44 Gilmore Street

by Shani Struthers

  “But the Gordons…”

  “The Gordons are lying low. I think after yesterday they’re all in terrible shock, even Samantha.” Ness corrected herself. “Samantha especially.”

  “But she wants us to carry on, she said so.”

  “I know she does, but let’s leave it for a few days, okay? Let’s wait for the worst of it to die down and for Samantha to recover.”

  Ruby would bet that was the general consensus amongst the others too – to let the heat evaporate.

  Leaving Ellie in Ailsa’s care and promising to be in touch soon, Ness and Ruby travelled back to Ruby’s flat to meet the rest of her team – again giving the office a wide berth. Once they were all together Ness pressed her point home.

  “If we leave the case for a week or two, the press will get bored, give up and go and do something else with their time. Regarding Ben, we know he’s not going anywhere – more’s the pity – and that he’s more settled when we’re not around, so we don’t need to worry about him.”

  “We certainly don’t,” Theo agreed. “He’s his own worst enemy.”

  “The press hate it because we charge,” Ruby couldn’t seem to shake that fact from her mind. “It’s unethical apparently.”

  Theo’s sigh was dramatic. “And what they’re doing – fabricating stories on a daily basis – isn’t, I suppose!”

  “It’s ridiculous,” Corinna joined in. “We provide a much needed service. The amount of calls we get asking for help proves that, we’re so busy!”

  “Yeah, well, call me psychic, Corinna,” Ruby replied despondently, “but I think we’ve got a bit of a dry spell coming up.”

  Before anyone could comment further, the doorbell rang.

  Corinna jumped up. “I’ll go. If it’s a roving reporter I’ll give him what for.”

  She returned to the room, with Cash in tow.

  “No reporters,” she said, looking much relieved.

  Cash went straight over to Ruby. “Babe, sorry, I’m late,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. “You all right?”

  “I’m better now that you’re here.”

  As he settled beside her, Ruby came to a decision. “Okay, I agree. We leave the Gilmore case for a week or two. Let the fuss die down. Regarding Ellie, it’s taken a bit of a strange turn. Ness and I have spent all morning with her.” As concisely as possible, she related what had happened. “It turns out there’s a likelihood she was the murderer, not the victim.”

  “What?” Cash screwed up his face. “Ellie? But she looks so…”

  “Innocuous?” finished Theo.

  Cash nodded. “Yeah, I suppose.”

  “That’s Ellie in this life. She was different back then.”

  “But, Theo,” Ness contributed, “she was still a young girl, still naïve, and vulnerable too. Some attributes remain the same.”

  “You’re very fond of her aren’t you?” Theo smiled as she said it.

  “I feel for her that’s all. She’s someone who wants to find herself.”

  “Find herself?” Cash repeated, smiling too. “You’re not wrong there.”

  Ruby took back the reins. “I really don’t know what to make of Ellie’s case. It’s very odd. For a moment she thought her past self was still alive too, that her soul was divided, inhabiting two bodies.”

  “Nonsense!” Theo’s view matched Ailsa’s. “Souls are individual, they’re unique. They don’t divide.”

  “Then again,” Ness countered, “if you can think it, it’s possible.”

  Theo shook her head vehemently. “No, no, she survived the encounter that’s all, a dreadful encounter. She walked away, much to her surprise.”

  “The murder,” queried Corinna, “did she get away with it?”

  “We don’t know what happened next,” Ness answered. “Whether there was even a murder, which is why more regression sessions are needed.” Addressing Ruby, she added, “I know you’ve got a lot on your mind, but I don’t think Ellie’s case can wait. We need to keep up momentum.”

  Ruby decided to be honest. “I don’t know if I believe her, Ness.”

  There was a moment of silence.

  “It’s just,” continued Ruby, “it’s all so odd with her, isn’t it?”

  “No, I don’t think so,” responded Ness at last.

  “Well… one minute she can recall tiny details such as a water heater, the next she’s saying that it’s all wrong, that it even feels wrong to call her husband by that title and yet we know she’s married to him. Her mind closes in on itself, it collapses. Those are her words by the way.”

  When Ness replied her voice was even. “Ironic you don’t believe her isn’t it? It’s a similar situation with the public regarding Psychic Surveys.”

  Ruby could see the parallel, knew what Ness was getting at, but even so, she wasn’t vilifying Ellie and she said so.

  “I know you’re not. But I believe her and her case is one we need to progress with, so we can reach a satisfactory conclusion.”

  “In case we don’t succeed with Ben, you mean?”

  “I hope we do succeed with Ben, but I’m a realist.” Looking directly at Theo, Ness continued, “You told me once there’s no shame in walking away if a case is taking its toll on us. Maybe Gilmore Street is one such case.”

  “Ness!” Ruby continued to argue. “I’ve said this before, there is shame, public shame. If we don’t solve the Gilmore case, people will lose faith in us. And if that happens, it’s the beginning of the end for Psychic Surveys. Look, you carry on with Ellie if you want to, but I hope you’ll carry on with Gilmore Street too. We might be having an enforced break, but our efforts should still be focussed on getting to the root of what’s grounding Ben. Whatever free time we have we spend digging and then digging some more. Everyone leaves a trail, everyone. And we need to sniff it out.” She took a deep breath. “No, I’m sorry, I’m not going to be beaten. We’re not. Not by a bunch of hacks intent on bringing us down for the sake of more sales. We’re Psychic Surveys, we’re good at what we do. The material world might forsake us but the spirit world has never needed us as much.”

  Again that moment of silence and then Theo broke into a wide grin.

  “Bravo!” she said, bringing her hands together and clapping, Corinna and Cash joined in. Even Ness looked impressed.

  Cash rose, went over to Ruby’s laptop.

  “So, do you think you’re ready to look at the papers now?”

  “Bring it on,” she replied.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Despite her fears, there was very little national coverage of the Gilmore case. Fascination remained largely local, the South Coast Times in particular dining out on it. Only a couple of the red tops had run an article on it, using it as a ‘filler’ piece for inside pages. Other papers – more prestigious papers she supposed, the likes of The Guardian, The Independent and The Telegraph et al, hadn’t bothered with the story at all. Scanning the headlines, they were all lazy, lacking in imagination entirely, variations of ‘who you gonna call…?’ a hot favourite amongst them. How Ruby cursed that Ghostbusters film! Although Samantha assured them she hadn’t mentioned it was Benjamin Hamilton in the house, something Ruby had advised her about, the papers had done their homework, realised he’d died there and put two and two together, making much of his body having lain there for a week before discovery. Ironic, considering he’d barely got a mention at the time.

  “What do you think of that, Ben?” Ruby muttered, continuing to read. “Fame at last.” Her eyes on the next sentence, she groaned. “Oh no, look, they’re saying the church should get involved, that it’s a religious matter.”

  “Pah!” Theo snorted. “The church won’t get involved, not for a long while anyway. There’s too much red tape to wade through first.” After a brief pause, she added, “You know this might be a good time to take that holiday we were talking about.”

  “Before it goes international you mean?”

  “If you like.” Theo was being
as tongue-in-cheek as her.

  Ruby shook her head. “I’ve told you I’m not running away. I’m staying put.”

  The next morning, Ruby got up early and made her way to the office. Yes, there were a couple of reporters outside, sitting in the same car she’d spied before and yes they tried to talk to her as she approached but she simply replied, ‘No comment’, unlocked the door and closed it firmly behind her. The team were all on the case regarding Ben, Theo and Corinna visiting the offices of Southern Rail in person this time – they must hold information of past employees on databanks somewhere. Maybe there was even someone in the offices who had worked with him or could give them a lead to someone that had. ‘Benjamin Hamilton’ she could imagine them saying, ‘yeah, yeah, I remember him. He worked here years ago, strange fellow he was, a bit shy.’ It was a long shot, but any type of shot was welcome at the moment. Ness was trawling the roads close to Gilmore Street as well as businesses such as cafés and corner shops to see if anyone knew of him – ‘And hang the consequences,’ she’d said. ‘They can’t all be cynics, someone must be willing to give us an insight.’ It was a difficult thing to do without a police badge: turning up at people’s doors asking for information about a certain someone, but the team figured that the recent publicity might have given them an edge. They were ‘recognisable’ to some now. There were even those who might be sympathetic to their cause, or at least aware of what they were doing and therefore less alarmed and more willing to help. ‘God moves in a mysterious way,’ quipped Theo, and maybe she was right. As for her she was going through messages and emails, responding to those who were still calling in, despite the shadow that had been cast over their integrity.

  Samantha she had already spoken to and she was willing to wait regarding a return visit from the team, not only for all the fuss to die down but to see if they could find out anything more about Ben.

  “He’s a one, he’s a bloody one,” Samantha had said. “He’s got an unfair advantage being invisible. If I could see him I’d throw a teapot at him too.”

  Even though she was doing her best to sound valiant, Ruby could still detect a tremor of shock and fear in the woman’s voice. She hated to say it but felt she must. “If at any time you want to pull us off the case, Sam, hand it over to another psychic, I’d understand.”

  “No!” Samantha had insisted. “I like you, Ruby. I trust you. We’ll get there.”

  Ruby could only hope so.

  Knowing the Gilmore case was in good hands she got on with everyday tasks, pressing ‘play’ on the answer machine. As disembodied voices filled the attic room, this time of an earthly variety, Ruby sat poised with her pen ready to take notes. Journalists – there were a few of them. ‘It’s a great story, Ruby. There’s a lot of public interest. We’d love to hear your side of things. How do you cope with seeing ghosts? How many have you dealt with? Can you put us in touch with people you’ve been involved with? Would they be willing to speak to us? This could be great for business, Ruby, don’t you think? You could go global, offices all over the planet. Just speak to us.’

  She pressed her hand to her temple. Journalists were begging her to speak to them, she was begging Ben to speak to her – everyone was going round in circles and getting nowhere fast.

  Continuing to sift through her voicemail, there were two that connected but the caller obviously changed their mind about leaving a message. Instead, there was silence, a hiss of static. One after the other they occurred and Ruby wondered who was trying to reach out to her, summoning up the courage to speak, only to fail at the last hurdle. No matter. There was nothing she could do about it. If they wanted her, they’d call back.

  The next message was entirely different.

  “Oh, Ms Davis, are you there?” a female voice queried, a distressed female voice. “Please, please be there. My child’s in danger. Someone wants her. And by someone you know what I mean. A ghost. Our house is haunted. We’ve just moved here. We’re terrified. Please, you’ve got to help us.”

  Ruby’s hand flew to the telephone. Most people weren’t in danger when living alongside a spirit, but this person might be; she’d actually used that very word to describe their situation.

  Her call was answered immediately.

  “Thank you, thanks so much for getting back to me,” the same woman said when Ruby introduced herself. After a few more brief exchanges, Ruby asked how old the child was.

  “Five. This ghost, she appears to her most nights, tells her she wants her to come with her and that if she doesn’t, she’s going to hurt her, hurt us too. My daughter’s terrified. We’re terrified. She can barely sleep at night so we can’t either. When we do manage, she turns our dreams into nightmares.”

  The woman – Kaylee Grant – started sobbing, highlighting just how terrified she was.

  “If you’d like to book an appointment—”

  “I can’t bear another night of this. I’ll lose my rag if I do. It’s doing my head in. Can you come now? I don’t care what it costs. I want her gone.”

  “Ms Grant, about fees, we have a sliding scale—”

  “Money’s no object, please come.”

  Deciding the woman was too het up to explain procedure further, Ruby took a note of her address and said she’d be there shortly. After terminating the call, she stood up, grabbed her jacket and made for the door. No sooner had she reached it then Jed materialised, blocking her pathway.

  “Move, Jed. I’ve got a job to go to.”

  Jed refused to budge, instead, his gaze intent, he lowered his head and shifted his feet to adopt a combative stance. Ruby laughed.

  “What are you doing? Get out of the way.”

  When still he refused, she shook her head.

  “You realise I can just walk straight though you don’t you?”

  She decided that’s exactly what she’d do. The Grants needed her and there was no time to waste. She only hoped whoever was grounded at their household wouldn’t prove as much a pain as Benjamin. Jed had to finally give way but he wasn’t happy about it.

  “I’ll be okay,” she called back over her shoulder. “Stop worrying.”

  Sulking, he slunk off in the opposite direction.

  The Grants lived in Lewes on an estate just a few roads behind her flat. Located in a dip, there were several identical blocks. She had to go to number 84. Parking her car in the communal car park, she hoped the reporters camped outside her office hadn’t followed her. She’d kept a careful check in the mirror and had driven a roundabout route to get here; dismayed she had to go to such trouble.

  Before leaving her car she checked herself in the rear-view mirror, she looked presentable enough, minimal make-up, jeans, jumper and jacket; just like any other young professional. Thankfully it wasn’t an effort to look ‘normal’. She didn’t have outlandish taste, not like Theo with her pink hair and selection of often clashing scarves and she wasn’t as sombre as Ness, who mainly dressed in black. She did her best to blend in. Any pictures of her that the press ran may well prove disappointing to the general public. Which was a good thing, a desired effect.

  It took a moment to realise she was standing outside the right flat – it was one of many identical doors, sitting like ducks in a row. It took another moment to realise the door was opening. A young girl appeared, Ruby would have said too young to be the mother of a five-year-old child. She was barely out of her teens. Nonetheless, Ruby smiled.

  “Hi, I’m Ruby Davis, I’m looking for Kaylee Grant.”

  “That’s me.”

  “Oh.” So she was the mother. “Would you like me to come in? To discuss what we talked about on the phone.”

  “I’d love you to come in,” Kaylee said and something in the way she said it put Ruby on alert. The girl was trying to stifle a smirk, a nasty one. Turn and walk away, her instincts were crying. And she was on the verge of doing that, when she heard a child start to cry, the sound emanating from within.

  “Is that your child?” Ruby asked, just as Ka
ylee turned, clearly expecting her to follow. Staring at the back of her, she was rumpled, sporting tracksuit bottoms, bare feet and a grubby cropped tee shirt which was more grey than white. Considering she knew Ruby was on her way, she hadn’t made any effort with her appearance, even her long blonde hair was tangled. Ruby hoped the woman was more attentive to how her child looked at least.

  Kaylee led her to the living room where a toddler, not a five year old, sat wailing, two rivers of mucus running from her nose to her mouth. Instead of going to the child and comforting her, Kaylee picked up a packet of cigarettes and lit one, absent-mindedly inclining the packet towards Ruby as she did so.

  “No thanks, I don’t smoke.”

  “Suit yourself.”

  “Kaylee,” Ruby ventured. “You sounded really upset on the phone.”

  Kaylee exhaled a long plume of smoke. “Can you feel her? The woman who haunts us?”

  Instead of answering, Ruby nodded towards the child, who now had her fist stuffed in her mouth and was drooling all over it. “She looks younger than five. She looks pre-verbal.” And therefore not able to tell her mother what she’d seen.

  Kaylee just shrugged. “The ghost can you feel it? That’s all I want to know.”

  Staring at the young woman, Ruby was confused. She could feel something but not an intelligent haunting as such, therefore a soul grounded. What was here felt more residual than anything – like a bank of negativity, not even a bank, it was as much a part of the flat as the fixture and fittings. It was a build up though, the Grants not solely responsible for it. This had never been a particularly happy place to live, Ruby guessed, right from the very first tenants – there’d been too much disappointment in life expressed within these walls, too much bitterness. No wonder the child was wailing so pitifully. Kids were nothing if not intuitive. Although she knew there was no point in carrying out a survey, Ruby explained that standard procedure was to do a walk around of each room in the flat, trying to tune into a presence.

  “But the thing is,” Ruby finished, “I honestly don’t think there’s anything here to worry about.” Not of a spiritual nature anyway.