Revenants & Remains | ONC 2021

6: The Investigation

When we arrived back at the house, breakfast had just ended. I could hear tentative notes of piano music, starting and stopping. "The children will be working on chores and quiet pursuits," Elisa explained as I hung my grey coat on the rack, damp with sea mist.

"How's Thomas?" I asked.

"No more... problems," she replied. "Neither last night or this morning. I slept in his room to make sure."

"He's off somewhere drawing, no doubt," Pendelton said and she smiled by way of agreement.

I wondered at the wisdom of letting him out of sight, but said nothing.

Time was of the essence. Seeing the otherworldly creature on the cliff had given me new impetus to banish it, despite my client's doubts.

But the first step was to track it down.

Pendelton went to prepare the bones for my perusal, for I still wasn't giving up on them without a thorough inspection.

I set my bag on the table in the front hall and began assembling my tools. Elisa hung nearby, watching, as I pulled out my etheric rod, the assortment of crystal-tipped sensing pins and a jar of neutralizing salts. I secured these items in a smaller sack that I carry across my chest. "Tools of the trade," I remarked, "when it comes to the esoteric sciences."

"The esoteric sciences," she repeated. "To think that a woman can have such a profession!"

"My dear," I said, as I headed into the drawing room with her at my heels, "we are living in modern times. Women can do most anything they set their minds to, with a little hard work and... well..." I smiled. "Sometimes you just don't tell anyone what you're up to!" She laughed.

Two little girls were lying on floor pillows reading. The darker haired one looked up and shushed Elisa good-naturedly.

"I have much to do today," I said in a quieter voice, standing outside the office.

"Oh, of course." Elisa backed away slightly. "I won't intrude upon you any longer."

I normally insist upon working alone, but on a whim, I said, "Would you care to join me on my investigations? As an observer only, of course," I quickly added.

She was clearly delighted at the prospect and I had no time to second-guess my decision because at that moment Pendelton opened the door.

He showed surprise at seeing Elisa with me, but did not object. Upon seeing the bones laid out on the desk, her eyes widened.

Upon further scrutiny, it was clear that the bones came from a child, though a complete esoteric examination revealed nothing. I was forced to conclude that the bones, at present, were harboring no supernatural attachments.

We adjourned to the drawing room and the girls were sent elsewhere to read.

"Ghosts," I said, putting on my lecturing voice, "are most often attached to objects from life, sometimes seemingly meaningless ones from our points of view. An old pocket watch, a locket worn by a lover, a pair of slippers. Why, I've even seen a haunting linked to a chipped dinner plate." Pendelton and Elisa sat side by side on the sofa, as I slowly paced before them, waving the rod over various objects in the room. "This rod is highly attuned to detect etheric residues," I explained. "Do you have any of your brother's old possessions? Or have you come across anything of his lately—an old toy or something of that sort?"

Pendelton shook his head. "His old things have been gone for years."

Elisa jumped up. "What about photographs? Would that count, Miss Holte? Mr. P has been looking at a lot of old photographs lately!"