Free 2 A Different Shade Of Death by Gillian Larkin Page B

an old movie. She walked closer to the
door. Did she need to pull a certain book towards herself to open it?
    No.
She could see that the door was already ajar. She put her hand out and pulled
the door towards her.
    Should
she really be doing this? What if Amy came in and found her?
    But
it was a secret door in a library! She had to look in.
    Grace
pulled the door wide enough open for her to step through.
    She
was in another room. She recognised it immediately. It was the room that she’d
gone into via a vision with Charlie this afternoon, the one that he’d referred
to as his secret office.
    Her
nose wrinkled. That smell was in here, the mouldy smell, it was even stronger
than before.
    Grace
froze, her heart seemed to stop. There was an old desk in the middle of the
room. On the desk were four thick green candles.
    The
candles were lit.
    Someone
was in the room with her, Grace could feel it.
    Without
moving her head Grace looked around the room. She couldn’t see anyone. She
lowered her gaze and looked again.
    Her
eyes alighted on something on the floor, right next to the table where the
candles were.
    A
hand was sticking out. It was a woman’s hand.
    “Amy!”
Grace ran over to the desk.
    Amy
was lying on her back, one arm flung out, the other laying across her stomach.
Amy’s eyes were screwed up, her mouth was moving as if she was trying to speak.
    Grace
put her head closer to Amy’s to try to hear what she was saying. It was then
that she noticed specks of green on Amy’s lips and around her mouth.
    “Amy,
what are you trying to say?”
    “She’s
probably saying, “Ouch,” a voice behind her said.
    Grace
looked up. “Jim?”
    “That’s
me, although Mother calls me James.”
     

Chapter 22
     
    Jim
had a white mask over his nose and mouth. His voice sounded muffled but there
was no mistaking the hate in his voice.
    He
came round to where Grace was bending over Amy. He nodded towards Amy and said,
“Leave her to die, she can’t have long left now. You were here earlier, what
was your business with her? Are you involved in her dodgy loan schemes? Do you
work for her? Do you know what sort of a woman she is?”
    Grace
held her hands up to ward off his questions. “I’d never met her before
yesterday. I work at a shop in town, she asked for my advice on something.
Shouldn’t we call for an ambulance?”
    “No,
she’s going to die. Do you know what she did to Mother? Shall I tell you?”
    Grace
slowly stood up. “I know about your mum. I took some belongings round to her
today, she told me everything.”
    “Everything?”
    “About
the debts and loans. It must be hard for you, being made to leave your family
home.”
    “You
don’t know the half of it! This is my home, it’s always been my home. It’s mine
and everything inside is mine. Can you imagine how it felt for me to move out
and then have to come back and see the new owners? To actually work for them?”
Jim’s fists tightened.
    “I
can’t imagine that. Did you blame Charlie Ford for the loss of your house?”
Grace paused. “Is that why you killed him?”
    Jim
looked at her, his eyes seemed to bore into her soul. Grace saw the corners of his
eyes move upwards as if he was smiling. Why was he wearing that mask? Had he
just been working on something?
    Jim
said, “Well worked out. I was hoping that Amy would be accused of his murder
but the bitch was out of the country at the time. You should have seen Charlie
Ford gloating when he moved in! I could have strangled him with my bare hands!
Ignorant pig!”
    “I
spoke to Ted earlier. He told me that Amy was the one behind the loans and
debts. Is that why you’re ...” Grace couldn’t say the words.
    Jim
said, “Trying to kill her? Yes. She’s taking a long time to go. I wished she’d
hurry up, I’ve got some work to do on my computer. I’m setting up my own
business. That’s what I’ve been working on for years. I’ll make a profit soon,
I know I will, I just need to do a bit more