Lady of the Shades Read Online Free Page A

you don’t believe?’
    ‘I want to,’ I say softly. ‘More than you could imagine. But . . . ’ I check the camera. Nothing in the picture except the wall and some mist. I show it to Joe.
    ‘So?’ He frowns. ‘You said ghosts are almost impossible to photograph.’
    ‘Yes. That’s why I’m sceptical.’ I put the camera away, disappointed as I often am after a sighting, even one as spectacular as this.
    Joe is staring at me uncertainly. ‘If that’s not enough proof for you, what is?’
    I pull a face. ‘I want one of them to
tell
me it’s real. If that was truly the shade of a dead person, I want it to talk with me, answer my questions, confirm that it is
what it seems.’
    ‘That’s never happened?’ Joe asks.
    I shake my head. ‘I’ve spoken with the dead many times through mediums and Ouija boards, but how can you trust a source like that? I know most of the tricks that fakes use to fool
gullible customers. Even on the few occasions when I’ve been surprised, when I’ve not been able to explain what has happened, I haven’t found concrete, one hundred per cent
proof
.’
    ‘What about what we saw tonight?’ Joe challenges me.
    I smile bitterly. ‘It was incredible. But what does it prove? People used to think that the Northern Lights were dead spirits shimmering across the sky. Who’s to say there
isn’t a scientific explanation for what we’ve just seen?’
    Joe scratches at his beard. ‘But in your books, you claim that ghosts are real.’
    ‘And I want them to be. But I haven’t found proof yet.’
    ‘What would prove it to you, Ed?’ Joe asks.
    ‘A genuine encounter,’ I reply. ‘A ghost who’ll address me directly, tell me its name, answer questions. One with a verifiable history, who can prove it’s every bit
as real as you are.’
    ‘That’s a big ask,’ Joe notes.
    ‘Not if they’re real,’ I laugh, then smirk at Joe. ‘What do you reckon? Has that put you off ghost-hunting? Do you want to leave it here and not push on?’
    ‘Are you shitting me?’ Joe gasps. ‘That was amazing! It scared me but I loved it. Back out now? Not on your nelly.’
    ‘Not on my what?’
    He waves the question away. ‘I’ll explain later. Where next? I’m hungry for more.’
    ‘That’s enough for tonight,’ I tell him. ‘Let’s go home. It’s late.’
    Joe checks his watch and whistles. ‘We’ve missed closing time. Fancy coming back to my place for a few drinks?’
    ‘Thanks, but no. I want to write this up while it’s fresh in my mind.’
    ‘No problem. Are we returning tomorrow?’
    ‘No. This house has revealed all of its secrets. It’s time to move on. There’s a guy I’m trying to arrange a meeting with. Pierre Vallance. He’s a medium but he
doesn’t believe in ghosts.’
    ‘How can a medium not believe in ghosts?’ Joe frowns.
    ‘That’s what I want to find out,’ I say drily, then lead Joe back to the security of the safe, boring, normal world. Behind us, my six shades glide along after me, as silent,
observant and condemning as always.

 
     
     
     
    TWO
     
     
     
     
    It’s been a long time since I last visited London. The city has changed in many ways, become more American with its new high-rises and franchised chains of stores and cafés.
It’s still a different world to mine, with its old grey buildings and its polite but oddly stiff people, but it’s not as out of sync with the States as it used to be. There was a time
when I felt completely alien here. Now it’s almost like visiting any city Stateside. Globalization has a lot to answer for.
    Having said that, you can’t find a chippy like Super Fish on Waterloo Road anywhere in the States. Or a van parked down a side street that serves jellied eels, like Tubby Isaacs in
Aldgate. And I’ve never seen anything like the Hunterian Museum, where you can find the bones of an Irish giant, pickled penises, old surgical instruments that look more like tools of
torture, and a whole lot