CCeCh. Chester Airport did indeed have a file, a fairly thick one. She grabbed it and took it back to her table.
The airport had opened in 1941, and stayed open for fifty years, never expanding or becoming more than just a small local airfield. There were pictures in the file, surprising ones considering the wreckage shed seen the night before. It had been a clean little building, sitting tidily in front of the runways like a kid on a church pew.
Old newspaper clippings crinkled against her fingers. Chester had had its share of accidents and fatalities, too. Twenty-three she could see, just in the last ten years it had been open. Of course, more of the small, private planes tended to crash than large commercial ones, but that still seemed excessive to Chess.
Had Bumps ghostsif there were ghostsbeen around for that long? If she operated on the Church-approved theory that ghosts caused death to feed on the living or out of jealousy, and no planes had flown into or out of Chester in almost thirty yearsthose would be some damned angry, hungry ghosts right about now. No wonder they went for Bumps planes like Downside children falling on scraps of meat.
But if someone was doing rituals on the groundsnot if, she knew they werewhat might happen there? Had someone tried to Banish Chesters ghosts on their own, using some cheap piece of copper theyd picked up from one of the many magic charlatans the Church was always trying to prosecute?
She flipped open her notebook. Ask Bump if hes made any attempts to Banish. Ask Edsel if he recognizes amulet.
The thought of touching it again made her twitch. Magic was legal, of course; how could it not be? How did you make energy, the forces inherent in the earth and the air, illegal?
But not all magic was equal. The Church decided what was and was not permissible, and Chess was pretty sure that whatever was happening at Chester would not have been approved by any Elder in his right mind. She felt guilty just having itbut then, this whole situation made her feel guilty anyway.
Sniffling occasionally, she went through the rest of the file. No complaints of hauntings since it had closed, and nothing noted for the surrounding areas, either, which didnt mean much. Debunkers were supposed to mark files on all buildings in surrounding areas when a haunting was confirmed, but they almost never did. Chess herself forgot at least half the time.
So aside from the neglected ghosts theory, nothing indicated Chester was genuinely haunted.
Of course, nothing had initially indicated the Sanfords was genuine, either, and it certainly was.
So much for initial indications.
The Mortons looked like any nice, normal semi-suburban family, struggling to make it all the way to that big cookie-cutter house with thirty feet of grass in every direction around it, but that meant nothing. In fact, it meant Chess needed to be more careful, more on her guard, because the Mortons clearly wanted that nice suburban home. It was all over their smooth, round little faces.
People who wanted things were dangerous. People who wanted things would lie and cheat and steal to get them.
She of all people should know that.
So she stretched her lips into a fake smile and dug out her notebook. When did you say the manifestations started?
Mrs. Morton paused for a minute, placing one dainty pink-tipped finger to one dainty pink-slicked lip. I believe it was about five weeks ago, wasnt it, Bill, dear? While you were at the convention. Her gaze returned to Chess. Bills an optometrist.
Thats great.
What was she supposed to say? Bill could examine every eye in the District and she wouldnt give a shit.
But Mrs. Morton was obviously very proud of the fact that her husband had looked at enough eyeballs to become an expert on them, and the last thing Chess wanted to do at this point was alienate the family.
I was in the laundry room, Mrs. Morton continued, putting a load in the dryer, when I heard Albert here start yelling. It was odd, because Albert is such a brave, quiet boy. Just like his daddy.
If Mrs. Morton would stop verbally jacking off her husband and son, this would all be done so much more quickly, but then Chess figured it was just about the only sex the woman got. Mr. Morton, silent and pale in his sweater-vest, looked like the kind of man who ate ribs with a knife and fork. Not exactly a wild beast in the bedroom, she guessed, but then what did she know?
Did you actually see the specter, Mrs. Morton? Or was it just Albert?
Well, I didnt see it that time, no. But he described it so well I felt like I did. Then later I did see it. In the bedroom. Just as I was drifting off to sleep.
And what did it look like?
It was just horrible. Like aa ghoul, or something. It made the room so cold, it felt soevil.
She gave a delicate shudder. Gray, and sort of wrinkly. Moldy, if you know what I mean. It wore just rags, might have been a dress once but I couldnt tell. I dont even know if it was a man or a woman, but it had been dead a long time. Did it escape from the City of Eternity? I thought they couldnt escape from there, but then if they really couldnt we wouldnt be haunted, right?
Some spirits never made it to the City. Were still cleaning up the old religions messes.
Chess made another note on her pad. Intensely interested in placing blame on the Church. Cannot describe entity with any degree of detail. Then, below that, she added: Vodka. Laundry soap. Toothpaste.
Mrs. Morton must have seen something in Chesss blank expression, because she added, Not that we blame the Church! Of course we dont. But thisthis is pretty scary. Poor Albert is afraid to sleep in his own bedroom, and none of us are too comfortable being here by ourselves, and, well, this is our home. And we cant even sell it, not with some unnie hanging around! Her hand flew to her mouth.
Chess ignored both the epithet and the exaggerated look of shock on Mrs. Mortons carefully painted face. When it came down to it, unnieshort for undeadwas one of the less offensive terms shed heard for them. Sure, it was worse than the Church-sanctioned ghost, spirit, specter, or entity. But as slang went it was pretty harmless.
We hope you can help us. Mr. Morton spoke up for the first time, his voice surprisingly deep and pleasant for such a slight man.
Im sure I can. Perhaps you could show me all the places where the entity has appeared? Id also like to see any locations where its presence was felt in some other way. Sounds, any symbols etched on the walls or maybe in the mist on the shower doors or mirror? They often try to communicate like that.
The Mortons stared at her, their eyes so wide they looked artificial.
Has anything appeared on any other walls or windows? Any feelings of being watched? Movement seen out of the corner of your eye? Odd smells? Touches? Anything of that nature, nows the time to show me where it happened.
She pulled her tape recorder and Spectrometer out of her bag and switched them on.
The Mortons didnt move. Chess fought the urge to look down and see if something had spilled on her blouse when she wasnt paying attention.
Is there a problem?
Im sorry, Mrs. Morton said. I justyou scared me. We havent had anything as bad as some of that. Is that going to happen?
It might. Chess watched them carefully. Sometimes she could see the little wheels spinning in their heads as they planned how to stage a more potent manifestation. Shed caught someone out that way in her second year of work, when shed finished her list and the client had blurted out Messages in frost? I never even thought of doing that!
Oh, dear. Mrs. Morton clutched at her sweater. Her blue eyes examined the room, sweeping back and forth as though something was going to materialize and jump out at her any second. Either she was a great actress, or she was genuinely frightened. Was it possible the sonAlbertwas doing it without his parents knowledge? Or that Mr. Morton was behind it? That had happened once, too, a husband faking a spooking so his wife would be too afraid to ask for the house when he left her for another woman.
She scribbled on her pad: Girlfriend Mr. M?
Im sure we can take care of it before things start going really badly, Chess said. Now, if you could please show me around the house?
All three of the Mortons came along on the tour, much to Chesss chagrin. Extra bodies crowding around her in small spaces like the Mortons cramped hallway were not what she needed in the slightly nervous state the Nips had left her in. And if little Albert accidentally-on-purpose brushed against her breast again she was going to hit him. The quality and quantity of porn she imagined shed find under his bed, when she got around to searching, would probably be staggering.
Mrs. Mortons pale fingers trailed over the picture frames in the hall. We trace our family back over three hundred years, she said. Roots are so important, dont you think?
Absolutely. She wondered what Mrs. Morton would say if Chess told her she had no idea who her parents had been, much less anyone further back.
Her tattoos didnt so much as tingle, nor did the Spectrometer beep, when they entered a small bedroom on the right, which looked as though some bizarrely pretentious child lived in it. Batman wallpaper warred with posters of mallard ducks and prints from the Tate gallery. A teddy bear slumped on the dresser next to a rack of silver cuff links. Books tilted on the scarred pine bookcase like crooked teeth, but when Chess stepped closer there were dust lines on the shelves. Someone had recentlyprobably very recentlyremoved quite a few titles.
Little Albert was into sci-fi and technology. All the big fantasy names were thereTolkien, Card, Anthony, Weisalong with Sagan, Heinlein, Sturgeon, Straubbut no how-to tech books, not even a single Idiots Guide, which was unusual because the more she looked around the room the more she noticed the bundle of cables peeking out from under the bed, the empty shelf under the flat-screen TV in the corner. Albert looked like an A/V Club boy, and A/V Club boys read books about hacking and splicing and F/X. They read about digital imagery and home theaters and how to rewire speakers so they went up to eleven.