Page 50 of The Silence of Hell

“That’s nice,” Sin murmured as she squinted at the page. She angled a light towards it and picked up a magnifying glass. “This ink is amazing. It should’ve faded, but looks new.”

“Yup. We won’t get anything out of her for the rest of the day,” Phoe said, linking arms with me.

“Wow. I thought I was bad when in the zone,” I muttered.

“Have you ever seen this before? Is it ghost activity?” Harriet was demanding, and Callie looked amused as we approached.

“I’d need to check CCTV. Is it set up in here?” Callie inquired.

“Yes. And that aisle is covered,” I replied.

“Interesting,” Callie responded as she and her team took pictures and studied the stacked books and chairs.

“I guess we’ve lost her too?” I asked, and Phoe snorted in amusement.

“Callie, we’re heading into town to discover any gossip about hauntings. Would you like to come?” Phoe questioned, and Callie’s head snapped up.

“Yes! Okay, let me sort the team out. Harry, you take base readings, one every two hours. Phil, get a layout of the place and start researching the history. Jack and Freddie, please set up the infrared cameras and some voice recorders,” Callie ordered.

“Not a problem,” Phil replied, and Callie looked at us.

“Let’s hit Clio’s tearoom and the diner and the library. Those are the best places to get the gossip,” Callie said.

Phoe nodded in agreement. “Come on, Lavender. Let’s hunt some ghosts!”

I was sure the noise Phoe made could officially be called a squeal!

Four hours later.

My head was swimming. Who knew there’d be so much gossip about the Manor? First off, we had stopped at the diner for milkshakes. There, we’d spoken to a waitress who said she had seen a hulking figure out there one night that had chased her with an axe. I was thinking she’d watched too many horror movies. However, two other people listening in confirmed others had seen it and they’d given us names.

Then, there was a ghostly horse and carriage mentioned, which people confirmed seeing barrelling up to the house and a male figure leaping out to disappear. This had even been filmed, and Callie nearly came out of her chair as we watched a social media video on it. It did look real, but I had my doubts.

Two ghostly children had also been seen and a lady in white; there was always conveniently a lady in white, in my opinion.

Having drained all the information from the diner possible, we headed for Clio’s tearooms. Phoe and Callie explained they’d been started by Clio and had proved highly popular.

Kris, the manager, greeted and ushered us to a table and then proceeded to send locals over to tell us their ghost stories. Many repeated those told at the diner, but there were some new additions. A screaming woman covered in blood wearing a long pale dress. A man was seen staring from a window several times. And a maid who chased people off by yelling.

After the diner, we headed for the library where we were shown documented reports that confirmed all the stories. And there we discovered a new one. The hulking guy was joined by an elderly woman. Together, they had chased all intruders away for the last twenty years. Many believe the elderly woman to be the last owner, but nobody had a clue who the man was. Some thought it was a servant who killed for her, but no bodies had ever been found.

I bristled angrily at sweet Aunt Aggie being called a murderer. But that did raise one question.

“How did Aunt Aggie die?” Callie questioned me as we left.

I blinked at her in surprise. “Holy hell, I never asked!” I exclaimed. A shamed feeling flooded me as I realised I didn’t even know where Aggie’s grave was.

Callie headed back inside and asked and came out.

“She died in hospital,” Callie said.

“I know that much,” I replied grumpily.

“I know Aggie is buried in the family cemetery,” Callie stated.

“Of course, we have one of those!” I groaned, and Phoe giggled.

“And it’s on your land!” Callie exclaimed.

---