The Haunted_Edit Copy 4-9-17 final final 5 Upload

household. Someone who is Wiccan would have different objects
and celebrations in the house than someone who is Jewish.”
I couldn’t help but shoot her a little grin. Way to lay on the
charm. Then, before Mrs. Johansson became even less patient with
us, I continued, “How long have you lived here?”
“About six years,” she replied.
Timmy was kicking the underside of the table rhythmically,
so my pen skewed to the side as I was writing the “y.” Note to self:
Don’t have kids.
“And how old is the house?” my partner asked.
“Maybe ten years, if that. It was very new when we bought
it.”
We reviewed that the previous owners had been an elderly
couple who had sold it when they had to move into a nursing home.
Both of them were still alive, so it was unknown if anyone had ever
passed away on the premises. No physical changes of any kind had
been made on the house since they had moved out.
“Now, what makes you suspect that there is paranormal
activity going on?” I pointedly looked at Timmy with this question.
He looked up. His blue eyes were the size of the tires on my
car. “There’s a demon in my closet.”
My heart froze mid-beat. That word had definitely not been
in the report. If I’d seen the d-word, I would have automatically said
no to even the preliminary visit. Desperate to retain a professional
attitude, I struggled for words. “I-I’m sorry? What makes you think
that?”
“I just know. At first I didn’t. He pretends to be nice. But
he’s not.” The boy was looking down at his knees.
Susannah and I exchanged glances and she reached across
the table to rest her hand on his. “Sweetie, tell us what happened.
Tell us how you know that.”
Mrs. Johansson’s face was the color of the paper under my
pen, and I imagined mine didn’t look much different. Instantly, my
nerves were on overdrive. Why would Daisy have sent me to this
case? She knew that I wanted no part of anything evil.
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