Page 19 of Their Burning Graves
Morgan pulled her lanyard out from underneath her T-shirt, holding it up for Jackie to read. ‘This is no joke, I’m serious.’
‘What’s going on, I don’t understand?’
‘How did you know Sally was dead?’
‘Facebook, well Messenger. The salon girls have a group chat and one of them saw a picture of Sally’s house on Facebook with the fire engine outside, and one of the neighbours said she died in the fire. No one has been able to get hold of her and that’s not like Sally. She’s a right gossip, she’d have been the first to let us know her bloody house burned down. Such a gorgeous house too. Poor David and Tim, God love them, did they all die in the fire?’
‘We’re looking into that. Did Sally ever say she was having trouble with anyone, an angry customer? Did she fall out with any family members, friends?’
Jackie shook her head. ‘No arguments with anyone but she said she felt spooked a couple of times.’
Morgan sat forward, every sense in her body on high alert. ‘How was she spooked?’
Jackie sighed. ‘She said she thought she was seeing things, a dark shadow out of the corner of her eye, the feeling she wasn’t alone, that someone was watching her, but she could never see an actual person.’
‘Did she tell the police or David?’
‘Not that I know of. She said she felt stupid because she thought it was a ghost.’
Morgan’s mouth dropped open; she had not been expecting that.
‘A ghost?’
Jackie laughed. ‘Yeah, a ghost. It’s not unheard of you know, they do exist. My old house used to be haunted when I was a kid. I told her she should go to that shop in Bowness, the one that sells all witchy books and tarot cards, with a little coffee shop on one side. Apparently the woman who owns it is psychic and can see things, and there’s a woman there who is also good and reads cards. A few of us have been for readings and she knows stuff there is no way that she should. Sally went there last week; I think she had a reading, but nothing came of it, and then she bought some tarot cards. We had a laugh about it because neither of us know what the hell to do with them, but she said the woman who owned it was so lovely she didn’t want to leave without buying something.’
‘Did she speak to her about her experiences?’
‘She must have done I suppose. Poor Sally, I guess it wasn’t a ghost after all. My mum always said it’s the living that can harm you not the dead and she was right, God rest her soul.’
Morgan was stunned by this revelation. ‘What’s the shop called?’
‘Practical Magic, it sells these really cool coffees and stuff.’
‘Thank you. Is there anyone else Sally was close to here that I could speak to?’
Jackie shrugged. ‘She got on well with everyone. She only told me about being haunted though, she didn’t want everyone to think she was crazy. I had to swear to secrecy, and I did, it’s not my business. I can’t believe she’s really gone, that she’s not going to walk in tomorrow, it’s so weird. What’s going to happen to this place now?’
‘I have no idea, I’m sorry, I can’t help you with that side of things. I’m here purely on investigations to find out how she died.’
‘What, wait, are you saying that she didn’t die in the fire?’
Morgan wanted to kick herself. ‘We can’t assume anything until the post-mortem has been conducted. I can’t tell you anything else. Thank you for your help and again I’m sorry for your loss.’
Morgan stared at the car door, suddenly feeling hot and needing to be outside in the cool air. It was hard to breathe inside the stuffy car, with the overpowering smell of Jackie’s intense perfume. Jackie opened her door and got out of the car. She turned back to smile at Morgan who smiled back, relieved to have the car back to herself.
She watched Jackie as she crossed the road, tried the door handle of the shop to make sure it was locked then turned and walked away, but not before waving at Morgan. She waved back as she put down all the windows in the car, to try and get rid of the lingering smell of fragrance that felt as if it had seeped into every piece of fabric.
THIRTEEN
Morgan drove towards Bowness and the shop, hoping that it might still be open although she wasn’t holding out much hope. Her mind was a blur with everything Jackie had told her. She didn’t believe that Sally was being haunted, but there was a very real possibility that Sally was being stalked by someone so good at it they were as stealthy as a ghost. Or had they tried to make her believe that she was seeing things that didn’t exist? Abandoning the car on the opposite side of the road to the shop, Morgan turned the hazard lights on and hoped for the best. She looked up at the sign above the shop;Practical Magicwas one of her favourite movies, one she’d watch on her own curled up on the sofa with a mug of hot chocolate on a rainy day off, when she’d lived alone. It never failed to cheer her up. Her own aunt Ettie reminded her a little of Aunt Jet, and once again she wondered how her life would have turned out had she been allowed to live with her aunt instead of being put into care to then be adopted by Sylvia and Stan. Lost in her own thoughts she heard the sound of a door being slammed shut and saw a dark-haired woman about to lock the shop up. Dashing across the road she called out, ‘Excuse me.’
The woman turned to look at her and an overwhelming feeling of déjà vu washed over Morgan. She felt as if she knew her but that wasn’t possible, was it?
‘Can I help you?’
‘I hope so, I’m Detective Morgan Brookes, I wondered if I could ask you a few questions? If you have the time, it’s important.’
The woman turned the key and pushed the door open. ‘Of course, come inside.’
