"My name is Melinda Gordon." "I'm married." "I live in a small town, and I own an antique shop." "I might be just like you." "Except that from the time I was a little girl," "I knew that I could talk to the dead." "It's all right, honey." "Earthbound spirits, my grandmother called them." "They're stuck here because they have unfinished business with the living." "And they come to me for help." "In order to tell you my story, I have to tell you theirs." "This bracelet is so cute." "Hey, did you find anything?" "Check out this Technicolor ceramic chicken." "You can check inside, folks, too." "Lots for sale." "Just out of curiosity, why the sale?" "Some kind of lien, unpaid bills, taxes." "It's been in the courts for months." "Woman ran out on her kid, left everyone holding the bag." " Did you feel that?" " What?" "I don't know, it felt like a cold spot or something." "I'm probably getting sick or something." "That's what happens when I don't get enough sleep." "So, why aren't you sleeping?" "Well, somebody's been keeping me up at night." " Oh, really?" " Oh, please." "He has four legs and fur." "I thought that Bob the dog was always quiet." "Yeah, was, but now he just starts barking for no reason in the middle of the night." "He's just growling at nothing." "It's just the weirdest thing." "This is gorgeous." "Turn of the century." "You know, before there was plastic, they used to make the snow out of ground rice." "Wow." "The things you know." "Hey, they have modernist lamps in the other room, so I'm gonna go check it out." "I'll see you back here." "Get out." "Leave." "I'm sorry." "Is this your room?" "I knew I'd find you here." "Do you know how out-of-their-minds worried the Garnets are?" "Yeah, but this is my stuff." "That's my mother's snow globe." "Yeah, this room isn't for sale." "I'm so sorry." "The door was open, so..." "Come on, Julie." " No!" "This is my house!" " But, it isn't anymore." "Come on, Julie." " Both of these." " Thanks." "Thank you." "Hi." "I think this is yours." " Go ahead, take it." " I don't want it." "I ruin everything I touch." "Melinda!" "God, let me get this thing off you." "All right, there." " What are you looking for?" " I don't know yet." "Can you see us?" "I will get back to you." "Next week, okay?" " Mr. Wheeler?" "Hi." "I'm Melinda Gordon." " Okay." "I called you about Julie." "I was at the estate sale yesterday at the house." "Remember?" "I thought I asked you to call back next week for an appointment." "Oh, I thought you said to come by today and you'd be delighted to talk about Julie." "Ms. Gordon," "I can't give out any information about kids in the state's care." "Are you applying to be a foster parent?" "No, but in my profession, I deal with troubled people every day, and I recognize some of Julie's issues, so if I could just talk to her." " Are you a licensed therapist?" " No." " Psychiatrist?" " No, but..." " Pediatrician?" " No." "Do you have a card?" "Yes." "When Julie needs a Fabergé egg, we'll give you a call." "Thanks for your concern." "Bob." "Bob!" " Stop." " Oh, is that..." "Psycho Bob?" "Yes." "You know, I just didn't want to leave him home again, in case that's what was driving him crazy." "I know I should have asked." "I'm sorry." "No, what better place for a mad dog than the" "antique shop." "Do you see that?" "It's like he's being chased by some demon or something." " Bob, sit." " Yeah, something like that." "Okay, you know what?" "We are gonna go to the vet." "It's probably just his collar's too tight or something like that." "Hey, you know what?" "If I give you a name, could you track down an address?" "Yeah, sure." "I still have all my real estate contacts." " What's the name?" " Garnet." "Sure." "Come on, babe." "Homer, do you see a light?" "Okay, well, go." "Not that way." "We took Julie in a few months ago." "We love being foster parents." "Mike and I have fostered seven kids in the past 10 years." " Wow." " But we never had as much trouble as we did with Julie." " You okay?" " Oh, damn it." "I told him to call Master Handyman." "She did this, you know." "Julie." "See?" " She broke the door?" " What didn't she break?" "You know, we were her third foster home in two months." "So after she ran away from us, they sent her back to the youth home, we think." "I kind of feel like we failed." "No, she never trusted us." "And she was just so disruptive." "Always seemed so sad." " Kid's been through hell." " What kind of hell?" "I'm sorry, what is your interest in this again?" "Oh, I had the opportunity to meet her and I was really affected by her, and I just wanted to see if I could help somehow." "Well, it's a pretty terrible story." "She and her mother were very nomadic, moving around all the time, you know." "And she didn't really have a father." "I think he died before she was born." "Anyway, they came to Grandview about six months ago, and one day Julie's mother told her that she would pick her up at the bus stop." "And she waited and she waited," "and her mother never showed up." " So where did she go?" " Nobody knows." "She's still missing." "Julie's case worker told us that she was wanted for some petty crimes, bouncing checks, stuff like that." "I think she was just running away from her responsibilities or troubles." "Did you ever see anything out of the ordinary happening in the house?" " What do you mean?" " Unusual things, unexplainable things?" "No, not really." "So how do you know she's haunted?" "Bracelet, posters, the look on the Garnets' face when I asked if anything unexplained had ever happened." "You know, just because the ghost hasn't shown itself, it doesn't mean that it's not there." " Do you think she knows?" " I doubt it." "She probably just thinks she's a freak and that no one wants her." "Two feelings you have a passing acquaintance with." "Yeah, at least my mom was there." "She may not have understood me, but I wasn't alone in the world like her, you know?" "I just..." "I really feel for her." "For all I know, her mother could have died and maybe that's who's haunting her." "Or maybe it's her father." "Either way, I have to find some peace for her and this ghost." "Hey, there she is!" "Come on, I want you to meet Julie." "Come." "Hey, Julie!" "Don't..." "Wait!" "Wait!" "Come on." "Julie, you don't have to run away from me." "I just want to talk." " You should be running from me." " Why would you say that?" "Look, I know what you're going through." " You don't know anything about me." " I know that you're scared." "And I know that you're confused, and I know that you miss your mom and you hate her all at the same time." "And I know that we're not as different as you think." "Hurry." "You need to go now!" "Look, I know what it's like to lose a parent." "No!" "She's coming back!" "I know she is!" "Please." "Please, go away!" "Melinda!" "Come on." "What's gonna happen to her?" "She's gonna be transferred to a state facility for troubled teens." "We're just waiting for a bed to open up." "Well, thanks again." "Who's gonna understand her in a place like that?" "Look, maybe we can find out where she's going," " get special visiting..." " No, we have to help her." " We have to help her, Jim, right now." " How?" "Bring her to the one place in Grandview where someone will understand her." "You're talking about becoming foster parents?" "Mel, that's a huge commitment." "Look, I'm not talking about anything permanent, okay?" "But I have to do whatever it takes to get into that little girl's life and help her." "I know." "I know." "I know how much you want to help her." "I know how much you feel for her, and I love you for that." "I don't know how you could even add a "but" at the end of that, but I can feel it coming." "You see yourself in this girl, but you have to ask yourself who you're trying to help here." "Yourself or her?" "You can't fix two broken hearts by trying to stitch them together." "That is the sappiest thing I've ever heard." "Yeah, I don't know where I got that one." "Look, it's not just me that she needs, it's you, too." "We just have to do it long enough to get whatever's haunting her to leave." "Jim, it's the only way." "Okay, thanks." "Bye." "That was the social worker." "We are finally approved." "That's fantastic." "Oh, Melinda, I'm so happy for you." "I almost can't even believe it." "Between the office interviews, the in-home studies, the background checks." "It's easier to become a spy." "Okay, what else don't I know about you?" "And it really helps that Jim is an EMT." "You know, with the medical training, county employee." "If it weren't for him, it'd take at least two months." " So when is she coming?" " Today." "I have to go get a guest room ready and grocery shop." "Lots of frosted cereals." "This is gonna be great for you." "And for Jim." "Well, it's just temporary until they can find a more permanent family." "Hey, speaking of families, where's Bob?" "You know, I brought him to the vet." "Yesterday, I fed him and he just stood back from the bowl and started growling at the food." "It was so strange." "I just want to make sure nothing neurological is going on." "Anyway, I'm bringing in the big guns." "I saw a sign up at the bookstore that this superstar dog behaviorist is doing a book signing today, and you can bring your dog in to get, I don't know, a therapy session, I guess." "Great." "So we'll have a double date." "You bring the dogs and I'll meet you there." "Dogs?" "Okay, ladies, you're next to see Cesar Millan." "Okay." "Whoa, whoa, whoa." " Hey." " Hi, this is Bob." " Come on, whoa." " Get down." "Bob, down." " Hi." "Does he always act this way?" " Well, no." "He used to be the calmest dog around." "Has anything changed in his life lately?" "Like meeting a dog or friend or, you know, person?" "You know, I'm dating somebody new, but Bob seems to really love him." "He gets very excited every time he's around." "Bob, sit." "He's exhibiting something more territorial-like." "Like there's another dog around us here, but there's no dog in here." "Whoa, whoa!" "Excuse me, sorry." "No." "That dog has some issues." "Can I ask you a question about my dog," " since you are The Dog Whisperer?" " Sure, is he here?" "In a manner of speaking." "I need for him to go somewhere." " Let's just call it a room." " Okay." "It's not a living room, but a..." "Anyway, he doesn't want to do it." "All right." "Well, what you need to do is you need to embrace a pack-leader mentality." "Become calm and assertive and then he'll go." "He will follow you." "Okay." "Problem..." "I don't really want to go into that particular room." "Not yet, anyway." "Well, it's actually very simple." "Obviously, your dog is feeding on your energy." "He's not hearing what you're saying." "So until you change your feelings about the room," " then he will go into that room." " Bob." " Thank you." " You're welcome." "Sit." "See what I mean?" "Okay, Homer, now I am the boss of you." "All right?" "I am the pack leader." "So, I don't know, go." "Go." "Are you ready?" "You want the truth?" "Look, if we can handle one supernatural teenager, we can handle any child." "Wait, are you saying that your biological clock has..." "Oh, no." "Focus." " Hey, Julie." " Welcome." "Come on in." " Hi, Steve Wheeler." " Jim Clancy." "Let me get that." "I really appreciate you all doing this." "Oh, she has a retainer that she wears at night." "She takes it out to eat, but otherwise it stays in." "Okay." "Hey, are you hungry?" "You know what?" "We've got some snacks, and for dinner, Jim is an awesome cook." "He makes the best grilled cheese." "Or we could have burgers." "Do you like burgers?" "You know what?" "Let me get you something to drink." "It's fine." "So, I'll check back with you in a couple days." "Any questions?" "About 600, but I can't think of any right now." "Come on, you want me to show you around?" "Okay." " Do you have a piano?" " Oh, no, I'm sorry." "Do you play?" "Oh, this is the dining room." "Where we dine." "Yeah, I was taking lessons from a teacher on Kisbey Street." "She was teaching me how to play Ben Kweller songs." "Well, that's a cool piano teacher." "I love Ben Kweller." "I started listening to him when he was with Radish." " When's your birthday?" " February 14th." "A Valentine baby." "That's really cool." "You know, as a belated birthday present," "I'd really like you to start your lessons back." "Okay?" "And meanwhile," "I hope that you can accept this as a down payment on your birthday present." "Thank you." "I'm kind of tired." "Do I have a place to sleep?" "Yes." "Of course." "Jim, could you take her upstairs?" "Yeah, I'll show you." " Nice to meet you." " Thank you." "It will take a while, but you'll do fine." "You will, really." "Before I leave, can I have a moment?" "Thanks." "Great." "Look, it's probably nothing, but I just wanted to let you know that the police got a hit on Valerie Parker's bank account." "Valerie Parker?" "That's Julie's mother." "It's some bank activity." "Payments made." "We think she may be back in town." "She may try to find Julie." "Just call me if she shows." "Okay." "Okay, then." "I think I'll say goodbye." "Oh, and good luck." "Although I don't think you'll need it." " Thank you." "Good night." " Good night." "Sorry that the room looks so uncool." "We never redid it after we moved in, so..." "Here's some water in case you get thirsty." "Thanks." "Wow." "You have a big collection." "Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Saint Louis, Grandview." "Have you been to all those cities?" "It's all the places me and my mom lived." " Which one where you born in?" " Grandview." "Oh." "Must be something special about Grandview to come back." "Well, that probably needs a new light bulb." "I'll do it in the morning." " This isn't gonna work, you know." " Why not?" "You're gonna get hurt." "I want you to know something." "I know that what's happening is not your fault." "I'm not gonna give up on you." " Melinda?" " It's all right." "Melinda!" "Mel?" " Julie." " Melinda." "Please!" "Please, make it stop." "You have a haunted kid who tries to maim you, not once, but three times, and you're gonna invite said haunted kid into your house." "It seemed like the thing to do." "Look, I think that this ghost might be the father because the mother's still alive, but I haven't seen him yet." "Not once." "Have a seat." "No ghost, huh?" " Is this girl going through puberty?" " I didn't ask." "Well, if you have these things and a girl going through puberty," "I would say what you have on your hands is a classic poltergeist." " I just told you I haven't seen a ghost." " Precisely." "There is no ghost in a poltergeist, but it's confusing because the German word for poltergeist translates to "noisy ghost."" "But the Germans and their words, they've always been a little strange." "Butterfly." "Pencil." " On the subject, please." " Right." "Sorry." ""Noisy ghost" is a bit of a misnomer, okay?" "Poltergeist is a supernatural event caused by human agents." "Like being able to move things with your mind?" "Yes." "And nine times out of 10, that human agent is a girl in the throes of puberty andlor going through horrible trauma." "Well, her mom walked out on her." "I can't imagine anything more traumatic." " Yeah." " Okay, so how do I help her?" "Well, you have to get rid of the stress and the poltergeist events will stop." "Get her to talk about her mother." "Get her to open up, talk about her feelings." " No, that sounds too easy." " It is." "It is too easy." "It's too easy, Melinda." "Don't try that." "Let me complicate things." "Let me make it harder by running tests." "I'll get a Kirlian camera." " What?" "No cameras." "No you." " That's not fair, Melinda!" "You see ghosts when you open your freezer, dancing in the ice cube trays." " I need physical evidence." " Learn to deal." "Okay, but you know what?" "This is gonna get worse and worse." "It's like a tub filling up with water, and that water's gonna keep rising to the top until someone lets some of the water out of the drain, and you're gonna have a flood on your hands." "Melinda, this thing you're doing for this girl," "it's pretty great." "Professor Payne, are you getting soft on me?" "Are you kidding me?" "I am Schmetterling, hear me roar." "Okay, I think it's your turn." "Your mom's really pretty." "Why did you guys come back to Grandview?" "She wanted me to see my roots." "It must have been rough, moving around so much." "After a while, you just kind of get used to it." "You know, when I was a little bit younger than you, my dad would leave us, sometimes for months." ""Business," my mom would say." "And then one day, he just never came back." "And I would ask her why, you know." ""Oh, it's business," she'd say." ""He'll be back."" "Every time, no matter how much I asked, she always had an answer." "Anything to keep me hoping." "I think I always knew, you know, deep down." "Anyway, I think that you know things, too, Julie, deep down." "Yeah." "I mean, I always knew that she was avoiding something or running from someone, but she never told me who." " Who do you think it was?" " I really don't know." "But we changed names every time we moved." "Do you remember what the names were?" "Mom usually picked the name of the street we last lived on." "Just to make it easier for us to remember." "There was Greentree, Fallon, Ovington, you know." "Melinda, help me find her." "Nothing you did made her leave." "It's not you." "Yay." "Great." "Okay, curved fingers, right?" " Yes, ma'am." " Okay, don't forget." "Julie!" "I am so happy to see you." "Come here." "Hi." "It's good to see you, too." "Okay, well, come on." "Warm up." "Okay?" "And we'll pick up right where we left off." "I've got a bunch of great, new sheet music." "Badly Drawn Boy, Rufus Wainwright, Keane." "I try to stay current." "I find they stay with me longer that way, and that, as a bonus, my kids are actually less embarrassed of me." "Well, thanks for fitting us in." "So, you're Julie's foster mom?" "I mean, can I ask what happened to Valerie?" "No one knows." " Have you seen her?" " No." "I was just surprised because she was such a doting mother." "Has she ever spoken to you about her father?" "Julie's a remarkable girl." "She needs a good mother." "She deserves it." "All right, Valerie Parker." "She's got a few warrants for unpaid parking tickets, bouncing checks, but nothing major and nothing older than six months." "And nothing from the other cities she lived?" "Nope." "No school records." "No medical." "It's like she was born six months ago." "But I did get a few hits on a Valerie of a different name" " on Ovington Ave." "In '94." " That's her." "Valerie Ruttledge?" "Hell, yes, I remember her." "She lived here about 13 years ago." " That's right." " Had a daughter." "Are you gonna ask me a question, or are you just gonna keep telling me what I know?" "I'm sorry." "I just wanted to get some information on her." "I'm the foster mother of her daughter." " The hell you are." " Excuse me?" "I was very close to Valerie." "I saw her through that whole ordeal." "What ordeal?" "When the baby died." "Are you sure that you're not confusing her with another tenant?" "I remember that last day I saw her, it was Valentine's Day, and I had talked her into spending the day with me because neither of us had a valentine, but she never showed up." "Her daughter didn't die." "I was just with her this morning." "I was there when Val buried her." "I was even there when she had the operation the next month." " What operation?" " The hysterectomy." "Because of complications with the delivery." "That's what really wrecked her." "She lost her child, she lost her husband, and she could never have another kid." "You know, she put her name on every kind of adoption list." " And did she adopt?" " Lf she did, it was after she left here." "You said Valerie left town on Julie's birthday?" "Right, which may mean that Julie was born that day in another town, and Valerie went to adopt her." " Why change names in every town?" " I don't know." "I have to talk to Julie again." "I mean, she has to know more than she realizes." "Come on." "Hey." "You okay?" "Have you ever seen an aura?" "Okay, Melinda, tell me about your first time." "On Kirlian camera, Jim." "I would never ask her that with you home." "Okay, come take a look at this." "It's really just gas ionization of moisture molecules around a living organism, but it's still pretty cool, huh?" "So, the cloud that I saw, that was an aura?" "No, auras are sweet and pretty." "What you saw was not." "What you saw was an ectoplasm." "It's a form of bio-energy." "Jim, that's not a shopping cart." "It's all right." "It's a by-product of psychic phenomenon, sort of like the snot of a psychic cold virus." " Nice." " Yeah." "Whatever it is, it's probably telling us that this is escalating to very dangerous levels." "So why did it disappear the minute that we walked in?" "That's an excellent question, Melinda Gordon." "Really." "Well?" "No, I don't have an answer." "That's why it's an excellent question." " What is all this stuff?" " Oh, Jim, you're so naive." "It's adorable." "It's the candy store for the parapsychologist." "Cameras, microphones to record paranormal activity." "You have the electromagnetometer to record electromagnetic energy, and of course, there's the old, reliable neuro-feedback machine to monitor synaptic activity." "And there's the MP3 player so I can listen to Mötley Crüe." "Just because I'm a professor, doesn't mean I don't like to rock out." "How is all this gonna help?" "We can monitor the girl's brain activity with this machine, and then we can see the hot spots in her head when she has a poltergeist event going on, and then we treat her." "Look, I didn't even tell Julie about this." "What if she says no?" "If this guy can figure out what's wrong with me," "I'm ready." "You said it happens when she gets emotional, so why don't you sit in the seat, and you can have the honors." "Don't you think she's been through enough?" "It's the only way I can map out activity in her brain, if we have a poltergeist." "So let's have a poltergeist." "Okay, Julie." "When did these things start happening to you?" "About two months ago." "It started in my first foster home." "And is there a certain time that they happen?" "Like a situation?" "It happens to anyone that starts to care about me." "Hey, let's..." "You know?" "Do you know where you were really born?" "What are you talking about?" "I was born in Grandview." "There's no record of that." "No." "Why would my mom lie to me about that?" "Mel..." "'Cause she's been lying about a lot of things." "No." "My mother gave me everything I ever needed." "I don't care about anything else!" "Melinda, what's going on?" "Oh, my." "I see it." " Finally." " Wow." "Do you see it?" " See what?" " It doesn't want me to see it." "Look, who are you?" "What do you want?" "What's happening?" " Take her back." " Take her back?" "What does that mean?" "What's going on?" "Who are you talking to?" "I came to take her back." " Valerie." " What?" "Why are you talking about my mom?" "What is going on?" "She can't know." "Okay, I can't do this!" "I need to know what's going on!" "I need to know what's going on!" "It's okay." "It's all right." "How's she doing in there?" "She won't let me in her room." "Jim's still trying." "Okay, look, I might have been slightly wrong." "It looks like we have a ghost." "Slightly wrong?" "As in slightly dead or slightly pregnant?" "I thought you told me that her mother was alive." "That's what Wheeler said." "That she was cashing checks." "Maybe the payments in the account were automated." "They don't stop unless you stop them." ""Take her back."" "What does that mean?" "Take her back into the afterlife?" "Does she want to kill her?" "No, that can't be it." "She wasn't hurting her." "You know, she was just trying to keep us from getting to her." "In fact, she never hurt her." "Maybe she doesn't want Julie to have a new family." " Why?" " I don't know." " You know, she's a mom." "Can't let go." " That's creepy." ""Take her back."" " Take her back where?" " Home?" "There's nothing there for her." "There's no family, there's..." "It all makes sense." "The changing of names, constant running, no records." "February 14th isn't Julie's birthday." "It's the day she was kidnapped." "But why bring Julie back to the town where she was stolen?" "To take her back." "To her real mother." "She's here." "I loved her like she was my own." "You have to believe me." "You stole someone else's child." "She's not gonna talk to me while you guys are there." "Okay." "It was wrong, but I just couldn't undo it." "I loved her too much." "Why did you bring her back here?" "Sick." "I was real sick." "I had a blood clot in my brain." "I know I deserved it." "I had to give her back before I died." "But you died first." "It wasn't supposed to happen so soon." "An aneurysm, and I just slipped into the lake." "My body's still there." "Valerie, you have to tell her the truth." "No." "I can't." "She can't know." "She doesn't know where you are and she still has hope that you're alive." "No, I won't." "If you don't, then I will." "No!" "Jim!" "Time for the truth." "So she didn't just leave me?" " She didn't just get tired of me?" " No." "No, leaving you is the last thing she wanted to do." "Your mother was just trying to do something good for you." "That's why she brought you back here." "She just died before she could do it." "How do you know all of this?" "Julie, your mom died, but she stayed with you." "Her spirit." "She's been protecting you." "She's the reason all these weird things have been happening." "What?" "My mother's been doing all of this to me?" "No, please!" "I don't want her to hate me." "Let me tell her the rest." "Julie, your mom is here with us and there's some things that she wants you to know." "She's gonna tell me and then I'll tell you, okay?" "She's gonna think I'm a monster." "You have to tell her the truth." "I just wanted a child so badly." "I had so much love to give." "My baby died and I could never have another one." "And all I could think of was, "Why her?"" "Why does she get to have three healthy children and I get none?" "I was a good person." "I didn't do anything wrong." "And all that I cared for in this world got taken from me." "I just wanted someone to love and to take care of." "She took me?" "She's not my real mother?" "I don't deserve forgiveness, but, honey, you deserve a mother." " How could you do that?" " Look, she is so sorry." "Julie, she knows that she was wrong." "Do you know who my real mother is?" "Who is she?" "Come here." "Hi, I was here with Julie a few days ago." "Of course." "Hi." "What can I do for you?" "I know that you lost your daughter 13 years ago." "She was taken from you, is that right?" "Yes." "Why are you asking?" "Your daughter's been found." "What?" "I mean, are you sure?" "I mean, 'cause the police gave up, everyone gave up." "Everyone but me, of course." "Well, you can stop looking now." "Do you think she'll ever be able to forgive me?" "That's for her to decide." "That light, that can't be for me." "It is." "You're ready to go." "No, I'm ashamed to go." "I don't deserve that light." "Look, I don't know what's over there, but I don't think it's judgment." "What?" "That's my baby girl." "The state released Julie into Heather's custody." "She has a brother and a sister to get to know." "What?" "I don't know." "It's just..." "I think I'll miss her a little bit." "Be weird to see that room empty." "Well, maybe the room won't be empty forever." "Hey, and you know what?" "We've always got Homer." "Even though he won't come inside." "Man's dead best friend." "You know what?" "Maybe he's just here to watch over us." "A watchdog." "Yeah, if I was a burglar," "I think I would avoid the house with the invisible dog that can't bite me." "You know what?" "Do you know if we have any of those meringue cookies left?" "Are you planning a midnight refrigerator raid?"