"UPSTATE NEWYORK NOVEMBER27" " We should have taken the Honda." " Where would we have put the luggage?" "You're very strong." "This is the last holiday I'm ever going on with you." "Where did you get all those muscles?" "More!" "Don't quit now." " How much further?" " A couple of million miles." " What?" " A couple of million miles." "No, up here we'll stop." " Mexico, next time." " Hawaii is better." "Hold it." "That's good." " Now what?" " I'll try to get us some help." "Come on, let's have a snowball fight." "No!" "Help me, Daddy." "Do you have the number for emergency road service?" "THE CHANGELING" "If you want a hand with anything, just give me a shout, Mr. Russell." "Mr. Russell?" "Daddy." "Catch." "Mr. Russell ..." "You know that this piece is going to Seattle, too." " Yes, sir." " Good." "SEATTLE" " MARCH 4TH" "At first, I was in shock." "I just functioned automatically." "I didn't feel anything." "Then one day it hit me:" "Joanna and Kathy are gone." "I kept walking around the apartment." "I guess I was half crazy." "That was four months ago." "I've got to start making demands on myself." "Your first class is next Monday." "I've set up a faculty meeting." " Is eleven okay for you?" " Fine, thanks for everything." "We're all excited about you being here." "A well-known alumnus and distinguished composer." "We're glad you came." "Okay, kids, keep it down." "Go and get yourselves some cookies." "You don't need to stay in that hotel." "There's plenty of room for you here." "I'm going to find a house to rent." "I've got some things coming out." "I need a place I can pound away at the piano." "A place I can work." "My friend works for the Historical Preservation Society." "They have old houses for rent." "We'll see what she can come up with." " Mr. Russell?" " Yes." "I'm Claire Norman." "Hop in and we'll drive up." " When was the house last occupied?" " About 12 years ago." "It's been with the Historical Society for the past 12 years." "There we go." "There were plans to turn it into a museum." "But I guess the house was meant to be lived in." " Why hasn't it been lived in?" " I joined the society last year." "I don't think they've tried very hard with this place." "Of course it does need a lot of work." "There are some pieces here that are just stored." "You'd have your pick of them." "Whatever you like." "What does it take to maintain a house of this size?" "We have a maintenance man." "Mr. Tuttle." "And ...this is the music room." "This is really why I thought of you and this house." "The piano was left here when the society took over." "It must be in very bad shape." "What are the terms?" " Sorry to disturb your composing." " This has already been composed." "There's a man at the front with a water-storage tank." " Manage to do any writing?" " I'm still on the second movement." "The lectures may give you some ideas." "It's my understanding   that there are 23 students registered   for this series of lectures on advanced musical form." "It's not raining outside ..." "And unless there's afire in some other part of the building,   there are an awful lot of people here with nothing better to do." "However, we'll know more after the second lecture." "I'm sure there are many of you who may recognize this." " It sounds better with an orchestra." " You made it sound fine in class." "John's secret is that he's a natural ham." " lf you can't find your way back ..." " I'll send out a search party." " Hi, I'd like you to meet my mother." " How do you do, Mrs. Norman?" "This is John Russell." "The Chessman House." "I'm very pleased to meet you." "How are you liking the place?" " Fine." " It's so large." "May I have your attention please?" "I'd like to introduce Senator Carmichael." "He's going to make another speech." "A lifelong Republican commenting on a Democrat." "You know how I hate making speeches." "But on special occasions   like raising money for our Symphony Orchestra ..." "Weren't they fantastic tonight?" " I'm going to get a drink." " I think I'll join you." "I'll be right back." "Thank you." "He's on our Board of Directors at the Historical Preservation Society." "He's our number one philanthropist." " You're getting settled in then?" " Yes." "Some pieces are still at the society." "I'll see if I can dig them up for you." "I'm glad you took the house." "Mr. Tuttle?" " Yes, Mr. Russell." " You frightened me." " Is anyone else here?" " No, sir." "Just me." "That's lovely, the music." " It has the quality of a lullaby." " It is." "Here we are, as promised." "These are some assorted prints that used to hang in the house." "This is an old, restored photograph taken from the back of the house." "I tried to call, but information isn't giving your number out." "That's a beautiful piece." "Did you refinish it?" "I didn't, no." "That was Kathy's, my daughter's." "I'd better be off." "I hope you like the prints." " Are you going riding?" " Yes." "Do you ride?" "John, what's the matter?" "I was thinking about my daughter Kathy." "How much she loved horses." " An airlock, somewhere." " It was too loud, too rhythmic." "Well, it's starting at least." "It's happened two mornings in a row, precisely at 6 o'clock." "It goes on for about half a minute and then stops dead." "A furnace is like anything else." "It's got habits." "It's an old house." "It makes noises." "Very good." "We're not together on the off-beats." "Don, you're retarding too much, otherwise it was splendid." "Good night." "HISTORICAL SOCIETY" "Has anything like this happened before?" "If so, what was done about it?" "Since I've been with the society, the house has been empty." "You're working very hard." "You've been through emotional strain." "I'm hallucinating." "Is that what you're going to say?" "There's a call for you." "Your mother." "Should I tell her you're busy?" "Excuse me, John." "There's some question about your lease, Mr. Russell." "That house shouldn't have been rented." "Miss Norman rushed the papers through." " She did not use proper channels." " Why should anyone object?" "That house is not fit to live in." "No one has been able to live in it." " It doesn't want people." " Then there has been trouble before." "C.S.B.JANUARY 1909" "Claire, listen." "It's note for note." "Same tempo and even the same key." " What do you think?" " I don't know." "It's a startling coincidence." "But that must be a popular melody, or it wouldn't be on the music box." "I agree, but I never heard it before I played it that day you came over." "No, there's something!" "It's happened before here." "I'm not the first." "I went over the files very carefully, all the way back to 1920." " Nothing out of the ordinary." " Miss Huxley ..." "Minnie's a highly eccentric old woman, but she'd never ..." "She said the house didn't want people." "She's mistaken." "Whatever it is is trying desperately to communicate." "The banging, the water taps, the broken window panes." "Everything that's happened was designed to get me into the attic." "I want to see it." "Look at that book on the desk." "C.S.B. January 4th, 1909." "It's a little child's writing." "1909.Who could have lived here then?" "I found the music box on the mantel." "Look at this wheelchair." "My God!" "It's so small." "What was this room?" "Former residents, William Saracino and family,   bought the place in 1965, sold it in 1967." "Purchased for the society in 1967, by the Carmichael Foundation." " That's the senator?" " Yes." " Where is the file?" " No previous occupants listed." "There's nothing here before 1920." "Minnie, we're looking for the Chessman House file pre-1920." " What do you want to know?" " Who lived there in 1909?" " A Dr. Barnard." " Did he have any children?" "A son and a daughter." "There was some kind of family tragedy." "He sold the house in 1909." "1909." "I'll set it up for you." "It's all ready to go." "The scanner is on the right." "Let's have a look here." "February 9th." "These are want ads." "Financial page." "Real estate." "More want ads." "Wait." ""Cora Barnard, seven-year-old daughter of Dr. Walter Barnard,   was seriously injured when she ran in front of a passing coal cart."" ""She was taken to hospital where her condition remains grave."" "So forth and so on ..." "Cora Bernard ..." "C.S.B." "There." ""Cora Steward Barnard   succumbed to injuries sustained in a February 15th accident."" ""She is mourned by her parents and will be interred in a family plot."" "There's the doctor and his wife." "There's the brother, Lloyd." "This little girl, Cora, was killed in the street." "It was an accident, almost the same as Kathy." "What is in that house?" "What is it doing?" "Why is it trying to reach me?" "Is it because of my daughter?" "I can't go through all this again." "John, you must get out of that house." "I believe everything you're saying." "The noises, the lights, the teleportation of objects." " It's all fascinating stuff." " But what do I do now?" "I'll tell you, off the record ..." "We have many mediums and spiritualists coming here and we test them." "99 percent are utter frauds." "But the one percent ... astonishing." "A medium." "Mr. Russell, how do you do?" "My wife, Leah." "Go right in, please." "Could we have the lights off, please?" " May I record what happens?" " Yes, of course." "Mr. Russell, would you sit there?" "And I'll sit here." "Thank you." "You've suffered, John Russell." "You've lost a wife and child." "The presence in this house is reaching out to you through that loss." "The presence is very strong here." "It is a child's presence." "A child who is not at peace  who cannot rest." "The presence is with us." "We sense that you are with us." "Will you talk with us?" "Will you communicate with us?" "Will you come through to us?" "Will you speak to us?" "We are here to help you." "What is your name?" "Will you speak to us?" "Yes." "What is your name?" "Are you the child, Cora?" "Are you the child killed by the coal cart?" "No." "What is your name?" "Joseph." "Did you die in this house, Joseph?" "How did you die?" "Is there someone here you wish to communicate with?" "John." "Help." "Help, John." "Help." "Mr. Russell, will you sit over here?" "Will you speak to John?" "Will you tell us why you are not at rest?" "Speak to John." "John is with us." "What do you want of John?" "Why do you feel no peace?" "Why do you remain in this house?" "What is in this house?" "Speak to John." "John is with us." "How did you die?" "Did you die in this house?" "Why do you remain in this house, Joseph?" "Joseph, did you die in this house?" "We are here to help you." "What is your name?" "... killed by the coal cart?" "No." "No." "Are you the child killed by the coal cart?" "No." "No." "Are you the child killed by the coal cart?" "No." "No." "We are here to help you." "What is your name?" "Joseph." " What is your name?" "Joseph." " What is your name?" "Joseph." "Joseph." "Joseph." "Did you die in this house?" "House." "My room." "Can't walk." " Tell us why you are not at rest." " My father." "Did you die in this house?" "My room." "How did you die?" "How did you die?" "Father." "Farewell." "Sacred Heart." "My medal." "Father, don't." "My body... ranch... the well." "My name..." "Joseph Carmichael." "Claire ..." "Yeah." "I'm sorry to ..." "Can you come?" " Tell us why you are not at rest." " My father." "Did you die in this house?" "My room." "How did you die?" "Father, don't." "My name is Joseph Carmichael." "I shouldn't have called you." "I just needed someone." "I wrote some words on the paper." "I wrote Sacred Heart." "There used to be a county orphanage named Sacred Heart." "It was closed down years ago." " An orphanage?" " Yes." "That child, Joseph Carmichael ..." "He was murdered in this house, in the attic." "And buried ... and then an orphan ..." "Stop it, John!" "Move away from this place." "Miss Huxley is on the phone, Senator." "She says it's important." "All right, I'll take it." " Minnie, how are you?" " Fine." " They've been through the files." " Let me have that name again." "John Russell." "I'm very glad to be of help." "Goodbye." "The senator's campaign from 1960." "I got it from the main library." "Have you found something?" "A retrospective, drawn up when the house was to be turned into a museum." "Richard Carmichael and family occupied the house 1899-1906." "Richard was the senator's father." "His mother died in childbirth." "Look at the part about his illness." ""Joe Carmichael, his son, at age three contracted atrophic arthritis."" ""It was decided to send him to the Nordbach Sanatorium in Switzerland."" ""He and his father embarked for Europe in 1906."" ""He did not set foot upon American soil until the cessation of WW I."" "You see how it might have been done." "Richard's son, a sick child." "He was murdered by his father and buried secretly." "He was substituted by a six-year-old orphan and shipped overseas." "With the father attending, it all worked for them, even the war." "He came back here in 1918, when he was 18 years old." "Who was going to know he wasn't the crippled son?" "He was cured." "Do you think he knows about the murder and about the replacement?" " I don't know." " How could a father do such a thing?" "Richard's wife was Emily Spencer, daughter of H.T. Spencer." "He founded the Spencer-Carmichael empire." "He died in 1905." "He was a zillionaire." "His will might be very interesting." "I'll also try to find out if there was a Spencer-Carmichael ranch." "A ranch with a well." "This is the 1908 atlas of Seattle showing the Carmichael ranch." "What is that little mark right there?" "According to the legend, it was the location of a well." "In the 1914 atlas, which is opened to the same area,   the property is very much the same, as is the location of the well." "In the 1928 atlas, there's a change, with subdivision of the property." "The well symbol has disappeared, and a house has been built here." "MRS. E. GREY 136 27TH STREET, SEATTLE,WASH." "The ranch is listed in the will." "It's part of five-year-old Joseph's inheritance." "He got everything." " What about the father?" " Bypassed." "Except as guardian and trustee of the estate." "The old man's daughter was dead, and he wasn't too fond of his son-in-law." "Yes, but wait ..." "Richard doesn't get any money." "But he still controls his son and his son is worth a fortune   unless for some reason the boy dies before attaining the age of21." "Then the estate goes to charity." "That would have shut Richard out." "And there he was with a son who was weak, sickly, bedridden ..." "He must have decided not to take a chance on the boy." " What are you going to tell her?" " About the well and the body." " And the medal with the name on it?" " No, and nothing about Carmichael." " She'll think you're crazy." " You'll tell her I'm not." "Good evening, Mrs. Grey." "I'm John Russell." "This is Miss Norman." "I wouldn't have listened to your story for two minutes." "I wouldn't have let you in here, but for something you said on the phone." "You said this seance affair happened three nights ago." "Three nights ago, on Monday night, " " Linda, my daughter, woke up screaming just after midnight." "She'd had a nightmare." "I went in to her." "She was hysterical." "I'd never seen her like that before." "She's had nightmares, but not ..." "She said she'd seen a boy, very small, very thin   almost gnome-like, and he was trying to come up through the floor." "And he kept staring at her." "Here, in the middle." "She hasn't been in the room since." "She sleeps with me." "What we want ..." "What you want is to tear this room apart." "I have your phone number." "I'll have to think about it." "They're still digging, but they've found the well." "Okay." " Find anything?" " Not yet." "This is Tony, Mrs. Grey's son." "Miss Norman." "Thanks." "Get me the flashlight, will you?" "I think I've found something." "What is it?" " It's a hand." " What?" " It's a hand." " I'll call the police." " Nothing more?" " It doesn't look like it." " Might there be something more?" " No." "The coroner said the bones were old." "Do you know who that child was?" " No, not really." " What does "not really" mean?" "No." "I want statements from everybody." "Do you have somewhere else to stay?" "Yes, it's all been arranged." " I think you should have told them." " It's got to be there." " We need that medal for evidence." " You have the tape." "Tapes can be altered." "They know that." "It was obvious you were holding something back." " It's late." "Get some rest." " Fine." "Drive carefully." "What's the matter?" "St. Paul's Church." "September8th, 1900." "Joseph Patrick Carmichael." "It wasthere?" "It was there." "You have to show it to the police." "It's our only piece of solid evidence." "They didn't see me dig it up." "Why should they believe it was there?" "The police won't trouble themselves with a 70-year-old case." "Still, it's an unsolved murder." "Whatever is to be done, has to be done by me." "I've got to get to Carmichael." " He won't see you now." " He'll see me." "Senator." "Hold up, Senator." "I'm John Russell." "Senator, look." "I want to show him that." "Let go." "Look at this." "It's a baptism medal with your name on it." "It was buried with the body of a little boy." "The police know about it." " Who's that crackpot?" " I have no idea." "Never mind." "I want you to radio police headquarters." "Captain DeWitt." "Ask him to call me at Spokane, this number." "You goddamn son of a bitch." "What is it you want?" "What do you want from me?" "I've done everything I could do." "There's nothing more to do." "Mr. Russell?" "My name is Captain DeWitt." " I'd like to talk to you." " All right." " Quite a house." " Yes." " You're a composer." " Yes." " You teach at the university." " That's right." " Is this where you held your seance?" " What do you want to talk about?" "You were out at Boeing airfield." "You caused quite a scene." "Screaming, yelling, acting like a lunatic." "My sergeant tells me you were up to some strange things last night, too." "You dug up some bones under a lady's house." "Some ghostly voice told you they were there." "Sergeant Durban said you told him you had no idea who those bones were." "It seems a little odd then   that you go charging about, making accusations about the Senator." "A man who has served this state for36 years." "He's not about to give in to any dirty little blackmail scheme." "What are you talking about?" "I understand you lost your wife and daughter." "Maybe it shook you up." " Maybe you need help." " I'd like you to leave now." "We can see that you get it." "You understand what I'm saying?" " Out, now." " Listen to me, Russell." "You've got something of the Senator's." "He wants it back." "It's a gold medal." "Afamily heirloom." "He thinks you've got it." "I don't know what you're talking about." "I'm sorry to barge in on you, but I am so damn mad ..." "Capt. DeWitt is with the police." " You are Miss Norman?" " Yes." "I'll be back in an hour with a warrant and we'll tear this place apart." " What's going on?" " I'll be here." "Suit yourself." " What was that all about?" " The Senator thinks it's blackmail." "They've cancelled your lease." "They've forced me to resign." "No explanation, just get out." "I have to see the head of the Board of Directors." "I'll find out what I can." "I'll call you and let you know." "Yes?" "Yes, Claire." "I recognized the car." "I don't know how it could've happened." "The car's upside down in the road and that policeman, he's dead!" "Any messages?" "Captain DeWitt?" "What did he say?" "What?" "Oh my God!" "Who?" "Russell?" "All right." "Let me have that number." " John Russell." " The Senator is expecting you." " Still busy?" " Yes." " Where are you going?" " I'll be back in a while." " What the hell do you want?" " You must have some idea." " They did let me through the door." " I'm a busy man." "Make it fast." "The house on Chessman Park." "Your family lived there until 1906." "It's had a history of strange happenings." "There's something in that house, a manifestation." "This afternoon, Capt. DeWitt came to see me, presumably on your behalf." "He must have reported to you." "The disturbances, the seance, the bones found in the well." "I tried to talk to you at the airport." "I showed you this." "DeWitt said you'd lost it." "I found it in the grave where the child was buried." "There's no logical explanation for what I'm going to say to you now." "The boy was badly crippled." "I believe he was killed in an attic room of that house." "I saw what happened." "I believe it was Richard Carmichael, your father,   who murdered the boy, his natural son, Joseph Carmichael." "A substitution from the orphanage was made, and the boy went to Europe." "He was cured, miraculously, and returned to inherit an empire." "That changeling was you." " So, that's your story?" " Whatever you want to call it." " How much?" " My God!" "How much do you want for this farce?" " This isn't blackmail." " I'm used to dealing with vermin." " Your story is so incredible ..." " It truly terrifies you." "It's the truth." "It won't be buried." "None of this belongs to you!" "Get out with your filthy lies." "It should've gone to that dead child." "You're not Joseph Carmichael." "You're the beneficiary of murder for profit." "No!" "My father was not a murderer." "Nobody in this world can say that." "My father was a great man." "He was a loving man." "For you to come in here and accuse him   of killing." "Damn you!" "I will not allow you to slander his good name." "These documents are on file in the city." "This is a tape of the seance." "There's no copy." "Take it." "I've done what I had to do." "I'm sorry." "Russell ... lf I find that you've breathed one word of this to anyone  you'll wish you'd never come into this world." " What was all that shouting about?" " Nothing." "Get out." "Leave me alone." "John?" "I tried to call ..." "John?" "Where are you?" "John, what are you doing?" "John?" "John , please, I don't want to come up there." " Claire." " John?" "I thought you were here." "I thought you were here." "I didn't know you were going out." " Wait in the car." " You're not going back in there!" "I'll be right back." "Don't worry." "Joseph, no!" "Father." "My medal!" "Father!" "My medal." "John!" "Father, no." "Help."