Murder Vows (Storage Ghost Murders Book 4) by Gillian Larkin Page B

in to. I thought
the asking prices were a typing error when I saw them online! Is that where you
lived?”
    “No,
but it’s where we set up office. We got one of the warehouses further down the
canal. It needed renovating and I’m sentimental over old buildings. I wanted to
retain as many of the original features as I could. That’s when I met Gordon
West. He’d done work for a friend of mine and was highly recommended. As soon
as I met him I knew he was the right man for the job. He gave me detailed
quotations, a good price and a starting date. I agreed to everything. He was
due to start with his team on a Monday morning in June.
    “That
was the Monday that my life changed. Gordon turned up with his team, one of
which was his daughter, Jessie.”
    “Your
Jessie?” Grace asked.
    “Yes,
my Jessie. She’s a skilled carpenter. She took my breath away. She turned up in
denim overalls and big industrial boots. Not a speck of make-up on her face,
she didn’t need it, she’s beautiful. She’s got this elfin kind of face with spiky
short hair. She hates me saying this but she has the cutest dimples when she
smiles. I fell in love with her on the spot. I think Gordon suspected
immediately from my face, his attitude changed towards me soon after that.”
    “Why?”
    Archie
shrugged. He waved a hand towards his face and said, “I tend to attract a lot
of attention. I used to get asked out a lot by women and I was too polite to
say no. I suppose I got a reputation as a playboy. Not true, by the way. There
was another person on Gordon’s team, Rob, he took an instant dislike to me. I
heard him and Gordon referring to me in less than satisfactory terms Rob is
about ten years older than Jessie but it was clear that he liked her.”
    “Did
you ask Jessie out straight away?” Grace picked up her mug of tea. If someone
like Archie ever asked her out she would say yes immediately.
    Archie
grinned. “Yes, but she resisted my charms I think she believed the gossip about
me. And it didn’t help that Rob was adding to the rumours.”
    “Why
didn’t you put her straight?” Grace asked.
    Archie
shrugged. “I could hardly confront her dad and Rob and call them liars. I
thought we could become friends first. And we did when she tried to kill me.”
    Grace
choked on her tea. She wiped her chin and put her mug down.
    Archie
explained, “She was on a ladder working on one of the old doors. I didn’t know
she was there and I barged through the door. She screamed and dropped her
hammer. Straight on to my foot. I nearly bit through my lips trying to keep my
curses under control. I saw the twinkle in Jessie’s eyes and she was trying not
to laugh, but there was also concern on her face. She insisted on taking me to
the hospital, much to Rob’s disgust. Luckily for me there was a long waiting
time at the hospital, about six hours I think. It was long enough for Jessie
and I to talk, to get to know each other.”
    “And
you got together after that?”
    “We
did, despite the hard looks from Gordon and Rob. I think I just about won
Gordon over but Rob and I were never going to be friends.”
    Without
thinking Grace said, “He’s just become a suspect.”
    Archie
looked as if he was about to disagree. He paused, and then nodded. “You could
be right. Now you know the story behind the hammer necklace.”
    “That’s
very romantic. If Jessie isn’t ...” Grace began.
    “The
one who killed me?” Archie concluded.
    “Yes,
if she didn’t kill you I think it would be nice to give her that necklace. What
do you think?”
    “That
would be lovely. And for the record, I don’t think Jessie was the one who
killed me.”
    Grace
didn’t disagree. She’d dealt with enough murder cases now to know that people
were capable of lying about love.
    Archie
settled back into the sofa, his hands resting behind his head.
    Grace
said, “Why are you looking at me like that? That’s quite a mischievous look. Do
I want to know what you’re