Page 28 of Want Me, Take Me, Haunt Me, Make Me

“And his house collapsed during the…process?”

“It did.”

A cool breeze picked up, ruffling Hazel’s hair. It just brought out goose bumps on Albert’s scalp.

“Do you know that Mr. Chapman’s been accused of killing at least fifteen people? And that the bodies were in his basement?”

“I know what’s on the news,” said Hazel, not sure how much of what Stephanie had told her was public. “And no, I didn’t have any idea about it at the time.”

“The dead didn’t show up to tell you about it?”

“No.”

“Why do you think that is, Ms. Lewis?”

“I haven’t spent a lot of time theorizing. I suspect most of them had moved on, and the ones that hadn’t were tethered elsewhere.”

“‘Tethered,’” repeated Albert, rolling the word around in his mouth. “What does that mean exactly? For the layperson.”

“I think most laypeople are smart enough to figure it out, but it means that any ghosts Chapman created may have lingered where he killed them, or with their loved ones, or otherwise been bound to an earthly tie that they found more important. If they were buried, they could be with their graves.” She thought of the hands pushing against the wallpaper. “Or some were present, but I didn’t make contact before the house collapsed.”

Albert raised his eyebrows, dark against his pallid skin. “You don’t know?”

“I don’t know a lot of things, Mr. Gordon. Even experts aren’t always sure about details, and in these matters there are no experts.” Hazel glanced down at her phone. “And I think your five minutes are up.”

She turned on her heel, but Albert caught her by her elbow, his hand like some boneless sea creature. “You owe everyone a better explanation—”

As Hazel spun back, temper snapping through her sense of prudence with the media, a third voice spoke up. “That seems like an awfully bad idea.”

* * *

Hazel and Albert snapped their attention to the new arrival, who was just coming down the road on the other side of Hazel’s house:a tall, slim figure with tawny hair that glinted gold in the sunlight. They too stayed on the right side of public property, walking along beside the potholed stretch of pavement with care even while they kept talking. “Sorry to interrupt, I don’t claim to be up to date on all the history here, but generally it’s not the done thing to grab a lady without permission.”

They spoke with a deep voice, an accent Hazel couldn’t precisely place, though she thought it was from somewhere in the UK, and an almost apologetic tone that was still insistent. It might have gotten Albert to drop her elbow, except that she’d already yanked it away when he’d turned to look at the newcomer.

“If you don’tmind,” said Albert, “I’m with the press.”

“I don’t mind at all,” the newcomer replied, with a smile that was daffy and charming at the same time. “You’re at liberty to be with the press if you’d like. I wouldn’t dream of stopping you.”

Hazel bit back a giggle as Albert’s indignant look deflated into confusion. “What, are you her boyfriend?” he demanded.

“I’m sure I’d be honored, but we’ve never met before. I’ve family down the road.”

As tempted as she was to watch the proceedings, Hazel decided she’d better step back into the conversation. “And as I was saying,” she told Albert, “I’ve given you as many answers as you’re getting. I’m asking you politely to leave before I call the police.”

“I’m not on your property,” he repeated, scowling.

“Oh, is that you up there?” The newcomer gestured to Albert’s car. “I’d move if I were you.”

Albert swung around to glare. “Or what?”

“Or the postman’s probably going to hit you. He’s not a bad driver, you understand, but this road is very narrow, and he goes quickly at the end of his rounds. Not a small vehicle either.”

The presence of a witness had already changed Albert’s calculations, Hazel could tell, and, annoyingly, it probably helped that most people would have assumed the third party was male. While the localpolice might have blown off a weird woman who’d just moved in, a local—even if clearly not a native son—might be a different story.

Albert huffed out a long breath through his teeth. “You’re keeping the public brainwashed and ignorant,” he told Hazel. “I hope you know that.”

“Gee,” she said. “I’d just planned to do laundry today.”