The Last Reading (Storage Ghost Murders Book 1) (6 page)

Chapter 16

Grace
bought a cup of tea and an extra large slice of coffee and walnut cake. Well,
if something was worth doing, it was worth doing right.

Mae
was standing near some tables at the side of the cafe, they looked right down
into the church hall through some large windows. Grace set her cup and plate
down and gave Mae an appreciative nod. This spot was perfect. She could see
Autumn Rose from here. The queue hadn’t diminished much.

Grace
smiled and took a sip of her tea. Mae’s little postman had just finished his
reading. Grace hoped he’d been given some good information.

Grace’s
chair was jostled as a large woman tried to get to the table next to her.

“Sorry,
love,” the woman beamed down at her. “I’m not as thin as I think I am.”

Mae
sat opposite Grace and said, “That’s Shirley, one of my oldest friends. She’s
been coming to this church nearly as long as me. She can’t be very busy if
she’s having a break. Strange, she was always popular.”

Another
woman joined Shirley at the table. Mae frowned. “That’s Ann, she’s as popular
as Shirley. Normally brings her own flask of tea because she never has time to
pop up here.”

Grace
gave a slight nod. She couldn’t talk to Mae in public but she could text her.
But she couldn’t text if she was eating cake. She could try one handed texting
but she’d never been good at that, she wasn’t a teenager.

Mae
moved forward and said, “See if you can eavesdrop, see what’s going on with
them. You won’t have to strain your ears, Shirley’s got a voice like a foghorn.
Bless her.”

That
suited Grace. Listening to other people’s conversations whilst eating cake and
drinking tea.

Her
fork paused midway to her mouth.

What
was she becoming?

She
gave a slight shrug. She was a sleuth, that’s what she was. Jessica Fletcher
would do just the same as her if she was in this position.

The
fork completed its journey.

Mae
was right, the cake was delicious. Could she take some to go?

Grace
jumped as Shirley’s voice boomed out.

“Apart
from that one incident earlier I’ve had nothing! That bloomin’ Autumn Rose has
taken all my business. It’s not on.”

“I
know,” Ann added. “What happened with that customer earlier? It looked nasty.”

“It
was. I called for that security chap but he was too busy with Miss Fancy Bra. I
sorted it out myself. I wouldn’t mind but this one has already been to my
house. It’s not right, we should have the proper security. And do you know what
else?”

“What?”

Grace
thought from Ann’s tone that she was familiar with Shirley’s ranting.

Shirley
almost exploded. “That table should have been mine! Mae always said I could
have it if she didn’t need it anymore. Bless her soul.”

“I
know,” Ann said.

“It
wouldn’t surprise me if that bloomin’ Quentin was in cahoots with her. I’ve
seen how much she charges. I bet she gives a percentage to him. I’ve seen the
new curtains and chairs! They cost a pretty penny. Oh, Ann, it makes my blood
boil.”

“I
know,” Ann said, again.

Mae
said, “Quentin owns this church hall. We all pay him a fee to have tables here.
He’s always been fair with me.” She paused. “I’m beginning to doubt everyone
now. What if Shirley’s right? What if Autumn Rose wanted that table to get the
best customers and Quentin had to get rid of me? He could have pushed me, he’s
big enough.”

Grace
reluctantly put her fork down and picked up her phone. She typed:

‘Was
that Quentin’s voice on the earpiece?’

Mae
shook her head. “It was a young man’s voice. I’ve been looking around, there
aren’t many young men around here. I pictured the accomplice hunched over a
computer muttering into a hidden microphone.”

Grace
let out a sudden sigh of exasperation and typed again:

‘He’s
not here! Why didn’t I realise? That’s what the hidden camera on Autumn’s
necklace is for! He could be sitting in a cafe across the road!!!!!!’

“That’s
a lot of exclamation marks. You could be right. What are we going to do next?”

Grace
tucked into her cake again, she knew what she was going to do next.

A
male voice boomed out, “Shirley! Ann! My beautiful people! What are you doing
up here?”

“That’s
Quentin,” Mae said.

A
large man sashayed over to the table. He’d taken tie dye clothes to the next
level. His shirt and his trousers were a rainbow of colours. His grey plait
rested over his shoulder, tied with a multi coloured ribbon. He had about five
crystal necklaces festooned around his neck.

Grace
edged slightly away from the possible murderer.

Shirley
exploded into a torrent of complaints. “We haven’t got any customers! That
young tart has taken them all! It’s all your fault!”

Quentin
clutched his chest dramatically. “Shirley, my darling, calm down. There’s been
a misunderstanding. I would never do anything to hurt you, to hurt any of my
ladies.”

Shirley
stood up and pointed a finger at his chest. “You gave her Mae’s table, it was
mine.”

“I
... I didn’t think you’d want it, I thought it would upset you too much.”

“You
should have asked me. And she’s charging £50 for ten minutes work. Did you
know? Are you getting a slice of the profits? Is that where the new curtains
came from? Is it dirty money?”

“I
... I ...” Quentin couldn’t get any words out. The whole cafe was watching them
now.

Grace
felt like standing up and shouting, “Where were you on the day that Mae died?”

Quentin
gulped a few times, his crystal necklaces tinkled. He held his hands up and
said, “I must admit that Autumn Rose did give me a contribution towards the
hall. She called in one day to discuss a business matter. She pointed out that
the hall needed sprucing up. She helped me pick new curtains and chairs, the
kind girl even took the old ones away. She did mention that she did readings
and that she’d love to have a table here. No one wanted Mae’s table so I
offered it to her.”

Shirley
spat, “We didn’t take the table out of respect for Mae! We were still mourning
her.” Shirley suddenly screamed. “You! You pushed Mae down the stairs just so
you could help that Autumn Rose.”

The
colour drained from Quentin. “I would never do that, never. How could you think
I would?”

Shirley
folded her arms and said, “Where were you on the day that Mae died?”

Grace
almost cheered.

Quentin
stood up straighter. “I was on stage! Playing the matinee performance of
Hamlet. And I was rather good, no matter what the critics say.”

Grace’s
shoulders slumped. She was hoping that Shirley was going to coerce Quentin into
confessing.

The
number one suspect was Autumn Rose again.

A
shrill scream pierced the air.

It
wasn’t Shirley this time.

A
woman ran into the cafe, her face white. “Autumn Rose! She’s fallen down the
steps! I think she’s dead!”

Chapter 17

People
burst into tears, there were cries of, “No!”

Amid
the confusion Grace jumped up from the table and ran out of the cafe. She had
to see the murder scene before the police were called.

She
wasn’t the only one. There were people lined up at the top of the steps,
craning their necks to see better. Grace tried to look over their shoulders but
all she could see was a leg lying at the bottom of the stairs, the rest of
Autumn Rose was obscured.

Mae
said, “I’ll get a better look.”

She
floated through the onlookers and down towards the body of Autumn Rose. She returned
within a minute, a grim look on her face. “She looks just like I looked. Her
head is twisted to one side. That necklace that you think is a camera? It’s
gone.”

Grace’s
eyes widened. Had Autumn Rose been pushed down the steps just like Mae? Who
would do that?

A
male voice cried out, “No! Autumn Rose! No!”

It
was coming from the bottom of the steps. Grace stood on her tiptoes but
couldn’t see who the voice belonged to.

“Leave
it to me,” Mae said and once again she floated through the people in front of
her.

When
she returned she said, “I think we’ve found Autumn Rose’s accomplice. There’s a
young man down there weeping over her body. He’s got one of those curly
earpieces hanging down over his shoulder. I saw a laptop on the floor at his
side. What shall we do now? I don’t think it was Autumn Rose who killed me, and
I don’t think it was Quentin, he was with us when Autumn Rose was pushed down
the steps – if she was pushed.”

Grace
didn’t know what to think. Someone had a motive for killing Mae, and it could
be that the same person had now killed Autumn Rose.

“Nobody
move!” a voice boomed out.

Mae
floated several feet in the air and looked down the steps. “It’s the police,
they got here quick.”

The
voice continued, “Nobody is to leave the building, we need statements from you
all.”

There
was a collective sigh. Shirley pushed in front of Grace. She boomed out, “Why
do we have to stay? Do you think this is a murder?”

There
were gasps and mumbles amongst the crowd.

The
voice boomed back, even louder than Shirley’s, “We are making enquiries. Stay
right where you are.”

A
group of uniformed police officers ascended the steps and soon took control of
the situation. Everyone was herded back into the cafe. An official looking man
in plain clothes spoke to Quentin. Quentin nodded and pointed to a door marked
‘Office’ at the far side of the cafe.

Grace
returned to her table, she was now sharing it with three other people, each
person had their own idea of what could have happened to Autumn Rose.

Grace
looked towards the office, it was obviously going to be used as an
interrogation room. How she’d love to be inside it.

Mae
must have picked up on her thoughts because she said, “I’ll go into the room, I
don’t know how long this is going to take.”

Grace
gave her a grateful smile. She wouldn’t be getting very far in this
investigation without Mae’s help. She sighed, she wasn’t much of a sleuth.

A
young man was led into the office first, Grace presumed he was the accomplice
that Mae had seen. He was in the room for nearly an hour. Was he the one who
killed Autumn Rose? Did they have a falling out? Did he have anything to do
with Mae?

When
he came out the young man looked like he’d aged ten years. The whole cafe went
silent as they watched him walk through the cafe, a policeman at his side. When
he left the cafe people burst into chatter again.

Grace
had to wait two hours before they called her in. She gave her name and address
to the bored looking man behind the desk. She wanted to ask him questions about
Autumn Rose but she didn’t have the courage.

Mae
was standing behind the man. She nodded at Grace and said, “I’ve got lots of
things to tell you.”

Chapter 18

They
had to wait until they were back at Grace’s house before talking.

The
police hadn’t kept Grace long in the office. She answered their questions. No,
she hadn’t been to a fair before. No, she didn’t know Autumn Rose. No, she’d
never been on Autumn Rose’s website.

Grace
was annoyed that they didn’t mention Mae. Surely two psychics losing their
lives the same way within six months of each other was suspicious? She didn’t
want to raise the subject, she thought it wiser not to.

When
they walked into Grace’s house Mae insisted on Grace making a cup of tea and
sandwich for herself first.

“You’ve
hardly eaten today, you need to keep your strength up. I’m not going to start
talking until you sit down and eat,” Mae insisted.

Grace
smiled. It was comforting to know that someone cared about her welfare. She
made a cheese and pickle sandwich and a big mug of tea. She sat down next to
Mae on the sofa.

“I’m
ready,” Grace said.

Mae
gave a pointed look towards her sandwich. Grace picked it up and started
eating.

“Okay,”
Mae began. “We were right about the scam that Autumn Rose and her accomplice
were pulling off, he’s called Noah by the way. And you were right about the
necklace being a camera.”

“Did
he confess straight away?” Grace asked between mouthfuls of sandwich.

“Not
at first but he soon crumpled when the police opened up his laptop. It was
still on the last page, I think that’s what the policeman said. It showed all
the personal details of the last person that was sitting with Autumn Rose. You
should have seen what was on there! Nothing is private anymore. No wonder she
knew so much about everyone.”

Grace
finished one half of her sandwich. “Did he see what happened on the steps? Did
he see who might of pushed her?”

Mae
pressed her lips together and shook her head. “He said that Autumn Rose kept
drinking from a glass of water on the table, he said that was unusual because
she always took her own bottle of water. He was surprised when she told the
next person in the queue that she needed the toilet, she was able to sit at
that table all day without feeling the urge to go.”

“Lucky
woman,” Grace muttered. She picked up the second half of her sandwich.

“Despite
being a conman, Noah said he turned the camera and sound off when Autumn Rose
went into the ladies’ room upstairs. He said he wanted to give her some
privacy. He waited a few minutes and turned the camera and sound back on. He
saw a hand move towards the camera and then it went blank. He heard someone
muttering but couldn’t tell if it was male or female.”

“Did
the police find the necklace?”

“Yes,
near the new curtains,” Mae said with a small smile. “There’s more. A police
constable went to look for the glass on Autumn Rose’s table, probably to check
for drugs.”

“You
can buy tablets that make you go to the toilet more,” Grace said.

Mae
frowned. “Why would anyone want to do that?”

Grace’s
cheeks felt warm. “You know, for when you feel bloated, at certain times of the
month.”

Comprehension
dawned at Mae. She laughed. “Well, I didn’t know that. Anyway, the glass had
gone. If someone had put something in the water to make her go to the toilet,
they’ve taken the evidence with them. I suspect that the murderer left the
building before the police arrived.”

Mae
and Grace looked at each other. Mae said, “What are we going to do now?”

Grace
put her sandwich down, her appetite had gone. A sad feeling settled in her
stomach.

She
said, “I’m sorry, Mae, I can’t do this anymore.”