"Janet..." "What?" "I'm not doing ANYTHING." "I'm a colleague of yours at the SPR." "So you're here to close me down?" "I'm not looking to make friends, Morris." "Don't leave me alone with it." "I won't." "How could you not mention that your daughter was called Janet?" "Janet!" "Richard would like something a little less pink, if possible." "The whole thing's overdone for his sake." "I know." "And do you know how I know?" "Because it's the same every Sunday." "Ooh!" "Help!" "Help!" "Don't make a fuss." "It's nothing!" "How?" "I'm dead, Morris." "You know that." "Don't make a fuss." "Morris!" "It's the phone!" "It's happened again!" "Hello?" "Guy." "What?" "!" "This is it, this is, er..." "This must be just after Morris left." "No, don't do that!" "This is the bit we want to see." "I didn't do anything." "Well, where's it gone?" "!" "It looks like the tape's degraded." "Well can't you regrade it or something?" "I can give it a go." "Looks horrible, don't it, Billy?" "So is your face!" "Yeah." "Is it going to be all right?" "It'll be fine." "Your grandma used to get it every time she sneezed." "This is a real, this thing." "It's as real as you or I. And it's powerful." "Lifted me off my feet and flung me across the room." "We need to get Janet away somewhere safe." "I think we need to keep her here, don't we?" "We need to find out what's going on." "You asked me to entrust Janet to your care and she nearly died." "It's not something I'm prepared to debate." "Supposed to get rid of IT, not me." "I will." "And I promise this is... just to keep you safe until then." "We're happy to help, we don't get you sleeping over often enough." "I always say, we wasn't blessed with children but we was blessed with nieces and nephews." "We're happy to have her, any of them, any time, ain't we, Sylv?" "Yeah." "I like these." "Precious, aren't they." "It's weird." "I can see the information's there," "I just can't get at it." "Well..." "I was listening to the sound... ..and then I heard this." "What?" "Can't you hear it?" "It's as clear as day." "My name." "He says my name!" "Look, old chap." "We've had such a lot of funny things in this house, it's quite possible we've become deaf to it." "Well, what does it mean if..." "Maybe it means you should lay off the wacky baccy for a bit." "I'm not sure it's such a good mix with this sort of thing." "Can I stick a picture on the wall?" "Um..." "Right, yes, here it is." "Gustave Buchmeyer was... ..able to attach himself to a poltergeist with a blood ritual." "No, that's bunk." "Not even the Catholic Church gave him any credence." "Well, I'd think it's at least worth a go." "I love you." "Uh..." "Come on." "Come on!" "It's the poltergeist, it's come with me!" "Well, don't you want to be here?" "Yeah!" "You know they're not bright, so why should... .. the door open?" "Another thing broken..." "She's 11 years old." "Trouble is..." "Can I help?" "She was like this when her dad left." "Hey." "Don't tell Sylvie." "Thanks, Maurice." "You can't poltergeist-proof a whole house." "I'll do my best." "Get the whole SPR in." "Professor Beloff himself." "Good luck with that." "Why not?" "Maurice, you seem to think that the, er," "Society for Psychical Research is made up of people like you and me." "You know, interested believers." "But, er, where are they then?" "The SPR exists to pooh-pooh this sort of stuff." "Well, they can't dismiss this." "We have evidence." "What evidence?" "We have hearsay." "We have my good name, we have some inconclusive photographs and damaged recordings." "No." "No, the next step, I think, is a medium." "Charlatans." "Says who?" "What have you done with it?" "What?" "My ten pence piece." "You have to forgive me, Maurice, but in my experience, which is not inconsiderable, they have been very, very helpful." "Haven't touched it." "Was probably the poltergeist." "Can they do that?" "Yes, they have been known to dematerialise things." "It's a bunch of crooks exploiting the vulnerable and the broken-hearted." "There are people here who come highly-recommended by colleagues in Brazil." "Can mediums talk to the poltergeist?" "Yes." "That's the point." "They're fakers." "The lot of them." "Well, if they're fakers, what harm's it going to do?" "Now, it's quite possible that some entity will come through me and might be a bit obstreperous." "But don't worry," "Alan knows how to deal with them." "Dear God, we pray that you bless this house and remove and enlighten any trouble-making entities." "There's no need to be frightened." "Nobody will get hurt." "Be a nice change." "Now!" "Can you see me?" "Go away!" "Ha-ha-ha-ha!" "The time has come to stop it." "Ha-ha-ha-ha!" "You are a child of God." "Look into this and see what you can become." "It's hurting." "It's really hurting." "Ah!" "It's a secret." "Sit in a corner, little bitch." "Touch it." "TOUCH IT." "No!" "N-no!" "No, no..." "I don't want to." "Please, please!" "Lindy..." "Lindy!" "Piss off!" "Stop!" "This is monstrous." "There you are, old man." "Who are you?" "What do you want?" "Wotsits." "Why have you come here?" "Give me back my ten pence piece!" "What's he done with my ten pence piece?" "Come here and I'll give you tenpence." "Was it more than one entity?" "Did you get a sense of who any of them were?" "One thing I have clear." "This is not something you should communicate with." "And did any of the things that came out of Mrs Crane's mouth, did they mean anything to you, the playground chants or...?" "This is a house of death." "For you." "Right." "You're not well." "He's got angina." "All right, Janet." "Thank you." "Broken-hearted." "You're grieving your daughter." "Janet." "I'm not his daughter." "Er, Janet was my daughter's name." "Was?" "Oh, Mr Grosse." "You want to make contact with her." "But this..." "This is not the place." "I felt it draw strength as we went on." "I'm sorry." "This was a mistake." "Indeed." "In this house?" "Her presence is stronger here." "She's been cheating on you." "Has your spirit guide told you that?" "What are you talking about, Maurice?" "Lindy and Alan Crane." "Please, please don't tell me you haven't seen them." "What?" "Are they mediums or...?" "Well, doubtless your friend here has filled them in on our misery." "It's a real gift, Mr Grosse." "Well, it is for him, yes." "What are you walking out with this time, eh?" "Come on, come on." "I bought this for her on her 18th birthday." "Get out of this house, please." "Get out." "What happened?" "I've been made a fool of, that's what's happened." "Oh, hello." "Sorry to disturb you." "I'm Guy Playfair, I'm working with Morris." "Mr Playfair!" "I feel I know you already." "I'm halfway through your book!" "How do you do?" "I'm Betty." "How do you do?" "Morris, old chum," "I brought your specs cos I wasn't sure you could manage without them." "I've been thinking about this knocking." "And the more I think about it, the more I think that it's, er..." "It's not just noise or mischief." "Er, but that it's trying to communicate with us and so" " oh, thank you" " I think we ought to be asking it questions." "One knock for "yes", two for "no" type thing and see where that gets us." "Well, Lindy Crane has told us we should absolutely not try and make contact." "I don't want to do anything that puts Janet in danger." "Well, Lindy was rattled." "She'd had a very frightening experience." "I don't think we should set too much stock by her forebodings." "They're your people." "You got them in." "Why do you want to fly in the face of their advice now?" "I didn't think you were taking this "house of death"" "stuff too seriously but, er," "I certainly understand if you don't want to be there." "Guy, you must promise me." "You will not try and make contact when I'm not there." "Guy..." "Oh, thank you." "Oh, lovely." "I've laid for three." "Oh, that's very kind of you, but I ought to be going." "Oh, please." "There's so much I want to ask you." "That night, 3am." "Phone rang." "Our son, Richard, telling us that she was in a coma." "We had to hurry." "And then my sister, Miriam, she's got this clock, which hasn't worked for years." "Why she keeps it only God knows." "Erm, anyway, it started working right after... ..right after Janet's accident it started working again until" "4.20." "4.20 was the time of Janet's death." "Oh, tell him about the day of the funeral." "Oh, he doesn't want to know about this." "I do." "I do." "Well, August the 7th was the funeral." "The night before we had this very strong feeling that she was trying to communicate with us." "Er, it was a drought of course." "I thought she was going to send a sign, a shower of rain." "August the 7th, another sweltering day, not a cloud in the sky." "I opened the curtains." "And on the flat roof, just below where Janet's bedroom is was soaking wet." "Soaking wet." "I can almost hear her saying, "There you go, old man."" "Marilyn, that's our other daughter, she took that in the spring." "Oh, gosh." "Maurice says it's just a flare, but... ..we don't know, do we?" "No." "No, we don't know." "I know she's here." "Around." "Somewhere." "But I don't know she's all right." "Not the night you wished for." "No, it was delightful." "You've got a wonderful woman there." "And I'm glad we've had a chance to agree our next step." "Er, Guy..." "We both want to make contact, don't we, old man?" "Is this what you're looking for?" "Where'd you get that?" "Bedroom floor." "Thanks." "Thanks." "Whoa..." "Do you think it's been on the other side?" "Is someone there?" "It's just the poltergeist, Mr Playfair." "Do you have something you want to say to us?" "What's going on?" "How about I ask you questions and you give one knock for "no", two knocks for "yes"?" "Er, how about I ask you a question?" "What happened to not making contact?" "I think we're past that point, Mrs Hodgson." "It is making contact." "We just haven't worked out how to understand what it's saying." "It's a bit like you and Billy, you know, he gets frustrated when you're not there to translate for him, and I think that's what we've got with this poltergeist." "Aren't I right, Maurice?" "Ain't that just like it?" "It's gone quiet." "One knock for "no"." "Two for "yes."" "Do you understand?" "That's not getting us very far, is it?" "Janet." "You try asking questions." "All right?" "What's your favourite colour?" "No, no, no, Janet." "It's got to be a "yes" or "no" question." "Is red your favourite colour?" "Janet, I'll tell you what to ask." "Ask if it's dead." "Are you dead?" "I don't want to do it no more." "Janet, Janet." "This is important." "Did you die in this house?" "Did you die in this house?" "Where?" "In that chair?" "Oh, Mr Grosse is sitting in the chair he died in!" "Well, he doesn't want it now." "Argh!" "Mr Grosse!" "You all right?" "It's all right." "I'm fine, fine." "Sure?" "Thank you." "Are you here for someone in particular?" "Are you here for someone in particular?" "Are you here for me?" "Are you here for me?" "I don't like it." "Ask it if there's a message for me." "Do you have a message for Mr Grosse?" "Are you playing with us?" "What, so you can knock, you can break things, so why can't you speak?" "Come on!" "Speak!" "Now you've got me!" "Janet, stop it!" "Make you wish you'd never been born!" "What's happening?" "You said you had a message for me?" "What is it?" "Fuck off." "Did you die in that chair?" "I'm not dead." "I'm right here." "What's your name?" "My name is Joe." "Argh!" "Oh!" "Green..." "Green Street, 384..." "Gotcha." "I have news!" "But better than that, I have Bunty!" "It's one of the ones you like, isn't it?" "Betty." "Hello." "Hello." "I should tell you off, Mr Grosse." "You should have left me know." "I'd have smartened up." "Oh, no." "I wouldn't have wanted you to go to any trouble." "It's hard enough keeping everything straight with children at home, let alone a poltergeist." "Is Bunty for me?" "Er, yeah." "Well, it's for all of you." "Here." "Thank you." "Thank you ever so for the cake." "It's lovely." "Oh, do you know?" "I was quite nervous because I thought, "I don't want it to be" ""another thing for the poltergeist to throw!"" "We try not to say things like that, it gives it ideas." "Yeah." "Like, this voice didn't come till Mr Grosse told it to." "Oh." "Is that so?" "Mm-mm-k-k..." "Not right now, Billy." "Do you have another son, Mrs Hodgson?" "Johnny." "He's at residential school." "Yes, well I..." "I really wanted four myself, but..." "And lost two." "Is there someone there?" "Stuck-up cow, that's who." "I had a daughter... ..named Janet." "I know." "What's the news, Maurice?" "Sour old bitch." "Would anybody like another slice of cake?" "Ooh, I would actually." "I'll make some fresh tea." "I'll put the kettle on." "Thank you for how you were with Janet and with all of them." "I wish you'd discuss it with me, it's a bit of a powder keg in there at the moment and they don't need any more surprises and neither do you." "Am I so dreadful, Maurice?" "Am I so dreadful that that's what you run away to, that frowzy woman?" "And that foul mouthed little brat, she can hardly believe what she's getting away with." "Janet spoke to me." "Our Janet." "He may be a charlatan but at least I know when I'm being hoodwinked." "Come home." "I can't." "54." "Tony Watson?" "Who wants to know?" "Right, I'm trying to track down the Tony Watson that grew up in 384 Green Street." "He did die at that house." "1961." "Brain haemorrhage." "Nobody knew till they saw the flies against the window." "That's how popular he was." "I don't think it's the same chair, mate." "Not unless someone gave it a good shampoo." "Can you think of any reason why your dad's spirit might still be there?" "I was wondering if perhaps he had a message for you or if your presence there would somehow help him move on." "Green Street?" "Never been back." "And if that's where he is now it's the last place I want to be." "About your sister." "She had it worst." "Would she be willing to help us, do you think?" "She'd do anything for anyone Jenny." "She got knocked over by a bus when she was 12." "One for one." "Driver said she just stepped out in front of him." "I couldn't blame her." "There's a family there now, an 11-year-old girl." "No chance." "I could make it worth your while." "No, mate, you couldn't." "Hello?" "Hello?" "Hello?" "Is somebody there?" "Janet?" "Yes." "My baby." "Oh, my baby." "Oh, my baby." "Janet." "Oh, don't cry, my darling." "Don't cry." "I'm here," "I'm right here." "Janet." "Where are you, where are you?" "What you did yesterday was very cruel." "You rang my home and made my wife believe that it was our daughter Janet." "Did I?" "Where's your 10 pence?" "Poltergeist took it again." "Look, Janet, I know you're unhappy that we've produced this voice." "You." "I produced this voice." "But it's a huge step forward." "We have a name now." "We do?" "I'm warning you, Janet." "Why can't you be on my side?" "We're all on your side." "There was once this woman called Maria, right?" "And she had three children by a man who'd been and gone." "But there was another man who liked her, only he wouldn't marry her cos of her children." "So, one night, she took them down to the river and she drowned all three of them." "One after the other." "So she could be with the man she loved." "He still didn't want her and she couldn't bear it." "So she drowned herself." "She wasn't allowed into heaven without her three children." "So now she walks the Earth for eternity, looking for her children." "And that's the crying you can hear at night." "Joe Watson lived and died in this house." "What else he did here..." "He was always a kind of father." "The very worst." "We need to get the very best mind of the SPR in before it's too late." "Maurice, this is a huge breakthrough but..." "It doesn't constitute proof and Beloff and co won't turn up for less." "We don't know what we're doing." "I'll go, shall I?" "No, I'll go." "What's..." "What's..." "Come on." "No, don't worry about it." "Let me, let me." "It's fine, just let me..." "Chapter Four" " Visit from the Media." "Chapter Two-The Thermometer's..." "You're writing a book?" "This is a book, you're writing a book?" "It's not a book." "It's not a book until a publisher actually publishes it." "That's why you got the Crane's in, is it?" "That's why you disregarded their advice." "You're stoking up a story for your damn book." "That's not true." "That's not true!" "That's actually just what old Joe wants, to set us against each other." "That's a very good idea, write it down." "So what if I'm writing a book?" "That's what I do." "Shhh." "That case I told you about in Brazil, the little boy who died, Braulio." "I would have done anything to change places with him." "He was 13 years old for God's sake." "If I want people to read about this it's because I want them to know it's real so they can join in the fight." "We need people to join in now." "We're failing Guy, we need the SPR." "So, if you're the president of the society, does that mean you're more important than them?" "It doesn't quite work like that." "It's normally hammer and tongs by now." "Don't apologise." "Professor Beloff and Dr Gregory as used to it, Mrs H." "It's called the observer effect." "Poltergeists are shy, it's like they want their victims to be disbelieved." "You never said that when you was a disbeliever." "Come on, Joe." "Professor Beloff and Dr Gregory are going to think you're frightened of them." "I think we know who's frightened." "I smell sex." "Couldn't smell sex when Mr Grosse's old bitch was here." "But I can see her lips moving." "She's not in control of that." "You've read the laryngologist's report." "No-one could make a noise like that for more than a few minutes without ruining their normal voice, let alone an 11-year-old girl." "Joe can go on for hours." "Joe, who was Prime Minister in 1960?" "Who was what?" "She was asking Joe." "She's just curious, that's all." "Who was Prime Minister in 1960?" "Some fucker." "Do you like football, Joe?" "Yeah." "1953 FA Cup Final." "Who won?" "What's cold, thin and stinks of shit?" "Everyone remembers the Matthews final." "You're girlfriend." "No, please wait, wait." "Just wait, please." "Janet." "Bear with me a minute." "Drink that but don't swallow it, just hold it in your mouth." "She can't breath." "Come on." "Come on, Joe." "Come on." "Blackpool, bloody Blackpool. 4-3." "I lost a tenner." "Shove that up your arse." "We should set this place up with thermographic cameras." "What do we know of the real Joe Watson?" "It's Maurice who did the legwork there." "Where's Janet?" "Janet?" "Janet?" "Janet?" "Janet?" "Janet, stop this." "Janet, where are you?" "You tosser." "Fucking wanker!" "What's your problem, old man?" "Stop it." "Please, somebody stop him!" "Stop it!" "Wear a helmet." "We just had a call from her dad." "She's at his." "She's all right." "I'll go around and fetch her back." "Please, let me, if that's OK." "Maurice Grosse." "I'm a friend of..." "What's it to you?" "You old pervert." "Old man like you in a young girls bedroom." "I should get you locked up." "Dad." "Inside." "I want to hear what he has to say." "You have every right to be cross with me." "I was just so desperate to get the experts on board that" "I went too far and I'm very sorry." "So far I've just made things worse and..." "I'm sorry, I don't know what I'm doing." "I'm very sorry." "You said you was here to help but you're not." "You're just looking for your daughter." "That's not true actually." "Joe knows." "I am looking for her, for something." "When she was your age, Janet..." "Well I was working, you see," "I wanted to get the business onto a strong footing." "I had three kids to pay for." "I left all the good stuff to Betty." "I wasn't always there for them as a dad." "He's your dad but..." "I've come to care for this Janet very much." "You feeling tight in your chest?" "Not at the moment, thank you." "Me neither." "It's funny, since the voice has come, mine's gone away." "Can I take you home?" "Your mum's been so worried about you." "Dad says I can't stay anyway." "And that's was before Joe called Doreen a slut." "Ah, there she is." "The prodigal returns." "Is she going to clock me one?" "I'm quite sure she isn't." "Bad news, old chum." "We're barred." "Seems our friends Gregory and Beloff want exclusive access and Mrs Hodgson's been minded to give it to them." "I'll have a word with her." "No, I've tried everything." "She says this is a house of death for you and she doesn't want that on her conscience." "I wish to God I'd never invited that dreadful Crane woman." "It's only important what happens to me." "She doesn't want to see you, Maurice." "It's a fresh approach she's after." "I'll tell you what, listen." "You help me cart some of this stuff back to Earls Court and I'll pour you a very good whisky." "Come on." "No, please." "No, please, let me go." "Please!" "Tell her we want her to come to the barrack for some tests." "What sort of tests?" "I thought you was fed up with Mr Grosse anyway?" "It was him that brought on the voice." "The voice isn't so bad." "At least it means the poltergeist needs me and doesn't want to destroy me." "Is that right?" "I don't need no-one." "Ah!" "Ah!" "Get it off!" "They think she's been doing it to herself." "We should tell them." "Ahhh!" "It's been a bit of fun that we got carried away with." "Janet wouldn't do that." "She's not your daughter." "I don't forgive you."