Voices From Beyond (A Ghost Finders Novel) Read Free Page B

Someone’s put it on stand-by.”
    “And it isn’t transmitting to anywhere else?”
    “No. It’s set to record.”
    They all looked up sharply as they heard quiet but definite sounds from someone’s moving about, upstairs. The slow, furtive footsteps of someone hoping not to be noticed. JC’s head moved slowly as he followed the footsteps from one side of the ceiling to the other. The sounds stopped, abruptly. JC hurried out of the lounge, with Happy and Melody right behind him.
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    Back in the hallway, it was still and quiet again. JC led the way up the stairs. He made no sound at all as he ascended the carpeted steps; and neither did Happy and Melody. Learning to walk unseen and undetected was one of the first things you learned when working cases like this. Sneaking up on ghosts took special skill. They reached the landing at the top of the stairs, and JC gestured for the others to split up, so they could each take one of the three doors leading off the hall. The silence was so complete now, so heavy, it had an almost solid presence. Melody moved in close beside JC, so she could murmur in his ear.
    “How many people are there supposed to be in this house?”
    “Beats me,” said JC, quietly. “No case file, remember? But we haven’t found Professor Volke yet. Or his body . . .”
    Happy pointed an only slightly unsteady finger at the door nearest him, and JC and Melody padded over to stand beside him.
    “Someone’s in there,” said Happy.
    “Can’t you tell who it is?” said JC.
    Happy sniffed. “The atmosphere in this house is really messed up. There’s so much information present, the aether is saturated. It’s like trying to see through thick fog.”
    JC looked at Melody. “He makes this shit up, doesn’t he?”
    “Probably,” said Melody.
    “All right,” said JC. “Plan B it is. Brute force and ignorance; everything forward and trust in the Lord.”
    “After you,” said Melody.
    “Why would the professor be hiding from us?” said Happy.
    “Let’s ask him,” said JC.
    He stepped smartly forward and kicked the door in. It slammed back against the inner wall, making a hell of a racket. JC launched himself into the room, with Happy and Melody reasonably close behind him. The bedroom was empty except for the usual bed, fittings and furnishings, and one very large wall closet. Happy did the pointing thing again, and JC walked right up to the closed closet door. He coughed loudly, then knocked on the door, very politely.
    “Hello, Professor Volke! We know you’re in there; please come out and talk to us. Or I will be forced to rescue you from this closet, with extreme violence and no concern at all for your personal dignity.”
    There was a pause, and the door opened a crack. A wide eye peered out, studying JC with open trepidation. JC gave the eye his most charming smile.
    “Please come out, Professor. There’s a good chap. Nothing at all to worry about, now. The cavalry has arrived.”
    The door opened, and Professor Volke stepped slowly out. He stood half crouching before JC, twitching and trembling, as though expecting to be attacked at any moment. He looked quickly at Happy and Melody and must have seen something in the way they were looking at him because he straightened up and tried to pull what remained of his dignity about him. He looked to be in his late forties, fashionably dressed in a sloppy way. His greying hair was ragged and tousled, in contrast to his neatly trimmed goatee beard. His face was unhealthily pale, and his eyes were worryingly wide and unblinking. His hands shook. Something had thrown a hell of a scare into him. He looked like he was ready to dive right back into the wall closet at the slightest provocation—or even if anyone spoke harshly to him. JC kept the charming smile going.
    “Hello, Professor Volke,” he said carefully. “You’re perfectly safe now. We’re here! We are Ghost Finders, from the Carnacki