#1Second Hand Ghosts - The Final Bet (A Paranormal Mystery) Read Free Page A

she’s selling her rings? Ask her if she ever loved me?” Frank pleaded.
    I thought back to seeing Peggy the previous day.
    “She’s got a bit of a temper,” I said to Frank.
    “She has! She’s a right fire cracker. She might shout at you but I don’t think she’ll hit you,” Frank gave a little smile.
    “When do you want me to go and see Peggy,” I asked faintly.
    “Now will be good. I’ll come with you,” Frank said.
    I fetched my bag and coat. It looked like I was helping my first ghost, whether I wanted to or not.
     
     

Chapter 9
     
    Frank sat next to me in the car and gave me directions to his and Peggy’s home.
    There was no easy way to say what I wanted to so I just blurted out, “How long have you been dead and what did you die of?”
    “I’ve never been asked that before,” Frank smiled. “I’m not sure how long I’ve been dead but I think I had some sort of shock. My heart just stopped for some reason. I bet you’re glad I wasn’t hit by a bus and had my face all squashed!”
    “I never thought such a thing,” I said. “Are we nearly there?”
    Frank directed us to a road full of neat bungalows. We stopped outside number 63. When I walked up the path I noticed the flower beds were well looked after. Frank was right behind me.
    I took a deep breath and knocked on the front door.
    “Just a minute,” a voice called from inside. I could see a shape moving closer through the frosted glass of the door.
    The door opened. Peggy looked up at me. She frowned.
    “Don’t I know you from somewhere?” she said.
    “I work at Second Hand Rose. You came in yesterday,” I said.
    Peggy smiled, “Oh, yes. Have you got a valuation for me already? Have you brought me some money? That was quick.”
    “No, I’m sorry. I’m not dealing with the sale of your rings,” I said. I put my hands in my pockets and looked at the ground.
    “Spit it out. What do you want?” Peggy said, her voice rising.
    “I don’t know how to say this but I’ve seen your husband, Frank. Since he died,” I muttered to the door step. I glanced at Peggy. Her lips were pressed tightly together.
    I carried on, “I didn’t know I could see ghosts but apparently now I can. And your Frank asked me, to ask you, why you want to sell your rings.”
    Peggy folded her arms and said, “That’s my business.”
    “Frank wants to know if you ever loved him,” I said.
    Peggy’s eyes immediately began to water, “Of course I loved him! He was my life. But I don’t think he ever loved me. How could he? After what he did?”
    I looked behind me. Frank had gone.
    “What did he do?” I asked.
    Tears began to roll down Peggy’s cheeks. I handed her a tissue from my pocket. Thankfully, it was a clean tissue.
    Peggy took the tissue and began to cry louder. I’m no good with crying people, I always want to join in with them.
    “How could he do that to me! I thought he loved me!” Peggy wailed.
    I moved forward and put my hand on Peggy’s arm. I quickly wiped a tear from my own eye.
    “Shall we go inside? I’ll make us some tea and you can tell me what Frank has done.”
     
     

Chapter 10
     
    Inside Peggy’s spotless kitchen I found all I needed to make a pot of tea. Peggy had stopped crying by the time I put the tea cup in front of her. I sat down opposite her at the lace covered kitchen table.
    I listened as she told me about her and Frank, and how they’d first met.
    “I knew I liked him the second I saw him, but I didn’t want to seem keen. He kept pestering me for years to go out with him!” Peggy’s eyes twinkled. “And when I said I’d marry him he gave me that amazing engagement ring. I’d been looking at it for such a long time in the jeweller’s shop window. I thought Frank had pinched it at first!”
    “So why do you want to sell your rings, if they mean so much to you?” I asked.
    Peggy gave such a big sigh of sadness that it sounded as if it was coming from her toes.
    “To pay off gambling debts,”