Daisy's Chain: A Cozy Ghost Mystery (Storage Ghost Mysteries Book 5) (5 page)

Chapter 16

“Mrs Wilson!” a
voice cried out from behind them.

They turned round
to see a smartly dressed man glaring at them. He was holding a clipboard and a
bemused couple stood behind him. He raised his board and said, “I’ve told you
before not to let anyone in, they have to go through me. You lied about having
a key, hand it over now and I won’t call the police.”

Marjory blanched.
“The police? But I wasn’t doing anything wrong.”

The man strode
over to Grace and brusquely handed her a business card. “Call me to make an
official appointment, please leave, I have potential buyers.”

Grace didn’t need
telling twice. She grabbed the card and walked out of the house as quickly as
she could without running. She could feel Marjory’s accusing eyes following her
but she didn’t turn around. Grace shot down the path and away from the house.
She ran down the streets and headed towards the bus stop.

She bent over
double when she reached it, trying to catch her breath. She wasn’t built for
running.

Mr Manville was
laughing. “That Marjory got her comeuppance! Ha! Serves her right!”

Grace stood up
straight. “That’s a mean thing to say, she was only trying to help. Daisy is
living on a dodgy estate because of you. And now I’ve got to risk my life and
go there!”

Mr Manville
stopped laughing. He looked down at the ground. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I’m a
terrible man, I don’t know why you’re helping me.”

“I’m not helping
you, I’m trying to help Daisy.” Grace took out the letter that Daisy had
written. She sighed with relief when she saw the address. “At least I don’t
have to walk all around Clover Estate asking for her. Block G, Flat 28.”

Grace caught the
bus into town. Then she had to catch another over to the Clover Estate. Mr
Manville was right, the buses refused to run through the estate. Grace had to
get off at the outskirts of the estate.

Grace slowly
stepped off the bus, trying to look braver than she felt. The bus driver didn’t
help the situation when he asked if she was sure she was supposed to be there.

Grace gave the
bus a longing look as it drove away. It was beginning to get dark. The high
rise flats of Clover Estate loomed in the distance. Grace could see groups of
people hanging around at various points on the path that led forwards.

Grace held her head
higher, clutched her handbag tighter and stepped confidently forward.

She walked along
the path and towards the first group of people. They were teenagers, some
smoking, some drinking. They all went quiet as Grace walked quickly through
them, a tight smile on her face.

She was about to
let out a sigh of relief when someone grabbed her arm and swung her round.

Grace raised her
handbag up, she had no idea what she was going to do with it. A teenage boy
with a pierced eyebrow stared back at her. “Whoa! Steady there, Miss Abrahams,
it’s me, Tom Webster, I used to be in your history class.”

Grace looked
closer at the boy. “Tom! Yes, of course, I remember you. How are you?”

“I’ll be better
if you put your handbag down. What are you doing round here? You shouldn’t be
out here on your own.”

Grace lowered her
handbag. “I’m trying to find a friend, Daisy Manville. I’ve got her address.”

Tom laughed. “I
know where Daisy lives. Come on, I’ll take you. No one will attack you with me
at your side.”

There were loud
guffaws of laughter from Tom’s friends as they heard this statement. Grace
could understand why, Tom was as skinny as a rake. Still, a skinny bodyguard
was better than no bodyguard.

She gratefully
walked with Tom along several paths until they reached Block G, Mr Manville
silently at her side. Tom insisted on coming up to Flat 28 with her. “There are
some dodgy people round here,” he said. Grace didn’t disagree. The light was
almost gone from the day and it seemed that the night time was luring more
people out of their flats.

What was Daisy
doing living in a place like this? What had happened to her since she’d had her
son? What was her life like? A cold feeling washed over Grace, she hoped Daisy
hadn’t succumbed to drugs or prostitution.

Tom indicated
towards number 28. “I’ll wait nearby for when you come out again.”

“Thank you, but
I’ll be okay.”

Tom gave her a
pointed look and said, “No, you won’t. I’ll wait.”

He walked away.
Grace knocked on the door of number 28 and braced herself.

The door opened.

Chapter 17

The door opened a
short way, Grace could see that it was on a security chain.

A face that Grace
recognised peered out through the gap and said, “Yes?”

Grace had been
considering what to say on the bus ride over. She gave Daisy a smile and said,
“I’m sorry to disturb you but I work at a shop in town, with my brother, and we
buy things from storage lockers.

“I’ve nothing to
give you,” Daisy said and she began to close the door.

“No!” Grace said.
She resisted the urge to put her hand against the closing door, she didn’t want
to frighten Daisy. “I came across something that you might want.”

Through the gap
Grace could see Daisy’s look of concern. She quickly pulled Mr Manville’s
jacket from her bag and held it up for Daisy to see.

Daisy gasped, her
eyes shot wide open. “Is that my …?”

Grace had a lie
ready, she didn’t like lying but she didn’t see that she had an option. “I
think it belonged to your dad. There was a piece of paper in the pocket with
his name and address on. I went to the house and spoke to Marjory, she gave me
your address.”

Mr Manville
nodded at her side, “You’re a good liar, I’m impressed.”

Grace didn’t move
her look away from Daisy. The young girl looked Grace up and down, and then
closed the door. A second later it opened fully. Daisy gave her a small smile.
“Sorry about that, you can’t be too careful round here. Is that really my dad’s
jacket? It looks like it, he wore it all the time. Please, come in, tell me
more about how you got it.”

Grace stepped
through the door and wiped her feet. Daisy looked older and a bit more
careworn, but she looked healthy. Grace cast her gaze around the flat as they
walked down the small hallway. Everything was obviously old but it was clean.
Daisy led her into the main living room. The furniture looked like it had been
passed down several times, but again, it was clean. There were toys piled up in
one corner of the room. A small bookcase held medical books. Had Daisy
qualified as a doctor? Grace doubted it, she wouldn’t be living like this if
she was a doctor.

Mr Manville
mumbled at her side, “She shouldn’t be living like this.”

Daisy invited
Grace to sit down. “Tell me how you came across Dad’s jacket. I didn’t realise
Mum had given it away. Dad always said he’d part with it over his dead body!”

There was a sudden
silence. Daisy blinked and looked away.

Grace launched
into an embellished tale about how she’d bid for the plastic bag filled locker,
she wanted to make Daisy smile and told Daisy the comments that the other
bidders had made. They hadn’t actually said those things to her but Grace knew
they were thinking it. She didn’t mention about Mr Manville being attached to
the jacket. She wasn’t sure that she would ever tell anyone about her ability
to see ghosts.

Daisy was soon
laughing at the ‘comments’ the other bidders made. “So when you got rid of the
bags why did you keep my dad’s jacket?”

Grace was
prepared for that question. “I just had an instinct, do you know what I mean? I
learnt a while ago to trust my instincts. I thought this jacket could be important
to someone.”

Daisy nodded. “I
do know what you mean. I should have trusted my instincts years ago. Something
dreadful happened because I ignored them. Anyway! You don’t want to hear about
that. So you went along to my old house and met Marjory? Dad used to say she
talked so much she’d give an aspirin a headache.”

Grace laughed.
“She did talk a bit. There was some post that Marjory wanted to give to you, it
looks official.” Another lie, Grace hoped that Daisy wasn’t going to be talking
to Marjory any time soon.

Grace handed the
letters over. Daisy’s smile faltered as she took them. “I think I know what
these are, I can’t open them.”

“She must!” Mr
Manville called out. “Get her to open them!”

Grace said, “What
do you think they are?”

“It’s about the
house, and the money that’s been left to me. Marjory already told me when I
went to the funeral, she must have steamed them open.”

Grace looked
around the small flat. “Don’t you want to move?”

“Very much so.
And I’d love to continue with my training. I want to be a doctor but something
happened and I had to leave university.”

“Why can’t you
accept your parents’ money?”

A tear rolled
down Daisy’s cheek. “I’ve brought shame to the family, I don’t deserve
happiness.”

Chapter 18

“She hasn’t
brought shame to the family! Talk some sense into her, Grace!” Mr Manville
called out.

Grace considered
Daisy for a moment. “Why do you think you brought shame to your family?”

“I made a bad
decision, I should have said no to someone.”

“We all make bad
decisions.”

Daisy hung her head.
“But I should have known better.”

Grace said,
“Guilt is an empty emotion, it never does anyone any good. My parents died in a
car crash a while ago. I was with them. We were going to celebrate my birthday,
Dad was driving my car. After the accident I blamed myself, I shouldn’t have
pestered them to go out on my birthday, I shouldn’t have let Dad drive the car.
I blamed myself so much that I couldn’t eat or sleep.”

“I’m sorry to
hear about your parents. Was the accident your fault? Was there something wrong
with your car?”

Grace shook her
head. “No, I found out months later that my dad had been drugged, he was
murdered by … well, I won’t go into details. The accident wasn’t my fault at
all. They were victims of a terrible crime, there are some evil people out
there who don’t care who they hurt as long as they get what they want.”

Daisy looked down
at her hands. Grace put a hand on top of them and said softly, “Are you blaming
yourself for something that wasn’t really your fault?”

More tears flowed
down Daisy’s cheeks. She nodded, “I think I am. I should have had the courage
to tell mum and dad.”

Mr Manville
shouted out, “I would have understood. Oh, Daisy, why didn’t you tell me?”

Daisy wiped the
tears away. “It’s all in the past. I destroyed Dad’s love and I can never get
it back.”

Mr Manville
swooped to her side and gave her a tender look. “You never destroyed my love,
how could you? It was still there, it was my fault, I buried it in hate.”

The door swung
open and a little boy of about 3 or 4 ran in. He was wearing Spiderman pyjamas.
He jumped onto Daisy’s lap and snuggled up close to her. She laughed and said,
“You’re supposed to be asleep, Danny.”

The little boy
snuggled closer and gave Grace a shy look.

Mr Manville
murmured, “She named him after me.”

Daisy said, “Dad
never saw Danny, he died soon after he was born. I took him to see Mum and I
was getting ready to tell her the truth about what happened to me but then Mum
passed away too. I’m so glad she agreed to see me before it was too late. I
sent her a letter after Dad died.”

“You’ve had a
rough time.”

Daisy grimaced.
“You know what they say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I should be
like Superwoman by now!”

Grace looked at
the little boy, his eyes were staring to close. She said, “Don’t you want the
best for Danny? You could take your parents’ money and build a better life, if
that’s what you want?”

Daisy smiled down
at the boy. “Of course I want the best for him. I just don’t think I could take
the money. No matter what you say I don’t think Dad ever forgave me for having
a baby as a result of a one night stand.” Her look darkened. “Even though the
one night stand wasn’t my idea.”

Grace said,
“Wouldn’t you love Danny if he did something terrible? Or if he was the victim
of a crime but blamed himself?”

Daisy pulled
Danny closer. “Of course I would!”

“Then don’t you
think your dad still loved you, even if he didn’t show it?”

“I’m not sure, he
was very angry.”

Grace remembered
something. She pulled it out of her pocket and held it up. “I found this in
your dad’s jacket.”

“My necklace! He
must have kept it!”

“Of course I kept
it, it was part of you,” Mr Manville said.

“Of course he
kept it, he loved you,” Grace said. She moved the necklace closer. “If you
can’t accept the money for yourself can you accept it for Danny’s sake? I’m sure
your dad would have learned to loved him.”

Daisy looked at
the necklace for a while. Then she reached out and took it. “I think you might
be right. I’m as stubborn as Dad.” Daisy put the necklace on and placed her
hand over the heart shaped pendant.

Grace’s eyes widened
as she saw the effect it had on Mr Manville. The black cloud that used to
surround him was replaced by a white shimmering outline. Grace had seen this
before, it meant that the ghost had done what they needed to do, and that they
were ready to leave.

Daisy gave Grace
a big smile. “I suddenly feel stronger. I will take Mum and Dad’s money and I
will carry on with my studies, I want to be a doctor. I don’t know how you
managed to come into my life today but I’m so glad you did! Thank you so much,
it took a lot of courage to come and see me.”

“It took a lot of
courage to walk through this estate!” Grace said.

Daisy
frowned.”You can stay here tonight if you want, it’s not safe out there after
dark.”

Grace stood up.
“I’ll be alright, I’ve got a bodyguard. Look, here’s my number if you want to
talk about anything. Sometimes you just need to talk to someone, to have
someone listen to you.”

Daisy took the
paper. “Thank you, you’re a kind person. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep
tonight! I’ve got so many plans to make.”

“I’ll see myself
out. Good luck, Daisy, I know you’re going to make a wonderful doctor.”

Mr Manville
swooped to Grace’s side. “Thank you isn’t enough. Sorry for all the shouting. I
think I’m ready to go now, I’ll stay with Daisy and the little one for a while.
Thank you again.”

Grace smiled and
said goodbye to Daisy. Her heart felt so light she was surprised her feet were
still on the ground.