Free The Death Planner (Storage Ghost Murders Book 6) by Gillian Larkin Page B

her hands away from her face and nodded. “I’d like to talk about it. I
feel so guilty. Is Jenny still with you?”
    Grace
said, “Yes. Can we go into your living room?”
    Elsa
wiped her tears away and closed the front door. She picked the sweets up and
took Grace into a small room. Grace caught the delicate aroma from a nearby
vase of flowers. Grace made a quick scan of the room. There was a floral theme
running throughout the decorations and furnishings. Grace noted the photographs
of Jenny and Elsa. There were other family photographs that appeared to be of
Jenny and Elsa’s parents. They looked so happy. There were no photographs of
the mystery man who had been at Elsa’s house the previous evening.
    Elsa
insisted on making a hot drink for them both. Jenny floated around the room and
pointed out different things to Grace. “This is a shell from Scarborough. I
didn’t realise she’d kept that. And this is a menu from a party I organised for
her teddy bears.”
    Grace
nodded as Jenny continued. It was obvious that Elsa had loved her big sister
very much. Was she really involved in her murder?
    Elsa
returned with two full cups and a plate of biscuits. Grace wasn’t sure how to
begin her conversation, she didn’t want to accuse Elsa of anything. She took a
cup and sat down.
    Elsa
started the conversation. “It must be cool to see ghosts! How long have you
been seeing them? What do they look like? Are they scary?”
    Grace
told Elsa a bit about her ability but then steered the conversation back to
Jenny. It was going to be a difficult conversation, no matter how she looked at
it.
    Just
as Grace was about to ask about the last wedding, Jenny hissed, “Don’t tell her
I was murdered! She won’t be able to deal with it! Please!” Grace closed her
mouth and tried to fight down her feelings of annoyance. That was the reason
she was here. She changed tactics. “Elsa, you said you were sorry about
something, something that happened on the night that Jenny died.”
    Elsa
lowered her head. “I’m sorry, Jenny. I tried to break it off with Giles. But he
wouldn’t let me.” She looked back up. “He said he couldn’t live without me. He
was at the hotel on the night you died. I’m sorry, Jenny, so sorry.”
    Grace
said, “Can you explain yourself from the beginning? I came to see you last
night and saw a man going into your house. Jenny told me about your affair with
someone called Giles. Was it Giles who came to see you last night?”
    Elsa
gave a small nod.
    “What’s
his surname?”
    “Giles
Redfern. Jenny said he was using me, and that he’d never leave his wife. But he
couldn’t leave her, she’s too poorly. He has to look after her. I told Jenny
I’d broken up with him. I tried to, but I love him too much.”
    “Is
Giles still married?” Grace asked.
    Elsa
nodded again. “He sees me whenever he can. I don’t mind.”
    “Tell
me about the night that Jenny died.”
    “We
were really busy that day. Jenny was stressed out. I was helping with the
flowers. I love arranging flowers especially at weddings. I was watching the
dancing in the ballroom when I got a message from Giles. He’d booked a room for
us at the hotel! He’d never done anything like that before, it was so romantic!
He said that I was to meet him at 9 o’clock in the room that he’d booked.”
    Grace
noted the time. It was the same time that Jenny had gone into the cloakroom.
    Elsa’s
brow wrinkled. “I didn’t tell Jenny that Giles was there ’cos she’d know that I
lied to her. I went to the room just before nine. He wasn’t there but I waited.
He turned up about twenty minutes later. He was smiling as soon as he came into
the room, he was so happy to see me!” Elsa grinned at the memory. Her smile
died as she remembered something else. “Then everything changed. I heard
someone shouting outside, I think someone screamed. I ran out of the room and
someone told me about Jenny.” Elsa started to cry again.
    Grace
passed