“Did you sleep okay?” he asked her.
She eyed him. “Better than you, I’d guess.”
He ran a hand self-consciously back through his hair. “Probably.”
“I’m starving. Let’s wake up those lazy-bones and have breakfast. Or lunch, or whatever it is.” She paused. “Then I have something to show you.”
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.
