The Fix Is In (Torus Intercession 4)

Following Benji’s path, when I hit the front gate, the dogs all came out, one after the other, onto the front porch as a man stood there holding open a screen door. They didn’t leave the porch; it was raining after all and they weren’t stupid. I was impressed that they weren’t barking.

“May I help you?” the man called out to me.

I stopped walking and stood there with rain streaming off the sides of the umbrella I was very proud of myself for having the foresight to stop and buy. It was one of those special wind ones with the flap so it wouldn’t turn inside out if I were standing in a monsoon. “I’m with Mr. Grace,” I informed him.

He grimaced. “Come on in.”

Reaching the porch, I put the umbrella down, leaving it open, and greeted the dogs as the man offered me a towel to wipe down my boots and then stand on before I followed him inside.

It wasn’t what I expected having observed the man and the dogs. There was lots of pink-and-white wallpaper, those creepy dolls with the glass eyes, and what looked like random clutter. I noted a large number of plates on the walls, like the stuff that came from the Franklin Mint, Hummels, and more than a few rabbit and kitten figurines. I was reminded of Dolores Umbridge’s office from the fifth Harry Potter movie.

The man saw me glancing around and shrugged. “It’s my mother’s house.”

I nodded.

He offered me his hand. “I’m Thad Kramer. My mother, Janice, she’s the one who called about the haunting.”

Taking his hand, I tried not to look pained. “I’m Shaw James, nice to meet you.”

When he released my hand, he squinted at me. “You don’t live here in Rune, do you, Mr. James? I don’t recall seeing you before.”

“No, I’m just in town helping Benji.”

“So… you’re not a ghost hunter?” He asked hesitantly.

“I am not, no,” I said with more conviction than was probably necessary.

His entire demeanor changed then. He smiled and led me into the other room.

“Shaw,” Benji gasped, clearly surprised. “What are you doing here?”

I smiled at Mrs. Kramer before scowling at him. “I’m here to help you, as you know, and so I need to remain with you during the course of your day.”

“You’re not serious,” he said flatly. “That’s entirely unnecessary.”

I needed to define the word “bodyguard” for him. “I am serious and it’s not unnecessary,” I stressed before glancing at Mrs. Kramer. “I’m sorry to interrupt your consultation, ma’am. Benji and I ran into a bit of confusion this morning.”

She smiled at me. “That’s fine, dear, not to worry.”

Walking over to the two of them, I leaned in to offer my hand to Mrs. Kramer. “I’m Shaw James, it’s a pleasure.”

“Aren’t you darling,” she said with a sigh.

Mothers always liked me.

Taking a seat beside Benji, I asked what the two of them had been talking about.

“Knocking,” she breathed out, her eyes going wide. “There’s a ghost trying to communicate with me.”

I nodded and turned to Benji, who was looking at Mrs. Kramer with concern. “First off, do you feel as though you’re in any danger?” He asked her.

“Oh no. The encounters are startling, and sometimes very scary, but not necessarily threatening. I think we’re having a communication problem, which is why I called.”

“Good,” Benji soothed her. “Communication I can help with today. If it was something else, then I’d need to do some research on your house before I offered suggestions.”

God help me, I did not roll my eyes, but I did feel the left one twitching. I was hungry too, which wasn’t helping anything.

They got up then to walk around the house to the different places where Mrs. Kramer had heard the noises. I walked around the living room and realized my nose was cold.

“What’s the temperature set to in here?” I asked Thad.

He shivered. “It’s not. She has radiators. I’ve offered to convert the house over to central heat and air a million times, but you know how mothers are.”

“I do,” I said, chuckling. “They don’t wanna be bothers.”

“Yes,” he agreed.

Checking the closest radiator, I found it icy on top and too hot to touch on the bottom. “Mr. Kramer,” I said, clearing my throat, “I think I might have already figured out the knocking problem.”

He crouched down beside me, and I explained that air had collected in the radiator. “Basically, because the air is trapped, it’s stopping the hot water from circulating and heating it up. You need to bleed this to let the air out so the radiator can do its job.”

“Is that why some of the rooms are warm and some of them are like refrigerators?”

“Pretty much.”

“And that would cause the knocking?”

“It would cause all kinds of noises, like rattling and even a gurgling sound.”

“Really?” He sounded unsure.

“You heard the weird noises too, didn’t you?”