Tick Tock (Storage Ghosts) Read Online Free PDF Page B

me.”
    “I
knew someone would be in touch, someone like you. It’s happened to you too,
hasn’t it? I recognise your face. Follow me,” Clare instructed.
    Grace
looked at the walls as she followed Clare down a narrow hallway. Scraps of
newspaper clippings were stuck everywhere. There were various pen markings and
circles on the newspaper entries. The whole scene reminded Grace of thrillers
that she’d seen on the TV. The part when the police suspected someone and broke
into their homes. The police were often met with a scene like this, and they
knew instantly that they had the right person.
    What
had Grace got herself into? She gingerly made her way forward, remembering her
vow to help Tom and Lynne.
Did they know that Clare was like this now? Is that why Lynne didn’t want to
see her daughter?
    If
Grace thought the hall way was bad she soon changed her mind when she saw the
living room. There were no visible signs of any wallpaper or painted areas.
Every spare part of the living room walls had been covered with newspaper
clippings. Grace stopped in her tracks when she saw a familiar headline. She’d
seen it many times. It was about her parents’ death. The newspaper reported
that David Abrahams had killed himself and his wife, their daughter had
narrowly escaped death. The newspaper further reported that David had drunk
heavily before driving.
    Clare
noticed where she was looking. She said, “It’s all lies, all of it. No truth in
any of these disgusting articles.”
    “My
dad wasn’t drunk, I know the medical reports said otherwise but he just
wouldn’t have had that much to drink before driving,” Grace said.
    “I
believe you,” Clare said.
    Grace
looked at Clare, expecting to see the sympathetic look that people gave her
whenever she said that about her dad. Clare didn’t have that look, she really
did look as if she believed Grace.
    Clare
said, “The same thing happened to my mum and dad. They died and the medical
reports showed the same findings. I thought it was the doctors at first, I thought
they were being paid off to submit false records. I thought he’d paid them off.
It happens, I know it happens.”
    Even
though Clare was rambling, Grace believed what she was saying.
    Clare
waved her arm around the room. “It’s not just us, it’s happened to many people.
Oh! He’s good, he’s very good. He covers his tracks, he pays people off and
then ... then he gets away with murder!”
    “Who
does? Who are you talking about?” Grace asked.
    Clare
gave her a direct look and said, “Eddie Tominski, of course.”
    Grace’s
legs gave way and she collapsed into a grubby looking chair. Clare let out a
bitter laugh and said, “You know Eddie, of course you do. He’s probably been to
see you. I know he’ll have threatened you. What is it he wants from you? Apart
from money. Do you have a business? A shop? My mum and dad had a shop.”
    Grace
put her hand to her forehead, she could feel a headache starting. She said,
“Eddie is trying to take our shop away, it belongs to me and my brother.”
    Clare
nodded vigorously. “A shop, yes, of course. And your parents owed him money,
didn’t they? And they died before the debt could be paid off? Yes, that’s how
he works. Then he starts to hound you for money. Puts the loan up, gives you
some nonsense about interest? Yes, yes, that’s what he does.”
    Grace
held her hand up. “Please slow down, I can’t keep up. I don’t understand what
you’re saying.”
    Clare
frowned at Grace’s lack of understanding. “I can’t make it any clearer. Eddie
Tominski killed my mum and dad, and he killed yours.” Once again, Clare waved
her arm around the walls. “And he’s killed many more! We’ve got to stop him!”
    Grace
still didn’t understand, or didn’t want to understand. “If you think that why
don’t you tell the police?”
    “The
police!” Clare exploded. “I tried, many times. They never listen. They’re all
in his pockets. He’s paid them