Coming through

Was Milly really dead, or was she biding her time?

Iget all sorts through here. Mostly wives trying to get in touch with husbands. More rarely, it' s husbands wanting to speak to wives, or children wanting to know if Mum or Dad' s OK. I' ve also had brothers demanding to know what their sibling did with the money and one woman was trying to contact her uncle to find out where her cousin was these days, as she' d lost his address.

That was being a bit hopeful, I must say. You can' t say the Dear Departed are exactly chatty, much less able to consult an address book.

And it' s not as if they spell things out. I just get a feeling, a flavour of the answer and then I have to dress it up in words.

I try to put it in such a way as to comfort if I can, even though, sometimes, I get more of an impression of a raspberry than anything else. A ghostly recommendation to: Go away!' if you get my drift.

Of course, I don' t let my client know the reply is a spiritual version of: `Ner ner ne ner ner' . Or, in some cases, a weary: Can' t you leave me alone now that I' m dead?'

That wouldn' t be good for my reputation, but in general, I help people get over their loss. Most of them only come once or twice, then once they' ve been reassured that all' s well, life takes over again.

So I was intrigued when Phil Parks booked his third session with me.

It wasn' t just because he was male I find it' s generally women who believe enough to want to contact someone who' s passed but you couldn' t say the two previous sessions had been productive.

Mrs Parks was definitely not the chatty type. In fact, I got no suspicion of her presence at all. To be frank,

I thought she didn' t want to speak to him. Maybe she' d had enough of him when she was alive.

With some of them, that' s definitely the sense I get, but Phil didn' t seem the sort that someone would be dying to get away from.

Are you quite sure Milly' s not there?' he asked when the time was up.

There' s nothing coming through at all, I' m afraid,' I said. I' ve tried everything.

I' m very sorry.'

He fidgeted for a moment and I couldn' t make out if he was pleased or frustrated.

No, pleased' wasn' t exactly the right word. He seemed relieved, more than anything.

I nearly said it wasn' t worth him coming again, but that would be turning away business and things were tight. He didn' t make another booking, however, and I didn' t feel I could press the point, given that I' d had no success. It would seem that I was only interested in his money.

Anyway, it was a good thing that he was moving on, but I found I was sorry I wouldn' t be seeing him again.

I just get a feeling, a flavour of the answer, and then I have to dress it up in words

I stared at the man sitting on the other side of the table. He was a new client who' d made a booking by phone.

Can I ask why you want to contact Amelia Parks?' I said.

Do you have to have a reason?' he asked, his face giving nothing away.

I glanced down at the card on which I' d written his

details.

Well, your name' s Harby not Parks.'

So?'

It' s usually close relatives who want to¼' I began.

That a rule, is it?' he interrupted.

I wasn' t exactly warming to Mr Harby.

No, but I usually have more success if there' s a connection.'

Try anyway.'

He delved into a pocket and produced a warrant card.

I' m Detective Sergeant Harby. Mrs Parks was reported missing two months ago. As you' re probably aware, the longer a person is missing, the more likely it is they' re dead.

Her husband' s told us he' s tried to contact her through you with no success, so he' s convinced she' s still alive and being held somewhere.' He sniffed. Lot of hooey, in my opinion. There' s more than one reason why folk go missing. I think she just wants out, but the husband won' t let it rest.'

So, if you think it' s hooey¼' I let my voice trail off into a question mark.

He muttered something under his breath. I rather thought he' d called his superior officer something uncomplimentary.

Just get on with it, Ms Vernon. The sooner this charade' s over, the sooner I can get back to some real police work.'

So, finding a missing woman wasn' t real police work? Would you expect any self-respecting Newly Passed to reply after a comment like that?

She didn' t, of course, but although I couldn' t put my finger on it, I was sure that I could sense something. That' s it, then,' Harby said, practically leaping from his chair the minute the sitting ended. Nobody can say we' ve left any stone unturned.'

Case closed, then?' He laughed, short and sharp. We can tell the husband to stop making a pest of himself.'

Harby must have caught something in my expression, because he added loftily: We shall continue with our enquiries. Just because there' s no sign of the woman anywhere and no voice from beyond the grave saying: I was shot, stabbed and poisoned and I' m under the patioº , doesn' t mean to say she wasn' t.

But we' ve done everything we can, even for a newbroom Chief Inspector who' s into blue-sky thinking and got us all running around like headless chickens.'

I gathered there was no love lost between him and his new Chief, but I wasn' t at all convinced that Amelia Parks was dead. If she was, given the circumstances and the opportunity, wouldn' t she want to let everyone know the hows and whys? And definitely the wheres.

I don' t usually have any contact with clients outside of a sitting, but I called Phil and suggested we meet for a drink. I needed to know why he' d come to me and I wasn' t averse to seeing him again.

I just wanted to make sure,' he said, gazing into his pint. I didn' t want to think Milly had left me. But if the police haven' t been able to find her and you can' t either, that' s it, I suppose. I have to assume she' s gone off with someone.'

But surely, they' d be able to trace her using her bank card or mobile?'

That' s just it. We always kept a fairly large amount of cash in the house in case of emergencies, and it' s gone. She hasn' t used her mobile. Probably got a pay-as-you-go.'

And her family hasn' t heard from her?'

She hasn' t really got one. Only child, parents dead and we never had kids. Just a couple of distant cousins.'

He looked down at his hands. Twenty years we' ve been married, and it hasn' t been easy. No doubt she just got fed up and went. I' d have let her go, but the neighbours noticed, so I went to the police. Fat lot of good they' ve been.

Then I heard about you, so I thought I' d just check. Harby told me he' d been to see you and there was nothing doing. I think they' re going to let the matter drop now. But it' s so lonely, being without her and not knowing¼'

He smiled. It was a very attractive smile, especially for someone like me who' d been on her own for what seemed like forever.

I don' t suppose you' d take pity on a poor deserted guy and have lunch with me one day? Perhaps we could drive out to a nice country pub?'

I opened my mouth to say I' d like that very much when Milly Parks spoke in my head very clearly.

Don' t!' she said.

Which leaves me with a rather tricky little problem¼

AÔ s youÕ re probably aware, the longer a person is missing, the more likely it is theyÕ re deadÕ