Haunted by James Herbert Read Free Book Online

diners not functioning at all. Ash had half expected a maid or at least a housekeeper to be in attendance, but Nanny Tess herself had served the meal without even assistance from Christina. By now it was apparent to him that the Mariells were not quite as wealthy as they obviously had been in the past. Nevertheless, although he was curious about the family, the financial aspect of their lives had nothing to do with the job in hand. He sipped wine wishing it were something stronger.
    Christina giggled at something Simon had whispered to her and, at the head of the dining table, Robert Mariell rebuked them both with a stern glance. His sister raised her fingers to her mouth and cast her eyes downwards, suitably abashed, while next to her, Simon continued to smirk.
    Robert directed his attention towards Ash, who sat facing him at the opposite end of the table. ‘How did your investigations go today? Did you locate any secret draughts or leaks that could explain our little mystery?’
    Ash cut into the roast beef before him, the meat somewhat overdone for his liking. ‘That’s impossible to say,’ he answered, ‘since I don’t yet know what your little mystery is. But I found plenty of structural faults in this place that could possibly create disturbances of some kind.’
    Still grinning, Simon asked: ‘Serious enough to create a ghostly figure, Mr Ash?’
    ‘You’d be surprised how what may seem like ghostly forms can be caused by dust or smoke. Or how dripping water, channelled through a hidden conduit, can be transformed into ghostly tapping. Regular contraction of floorboards, for instance, starting from the nearest source of heat such as a fireplace or radiator, each board releasing pressure on the one next to it, can sound like spectral footsteps. With some help from our own imaginations, anything’s possible.’
    Nanny Tess, seated on his left, and who had hardly touched her food, interrupted. ‘The visions I’ve – we’ve – seen are not just creations of our minds. If you knew—’
    Ash raised a hand. ‘Tomorrow. Each of you can tell me what you’ve experienced tomorrow. I want to remain totally objective for now, no preconceived notions.’
    ‘But I still don’t see how you can know what to look for,’ Christina protested.
    ‘I’m looking for some kind of phenomenon and I gather it takes the shape of a ghost. That’s all I need to know for the moment.’
    The merest smile touched Robert’s lips. ‘Do you believe in such things, Mr Ash? Lost spirits, things that go bump in the night . . .?’
    ‘. . . Banshees,’ said Simon excitedly, ‘demons, vampires . . .?’
    ‘. . . Werewolves?’ Christina joined in.
    Simon howled like a wolf, and she laughed aloud. Even Robert smiled broadly.
    Unamused, Ash looked at Nanny Tess, who avoided his eyes. She, too, did not appear to find their antics humorous.
    He addressed himself to the older brother. ‘For a family experiencing haunting, you don’t seem unduly alarmed.’
    ‘Should we be?’ came the reply. ‘Can such manifestations physically harm us?’
    Ash shook his head. ‘Not usually. Any harm is generally caused by the witnesses to themselves when they panic.’
    ‘Then why should we be concerned? But you still haven’t answered my question: do you, yourself, believe in ghosts?’
    ‘It depends on how you define such things. Apparitions, telepathic visions, electromagnetic images. You might even call them vibrations of the atmosphere. They can exist without our comprehending their meaning or exactly what they are.’
    ‘But you wouldn’t describe them as spirits of the dead?’ asked Nanny Tess.
    All eyes were intent on the investigator. He cleared his throat, and stared back at them in turn. ‘No, not at all,’ he said. ‘Not in any of my investigations has the existence of life after death ever been proved conclusively to me. And I’ve exposed too many so-called spiritualists as frauds to give conversations with the dead much