“And drugs,” Frankie concluded. “That’d be a good way to be a drugs dealer, wouldn’t it? Hide your stash in the unit, take your supply out when you need it, and then lock your unit up again.”
Bill chuckled. “And if anyone gets in your way you can stick them in a tub of acid right inside the unit!”
Grace looked from one man to the other. Did they have any idea how they sounded? What would they say if she told them she was looking into a murder? How would they react if she informed them that the units were full of ghosts?
Grace stood up, she wasn’t going to get any more information here. “Thanks Bill, it’s been interesting. Frankie, I’m going home, I’ll get the bus.”
“Are you sure? I don’t mind getting the bus, you can take the van.”
Grace stared at him. He’d never offered to do that before.
Frankie laughed suddenly. “As if! I haven’t been on the bus for years, I don’t even know where the bus stop is. See you later.”
That was more like Frankie. Grace walked past the vending machine. Oo! Liquorice twists, she hadn’t had them in years. Hadn’t Frankie said something about them earlier?
Grace popped her money in the machine and watched with joy as the packet fell down to the container below. Her mouth watered as if she was already tasting the black sweets. She reached in for the packet and almost jumped out of her skin as Bill yelled, “No!”
Grace pulled her hand back and looked over her shoulder. All the happiness had drained out of Bill’s face. He strode over to the machine and banged his hand on it. “It’s been filled up! When did that happen? Who gave them permission?”
Grace said quietly, “Erm, they came when you were out. Sorry, we assumed it was okay to fill it up. Is there a problem?”
Bill sighed. “It’s not your fault. It’s typical of Flamingo Sweets. I cancelled the contract last month, I spoke to someone in sales. They assured me no one would come round to fill it up. I’ve been expecting someone to take it away.”
“Why do you want to cancel the contract?” Grace asked.
“Their prices, and their so called customer service. The prices have gone sky high over the last year, I’m hardly making any profit. And when I’ve tried to complain they’ve fobbed me off. I’ve spoken to their sales rep many a time, I think she’s called Lucinda, but she doesn’t seem to care about my concerns, only about making money off me. It’s not just me either, I’ve heard that other people are fed up with how they’ve been treated by Flamingo Sweets. The used to have a great reputation but it’s rapidly going downhill. Makes me wonder how much longer they’ll last.”
Grace nodded, she had no idea that things were bad. She looked wistfully towards the liquorice twists. It seemed rude to take them now that she knew how Bill felt. But she had paid for them.
Bill smiled at her. “Go on, you may as well take them. You can have the lot as far as I’m concerned, I won’t be paying their invoice.”
Frankie called over, “Don’t give her any more! She’ll be the size of a house soon. Bill, what does this mean?”
Bill winked at Grace and walked back to Frankie, he sat down in the chair that Grace had recently vacated. Grace said bye but the men were already engrossed in something on the computer screen.
Grace left the office and walked to the bus stop. She didn’t mind getting the bus but it would be more convenient if she had a car. She opened the sweets and put a twist inside her mouth. Yum.
Was she ready to drive a car? She’d been driving the van for a while and was okay with it now. But having her own car might remind her of the night that her parents died. Dad had been driving her car on the night of their accident.
Grace chewed on the sweet. It hadn’t been the car’s fault that Dad had crashed. Perhaps she should start looking at cars. Her stomach gave a lurch. She could do it, it was time.
The bus arrived. Grace found a seat and tucked into another sweet. She thought about what Bill had said. Was Lucinda responsible for the rising prices? Was she running some sort of scam with Jamie? Had Connie found out about it?
Chapter 17
Grace would have liked to have gone back to the shop to see if Connie or Pearl had reappeared but she couldn’t think of a suitable reason as to why she was there should Frankie return. Besides, she wanted to have a good look on the Internet.
She made herself a large mug of hot chocolate and sat down on her sofa, her laptop open on the table in front.
There was a lot of information on Flamingo Sweets. There was some history about how Alfred had come over to Leeds around 1900. There was a black and white photograph of him standing next to a market stall. Grace presumed that was the original stall in Leeds Market. She could just about see the chair behind him. There was a lot of detail about how the company grew over the years, how they adapted to the times. They made a special kind of liquorice sweet at the end of World War Two, it was in the shape of a dove to symbolise peace.
Grace noted the link to the main website. She took out the card that Lucinda had given her, it was the same website address. Grace decided she would look at that later. She typed in Connie’s name and ‘death’.
Grace’s breath caught as a colour picture of Connie appeared on the screen. She guessed that Connie must be about thirty. She was wearing a bright green dress that had little prints of bananas on it. Connie was beaming into the camera. The article explained how Connie had started work in the original shop that Alfred had bought all those years ago. She had also worked in the factory with the factory workers. She even went on deliveries to all the shops that sold Flamingo Sweets. The article explained that Connie was a hands-on sort of person and wanted to understand the jobs of everyone who worked for Flamingo Sweets. It also mentioned how she raised her three children all by herself after her husband passed away. The children were named and mention was made of how Connie’s children were devoted to their careers at Flamingo Sweets.
Grace thought of Lucinda’s face earlier, the only devotion she showed was to Jamie and their plans to get out of the business.
Grace scrolled down until she got to the bit that she was looking for. There it was. Her eyebrows rose as she read how Connie had died: ‘Connie Flamingo died accidentally at home on the evening of Tuesday 16th July. Her family were devastated by the untimely death of their loving mother.’
Grace sighed with frustration. She addressed her laptop, “That doesn’t tell me anything at all!”
She read a bit further, read the comments from her ‘devastated’ children. She remembered how each one of them had talked about how to murder their mother. She’d already spoken to Lucinda and knew she was hiding something, she needed to talk to Vincent and Della too.
Grace was about to log off when she saw another photograph. It showed Connie’s family and, presumably, some of her employees, lined up outside the original shop. They all looked suitably sad so it must have been taken after Connie’s death. Grace made the image larger. There was Vincent with a well dressed woman at his side. Could that be his wife? Her sad face didn’t look quite genuine, she was turning to one side as if posing for the camera. A couple of employees stood to his other side including the young woman who Grace had seen in her vision, the one in which her family had come into the shop. The woman had the same pulled back hair and she seemed to be wearing the same kind of glasses. She must have worked for the family for a long time. She’d have a thing or two to say about the family, unless loyalty got in the way. Grace made a note on a piece of paper to talk to her.
Behind Vincent was Lucinda. To her side stood Jamie wearing a Flamingo Sweets T-shirt. Was he an official employee? He stood a bit away from Lucinda but the camera caught him turning his head towards her, a smile on his lips. Did the family know about their relationship? Did Connie approve?
Della was on the other side of Lucinda, her face pale and drawn. Grace shivered as she remembered that Della had shown the most enthusiasm when discussing their mother’s murder. Was she putting on an act? If so,
she was very good at it.
Grace made a note to talk to Vincent and Della, she wasn’t sure of the excuse that she was going to use to talk to them, she’d think of something later. She’d also speak to any employees that she came into contact with, like that woman in the shop. Would she get chance to talk to Jamie too?
Grace yawned and closed the laptop down. She really wanted to discuss the details with Pearl. She’d go to the shop tomorrow and try to speak to her, if she appeared that is. She also needed to talk to Connie about how she’d died, if she could remember. When Grace had helped ghosts before they seemed to block out details about their deaths. It was probably a good idea for some of them.
Grace got ready for bed. She didn’t want another night of sleepeating so she decided to hide her stash of sweets. She looked in her bag, she couldn’t find any.
Even her new packet of liquorice twists was empty.
She couldn’t have eaten them all? Surely not. She’d bought loads of sweets recently, no one could eat that many in such a short time.
Shaking her head, Grace got into bed. What was wrong with her pyjamas? They’d shrunk. It must be that new washing powder that she’d started to use.
Grace didn’t dream about her family that night, she dreamt about sheep jumping over fences, they were made out of pink and white marshmallows with chocolate faces.
Grace noted with a smile that her pillow was still there in the morning.
She was going to speak to Vincent today, but first, she was going to talk to the ghosts.
Chapter 18
Frankie was in bed again when Grace turned up at the shop the next morning. She was glad to see Pearl standing at the foot of his bed.
Pearl’s arms were folded and she looked with distaste at the snoring Frankie.
“Three o’clock in the morning! That’s what time this young whippersnapper came in! Drunk he was too, staggering all over the place. I thought he was going to throw up at one point. Serve him right if he did! It’s disgusting. He’s far too old to be staying out late.”
“He’s got a young girlfriend, I think they go out clubbing, he’s trying to impress her with his stamina,” Grace explained.
“Pah! Idiot!” Pearl turned towards Grace. “What the hell has happened to you?”
Grace’s hands flew to her face, she’d put her make-up on this morning, had it smudged? “What do you mean? Have I got something in my teeth? My hair?”
Pearl unfolded her arms and waved them up and down in front of Grace. “What have you been eating? You’ve really piled the pounds on.”
Grace shrugged. “I’ve had a few sweets, that’s all.”
“A few sweet shops by the look of it. Crikey, Grace, have you seen the size of your chest, you’re practically bursting out of that blouse. Is this something to do with that Connie woman? Or are you using it as an excuse to stuff your face?”
“I’m not sure, I just feel like eating sweets all the time. I haven’t had any this morning though.”
Pearl narrowed her eyes. “Is that because you’ve run out?”
Grace changed the subject. “Have you seen Connie?”
“I’ve seen her all right. She’s turning into a right pain in the ... well, you know what. She’s been gorging herself on sweets too. It’s like she’s got a magic pocket that keeps filling up with sweets. You’ll end up as a sweet eating ghost too if you don’t slow down.”
“I don’t understand how she can still be eating sweets when she’s dead.”
“It’s a habit, people take habits with them when they die. Tell me what you’ve found out about Connie’s death. I hope you’ve been forceful with your investigations, not wishy washy.”
“I’m not wishy washy!” Grace protested.
“You are sometimes but you’ll toughen up. Let’s go into the kitchen, I can’t bear to listen to your brother any more, he sounds like a demented pig.” Pearl looked Grace up and down and then added, “I think there’s some fruit in the bowl downstairs.”
Once they were in the kitchen Grace told Pearl everything that she had found out so far. Pearl said, “So we know that Lucinda’s up to no good, and that Vincent rented the locker. Hang on, when did you say Connie died?”
Grace looked at her notes. “16th July.”
Pearl frowned. “And when did Vincent rent the locker?”
Grace took another look at her notes. “Oh! It was two months before that! I hadn’t realised. Sorry, Pearl, I should have made that connection last night.”
“Not to worry, you were too busy having a sweet feast, I’ll let you off. That’s interesting about Vincent. He rented the locker before Connie died. I wonder if he was getting it ready to store the things from the shop, is that what you said was in the locker? I wonder if Connie knew he was ripping everything out of the original shop.”
“I did not!” an indignant voice rang out. Connie stood behind Pearl, her hands on her hips. “I made it very clear to my family that the original shop was to stay exactly as it was! How dare he take everything away! He knew what it meant to me.”
“We don’t know that it was Vincent who took everything away,” Grace said gently, wanting to calm Connie down.
“It most likely was,” Pearl said. “I think he planned to top you more than six months ago, maybe when he had that meeting with your daughters. Then he thought he’d get rid of the shop fittings once you were dead. He rented the unit in readiness for your demise.”
Grace remembered that Vincent had stopped paying for the unit two months ago, despite reminders from Bill. She told the two ghosts about this.
Pearl nodded in a knowing manner. “Once Connie had died he couldn’t bear to look at the old stuff any more and thought he’d let it go to auction. No more reminders of his old mum.”
“Pearl,” Grace said in a warning voice.
“What? I’m only saying what I think, like it or lump it.”
“Pearl! She’s going a funny colour again, that grey colour.”
Pearl turned around. “Not again! Connie! What did I tell you? You’ve got to control your emotions.” Pearl looked back at Grace. “She was doing this all day yesterday, I had to keep her away from you. I thought we’d got it under control.”
Pearl stood up and raised her arm. Grace called out, “Don’t slap her!”
“I’m not going to slap her!” Pearl raised her other arm and pulled the frozen Connie into her embrace.
Grace felt her eyes sting at the picture in front of her. Pearl was holding Connie as if she was the most precious person in the world. Grace heard murmurs coming from Pearl. She was reassuring Connie that everything would be okay.
The grey shadow that had covered Connie seeped over Pearl. Pearl didn’t seem to be affected, she pulled Connie closer and kept up her reassurances.
Grace clenched her fists, feeling useless. Would Pearl freeze too? Would both ghosts disappear again?
The strawberries on Connie’s dress turned from grey to a light pink. Grace unclenched her fists as Connie and Pearl returned to their original colours.
Grace said, “Pearl, are you okay? Did you absorb Connie’s sadness?”
Pearl swayed slightly and gave Grace a slow wink. “I was a miserable old cow to begin with, nothing’s changed.”
Grace wasn’t convinced. She had to solve Connie’s murder soon. She could cope with becoming the size of a house but she couldn’t bear Pearl getting hurt.
Chapter 19
Pearl told Grace that she would talk to Connie and try to find out how she died.
“It won’t be easy if she keeps turning grey, it’s like talking to a wall,” Pearl said with a disgusted tut.
“Do what you can, thanks. I’d better open up the shop,” Grace said.
“Aren’t you going to wake your good-for-nothing brother?”
“No, I’ll let him sleep. If he’s still asleep by lunchtime I’ll wake him up.”
“If I was you I’d throw a bucket of water over him!”
Grace studied Pe
arl for a moment, she seemed fine now, back to her old self. Grace made herself a mug of tea and took it through to the shop. She opened up a few minutes later and was soon dealing with customers. She planned to phone Vincent at Flamingo Head Office, the number was on the card that Lucinda had given her. She was going to use the excuse of wanting a vending machine in their shop and was going to use the little white lie of saying that Lucinda advised that she speak to Vincent direct. She just had to hope that her lies wouldn’t be discovered.
Grace never got chance, the shop was busy all morning. She had just finished serving a customer when she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. She jumped and looked at the owner of the hand. She had to do a double take.
“Frankie! Is that really you? You look awful, your eyes are all bloodshot. What have you been doing?”
Frankie shrugged, wincing as he did so. “I’ve been clubbing again, it was a late night.” He sighed. Grace nearly passed out from his breath. “I don’t think I’m cut out for this clubbing lark. I’m aching all over.”
“You need a good night’s sleep. Go back to bed now if you want.”
“No, I can’t leave you to do all the work. I’ll have a good sleep tomorrow night,” Frankie said. He scratched his stomach.
“What’s wrong with having a good sleep tonight? Don’t tell me you’re going out again!”
“I am, I’ve already told the woman that I’ll be there, it’s someone’s birthday. I think the club is staying open until 6 a.m.” Frankie looked into the distance and slowly shook his head. “6 a.m.”
“You’re mad,” Grace concluded. “Go and get yourself something to eat. And brush your teeth. And wash your face. And have a shave.”
Frankie gave her a mock salute. “Yes, sir!”
He sloped away, Grace saw his jaw moving in a yawn. What could she do with him? He wouldn’t listen to common sense. For a moment she wished that he could see Pearl too, she’d tell him exactly what she thought of his behaviour. She had no doubts that Frankie would listen to Pearl.
A Sweet Murder Page 6