Pearl And Derek Mysteries - Box Set 1 Read online

  For Rosie and Eve

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  Editing and proofreading by Able Proofreading

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  PEARL AND DEREK MYSTERIES

  BOX SET 1

  A Lonely Death

  A Slip And A Trip

  Gossip To Kill For

  A Dreadful Day Out

  Left To Die

  A Lonely Death

  Chapter 1

  “Are you sure you should be here? We’re all alone. I’m not used to being alone with a woman,” Derek said. He coughed and then added, “I know you’re not technically alive, I know you’re a ghost. But … oh! You know what I mean.”

  Pearl nodded her head towards Derek’s left side. “I know what you mean. Anyway, we’re not alone, there’s a ghost at your side. You just can’t see him yet.”

  Derek looked to his left and then his right. “Why can’t I see him? I’m not going to be much use if I can’t see him.”

  Pearl smiled at Derek. “The ghost will appear when I tell him too. Don’t worry, you haven’t lost your ability to see ghosts. You can still see me after all.”

  Derek looked at the old woman in front of him. Pearl had short, curly grey hair and was wearing a dark blue dress. He was glad that this woman with the twinkly eyes was the first ghost that he’d seen in the flesh. Oh, was that the right expression? She wasn’t really in the flesh. But he could hardly ask her what she was made of, that would be rude.

  Pearl glanced around Derek’s living room. “I like what you’ve done with this. It’s cosy.”

  Derek shrugged. “I know it’s a small house but I didn’t wanted to stay in that big house on my own, not with my Dorothy gone. And Abbie.” He felt a familiar prickle in his eyes. He knew he’d be able to think about his late wife and daughter one day without feeling so sad. He knew it would take time. He put a bright smile on his face and said, “Right! Let’s get started. Show me the ghost and I’ll interrogate him! I’ll find out why he needs our help.”

  Pearl held her hands up. “Whoa! Steady on there. No need to be so keen. The ghost can wait a bit longer. Are you sure you don’t mind me being in your home? Are you okay with other ghosts turning up here? I can block them if you like.”

  “No, that’s okay. I said I’d help you with these ghosts, and I will. It’ll take my mind off Dorothy and Abbie.” He steeled himself. “Go on, I’m ready.”

  Pearl laughed. “There’s no need to stand to attention! Sit yourself down.” Derek did so. Pearl sat at his side on the sofa. She looked at him again. “Are you sure about this?”

  Derek clasped his hands together and nodded. Then he said, “Can I just ask, will the ghost be in one piece? If it’s the ghost of a murdered person, will they show the signs of how they were murdered? Not that I’m scared! I’ve seen quite a few horror films in my time!”

  Pearl gave a shrug. “I haven’t seen this one. I heard him shouting and trying to get my attention. There was a queue of ghosts waiting for my help but this one barged his way through them all. I could hear his voice but I couldn’t see him for some reason. But, in answer to your question, ghosts do sometimes have limbs missing. It all depends on how they met their ends.” She tutted and spoke to an empty space at Derek’s side. “Alright! I can hear you! There’s no need to shout.” She shared an annoyed look with Derek. “I can tell that this one’s going to be a pain in the … rear end.”

  Derek gulped. He tried to gather all the courage that he could from his body. There must be some hidden somewhere. He cleared his throat and declared, “I’m ready.”

  Pearl clicked her fingers. “Right. Show yourself.”

  The ghost of a man appeared in front of Derek. He was wearing a grey shirt and grey trousers. His features were thin and pinched-looking. Hate radiated from his eyes. Derek was not ready for this particular ghost. Derek’s hand shot out and grabbed the arm of the sofa. His vision blurred and he felt himself falling forward.

  Chapter 2

  Derek’s eyelids fluttered open. He could feel a warmth travelling through his body. He looked up into the concerned face of Pearl. She had her hands stretched out over his chest.

  “Derek! Are you alright? Speak to me!”

  Derek raised a hand slowly and waved it to show he was alright. “I’m okay.” He brought his hand down and patted his chest. “The old ticker is okay. Whatever you’re doing to me feels good, I feel warm all over. I thought ghosts would feel cold if they touched me.”

  Pearl’s face wrinkled up in a smile. “I’m a special kind of ghost. Can you sit up? Are you sure you’re …”

  “For goodness’ sake! Stop wittering on! Are you going to help me or not?”

  Pearl frowned as she looked up at the ghost of a man who had spoken. “At this moment, I’m not sure that we are going to help you! Can’t you see the state Derek is in? I need to make sure he’s okay.”

  The man smirked. “He always was a cissy.”

  Derek focused on the ghost towering above him. Unwanted memories from his school days came rushing back to him. Memories that he thought he’d buried. Derek ignored his speeding heart and sat up. He told Pearl that he was okay. He turned to face the ghost who was still smirking. Derek lifted his chin and said, “Hello there, Eric. Fancy seeing you here.”

  Eric snorted. “Derek Quill! Look at the state of you! A good breeze would knock you over!” He addressed Pearl. “Are you actually going to ask him to help me? He can’t even help himself, let alone anyone else.”

  Pearl opened her mouth to speak. Derek held up a hand to stop her. “No, Pearl, let me deal with this. You’ve probably gathered that I know this man, or this ghost of a man. His name is Eric Malone. We were at school together. He was in the year above me.” Derek’s legs began to shake as he got to his feet but he held onto his nerve as he faced Eric straight on. “Eric was a terrible bully at school. I was one of his many victims. He was a nasty piece of work then, and, going by what he’s just said, it seems that he still is.”

  Pearl moved closer to Eric. She prodded him in the chest. “You can clear off back to whichever cesspit you crawled out of! You’re not getting my help, and you’re not getting Derek’s!”

  “Pearl, it’s okay. I will help him. He can’t hurt me now. All that nastiness is in the past.”

  “Humph!” Pearl declared as she folded her arms. She gave Eric a hard stare.

  “Eric, I’ll have to be honest with you, I haven’t helped any ghosts before but …”

  Eric snorted and said, “That figures.”

  Derek continued, “But I’ll do my best to help you. Tell me more about yourself. How did you die? Were you murdered?”

  Eric threw Derek a contemptuous look. “Of course I was murdered! Why else would I be wasting my time with you two imbeciles?”

  Pearl raised a small fist towards Eric. “I’m warning you!”

  Derek took a small notebook and pencil from his cardigan pocket. “Can you tell me when you died, and how?”

  Eric jabbed a finger towards the back of his head. “Someone whacked me on the back of my head. And I know exactly who did it!”

  Chapter 3

  Derek looked over at Pearl as he prepared to reverse his car out of the driveway a short while later. Pearl caught his look and smiled. “You were just going to ask me to put my seat belt on, weren’t you?”

  Derek nodded. “It’s a habit, I suppose. Can you actually lift physical things? I don’t know much about this ghost business, what they can and can’t do.”

  “All ghosts are different. I can lift physical things sometimes,
it takes a lot of energy to do so. If it makes you feel better, I can put the seat belt on. Although, if you do crash the car and I go flying through the windscreen, it won’t make any difference to me.”

  “No, I suppose it won’t. Leave the seat belt where it is.” Derek chuckled. “It’s a funny business this, isn’t it? Look at me, helping out ghosts! I never thought I’d spend my retirement doing that.”

  Eric Malone shoved his angry face between the front seats and snapped, “You haven’t helped any ghosts yet! Stop nattering and get on with it!” He shook his head. “Of all the people in the world that I have to rely on for help! I couldn’t have picked a more feeble-minded man.”

  Pearl spun in her seat. She glared at Eric and hissed, “Any more talk like that and I’ll send you back to where you came from! You can wander round there for the rest of eternity for all I care!”

  Eric shrank back and mumbled, “I was only voicing my opinions.”

  “If we want your opinion then we’ll ask for it!” Pearl informed him. “Sit yourself right back, I don’t want your ugly mug so close to me.” She pointed towards Derek. “And, for the record, this lovely man has offered to help you. He doesn’t have to. There are other ghosts that need his help, he doesn’t have to give you his precious time.”

  “Alright! I get the picture!” Eric said. “You can stop shouting now.”

  Derek reversed fully out of his drive and then set off in the direction of Eric’s house. There was silence for the next few minutes. Derek switched the radio on and began to hum along. He was trying to put on a brave face for Pearl, but it was hard to do so when the person who had tormented him for years was now sitting in the back of his car. It didn’t make any difference that Eric Malone was now older - and dead. His evil eyes were just the same. They stared at Derek through the rear-view mirror.

  Derek jumped as Eric cleared his throat. “So, Derek,” Eric began. “Why are you helping ghosts out? How long have you been seeing ghosts?” Derek saw the hint of a smirk on his face. “I always knew there was something a bit weird about you.”

  Derek ignored the last comment. “I’ve been seeing ghosts for,” he looked at the dashboard clock, “about two hours now. And I’ve never helped a ghost before.”

  “Great,” Eric mumbled. “What makes you think you can help me?”

  Derek shrugged. “I’ve no idea if I can or can’t. I helped a young lass earlier today. She’s called Grace, and she can see ghosts. She works at an antiques shop in town. She helps ghosts who’ve been murdered.” Derek shot a quick glance towards Pearl. “And that’s where I met Pearl. She’s been helping Grace, and now she’s going to assist me.”

  Eric let out a small snort of derision. “And how is it possible that you can suddenly see ghosts? Did you have a near-death experience or something?”

  Derek stopped at a red traffic light and shared a smile with Pearl. There was no way he was going to tell Eric that Pearl had kissed him earlier in the day. Her kiss had then allowed him to see ghosts. Derek felt a sudden hot rush of guilt. He hadn’t kissed another woman since he’d met Dorothy all those years ago. He answered Eric’s question with, “It just happened. And now I can see them. Well, I can see you and Pearl at the moment. Are we nearly at your house?”

  Eric folded his arms and glared out of the window. “We’re nearly there. I hope the,” he looked towards Pearl, “so-and-so who whacked me on the back of my head will be home. Are you going to confront him? Or are you going to be a coward, like you always were at school?”

  Derek looked back over his shoulder. For a second, he saw the sadness on Eric’s face. He felt a small amount of sympathy for him. Keeping his voice firm, he said, “Eric, I’ll do what I think is best. And I’ll thank you to keep your insults to yourself.”

  “You tell him,” Pearl said. She winked at Derek.

  Five minutes later, they pulled up outside Eric’s house. There was a for sale sign in the front garden.

  Derek cast a glance in the rear-view mirror and saw the dismay on Eric’s face. “Are you okay, Eric?”

  Eric nodded. “It’s a shock, seeing my home for sale. I know I can’t live here anymore but still …” He cleared his throat. “Stop asking stupid questions! Let’s find my killer.” He shot through the car door and landed on the pavement.

  Derek took a deep breath and said, “Here goes! My first murder investigation.”

  Chapter 4

  Eric’s house was of a semi-detached build. The doors and windows had been painted brown and dark coloured curtains hung at the windows.

  Derek stood on the pavement, Pearl at one side and Eric at the other. Pearl shivered, “What a gloomy-looking house! What’s wrong with you, Eric? Don’t you like a bit of colour in your life?”

  Eric narrowed his eyes at her. “It’s my house and I’ll do what I want with it.”

  Derek opened his mouth to speak. He abruptly closed it again. He put his hand over his mouth and hissed, “Pearl! How do I talk to you in public? People can’t see you, they’ll think I’m talking to myself.”

  Pearl gave him a soft look. “There’s no one on this street at the moment, you can talk to me normally. I know that Grace uses her phone when she needs to talk to a ghost in public, she pretends to be on a call.”

  Derek nodded and moved his hand away from his mouth. “That’s a good idea. You see people on their phones all the time.” He patted his trouser pocket. “I’ve got a mobile phone right here.” He turned to Eric. “You told us earlier that you’d been killed in your home. Which room was it?”

  Eric indicated his head towards the house. “The front room. The coward sneaked up on me from behind.” He frowned. “I think it was on a Tuesday night. After seven, I think.”

  Derek continued, “And you think you know who killed you? If they came at you from behind, how do you know who it was?”

  Eric looked at the ground for a moment. His brow was furrowed when he looked back at Derek. “That’s strange. I knew for certain who’d killed me earlier, I can’t quite see their face now. It’s like there’s a fog over their body and I can’t see them properly.”

  Pearl said, “Don’t worry about that. It happens a lot to ghosts. Their memories block out painful memories. Tell us what you do remember.”

  “I must have known the person who killed me. I let them into my house.” Eric looked up and down the street, his face twisted with hate. “It’s one of my neighbours, it must be. They all hate me, they all want to see the back of me! Go and knock at their doors! Go on! Ask them what they were doing that Tuesday!”

  “Eric, how long have you been dead?” Derek asked.

  “What? I told you! I was murdered on Tuesday. Stop asking stupid questions!”

  Derek pointed towards the for sale sign. “This hasn’t happened overnight. Can you remember what month, and year, it was?”

  “Of course I can!” Eric glared at Derek. “It was …” Panic washed over his features and he let out a curse. “I can’t remember!” He jabbed a finger in Derek’s direction. “You! This is all your fault! I was fine until you came close to me.”

  Pearl rushed over to Eric’s side. She put her hand on his arm. “Calm down! This isn’t Derek’s doing at all. The more you panic, the more you’ll forget.”

  Derek cleared his throat and made a show of taking out his phone. He put it to his ear and turned away from the house. Pearl cocked her head, “Derek, what are you doing?”

  Derek spoke quietly into his phone, “Somebody’s in Eric’s garden. They’re looking at me.”

  Pearl gasped. “It’s the killer! They always return to the scene of the crime.”

  Derek’s knees buckled slightly. He wasn’t ready to face a murderer. He put his phone away and slowly turned back to face the person who was looking at him.

  Chapter 5

  Derek gave a friendly nod towards the young man who was standing in Eric’s front garden. The man gave him a surly nod back.

  “Who’s that?” Pearl asked Eric.
<
br />   “The layabout who supposedly does my garden. What’s he doing here?”

  Derek decided to find out for himself. He opened the garden gate and walked towards the young man. “Hello there, sorry to disturb you. I’m looking for Eric Malone. He’s an old school friend of mine.” The lie almost got stuck in Derek’s throat. “I believe he lives here.”

  The young man’s lip curled. “He’s dead. He was bumped off a few months ago. Miserable old sod he was, always complaining about the work I did.”

  Derek made a pretence of looking shocked. His hand flew to his chest and he took a step back. “Dead? Bumped off? What do you mean?”

  The young man’s sneer disappeared. He dropped the garden shears he was holding and rushed to Derek’s side. “Are you alright? Are you having a heart attack? I know what to do if you are, I saw it on the telly.” He grabbed hold of Derek’s arm. “Come on, lie on the ground. I have to get you into the recovery position.”

  Derek waved his concerns away. “I’m fine, honestly. It was the shock, that’s all. How long has poor Eric been dead?”

  The young man shrugged. “About two or three months.” A twinkle of glee came into his eyes. “He was murdered. Right here in his house. Someone whacked him on the back of his head.” He laughed. “My dad always said that Mr Malone would get what he deserved one day. He was a nasty old sod. Always watching me from the window, making sure everything looked perfect.” The young man picked up the shears. “Malone paid my dad up front for the next six months. I work for my dad and he said I had to keep coming here. I don’t see the point myself. But it’s easy work and I haven’t got that nosy codger staring at me.” He glanced towards the house. “He was always staring at something, if it wasn’t me, then he’d be watching his neighbours.”