Haunted: A Lockwood & Co Story

Chapter Four: Bet

There was only one place that George could be. Kensal Green Cemetery. Lockwood and Charlotte quickly grabbed their coats and called a night taxi. As they arrived at the cemetery, they ran towards the mausoleum. The ground was muddy and wet from the rain that was falling around them. As they reached the door they could hear Kipps' voice.

"Is Lockwood here? Or is he going to throw you under the bus for this?" He asked. Lockwood pushed the door open.

"We're right here." He said, pushing past Kipps and his crew. Charlotte followed him, intentionally stepping on Kat's foot. "Good evening Inspector."

"Anthony Lockwood and a case gone wrong." Barnes said. Lockwood and Charlotte came to stand next to George. "Nothing seems to change."
"Nice to see you here, Kipps. What's that third time in the last two weeks?" Lockwood asked, clearly trying to get him to mention Combe Carey Hall.
"Twice by my count." Kipps told him, hands behind his back.

"The mirror's gone." George then said, causing both Charlotte and Lockwood to look over at their friend. "This is big."
"It is, yeah. And it's our case." Lockwood agreed.

"Not anymore. We've already made a preliminary report." Kipps sneered. Then Bobby Vernon stepped forwards, holding a folder.

"The first question is, why an iron casket a century before the Problem? Well, Fittes database confirms it to be a still, used in breweries in the late 19th century. It also confirms that 1886 saw a violent labour dispute at Hildrew's Ale at Kilburn." Bobby stated. He then handed Barnes the folder containing their report. "There you go, sir."

"But why would they kill their own boss?" Charlotte asked. Something in their research wasn't adding up.

"The lovely Miss Campbell is right." Kipps said, stepping forward. She felt Lockwood shift next to her at Kipps' words. "We believe this well dressed man to be the owner. Murdered by his workers and buried in the first thing they could find."

"An accidentally murdered brewer?" Charlotte asked. She knew Kipps wasn't too clever, but this really didn't seem like the right answer.
"An awful way to die. It would explain why he's unquiet. The mirror's clearly a personal item, treasured enough to be his source. Unless Karim has a better answer?" Kipps told everyone as Barnes flicked through the report. Bobby snickered at Kipps' comment. Everyone turned to look at George, who had a smile on his face. Oh he definitely knew who the person was based on that look.

"Yes I do actually." He said.
"You do?" Lockwood asked. George nodded. "You sure you do?"

"I know who that man is." George told him.

"This better be good, Karim." Barnes said, causing George to step forwards.

"Bobby, why would anyone carry a cast-iron still for two miles just to have something to bury a body in? You do it because it's iron. You do it to guard against the evil spirits you're trying to bury." George said, taking a few more steps forward. "Of course, we're taling a hundred years before the problem, so that's odd. But then there's the inscription on the mirror. You saw that, right?"

"We're working on it. We've already hired an Aramaic translator." Kipps said as Lockwood crossed his arms.

"They'll be glad of the work. But this is Phoenician." George said. Charlotte felt a proud smile growing on her face. She looked up at Lockwood to see him also with a proud look on his face. "Very trendy in Victorian occultist circles. It means 'The truth lies beyond.''

"That's the slogan for the Open Arms Fellowship." Barnes informed.

"And about six other ghost cults over the decades, but this is the earliest use I've ever found. This death was no accident. We're looking a wealthy occultist way ahead of his time, executed and buried in secret with a mirror that will be worth a fortune on the black market."