Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
Breakfast consisted of reconstituted eggs and oatmeal in a cup.
Once they finished eating, Nigel went out to let Dr. Lawson and Ms. Montague know that they were about to review the footage from the night before.
Naturally they wanted to see it as well, so he accompanied them back in, with Ethan like a shadow behind.
As they walked, he gave them a quick rundown of what they’d experienced the night before.
Everyone crowded around Tina, who sat in front of her monitors. “We’ll go in chronological order here, starting with your EVP in Ullman’s bedroom,” she said. “The responses are faint, but I managed to clean up the audio and adjust the levels.”
She clicked on the audio file, and Oscar’s voice issued from the speakers.
“If there’s anyone here, can you tell us your name?”
“Leave.”
The response sent chilly fingers up Nigel’s spine. The voices of the dead tended to be flat and cold, but there was definite menace in the single word.
“Can you tell us what happened to you here?”
“Nothing happened. Go away.”
“Are you trapped here?”
“My house! My business! Get out!”
Tina stopped the audio. “Damn,” Chris said from the side where they held their camera, recording the session. “This guy really does not like us being here.”
“Does this jibe with what you found back in the ’80s?” Nigel asked.
“Yes.” Lawson folded her arms. “I always thought Ullman was the main problem in the house. So did Robin.”
Montague, however, shook her head. “She changed her mind, don’t you remember?”
“Are you talking about Gloria?” Nigel asked.
“Yes.” Montague gripped the head of her silver cane so hard her knuckles went white. “She cannot be trusted.”
“You’re influencing Fox,” Lawson objected.
“I’m warning them so they don’t end up like Robin!”
Lawson paled. “Yes…you’re right. I’m sorry.”
Montague gestured to the monitors. “What else did you find?”
Tina quickly brought up a video. “Nothing seemed to happen on the first floor last night, which I for one am glad of, since that’s where we’re staying. The thermal cam in the parlor didn’t show anything unusual, and neither did the library camera. But here’s the PolterPal.”
Night vision footage came up of the doll sitting on the floor in the old bedroom. She did look a little spooky like this, though Nigel wasn’t about to admit it aloud.
On the screen, the PolterPal let out a shrill giggle. “That tickles!”
“That means something tripped its temperature sensor,” Oscar explained.
The PolterPal continued to giggle, then asked, “Will you be my friend?”
“And that’s the EMF reader.” Oscar leaned forward slightly. “I think Gloria likes the doll.”
The giggling went on intermittently for a few minutes, then stopped. “Nothing more from the PolterPal the rest of the night.” Tina minimized that video and brought up the view of the cat ball in Ullman’s room. “Around three in the morning, this happened.”
The cat ball lit up, flashed wildly, and rolled an inch or two before stopping.
“Do you think he got so mad he kicked it?” Chris wondered.
“If so, that took everything he had, because it didn’t move again.” Tina paused the video and sat back.
Nigel pondered. “We have definite activity, but everything is pretty mild so far.”
“It’ll ramp up, if our experience was anything to go by,” Lawson said darkly.
Montague had other things on her mind. “Was there any sign of Robin?”
That was why they were there, after all. To free her spirit, if it lingered. If Montague’s dreams had been more than just old trauma rearing its ugly head after all these years.
“Not yet.” Oscar’s tone was gentle. “But if she’s here, we’ll find her.” He hesitated, then added, “Can you tell me where she died? I know a window was involved.”
Montague focused on the frozen image on the monitor rather than look at any of them. “Gloria pushed her out of the tower.”
“I suppose we’re giving up on worrying about influencing our medium.” Lawson glared at her. “But at least don’t influence him with lies. You don’t know which spirit it was—you were downstairs, and I was coming back on the boat when it happened.”
Montague’s jaw tightened, grief giving way to annoyance. “She is the real problem here. Robin knew that. I don’t know why you have to disrespect her memory by claiming otherwise.”
Well, this was getting awkward. Nigel tried to find somewhere else to look, but they were crammed in tight around Tina, and walking away would only make things even more awkward.
“You always have to push,” Lawson muttered. “Fine. I’m sorry.” As if to prove it, she turned to Oscar. “Anyway, Robin fell from the fourth floor of the tower, just below the cupola. Down to the…the veranda below.”
Nigel kept his horror off his face, or tried to, anyway. The unforgiving pavers wouldn’t be kind to a skull striking them, and it was hard not to imagine what Montague and Lawson had seen that night.
“We should let them view the taped interview with the Vanderwalls,” Montague said, seemingly appeased by Lawson’s apology.
“So is this Gloria Ullman or a different girl with the same first name?” Nigel asked, hoping to shift the conversation away from Robin’s death.
“Can we talk this over more spread out, please?” Tina asked. “I’m getting antsy with so many people hovering over me.”
“Sorry, Cabeza.” Lawson patted her on the shoulder. “Let’s chat in the trailer with some cold drinks. Then we’ll send over the TV and VCR for y’all to watch.”