minutes before Derek seated himself on his sofa, a cup of tea in his hand. Pearl was waiting for him on the left side of the sofa.
Gabby flew around Derek’s living room. “You could do with some cushions in here. I saw this show on the telly once. This woman put some scatter cushions around the house and it totally transformed it.” She swooped over to the curtains. “And you could have those tie-back things here. That’s what Jason Two Pounds has.”
“Who?” Derek took a sip of his tea.
Gabby gave him an incredulous look. “Jason Two Pounds? The rapper? He’s got his own reality TV show. Have you seen it?” She laughed. “You should have seen what happened last week! His girlfriend, not the one with the blonde extensions, the one with the mole on her cheek.” She frowned. “Hang on, she was going to get that removed. Did she get it removed?” She shrugged. “Anyway, his girlfriend came home with a …”
“Will you stop talking!” Pearl shot out. “You’re giving me the ghost of a headache and I haven’t had one of those in years. Gabby by name and Gabby by nature!”
Gabby smiled. “That’s what Mum used to say.” Her smile died. “I hope Mum’s okay. I hope she’s not too sad without me. We used to watch all those reality shows together. Mum said it was her guilty pleasure.” She walked over to the sofa and settled herself on the carpet in front of it, crossing her legs again. “Do we have to talk about my death now?”
Derek placed his cup on a side table. “Aye, we do. Tell me more about Lydia. Did you get on well with her?”
“Yeah, she’s alright. She was always fair with me, even when I turned up late.” Gabby looked down at the carpet and moved her finger in circles over it. “I was worried about Lydia. She works too hard. She loves that hairdresser’s, she’s spent years building it up. She’s so organised, always making lists of what needs doing.” She looked up and smiled. “Not like me at all! I never knew what I was doing. It’s like this woman I saw on the telly once …”
“No! Don’t digress!” Pearl shouted. Her face softened as she saw Gabby’s expression. “Sorry, love. I didn’t mean to shout. You seem more interested in other people’s lives than your own.”
Gabby shrugged. “My life was boring. I wasn’t going to make anything out of my life, everyone knew that. I was only good for a bit of gossip. Lydia used to say I could have started my own reality show with all the secrets I found out about people.” She grinned. “That would have been an awesome show.” She twirled her pink hair around her finger and started to chew on her invisible chewing gum.
Derek said, “Gabby, did Lydia have a secret? Did you find something out about her?”
Gabby stopped twirling her hair. “You think Lydia killed me? No. She wouldn’t! She’s my cousin.”
“But did she have a secret?” Derek persisted.
Gabby began to fiddle with her hair again, her jaw moved up and down. She looked away from Derek and Pearl. “The money. It’s the money. I knew I shouldn’t have said anything. I knew as soon as I opened my mouth.” She let go of her hair and slapped herself on the forehead. “Why didn’t I keep my mouth shut? Why?” Her jaws began to move rapidly. Her face turned red. She started to cough. The coughing increased and her hands flew to her throat. “I can’t … breathe.” A terrible wheezing sound came from her.
Pearl rushed to Gabby’s side and placed her arms around her. In a soothing voice she said, “It’s alright, love. Let the feeling go. It can’t hurt you now.”
Derek said, “Pearl? What’s happening to her? Is she in pain? Can you do something?”
Pearl nodded. “I think she’s reliving her death. I’ll have to take her somewhere quiet.” She abruptly disappeared taking Gabby with her.
Derek picked up his cup of tea and looked at the photograph of Dorothy that was on the side table. “Well, Dorothy, I’ve got myself involved again, haven’t I?” He took a sip of tea and allowed his tears to fall. He’d been holding on to them since he stepped into the hairdresser’s earlier. “I don’t know if I can stay strong for this one. She reminds me of our Abbie. Even their names are similar.” He put his cup down and pulled out a handkerchief from his cardigan pocket. He gave his nose a good blow and then spoke to Dorothy again. “But I have to do it. I have to help this young lass.” He wiped away his tears. “Somehow. And I think I know where to begin.”
Chapter 6
Derek finished his cup of tea and allowed himself to wallow in self-pity for a few more minutes. He stood and took his cup to the kitchen. He spoke to himself, “Come on, old lad, you can do this. Stay strong in front of the women.” He quickly washed his cup and then returned to the living room. He took out a small notebook and pencil that he kept in his pocket. He sat down with his laptop on his knees and his notebook at the side.
He powered up the laptop and began his search. He knew Gabby’s full name and her age. He didn’t know where she lived but presumed it was nearby if she worked at Lydia’s place.
He soon found a small article online that dated back six months. He sighed as he read how Gabby had died. “Poor lass,” he muttered. It had been ruled as an accidental death. Derek wondered for a moment if that was true. But he knew it couldn’t be. The ghosts who came to him with Pearl had always been murdered.
Pearl suddenly appeared at his side and looked over at his laptop. “What have you found out?”
Derek jumped, blinked and looked around the room. “Where’s Gabby? Is she having a look around my house?”
“No. I’ve left her in a quiet place.” Pearl took a moment to read the article about Gabby’s death. “That explains it then. That’s why she started to choke when she got upset. This article says that she died by choking on chewing gum.”
“I didn’t know people could die like that.”
“Me neither. It sounds suspicious to me. Where did she die?” Pearl read on. “Now, this looks interesting. She died at her cousin’s house. It says here that Lydia Barton was throwing a party at her house to celebrate a five-year anniversary of her salon opening. She’d invited her staff, family and loyal customers.” Pearl looked closer. “There’s not much information here. It says that Lydia found Gabby on her bedroom floor. She tried to revive her but she wasn’t successful.” She turned away from the laptop. “What do you think? You’ve met Lydia. Do you think she’s capable of murder?”
“I didn’t think anyone was capable of murder until I met you,” Derek said. “Oh! I didn’t mean that I wanted to murder you! Not that I could with you being dead already.”
Pearl chuckled. “Stop digging a hole for yourself. I know what you mean. People are pushed to their limits sometimes. They do things on the spur of the moment. It seems to me that Gabby knew something about someone, and it involved money. She’s got a big mouth on her and it sounds like she might have let the secret out. Someone could have killed her to stop the secret going any further.”
Derek nodded. “Let’s see if Lydia Barton had any money problems.” He clicked away on his laptop. “Look at this. It says that the council helps out local businesses who have been struggling financially. They give them grants and send in a business advisor to make sure the money is being used correctly. Lydia’s business is listed as one of the council’s clients. So, she must have had money problems in the past.”
“And look who the business advisor is. That snooty cow who practically threw you out of the hairdresser’s today - Ms Mona Coleman.” Pearl gave Derek a knowing look.
“Gabby called Mona a monster. I wonder if Gabby has ever had a run-in with her. Maybe this Mona Coleman had her own dark secret and Gabby discovered what it was. Let’s see what we can find out about Mona.” Derek tapped away. He gave a sigh of resignation. “Nothing, apart from the fact that she works for the council. She hasn’t even got a social page. I thought everyone had those nowadays.”
“She didn’t seem the social type. Where are you going to start with your investigations?”
“I can’t do anything else at the moment. I need to speak to Lydia and I can do that tomorrow when I have my hair appointment.” He looked around the room. “I think I might get some cushions. Gabby’s right, this place could do with cheering up. I’ll pop out to the market. Do you want to come with me?” Derek smiled, hoping that she’d say yes. Outings were much more fun with Pearl at his side.
Pearl said, “I would love to but I told Gabby I wouldn’t be long. I don’t want to leave her on her own, not when she’s experiencing painful memories. I’ll mention Lydia’s party to her and see if she can remember anything about it.” Pearl studied him for a moment. “Are you sure you’re okay with this case? Are you sure it’s not too painful for you?”
Derek waved a hand dismissively at her. “Of course I’m okay.”
“Really?”
“It is a difficult case but I want to help that young lass. I’ll be fine.”
Pearl said, “I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again. Derek Quill, you’re an amazing man.” She moved closer to him and pecked him on the cheek. She winked and then disappeared.
Derek’s cheeks felt as if they wer
e on fire. He kept his eyes averted from Dorothy’s photograph as he hurriedly closed his laptop down and stood up.
A quick visit to the toilet and then he was ready to go. He tried to whistle a joyful tune as he walked to his car. He’d never bought cushions before. It was always Dorothy who’d bought them. He shook his head at his own foolishness. They were only cushions! How hard could it be?
Chapter 7
Derek parked in the small car park behind the market. He made his way through the stalls towards the one that sold the soft furnishings. He paused in front of the stall and looked at the curtains that hung at the side. Thank goodness he didn’t need curtains, there was far too much choice here. He moved to the other side of the stall and found the cushions.
He sighed. Why were there so many? And what’s with all the different styles and textures? He just wanted a couple of plain cushions. He scratched his head and frowned.
“You look as if you need some help,” said a voice at his side.
Derek had a smile ready before he turned his head. His smile faltered when he saw who had spoken to him. It was Mona Coleman. “Pardon?” Derek asked, suddenly not sure that the friendly tone had come from her.
Mona nodded her head towards the cushions. “You look as if you need some help.” Recognition dawned on her face. Spots of red bloomed on her cheeks. “Oh! It’s you. We met earlier at the hairdresser’s. Mr Quill, isn’t it?”
Derek nodded curtly.
“I am so sorry about earlier,” Mona said. “I know this is no excuse but I was in a terrible mood.” She laughed. “You probably noticed! I was rude to you and I’m sorry if you were inconvenienced. Please, accept my apologies.”
Derek gave her a half-smile. “That’s okay. Lydia will see me tomorrow. It’s not like I’m in a rush. I don’t have any parties to go to!”
“There was no excuse for my rudeness.” Mona waved a hand towards the cushions. “Do you need any help deciding? I love cushions. I have far too many in my house! There’s something so comforting about them.”
Pearl And Derek Mysteries - Box Set 1 Page 11