A Sweet Murder (5 page)

Pearl walked
over to Grace and Connie. She pointed towards the back part of the
room, it didn’t look like the stockroom any more, dark shadows
flittered about. “You only need to see part of this vision. We can
still experience some of the sensations though. It feels like we’re
on a ship, that’s why the floor is moving. How did your relative,
did you say his name was Albert? How did he get to this
country?”

Connie said, “He
was called Alfred and he came over on a ship. Are we on the same
ship? That’s impossible.” She paused and looked closer. “What’s
going on at the other side of the room? It looks like it’s changed
into another kind of room, one made of wood. I can see shadows, are
those actual people? Are we on Alfred’s ship? That’s
impossible!”

Grace took a
step towards the back of the room. She looked down at her right
foot, it was standing on wooden decking. Grace looked up and
studied the scene that was unfolding in front of her. She laughed
and looked back at the two ghosts. “I think I’ve spotted Alfred,
he’s got the chair with him, it looks new. I think he’s charging
people to sit on the chair!”

“
Why
would he do that?” Connie said. She stood up and walked closer to
Grace.

Pearl joined
them. “The crafty bugger! Look, there’s not enough room for
everyone to sit down, some are resting against the walls. I bet
they’re dying for a sit down and that Alfred knows it. Fancy
charging people for that!”

Grace took
another step into the vision. She swayed as the ship moved up and
down. She could smell the unwashed aroma of the passengers. It was
obvious from their clothing that they were poor people. “They’ve
been crammed into that ship like sardines, it’s cruel.”

Pearl said,
“That’s what people did. I’ve seen the news on Frankie’s computer,
that still goes on today in the back of lorries. Desperate people
will do desperate things.”

Grace shifted
from one foot to the other. Connie said, “What’s wrong? You look as
if you want to say something but you daren’t.”

Grace gave a
little shrug. “It’s just that ... those poor people ...”

Pearl butted in.
“I think Grace is trying to say that Alfred shouldn’t be taking
advantage of people in a bad situation, is that right?”

Grace nodded,
she looked at Connie, hoping she’d understand. Grace stiffened at
Connie’s cold expression.

In a stern voice
Connie said, “It’s business, it’s not personal.”

Chapter 10

Grace looked at
Pearl and raised her eyebrows. Pearl’s eyes widened and she nodded
her head almost imperceptibly as if to confirm that she’d caught
Connie’s cold look too.

The vision of
the ship faded and the far wall of the room returned to
normal.

Grace put a
friendly smile on her face and said to Connie, “So, what happened
when Alfred came to this country?”

Connie’s head
lifted, a proud look lit up her face. “He set up a stall in Leeds
Market. He learnt the language and the customs. He worked every
minute that he could and soon built up a loyal following.” Connie
laughed. “No one could pronounce his surname, I can’t even remember
what it was now, I think it’s written down somewhere, it begins
with an ‘F’.”

Something was
stirring in Grace’s memory but she didn’t want to lead Connie. She
asked, “What did they call him?”

Connie beamed.
“They called him Mr Flamingo. He sold sweets, just like the one
you’re eating now.”

Grace’s hand
paused on the way back from her mouth. She hadn’t even been aware
of putting a sweet in. She rolled the sweet to one side in her
mouth and said, “As in Flamingo’s Sweets? THE Flamingo
Sweets?”

“
The
very same. Alfred worked hard and saved his money. His best selling
products were liquorice sweets, he used to mix them with cough
mixture, they were really popular. He bought his first shop five
years after he set up the market stall. He took that chair with him
to the shop.”

“
Did
he charge people to sit down on it?” Pearl asked.

Connie didn’t
notice the sourness in Pearl’s voice, or if she did, she ignored
it. “He used to let children climb on it to see the sweet jars
better, the little ones couldn’t see over the counter.”

“
What happened to his shop? I know a bit about Flamingo
Sweets, they’ve got a big factory in Leeds, haven’t they? And I’ve
seen the sweets in supermarkets and vending machines.”

Connie nodded.
“He was an excellent businessman, he could sell ice to penguins.
We’ve got factories all over England. We were just going to break
into overseas sales when ... heck! What happened? I’m sure we had
meetings about it, what did we discuss? I can’t remember
now.”

“
You
said ‘we’, I take it that you were in the sweet business too?”
Grace said.

“
We
all were, and proud of it too. My children have been brought up to
work in the family business, they love it.”

Pearl said, “Do
they? Are you sure about that? Or have they been forced to work in
the family business?”

Connie looked
offended. “Of course they love it! What a thing to say! They are so
lucky to have a business ready for them to step into, I tell them
that all the time.”

“
Hmm,” Pearl replied.

Connie went on,
“Lucinda is my oldest, I had high hopes for her. I thought she’d be
just like me but I was wrong. She has no business sense at all,
totally useless, couldn’t settle down and look at things seriously.
We had many arguments about it but she wouldn’t listen. She said
she wanted to do her own thing, to have her own freedom. She saw
sense in the end though.”

“
Does she work for the company now?” Grace asked.

Connie nodded.
“I thought about what she said about freedom so I gave her the job
of sales rep, she gets to drive around and visit our shops, she
checks up on the vending machines.”

“
Is
she happy doing that?” Grace said.

“
I
don’t know, I’ve never asked her. Vincent is my next born. He’s
wonderful, a real businessman, knows a good deal when he sees it.
He married well and has already given me two grandsons. My youngest
is Della, she was a complete surprise to me! She came to me quite
late in life, the cutest baby you ever saw.” Connie chuckled. “Some
people accused me of spoiling her, I suppose I did. She’s got a
real sweet tooth, just like me. She loves making sweets and was
always trying new recipes. She works in our tasting factory, she
says she wants to make a sweet that everyone craves, a sweet that
they can’t get enough of! Bless her.”

Pearl made a
tutting noise. Grace looked over at her. Pearl folded her arms and
looked away.

Grace said,
“Sounds like you had a happy family life and a successful
business.”

“
Yes, I did. I had to use tough love sometimes, particularly
with Lucinda, but it was worth it. My children ...”

Connie trailed
off and looked into the distance.

Grace peered at
her. “Connie? Connie, are you all right?”

Connie didn’t
move.

“
Pearl! Look at her, it’s like she’s frozen. Oh! What’s
happening to her dress? The colour is fading, those strawberries
are turning grey.”

Pearl called
out, “Grace, stand back! I know what’s happening. Look at her face,
she’s turned grey all over, and look down at the floor, it’s like a
puddle of grey is seeping out of her feet. Don’t let it touch you!
Move!”

Grace took a
step back. “But what’s happening?”

“
She’s remembered something horrifying, the grey stuff is like
an emotional net, it’s catching all the horror and hurt. There must
be a lot of it for it to leak out of her. If it touches you it’ll
be absorbed into your skin, you’ll be overwhelmed by bad memories.
Grace! For goodness sake, will you shift out of the
way!”

Grace looked
around the room, she jumped onto Frankie’s bed. Pearl moved closer
to Connie, her arms outstretched.

“
What are you doing? Don’t touch her!”

“
Shh, I know what I’m doing, the grey stuff doesn’t affect me.
You’ll have to get off that bed, I need to lay her down. Can you
get onto the chair?”

Grace put one
hand on the wall and moved her leg towards the chair. It was a bit
of a stretch. She shifted her weight forward and moved onto the
chair.

Pearl muttered
something to the frozen Connie and led her towards the bed. Pearl
gently pushed her down and lifted her feet. The grey puddle
followed her onto the bed as if it was a shadow.

“
Is
she going to be all right?” Grace asked.

The room faded,
Grace felt the chair wobble as she was taken into another
vision.

Chapter 11

Grace bent down
and put her hand on the back of the chair to steady herself. The
air around her to seem to swirl as if the vision wasn’t ready for
her yet.

After a few
seconds the scene settled. Grace lowered herself into a sitting
position. Her nose tickled as a fruity aroma floated towards her.
That was followed by a sweeter smell, a pleasant mouth-watering
smell.

Grace took in
her surroundings. She was in a sweet shop. There was an
old-fashioned shop counter just in front of her with a cash till on
the left hand side. Behind the counter were rows and rows of glass
jars, each jar was full of brightly coloured sweets. Grace felt a
dribble of saliva escape from her mouth. She wiped it away, stood
up and walked forwards.

Was this the
original Flamingo shop that Connie’s relative had set up? There
were old-fashioned sweets here but also some that she remembered
from her childhood so it couldn’t be that old.

Grace’s eyes
widened as she spotted something in front of the counter. It was
the chair. She looked over her shoulder, the chair from the storage
unit was still there, looking a shade more scuffed than the one
right in front of her.

Someone was
whistling. A woman popped up from the counter, a duster in her
hand. It was a younger Connie. There was another woman at her side,
a young woman with her dark hair pulled back.

Connie said to
the woman, “Have you finished the stock-taking?”

The woman nodded
eagerly, her bespectacled eyes peering at Connie with obvious
admiration.

Connie gave her
a friendly smile and said, “Then I think it’s time to put the
kettle on, don’t you? Let’s have a cup of tea.”

The woman nodded
so hard that Grace was afraid her head would roll off. The woman
scuttled through a door to the left of the counter. Connie hummed
to herself as she moved her duster over the counter.

A bell tinkled
and a rush of cold air made Grace’s hair lift.

“
Good morning!” Connie called out. “Do come in, have a look
around. Feel free to let the little ones stand on the chair, they
can see the sweets behind me better on the chair.”

Grace looked
towards the customers. Her heart stopped. A grief filled moan
escaped from her lips, her legs began to shake.

A young Grace
skipped into the main part of the shop, just a few feet away from
her. A young Frankie ran after her, his attention suddenly drawn to
the rows of sweets.

“
Francis! Help your sister onto that chair,” Grace’s mum
called out.

“
I
can do it myself,” the younger Grace called back as she struggled
to pull her little body onto the chair. Frankie put a hand on her
bottom and pushed upwards.

Connie laughed.
“How old are you two?”

“
She’s three and I’m seven. Have you got any banana fizzles?”
Frankie asked.

The older Grace
sank to the floor, her legs unable to support her any more. Her
heart felt like someone had picked it up and twisted it. Her dad
stepped into the shop behind Mum.

Her dad laughed,
he looked so young. He grabbed Frankie and swung him onto his
shoulders. “Don’t forget to say please.”

Grace’s mum
walked over to the little Grace who was struggling to see the
sweets. She picked her up and kissed her chubby cheek.

It was too much
for the older Grace. She put her hands over her face and began to
cry.

This wasn’t
fair, she wasn’t prepared for this. How could it hurt so much? She
was dealing with the grief of losing Mum and Dad but this vision
was bringing the pain back, it hurt more than ever.

Tears rolled
down Grace’s cheeks. She couldn’t stop them.

A sudden
movement jolted her. She moved her hands. The vision had changed,
it was night-time, the blind had been pulled down over the shop
window.

Grace wiped her
cheeks and stood up. She pushed all thoughts of Mum and Dad out of
her head as she took in the new details of the shop. It was some
time near the present date going by the adverts on the
wall.

There was a
middle-aged, slightly balding man behind the counter at the till,
he seemed to be counting the money inside. A younger woman,
probably in her mid twenties, leant against the counter. She
twirled a strand of her long dyed black hair around her fingers,
her mouth moved up and down in a chewing motion. The third person
in the shop was a middle-aged woman with short hair, she looked
very much like Connie. She was walking up and down in front of the
counter.