Daisy's Chain: A Cozy Ghost Mystery (Storage Ghost Mysteries Book 5)

by Gillian Larkin

  Mr Manville didn’t speak.

  “I’m waiting,” Grace said. It wasn’t like her to be so assertive but she’d had enough. “You mentioned your wife?”

  Mr Manville shifted in his seat, he didn’t meet Grace’s eyes. “I think it’s something to do with a letter. I hope she’s made the right decision, she should have, she knew my thoughts about the situation.”

  Grace frowned. “You’re not making any sense, I don’t think you’re telling me the full story. When I’ve helped ghosts before we’ve held the item that they were attached to at the same time. Then we were taken into a sort of vision, it showed the people involved in the problem. Why don’t we hold your jacket at the same time and see what happens?”

  “I’m not sure,” Mr Manville began.

  Grace picked the jacket up and held it towards him. “Touch it,” she ordered.

  He moved his hand above the jacket, held it there for a second, and then lowered it onto the jacket, his hand sinking slightly through the material.

  Grace waited. She looked around the kitchen.

  “Is something supposed to happen?” Mr Manville asked.

  “Yes, it can’t be your jacket that we’re supposed to hold. Perhaps it’s something inside?”

  “No!” Mr Manville reached out and tried to grab the jacket. His hand passed through it as if passing through water.

  Grace ignored his cries of protest as she went through his pockets. Her hand closed over something small. She pulled it out and held it up.

  It was a small heart shaped pendant on a chain. Grace held it up by the delicate gold chain, it swayed in the air. Grace and Mr Manville seemed transfixed by it.

  Mr Manville made a sudden lurch and tried to grab it, his hand went through it.

  The kitchen began to fade.

  Grace knew what was happening, she held the chain tighter.

  Mr Manville’s eyes widened as he took in his new surroundings. “What’s happening? Is this the vision thing you spoke about?”

  “It is, do you recognise it?”

  He nodded and sat back in the chair. “It’s my house. Can anyone see us?”

  “No, it’s like we’re watching a movie, although I can smell food. Looks like some sort of party.”

  Mr Manville pointed to a banner which read, ‘Happy 16th Birthday!’

  A young girl was sitting at a table full of party food. There was a pile of presents in front of her. The girl was laughing, her eyes shining with excitement. Happy people surrounded the table, chattering and laughing. A man handed a small box to the girl.

  Grace stood up and walked closer to the party table. She pointed at the man who had just handed over the present. “Is that you? You look so young, was this a long time ago?”

  Mr Manville joined her. “It was 8 years ago. That’s my daughter, Daisy, on her birthday.” He paused and sighed. “It was a good day.”

  The Daisy in the vision opened the little box. She gasped in delight when she saw the gold chain and pendant, the one that Grace was still holding.

  Daisy jumped up and threw her arms around her dad. “I love it! I’ll never take it off!”

  “Are you sure that’s you?” Grace asked. “You’re smiling.”

  Mr Manville gave her a sad smile and said, “I used to smile a lot when Daisy was around.”

  A sadness gripped Grace’s heart. She was afraid to ask but she had to know the answer. “Is Daisy still alive?”

  He gave a brusque nod. “This vision isn’t helping. Can we move on?”

  Grace said, “The vision’s already fading, we’re moving on. Oh! Is that Daisy getting her exam results? You look so proud. And I see she’s still wearing the necklace.”

  Mr Manville merely grunted.

  The vision faded to be replaced with a new one.

  Grace laughed. “This must be university, I recognise the student room. There she is, unpacking, still wearing the pendant. And look at you over there! Crying! My mum and dad were just the same. Is that your wife, June?”

  Mr Manville’s look softened. “It is, you can see how much she looks like Daisy. I cried more than June that day, she never let me forget it.”

  Grace couldn’t imagine this gruff man crying.

  The vision faded once more.

  Grace’s scalp prickled as a new vision appeared. Something terrible was going to happen, she could feel it.

  Mr Manville must have felt it too because he bellowed out, “No!”

  His rage was so fierce that Grace dropped the necklace. The vision shattered as if it was made of glass.

  Grace picked the necklace up. “Wait, we have to see what happens.”

  “Never!” Mr Manville shimmered, the black cloud grew bigger, it covered his whole body.

  He disappeared.

  Chapter 11

  Grace waved her fist in the air. “Come back, you coward! We have to stay in the vision!”

  Mr Manville didn’t come back.

  Grace’s heart was racing, she knew there was something they had to see, something to do with Daisy. Maybe it would explain why Mr Manville was so full of hate.

  Grace waited for a few minutes, she kept shouting out but there was no response.

  She picked up the necklace. Could she go back into the vision on her own? She’d never tried that before.

  There was only one way to find out.

  Feeling the need to close her eyes, Grace stood still and held the necklace tightly. She thought about the scene they had visited last, thought about the sounds and the almost overpowering heat.

  She started to feel warmer, music began to thud in her ears. She opened her eyes.

  She was back in the vision, back in the nightclub. It was full of young people, some dancing, some chatting in groups, most of them drinking.

  Grace’s clothes began to stick to her as she moved through the crowd. How could they bear the heat? Ah. They don’t wear many clothes. Did she ever dress like that? Was she ever that young?

  Grace spotted Daisy standing at the bar. Daisy was smiling and touching the heart shaped pendant hanging around her neck. Grace moved closer. It was weird just walking through people, being invisible.

  She stood close to Daisy. A young man approached Daisy and looked her up and down. He smiled at her, his smile resembling a wolf’s. Grace’s scalp prickled again. She didn’t like this man. She moved closer to hear their conversation.

  The young man said, “Hey there, this sounds cheesy, but you’re the most beautiful girl here tonight. You’ve got an amazing smile, you look so happy.”

  “Thanks,” Daisy said shyly. “I’ve had some good news today, I passed my second year at university. I can’t wait to tell my dad.”

  The man nodded. “Brains as well as beauty. This calls for a celebration, let me get you a drink.”

  Daisy looked unsure. “I don’t drink much, I was going to have water. And my friends will worry where I am.”

  The man leant closer to Daisy and said, “Just one drink, then you can go back to your friends.”

  Daisy still didn’t look convinced.

  The man dramatically clutched his heart and wailed, “Don’t turn me down! I can feel my heart breaking already. Surely you won’t refuse me one drink? It’s bad manners to refuse drinks. Look, there’s a table over there. I’ll bring us both a drink, we can chat for ten minutes and then you can decide whether to chat some more - or go back to your friends. What do you say?”

  “Well …” Daisy began.

  The man looked serious. “Okay, here’s the truth. See that group of lads over there?”

  Daisy looked over to where he was pointing, so did Grace. She saw the group raise their drinks as one towards them. They looked like a pack of wolves waiting for the kill. Grace’s mouth went dry. She wished she could reach out and whisk Daisy away.

  The man continued, “My friends said I would never be able to get you to talk to me, let alone have a drink with me. I’m usually shy around girls, especially someone as beautiful a
s you. Please, one drink, then I’ll leave you alone.”

  The man tried to look earnest. Grace wasn’t fooled. Unfortunately, Daisy was.

  Grace watched in mounting horror as Daisy took a seat near the bar. The nasty young man bought two drinks. He discreetly took a small bottle from his pocket and, making sure no one was looking, he dropped some sort of liquid into Daisy’s drink. He took the drinks over to Daisy.

  Grace tried calling out but no one could hear her. She swiped her hands through the air. Nothing she did could stop what was happening.

  Daisy took a drink. She grimaced and looked down at her glass. The young man smiled and took a big gulp of his drink. Daisy drunk some more.

  Grace felt her head begin to swim. The drink was definitely drugged. Grace put her hand to her head, the room started to spin. She looked at Daisy, she had her hand to her head too. Grace watched as the man lifted Daisy’s glass and forced the liquid down her throat.

  Why didn’t anyone stop him? Why couldn’t anyone see what he was doing?

  Daisy’s eyes began to close, her head flopped to one side. The young man smirked. He turned to his group of friends and gave them a thumbs up. Grace heard their cheers, it was the sound of triumph.

  Grace’s vision was blurring but she could still see what was happening. She saw the young man put his arms around the nearly comatose Daisy. He leered at her body and said, “I’ll take care of you.”

  Daisy was led away. Her eyes flickered up and for a moment it looked like she was aware of what was going on.

  Grace felt Daisy’s last emotion - utter terror.

  Chapter 12

  Grace’s legs felt weak. She watched Daisy being dragged through the nightclub.

  The vision faded and Grace found herself back in her own kitchen. She collapsed onto a chair. She put her head in her hands and waited for the dizzy feeling to go.

  “I saw everything.”

  Grace looked up. Mr Manville was sitting opposite her. His face looked even paler than before. The black cloud that surrounded him had gone.

  “I saw everything.” He repeated in a level tone. “I saw what that low life did to my daughter. I saw his odious friends egging him on. I saw that creature lead her away.” He suddenly banged on the table. “How could that monster do that to my little girl? Why wasn’t I there to protect her?”

  Tears rolled down Grace’s cheeks. “I could feel her confusion as the drink took effect. I could feel her fear. Why would anyone do that to another person?”

  Mr Manville stood up and began to pace the kitchen, his fists were clenched at his side.

  Grace wiped the tears away. “What happened? Did Daisy tell you about… well, it was an attack, wasn’t it? Did you tell the police?”

  Mr Manville stopped pacing. He had his back to Grace, she saw his shoulders slump.

  He turned to face her. Sadness dimmed his eyes, Grace’s heart felt heavier. He said, “We were due to meet her the next day at university but she phoned and said she wasn’t well. I actually joked about her having a hangover, I knew she wasn’t a big drinker. I remember that she went quiet at that, she’d usually laugh too. I didn’t think anything of it. We didn’t have time to meet before she went back to her studies for her third year. She normally comes home during the holidays but she said she’d stay with a friend and catch up on her work, I was so proud of her work ethic. I can see now that she was avoiding us.”

  “Didn’t she tell anyone? Not even her friends? She can’t have kept that to herself.”

  Mr Manville shrugged. He sat back down at the table and looked down at his hands. “She’s the type to do that, thinking she can deal with things herself, not wanting to trouble anyone.”

  Grace could tell there was more to this story. “Did you ever find out about the attack?”

  He looked up at her and sighed. “Oh, Grace, I’m so ashamed. Try to understand, I didn’t know about the attack.”

  “What happened?” Grace prompted.

  “We hadn’t heard from her in a while. She was due home at Christmas but then made up some excuse about not coming home, I can’t even remember the excuse now. June said something was wrong and insisted on us driving up to see her, to give her a surprise. It was us who got the surprise.”

  Grace’s stomach flipped as she guessed what was coming next.

  Mr Manville said, “She opened the door and just as we were about to shout ‘Surprise!’ we saw it. Her pregnant body. The wind was knocked right out of me. June couldn’t say anything, she just stood there in shock. I’m ashamed to say that I lost my temper. You might not believe me after the way I’ve acted today but I seldom lost my temper, I was so calm. But the thought of my little girl standing there with …”

  He put his head down and tried to calm himself.

  “Did she try to explain? Did it happen on the night that she was drugged?” Grace asked.

  Mr Manville looked up. “I never gave her chance to explain. She said it was a one night stand, she didn’t know the father’s name. I was furious. After all we’d done for her. Daisy came to us late in life, we gave her everything and more. I felt so betrayed at what she’d done, like she’d thrown all our kindness back in our faces.”

  “Didn’t you find out later? Didn’t you calm down?”

  He shook his head. “I was too hurt. I told her she was dead to us and to never contact us again. I stormed away and ordered June to do the same.”

  “You can’t have left it like that? She’s your daughter, she needed your help.” Grace’s voice was beginning to rise.

  “I returned her letters. I put the phone down on her. I forced June to do the same. After a while she stopped trying to contact us. But there was one final letter.” He stopped talking and blinked a few times. “June read the letter, it said we had a grandson. Daisy said she was sorry for upsetting us and causing us shame. She wanted to return something to me.” His voice broke as he said, “It was the necklace.”

  Grace started crying. It was too sad, too much to bear, that poor girl.

  Chapter 13

  No one spoke for a while. Grace was lost in her own thoughts, she presumed Mr Manville was too.

  Finally, she said, “There must be something we can do. You mentioned your wife when we first met, you said she had to make a decision. Can you remember what it is? Has it something to do with Daisy?”

  Mr Manville looked towards the window. “I can remember now but you won’t want to hear it. I don’t even want to say it, not now that I know what happened to Daisy.”

  “If I’m going to help you have to tell me everything, no matter how painful.”

  He brought his attention back to Grace. “Okay, but try to bear in mind how angry I was. I felt that Daisy had betrayed me and my anger overtook me, it made me unreasonable, I wouldn’t listen to anyone. I told you that Daisy tried to contact us several times. I wouldn’t allow June to talk to her. June was heartbroken but I didn’t care. I told June that if she spoke to Daisy that would mean that she was betraying me too. I was awful to her but being the lovely woman that she is she listened to me and did as I asked, well, ordered.”

  “You sound an awful man,” Grace said with a small smile.

  “I was awful, I am awful. I can’t remember how and when I died, and I don’t know how long I was in that locker. All I know is that I felt overwhelming rage that I was no longer alive to control June. I knew that she’d weaken when I’d gone, I knew that she would contact Daisy. I had this feeling that Daisy had sent a letter to June recently, maybe after my death. June hadn’t replied yet, she was torn about what to do. That was the decision she was trying to make.”

  “And you wanted me to find June and convince her not to contact Daisy? You wanted me to became part of your hate campaign?” Grace’s voice rose again. She knew there was something untrustworthy about this man.

  Mr Manville looked down at the table. In a quiet voice he said, “I’m more ashamed than you’d ever know. You can’t hate me more than I hate myself.
I allowed anger to take over me, to cloud my judgment. Haven’t you ever been so overcome with emotion that you do things out of character?”

  He looked up at her. Grace was tempted to say no just to make him feel worse. But she couldn’t. She said, “When my parents died I was overcome with grief, I wouldn’t talk to anyone, not even my brother. I was ready to give up on life, I was ready to die.”

  “See, we all do things that we regret. Mine is much, much worse than yours, I admit that. But can’t you help me, Grace? Can’t you try to make things right between Daisy and June? You could go and talk to June.”

  “Is that what you want? Truthfully? I don’t want to get there and you use force to make me do something I don’t want to.”

  “I promise. I want to make amends. Can we go now? I want everything to be sorted out as quickly as possible.”

  Grace stood up. She thought about Daisy in the nightclub. “I’ll do all that I can. Does June live far away?”

  Mr Manville stood up. He had a hopeful smile on his face. “It’s only a short bus ride away. Oh! To think that June and Daisy could meet up again! June could be a proper grandma, and Daisy could come home! I wonder if she stayed at university? I’ll bet she’s got a great job, she always was a clever girl.”

  Grace looked at Mr Manville for a moment. “You look younger. When we met there was a dark cloud round you, it’s gone now. It must have been your anger. I didn’t know anger could do that.”

  “Anger changed my life. Come on, there’s a bus every ten minutes. Or there used to be.”

  Grace grabbed her coat and bag and headed for the door. She was just about to go out when she remembered something. She ran into the kitchen and picked up the necklace and the jacket. She gave the jacket a quick sniff. There was still a slight whiff but not as bad as before.

  She smiled. She didn’t care if the jacket stank, people could tut as loud as they wanted on the bus! She was going to help Daisy. It felt good to be doing something useful.

  Chapter 14

  The bus soon arrived and took them to the other side of town. Grace had never been to this side before and needed to follow Mr Manville’s directions.