A Sweet Murder (16 page)

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?”

“
Maybe. Or maybe Mirabelle has organised for a cleaner to come
here. Mirabelle likes things to be tidy.”

Connie led Grace
to the bathroom. Grace wrinkled her nose. What was that smell? She
looked around, fluffy towels were placed on a shelf next to the
walk-in shower, half-used candles were placed neatly around the
edges of the bath, unopened bottles of luxury body lotions were
lined up like soldiers on the window sill.

Grace looked
over at Connie and said, “How are you feeling? Is it upsetting you
to be in here?”

Connie shook her
head and gave her a small smile. “It’s strange, I feel sort of
peaceful, as if I’m letting go of my problems. That’s funny, no one
has cleaned this room. It looks the same as the night I died. If
anyone is living here they’re probably using a different bathroom,
I’ve got three.”

Grace was just
about to comment when they heard a noise. “What was
that?”

“
Sounds like the front door, I can hear voices. Are you going
to say hello? Introduce yourself?”

Grace silently
closed the bathroom door and whispered, “It would be better if I
could introduce myself from the other side of the front door, not
skulking away in the bathroom. Is there a way out? Does that window
open?”

Connie gave her
a puzzled look. “Yes but I don’t see why you don’t just go out and
say hello. I think I can hear Della’s voice, you said you wanted to
meet her.”

Della was
Grace’s number one suspect and she didn’t want to meet her like
this. Grace carefully and silently moved the body lotion bottles to
one side of the window sill. The window opened easily. If she
climbed onto the side of the bath she could heave herself
up.

Grace did so and
managed to get her front half out of the window. Her hips had other
ideas and decided to get stuck. Grace cursed all the sweets she had
been eating. Maybe if she turned to the side a bit?

Grace felt a
sharp tap on her bottom. She froze.

A cold voice
said, “May I help you?”

Grace looked
back. The furious look in Della’s eyes made the hairs on her arms
stand up. Mustering as much dignity as she could manage Grace said,
“Yes, thank you. I seem to be stuck. If you could just move out of
the way I’ll try to wriggle backwards.”

The world slowed
down as Grace inched slowly backwards, fully aware of Della’s eyes
boring into her. Grace pulled herself from the window and, with a
polite smile on her face, climbed out of the bath. Della’s nostrils
flared as Grace directed a bright smile at her.

“
Oh,
I nearly forgot.” Grace closed the bathroom window and placed the
bottles of lotion back into their original positions. She turned to
face Della. She soon wished she hadn’t. Recognition lit up on
Della’s face. She jabbed a finger towards her and hissed, “It’s
you! The stupid cow that destroyed my experiment! What the hell are
you doing here? Who sent you? No, you don’t have to tell me. I know
who you’re working for! I should just kill you now!”

Della took a
step forward, Grace took a step back.

Someone
screamed.

It was Anna. She
stood in the bathroom doorway, wringing her hands. She called out,
“Della! No! No more killing! Please!”

Chapter 36

“
Shut up!” Della shouted.

Anna shot
forward and grabbed Grace’s arm. “Run! Run as fast as you
can!”

Della snarled,
“Be quiet, Anna. What do you think she is? The Gingerbread Man? Get
back in the living room.”

Anna moved
closer to Grace, her lips and chin trembled as if she was on the
verge of tears.

Della looked
Grace up and down. “Start explaining yourself.”

Grace tensed,
she wasn’t going to have Della talking to her like that. In a calm
voice she said, “I will explain myself but not here, and not with
you talking to me like that.”

Grace put her
hand out and firmly pushed Della out of the way. She strode into
the living room and sat down on an upholstered chair. She placed
her handbag on the floor and waited for Della.

Anna came into
the room first, her head bowed. She pulled a wooden chair close to
Grace and perched on the end of it. Della marched in and stood in
front of Grace, looking her direct in the eye.