Locklyle - The Story after The Empty Grave

Part 26: I Told You No

Lucy's POV:

The third day Mary was here at 35 Portland Row was an eventful day. It started off as a normal, lovely, warm-ish (it is the middle of September of course) morning. We had a quick breakfast consisting of toast and cereal.  We all quickly got changed before taking the long walk to London Zoo. We wouldn't usually walk that length, but it was surprisingly a sunny, non windy day and as we hadn't had any cases these past few days, we were all itching to get active. Except for Mary. She was still recovering from walking so much around the city center yesterday.

We paid our fees for the zoo and took our time looking around. George had been there many times and he wouldn't shut up about all the facts he knew about the various animals and the history of the Zoo. Although it was interesting, after the third exhibit it got tiring. Lockwood hadn't been for over ten years and neither me or Mary had ever been, so we enjoyed our time.

Halfway through our visit we took a break to eat lunch at the cafe, before continuing on. It was here that I began to wish I had a camera like Holly. The look on Lockwood and Mary's faces were priceless upon seeing the animals. You wouldn't think a seventeen and nineteen year old could be so excited, but there they were, big bright grins, eyes sparkling with joy, fascination and wonder painted on their faces. It would have also been nice to get a group photo, for the memories of course, but unfortunately I didn't have a camera. And if I'm honest, I wasn't sure if I would have enough money to buy one even if I wanted to.

It was early afternoon by the time we left London Zoo. Mary complained too much about walking, so we got a cab. When we arrived home, we saw a lady standing outside our door. Lockwood quickly ran over to her while the rest of us took our time. When we got closer we could hear snippets of their conversation.
'...taking cases until Monday.'
'...urgent matter.'
'...not sure if that's possible.'
'...scaring the children.'
'I'll see what we can do, Mrs Quinn. If you could just give us a second.' The lady nodded as Lockwood turned to us as we arrived on the steps. 'Can I talk to you guys inside?'

We left Mrs Quinn standing outside our door and we huddled in the doorway of the living room. Lockwood explained the situation, saying that she had tried phoning earlier and when there was no reply, she decided to come here instead. Her young children and herself had felt 'terrible sensations and horrifying coldness' at night and she worried something was 'terribly wrong'. Apparently it seemed to be something very strong and she needed it gone tonight.

'Well, we aren't taking customers right now are we?' George stated.
'Yes, but,' As soon as Lockwood said 'but' I knew there was no changing his mind. Nothing me or George said would matter. 'She told me she would pay double or even triple what we would usually ask. I say we do it.' George folded his arms in protest.
'I guess the money would be good.' I said slowly. George gave me a look as if to say 'traitor'.
'Yes, it would be.' Lockwood grinned at me. 'Come on, George. You know it'll be good. And I don't know if I can say no to Mrs Quinn. She seems genuinely terrified, and think of those poor kids. Think of them quivering in their beds at night, scared of what could happen.' He was really trying to lay on the guilt tripping, but George wasn't having it.
'I don't care for kids much, and you know that.'
'Oh George!' Lockwood cried. 'Just agree to do goddammit!'
George sighed, before nodding his head. 'Fine.'

So it was settled, we would be taking on this case and this case only tonight. We invited Mrs Quinn inside to get more details on the haunting and the house. If she wanted the ghost gone tonight, George would have no time to research. He did, however, suck up his saltiness and brought in some tea and biscuits for us and our guest to eat. I told Mary she didn't have to stay for the meeting, but she insisted she wanted to see how it was done.

Mrs Quinn told us the feelings and chilliness had only begun three nights ago, and had only gotten more strong. She said her husband was currently away overseas and she was 'sick to her stomach with fear'. She had no idea what the cause of the ghost could be, only that if seemed to be present everywhere in the home. She left just under an hour later.