A Sweet Murder

by Gillian Larkin

  Connie was reassuringly scathing about how the other women were dressed. “Look at the state of her! You can actually see her knickers! She must be freezing.”

  Grace smiled to herself, at least she was warm and comfortable. She moved a few steps up in the queue. She wasn’t the only one on her own, some people were on their phones shouting that they were outside and on their way in. Perhaps she should do that. She looked at the other nightclub people. Apart from the dismissive glances at her clothes no one was paying her any attention. Good, it gave her the chance to study people, to see if she could spot any telltale packets of sweets.

  No. Nothing out here. Whoever was selling them must be inside.

  “On your own, love?” the doorman asked as he pulled the rope barrier back for her to pass through.

  Grace lied, “I’m meeting someone inside.”

  The doorman gave her a sympathetic look as if seeing straight through her lie. “Just watch yourself in there, love, there are some dodgy folk about.”

  Grace hoped so, she wanted to find the dodgy person who was selling the drugged sweets.

  She almost fainted when the skinny girl on the reception desk asked her for a £30 entrance fee. Connie screeched, “£30! To get in here! We’re only staying for a few hours, not the whole week.”

  Grace tried handed over her money as easily as if she was passing over 50p but the reception girl had to tug on the note to get it out of her reluctant hand. She followed others as they headed into a darkened room. The heat hit her like a thick blanket, the roar of the music made her ears vibrate. Connie’s mouth was moving but Grace couldn’t hear her. She took out her phone and typed in a text, she held it out to Connie:

  ‘I’ll go to the left, you go to the right. Let me know if you spot anyone selling sweets.’

  Connie nodded and then set off to the right side of the room, floating through dancing people.

  Grace politely pushed through people at the left side of the room, looking around as she went. The floor vibrated with the booming music, sweat began to trickle down her back. People knocked into her, drink was spilt over her and a headache began to form at the front of her head.

  What am I doing here? I could be at home watching ‘Rizzoli and Isles’. Grace thought about Connie and how grey she had gone when she remembered that someone she loved had killed her. Grace couldn’t let the killer get away with it. She’d keep looking, even if it took all night.

  “Hey, Gorgeous! Want to dance?” An older looking man in a satin shirt gyrated in front of her looking hopeful.

  Grace smiled politely and said, “No, thank you.”

  The man stopped gyrating and peered at her face. “Is it because you’re too tired? You do look knackered, has it been a heavy night? I can get you something to perk you up.”

  Grace kept her smile in place. Should she take him up on his offer? Was he talking about the drugged sweets? Or was it something else altogether, something she should run away from? She decided to take a chance.

  “I am tired, I’ve been working all day. What can you get me?”

  The man put a warm arm around her waist and winked at her. “Something sweet for you, sweet lady. This way.”

  Grace tried not to gag at the sweaty aroma that wafted towards her from the man. She allowed herself to be led to the other side of the room. She held down a feeling of panic, where was he taking her? If he headed towards a door she was going to run in the other direction, there was no way she was going to leave the flimsy safety of the nightclub.

  Grace looked behind her, hoping that she’d get a glimpse of Connie, hoping to indicate where she was going.

  She felt herself being pushed down into a padded seat, she knew the man was nearby as she could still smell him. She was in a darkened booth. Grace blinked a few times and tried to work out who was talking loudly in front of her. Her eyes widened as she recognised two people sitting opposite her. One was Connie. And the other was the woman who worked at the shop, the one Grace had seen in her vision and in the photograph following Connie’s death. What was her name? Anna, that was it. She was Jamie’s sister, the one that he and Lucinda were concerned about.

  They wouldn’t be concerned if they saw her now. She had a huge bag at the side of her, even in the poor light Grace could see that it was bulging with brown paper bags. The man that had led her to the booth was having a conversation with Anna. Anna nodded and held out a paper bag. He pressed some money into her hand and took the bag.

  Connie’s mouth dropped open. She looked from Anna to Grace, and then back again.

  So, it was Anna who was selling the drugged sweets.

  Was it Anna who had killed Connie?

  Chapter 33

  “But why would she kill Connie?” Pearl asked the next morning in the kitchen. “What motive did she have? Had you left money to her in your will?”

  Connie, who was sitting opposite her at the kitchen table, said, “I did leave her something, she had become part of the family. She was loyal, I could trust her. I don’t think she’s got it in her to kill anyone.”

  “You’d be surprised at who’s capable of murder. Grace, tell me again what you saw. Was Anna definitely on her own when she sold the sweets to your friend?”

  “He wasn’t my friend. She was on her own but she was wearing an earpiece, and, from what I could see in the dark, she kept looking around her as if she was being watched.”

  Pearl tapped her chin. “Interesting, so she could be working with someone else. Maybe they worked together to kill Connie. Perhaps they wanted to build up some sort of sweet drugs empire and needed Connie out of the way.”

  “I can’t see how they are getting away with it,” Grace said. “Surely the nightclub owner has seen what’s going on, he won’t want drugs in his club.”

  Pearl gave Grace a smile and shook her head. “I keep forgetting how naive you are. The nightclub owner will know what’s going on, he’s probably taking a cut. Right, what’s your next move?”

  Grace swallowed and grimaced. She looked over at Connie and said, “You’re eating lime and mint? I don’t like those at all, not a good combination.”

  “Sorry, I’m not too keen myself,” Connie said. She placed a stripy green sweet back into her pocket. “I keep getting the urge to eat sweets and I don’t know what I’m going to get when I reach into my pocket. It’s like a lucky dip.”

  Pearl said to Grace, “Are you still getting a taste of Connie’s sweets?”

  “I am, at least I’m not eating so many myself now.”

  They all looked up to the ceiling. Pearl said, “Sounds like your brother is finally getting up. Where are those sweets that you took off him?”

  “Safe in my bag,” Grace said. “Along with those that I got last night. They’re exactly the same.”

  Pearl grinned at Grace. “Did you stay and have a dance with your friend last night, after he got those sweets for you?”

  Grace looked down at the kitchen table and turned her cup around slightly. “No, I decided to leave.”

  Connie laughed. “You should have seen her! I didn’t know she could move so fast. As soon as she got the sweets she told that sleazy looking man that she’d meet him on the dance floor. He was too slow, she was out of the door before he’d even heaved himself off his seat.”

  Grace smoothed down her top and stood up. “Frankie’s coming down. I’ll have to work in the shop today. I thought I might go and see Anna later, see if she’s still at the original shop. I might show her the recipe book and see what her reaction is.”

  “By heck! A zombie’s just walked into the kitchen!” Pearl cried out.

  Frankie did look pale. He slumped into a chair and said, “Any chance of a cuppa?”

  “Frankie! You look dreadful!” Grace said, she sat down at his side.

  “I feel dreadful, I think it was those black sweets. They had a funny taste to them, like eating metal. I won’t be having any more of those, don’t you touch them either.”

  Grace m
ade Frankie a strong cup of tea. Once she was sure he was okay she opened the shop and dealt with the customers. Frankie joined her a few hours later, his cheeks looking rosier

  Grace wanted to visit Anna at the shop but wanted to spend time with Frankie too. She hadn’t seen him properly for days. In between serving customers Frankie said that he wouldn’t be seeing his girlfriend again.

  “She’ll get over me in time,” he said. “I can’t be doing with going out clubbing every night. I’m starting to feel my age a bit, I prefer to stay in some nights, watch a bit of TV. I don’t mind being on my own.”

  Grace smiled to herself. How would Frankie react if he knew he wasn’t alone when he was watching TV? What would he say if he could see Pearl sitting at his side?

  Grace wouldn’t mind sharing her home with Pearl. She wondered again what Pearl was attached to. Was it the whole shop? Or was there one item in the shop that she was attached to? Would Pearl ever be able to leave the shop?

  Connie had been wandering around the shop all day eating sweets. Grace had enjoyed most of the flavours although she wasn’t keen on the more sour tasting ones.

  Connie came over to Grace and said, “I can’t stop thinking about Anna. I’ve been trying to work out her expression last night, I think she looked scared. What if someone’s forcing her to sell those sweets?”

  Della was the name that sprang to Grace’s mind.

  Connie said, “Do you think we can go and see Anna soon? I’ve got an awful feeling that she’s in danger somehow.”

  Grace gave Connie a nod. She said to Frankie, “Would you mind if I went now? It’s nearly four o’clock, I don’t think we’ll have many customers now.”

  “No, you get yourself off. I think I’ll close up soon. I feel like having a quiet night in, watch some American TV.”

  Pearl suddenly appeared at Frankie’s shoulder and said, “Let’s watch that CSI programme, I love seeing all that forensic stuff on dead bodies.”

  “I think CSI might be on,” Frankie said.

  Grace blinked. Could Frankie hear Pearl? No, he would have said something if he could, wouldn’t he?

  Grace left Frankie and drove over to the original Flamingo shop, Connie sat at her side. They parked a short way down the road. Grace turned off the engine and looked at the shop.

  Connie pointed. “Look at those people outside! They don’t look like typical sweet buyers, they look shifty. They’re going into the shop, what are they after?”

  Grace had a sinking feeling, Was Anna selling drugged sweets direct from the shop?

  Chapter 34

  Grace and Connie waited until the shifty looking customers had left the shop. Grace noticed their pockets were bulging with brown paper bags.

  The bell rang as Grace entered the shop. She had a split second of panic, would Anna recognise her from last night? Would she think she was here to buy drugged sweets? Grace considered doing so for a moment but then thought better of it, Anna might not be selling such sweets here.

  Anna looked up from the behind the counter, pushed her glasses further up her nose and called out a friendly hello. Grace smiled and said, “Do I have time to look around? Are you closing soon?”

  Anna looked at her watch. “We’ve got ten minutes yet but don’t rush, I can wait until you’ve finished.”

  She looked down at something behind the counter, Grace couldn’t see what it was. She looked at Connie hoping to indicate for her to go round the counter to see what Anna was looking at.

  Connie was standing in the middle of the shop, her hands on her hips. “I don’t like it, they’ve made it look too modern. And what’s that over there? A pick and mix! We’ve never had one of those in our shops!”

  Grace walked over to the pick and mix. She’d always liked these, they were perfect for when you couldn’t decide which sweets you wanted. In fact, they should have pick and mixes everywhere – at cake shops, sandwich shops, even restaurants. Then you could have a little bit of everything.

  Connie’s voice cut through her thoughts. “Are you actually going to try this pick and mix thing? There are plenty of sweets behind the counter, I’m glad to see they haven’t got rid of them!”

  Grace took her phone out and typed :

  ‘I’m playing for time, go see what Anna is doing’.

  Connie nodded but gave Grace a disapproving look before moving away. Grace looked down at the selection of sweets, an open bag in her hand ready to be filled. Where to begin?

  Grace started at the chocolate selection and then moved on to the fruity sweet area. Her bag was soon filled. She picked up another empty bag and began to walk around the pick and mix area a third time. She could share with Frankie, maybe. Oh! Coconut mushrooms!

  Grace jumped as Connie appeared at her side. Connie said, “Anna was counting out money, lots of money. I’m quite sure that the money isn’t from the shop takings, most people pay with cards. I saw her reaching under the counter and when I looked down I saw boxes of those black sweets. They didn’t all have red stripes running through them like your Frankie’s did, some had yellow and green, there were even ones with purple stripes. I can’t believe Anna is involved in this, she hasn’t got the brains for it.”

  Grace nodded and quickly filled her second bag. She took them over to the counter and placed them down. She said, “I think I’m done. There’s too much choice! I came here once with my family, a long time ago. It’s all changed.”

  Anna looked over Grace’s shoulder, a sad smile on her face. She seemed unfocused as if she was looking into the past. In a quiet voice she said, “Things have to change, we have to keep up with modern times.”

  Connie said, “Sounds like she’s been practising saying that, like she’s repeating what someone has told her. Look how tired she is, she never used to stoop like that.”

  Anna picked the sweets up and weighed them. Grace paid for them and waved away Anna’s offer of a carrier bag. “My handbag is big enough and strong enough! When I was here last time I saw a painted chair ...”

  She was interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing. Anna jumped, her eyes darted to the wall where the phone hung. Grace actually heard a whimper escaping from the frightened woman.

  In a trembling voice Anna said, “I have to get that. Was there anything else?”

  “No, but I’ll just have another quick look around, if that’s okay?” Grace said. She had no intention of leaving until Connie had listened to Anna’s telephone conversation.

  Grace strode over to the other side of the room to give Anna some privacy. She glanced back at the counter to see Connie standing right next to Anna as she picked up the phone. Grace was glad that Connie was listening because all she could hear from this side of the shop was mumbling.

  Anna’s conversation ended. Grace went back to the counter to say goodbye and thank you. She gave a slight start as she saw how white Anna was. Connie nodded urgently towards the shop door, indicating for Grace to leave quickly.

  Anna barely registered Grace’s departure, her eyes were again fixed on something in the past.

  Once in the van Connie said, “I couldn’t hear the person on the other end but it seems Anna is being forced to sell those sweets. She kept mumbling that it was wrong and that she didn’t want to do it. The person on the other end sounded annoyed and quite threatening. It seemed like they were arranging a meeting tonight at The Gate House. Anna was positively trembling, poor love.”

  “Do you know where The Gate House is?”

  Connie crossed her arms and said, “I certainly do! Until I was murdered I used to live there!”

  Chapter 35

  As they drove along a road that led to Connie’s former home Grace said, “This road looks familiar.” A few minutes later she said, “Why didn’t you tell me you lived with Vincent?”

  Connie pointed to the left and said, “I don’t live with him, I’ve got my own house. Turn left down here, this road takes you round the back of Flamingo Hall. Just a bit further and you’ll see another
turn to the left.”

  Grace followed Connie’s instructions and came to a stop outside a small one storey house. It was small compared to Flamingo Hall but it was three times bigger than Grace’s home.

  Grace looked at the building. “It’s lovely, have you always lived here?”

  “No, I used to live in Flamingo Hall but I moved out when Mirabelle and Vincent got married, it seemed only right to agree to let Mirabelle have full control over the big house. I like it here, I feel secure. I can see the big house from my living room window. Shall we go in?”

  “Go in? I can’t do that! What if someone sees me?”

  “As far as I’m concerned this is still my home, doesn’t matter whether I’m alive or dead! Follow me.”

  Connie floated out through the passenger door. Grace reluctantly opened the driver’s door and followed her. It was all right for Connie to say they should go in, how would Grace explain her presence if there was anyone inside?

  Grace tried the handle on the door, hoping for a second that it might be locked. It wasn’t. Connie saw the look on her face and said, “I never lock it, I don’t need to. I’ve always felt secure in this house.”

  Grace didn’t remind her that she had been murdered in this house. She followed Connie into a cosy looking living room. There were family pictures displayed around the room along with photographs and drawings of the many Flamingo shops and buildings.

  “Would you mind if I looked in the bathroom, the one where you ... were murdered?” Grace asked as politely as she could.

  “Ah, the crime scene,” Connie said with a nod. “Are you going to look for clues? See if the police missed anything.”

  “Something like that,” Grace replied. “Your house looks clean, do you think someone is coming in to clean it?”