Mystery House

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Dan POV

It had been a couple of days since I had gone to find out about Phil. I had decided I would call Tony back to interrogate him further. I had asked Pj for an excuse to get him over and he suggested imply there were ghosts in the house by saying that it goes cold sometimes, even when the heating is on.

I was finishing getting ready for work, deciding to call him on the way as I was running a bit late today. I grabbed my shoes and quickly slipped them on. I put my coat on before grabbing my keys and phone and leaving, shouting a quick ‘goodbye’ to anyone who could hear. I heard a vague ‘later’ from somewhere in the house. I dialled Tony’s number as I walked, listening to it ring a couple of times before he answered.

“Hello?”

“Hey Tony, it’s Dan.” I said.

“Oh Dan, hi. How can I help?” He asked.

“I'm having a bit of trouble with the heating in the house and I was wondering if you could come round and have a look at it.” I told him.

“I’m busy right now, but I’ll be free in a couple of hours.” He told me.

“I’m actually on my way to work at the moment, could it be sometime after 6?” I asked.

“I think I'm free then. I’ll let you know if I can’t make it, but otherwise assume I will be there between 6 and 7.” He said.

“That’s great. Thanks.”

“No problem. See you later.”

“Alright, bye.” I said, then hung up the phone. Hopefully I’ll be able to get more information out of him this time.

At around half 6, Tony knocked on the door. Chris and Pj had been playing the PS3, and Phil and I had been watching. When the door went, I told them all to scatter so they wouldn’t be seen. I got up and walked to the door, opening it.

“Hey.” I said.

“So what’s the problem then?” Tony asked, walking in as I stepped out of the way to let him through.

“Sometimes when the heating is on it goes cold in places. There’s one room upstairs in particular that goes really cold sometimes. Tony froze in place. I stared at him for a second before he went back to normal.

“I’ll just have a look at it then.” He said, almost in a rush. I followed him up the stairs. He went to the cupboard where the heating mains were and opened the door. He got to work looking at whatever he needed to. I decided to start up a conversation.

“So I found some stuff from the previous owners. Would you happen to have a way of contacting them?” I asked.

“Uh, I might have a number or something. I can check later.” He told me.

“Okay, thanks.” I said. It went quite for a minute. “So what were the previous owners like then?” I asked him.

“Uh, they were a nice couple. Never messed up the house. Didn’t have any trouble with them.” He said.

“So why did they move out?” I asked. He stopped what he was doing for a second.

“They didn’t feel the house was right for them.” He said carefully.

“Any particular reason?” I asked.

“No, I don’t think so.” He said.

It’s just, I was talking to one of the neighbours, and she seemed to think that they thought the house was haunted.” He dropped the torch he was hold at that moment. He scrambled to pick it up be fore turning to me.

“Haunted? Really? Have you had any trouble?” He asked.

“Well, I don’t think so. But these cold patches are a bit weird, do you think?” I asked jokingly. He didn’t see the funny side.

“Ghosts aren’t real.” He said, then turned back to the cupboard.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” I mumbled. “So what about the owner before that? The neighbour said he was a nice boy. Why did he move out?” I asked, pretending to be clueless.

“What boy was that?” He asked.

“I can’t really remember the name. Phil, or something?” I asked.

“Oh right, yes. I remember that boy.” He said, completely dismissing the question.

“So why did he move out?” I asked.

“He, um, he died actually.” He told me.

“Really? How tragic. How did he die?” I asked.

“Fell or something.” He said vaguely.

“Was nobody here with him at the time?” I questioned.

“Nope, don’t think so.” He seemed to be getting worried now.

“That’s so sad. So who was the last person to see him then?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Probably one of his friends.” He said.

“Really? Because the neighbour said that she saw you leaving the house that morning and that no one else came over.” I told him. He sped up his looking.

“Well I might have been, but I don’t know. I can’t find any problem here.” He said, turning the torch off and putting it away.

“Not sure what to think of it then. Maybe it is ghosts.” I said.

“I told you, there’s no such thing.” He said.

“So you were the last to see Phil on the day he died?” I asked him again.

“I don’t know. It’s possible, but that was hours before it happened. They found him in the early evening.” He told me.

“That doesn’t mean that you can't have been involved with it.” I said.

“What are you implying, boy?” Tony asked, narrowing his eyes at me.

“Nothing. But it’s a bit suspicious that you were seen leaving, in a hurry I might add, and then he turns up dead a few hours later. People were probably asking questions.” I said. I was starting to think that this might not have been a good idea. If he did kill Phil, there’s nothing to stop him killing me too.

“You should watch your mouth. It might get you into trouble.” He said, pointing a finger at me.

“But you’re not denying it.” I said. “Are you admitting to killing him?” I asked.

“Of course not. That’s absurd!” He said. “I’ll be leaving now. I’ll see myself out.” He said, rushing down the stairs and out the door.

“Well that was something.” I heard from behind me. I turned to see Chris standing there.

“What?” I asked, slightly confused.

“That was one hell of an interrogation. You should be a cop.” He told me.

“Shut up.” I said, laughing slightly. “But he basically admitted it, right?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that. But he’s definitely lying about something.” Chris said.

“Yeah, I just have to find out what.” I said.