Still no reply.
Unsure of what to do next, he remained on the landing, cold and half-naked. The slightest sound made him tense up in panic. His neck cricked from turning back and forth, checking every corner of the landing.
Jesus Christ, what was that? This ain’t right. Something’s going on here. This can’t just be coincidence.
He shook his head, unable to fathom the situation. This is getting out of hand now. I can’t go on like this.
“Oh, hi, Ilene, how’ve you been? Everything all right?” Richard politely asked his elderly neighbor.
Smiling when she realized who it was at her door, she leaned in close. Her thin body was covered in a thick blue dressing gown, her white hair tied back loosely. “Hello, Richard. I haven’t seen you in a while. Have you been away somewhere on holiday?”
“No, not this year,” he replied, shaking his head. “Just been tied up with work. The usual stuff.”
“You’re a busy little man. I hope you’re spending some of your time with your lovely wife Nicola.”
Fake-smiling as the guilt resurfaced, he changed the subject. “Yes, thanks. Ilene, I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about my house.” He leaned against the stone doorway as he waited for a reply.
“Your house? Yes, no problem, Richard. Anything the matter?”
“No, nothing’s wrong—just a few things I wouldn’t mind finding out.”
“What sort of things?”
“Do you remember who lived in the house before the last man?”
Looking up as she tried to remember, she played with the collar of her dressing gown. “Let me think. Let me think. Mmmm…if I’m not mistaken there’s only been two other owners of your house—the last owner, Mr. Young, and Mr. and Mrs. Rees.” She thought for a few seconds, and then nodded. “Yes, that’s it. No one else. Just them. Nigel and me were one of the first people to live on this street back in the eighties. We bought it brand new. Then a few months later, Nancy and Steve moved into your house. Very nice couple. Always polite. Always chatty.”
“Did the last owner, Mr. Young, have a wife? I only met the man once when Nic and I had our first house-viewing. Everything else was through the estate agent.”
“No,” she replied, shaking her head. “He wasn’t the talkative type. But he did have a girlfriend. She stayed over most nights. Never knew her name though. Never even spoke to her. Hardly ever came out.”
“And what did she look like? Do you remember?”
“Well, she wasn’t a girl you’d easily forget.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, intrigued.
“Well, she was one of those—what do you call them, now? Black everything—clothes, hair, nails, everything.”
He thought for a moment, and then said, “Goths?”
“Yes, that’s right—Goths. Always playing that horrible music, too. Not my cup of tea. It’s just a lot of shouting and noise.”
Convinced that this Goth girl couldn’t be his ghost, he asked, “And what about Mr. and Mrs. Rees—do you know what happened to them?”
“Well, yes—they’re both dead.”
A sudden cold sensation washed over his body as he felt that the truth was about to surface. “And do you know what happened to them?” He braced himself.
“Well, Mr. Rees died about fifteen years ago. A heart attack if I’m not mistaken.”
“And Mrs. Rees?”
“Well, she died about four years ago, bless her soul.”
His heart almost stopped, feeling a mix of terror and excitement. Had he solved the mystery so soon? Did his so-called ghost now have a name, an identity? Captivated, he delved even deeper. “How did she die, Ilene?”
“I think it was just old age.”
He frowned in confusion. “Old age? How old was she then?”