Burial

Burial by Graham Masterton Read Free Book Online

Book: Burial by Graham Masterton Read Free Book Online
Authors: Graham Masterton
Michael Greenberg remarked. ‘It happened the same day that —’ he nodded towards the dining room.
    I put the postcard back on the table. ‘All right, then, I’d better see the epicentre.’ I liked the word ‘epicentre,’ it always sounded spiritually professional. I liked ‘paranormal’ too; and ‘metempsychosis’.
    Michael Greenberg said, ‘Harry — before you go in there —’
    I raised my hand reassuringly. ‘Mr Greenberg — Michael — I’m pretty experienced when it comes down to psychic phenomena. I’ve seen things you wouldn’t even want to have nightmares about.’
    â€˜Well,’ said Michael Greenberg. He looked dubious. ‘It’s not just a smell in there, believe me.’
    â€˜You had the police here, what did they say?’
    â€˜They didn’t want to know. They said that there was no crime involved, and no public disturbance, so the whole thing was way outside of their field of expertise.’
    â€˜And what do the shrinks think?’
    Michael Greenberg shrugged. ‘I don’t know. They use all this technical-type language, psycho-this, maladjusted-that. Frankly, I don’t think they know what the hell
they’re
talking about, either.’
    I perched myself on the back of his sofa, as if I owned the place. You have to make your clients think that you’re completely self-confident. I mean, we’re talking about the occult here — dead relatives who whisper in your ear, mischievous gremlins who tear fistfuls of fur out of family cats. You have to give the impression that
nothing
surprises you.
    â€˜You don’t think the psychiatrists fully understand Naomi’s trauma?’
    â€˜No way! They’re blaming her! She’s the patient, she’s the victim, yet they’re blaming
her
! They don’t seem to understand jack shit.’
    â€˜Well, maybe they do and maybe they don’t. But you have to understand, Michael, that if somebody’s badly upset — especially a woman, for some reason — their brainwaves can actually cause physical disturbances. Minor accidents, cuts, bumps, even fires. A woman in Baltimore got angry with her husband one night two years ago and broke every goddamned window within a radius of two miles. Now that’s a proven fact: you can read it in the records. She broke every goddamned window within a radius of two miles, and she didn’t even leave her apartment. You saw
Carrie
that wasn’t total bullshit, by any means. In the trade we call it psychokinesis — the movement or displacement or destruction of physical objects by nothing more than mental energy.’
    Michael Greenberg breathed deeply, and nodded, and said, ‘That was one of the words the shrinks used, psychokinesis,’ as if I had just blasphemed.
    I grasped his shoulder and gave him my best Professional Psychic’s smile. ‘I’m going to promise you something, Michael, even before I see what’s wrong.
This disturbance can be cured
. There isn’t a single psychic disturbance that isn’t susceptibleto good psychic management. That means discipline, calm and rational procedure. It’s just like running a business. If something freaky happens in a business, if you experience a sudden and unexpected downturn in sales — well, there’s always a reason for it. And there’s always a way to handle it. We can do the same here — I guarantee it — I
guarantee
it — no matter what the hell is wrong. You’re haunted? I can have you de-haunted. You keep hearing voices? I can shut the bastards up.’
    Michael glanced at Karen, as if he were questioning my competence, but Karen turned away.
    â€˜Karen told me that you were the best,’ he remarked.
    â€˜In this business, it isn’t easy to judge. We’re not talking automobile maintenance here.’
    Karen said, ‘Harry —

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