Michael Greenberg remarked. âIt happened the same day that ââ he nodded towards the dining room.
I put the postcard back on the table. âAll right, then, Iâd better see the epicentre.â I liked the word âepicentre,â it always sounded spiritually professional. I liked âparanormalâ too; and âmetempsychosisâ.
Michael Greenberg said, âHarry â before you go in there ââ
I raised my hand reassuringly. âMr Greenberg â Michael â Iâm pretty experienced when it comes down to psychic phenomena. Iâve seen things you wouldnât even want to have nightmares about.â
âWell,â said Michael Greenberg. He looked dubious. âItâs not just a smell in there, believe me.â
âYou had the police here, what did they say?â
âThey didnât 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
âAnd what do the shrinks think?â
Michael Greenberg shrugged. âI donât know. They use all this technical-type language, psycho-this, maladjusted-that. Frankly, I donât think they know what the hell
theyâre
talking about, either.â
I perched myself on the back of his sofa, as if I owned the place. You have to make your clients think that youâre completely self-confident. I mean, weâre talking about the occult here â 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.
âYou donât think the psychiatrists fully understand Naomiâs trauma?â
âNo way! Theyâre blaming her! Sheâs the patient, sheâs the victim, yet theyâre blaming
her
! They donât seem to understand jack shit.â
âWell, maybe they do and maybe they donât. But you have to understand, Michael, that if somebodyâs badly upset â especially a woman, for some reason â 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 thatâs a proven fact: you can read it in the records. She broke every goddamned window within a radius of two miles, and she didnât even leave her apartment. You saw
Carrie
that wasnât total bullshit, by any means. In the trade we call it psychokinesis â the movement or displacement or destruction of physical objects by nothing more than mental energy.â
Michael Greenberg breathed deeply, and nodded, and said, âThat was one of the words the shrinks used, psychokinesis,â as if I had just blasphemed.
I grasped his shoulder and gave him my best Professional Psychicâs smile. âIâm going to promise you something, Michael, even before I see whatâs wrong.
This disturbance can be cured
. There isnât a single psychic disturbance that isnât susceptibleto good psychic management. That means discipline, calm and rational procedure. Itâs just like running a business. If something freaky happens in a business, if you experience a sudden and unexpected downturn in sales â well, thereâs always a reason for it. And thereâs always a way to handle it. We can do the same here â I guarantee it â I
guarantee
it â no matter what the hell is wrong. Youâre haunted? I can have you de-haunted. You keep hearing voices? I can shut the bastards up.â
Michael glanced at Karen, as if he were questioning my competence, but Karen turned away.
âKaren told me that you were the best,â he remarked.
âIn this business, it isnât easy to judge. Weâre not talking automobile maintenance here.â
Karen said, âHarry â