Haunted: A Lockwood & Co Story

Chapter Four: Overworked

Bed & Breakfast - and Murder!

Horrific Secrets of Whitechapel Guesthouse Bodies Found in Pit Beneath Garden Shed

Authorities in East London acted yesterday to seal off Lavender Lodge, a guesthouse in Cannon Lane, Whitechapel, after the discovery of human remains on the property. The owners, Mr Herbert Evans (72) and his wife, Nora (70), have been arrested and charged with murder and robbery, and with failure to disclose a dangerous haunting. A powerful Visitor, located in the attic of the house, has been destroyed.

It is believed that over the last ten years many lodgers may have died of ghost-touch while staying at the Lodge. Mr and Mrs Evans then disposed of the corpses in a fruit cellar hidden in the back garden. Police have recovered a large number of watches, jewellery and other personal effects that were taken from the victims. The decisive investigation was carried out by the Lockwood & Co. agency, led by Mr Anthony Lockwood. "Records show that a previous owner of Lavender Lodge vanished in mysterious circumstances more than thirty years ago," he says. "We think that the mummified body in the attic belonged to him. It was his angry spirit that stalked the house, killing guests as they slept. Mr and Mrs Evans took advantage of this for their own personal gain."

After subduing the ghost, the agents were forced to break a window and climb down a drainpipe to escape the Lodge, before finally confronting the geriatric duo in their kitchen. "Old Evans proved quite handy with a carving knife," Mr Lockwood says, "and his wife came at us with a skewer. So we knocked them out on the head with a broom. It was a ticklish moment, but we're happy to have survived unscathed."

"And that's it." Lockwood said disgustedly. He lowered the newspaper and sat back in his armchair. "That's all The Times gives us for our trouble. There's more about the scuffle in the kitchen than there is about the Changer. Doesn't exactly focus on the important stuff, does it?"

"It's the 'unscathed' bit that I object to," George said. "That old cow gave me a right whack. See this horrible red blob?"

Charlotte glanced over at him. "I thought your nose always looked like that."

"No. Here, on my forehead. This bruise."

Lockwood gave an unsympathetic grunt. "Yes, dreadful. What really bothers me is that we only made page seven. No one's going to notice that. The massive Chelsea outbreak is dominating the news again. All our stuff's getting lost."

It was late morning, two days after the Lavender Lodge affair, and they were stretched out in the living room of their home in Portland Row, trying to relax. Outside the window a gale was blowing. Portland Row seemed formed of liquid. Trees flexed; rain pattered on the panes. Inside, it was warm; the heating was on full blast.

George was slumped on the sofa beside a giant pile of crumpled ironing, jogging bottoms akimbo, reading a comic. "It is a shake they don't talk more about the actual case," he said. "The way the Changer created its own little cluster of other ghosts was fascinating. It's how the Problem spreads, some say - strong Visitors causing violent deaths, which lead to secondary hauntings. I'd have loved to study it more in detail."

That was how George always was, once the panic of a case died down. He was curious about it: he wanted to understand why and how it happened. For charlotte, it was the emotional impact of each adventure that she couldn't quite shake off.

"I just felt sorry for all those poor ghost-touched men," Charlotte said. She was half sitting on the armchair with Lockwood, and half lying on the boy. Officially, she was sorting through some post; but unofficially she'd been have a gentle doze, having been up till three on a Lurker case the night before. "I could feel their sadness." She went on. "And even that Changer... Yes it was terrifying, but it was unhappy too. I could feel its pain. And if I'd had more time to try to connect with it properly-"