The Empty Desk (11 page)

It was midmorning by the time Ned managed to get hold of Melinda. He had dropped off Terri after she had promised to give him a call when she'd had the chance to look into the newspaper archives to see if there was any reference to a dead girl called Alice dating back to a time before the
Chronicle
had established its own website. He knew that it was a long shot, but it was one he thought was worth trying. He had even offered to do the search himself, but it seemed that was more likely to get her into hot water than spending some time on it herself. The good-night kiss had touched the corner of his mouth, and she had blown another when she turned and stopped at her door. For those few moments he had been floating on air.

“Hi, Ned,” he heard Melinda say when she picked up. “How are you doing?”

“I didn't have any luck but I've managed to get some help.”

“Oh, yes?” she asked. “What kind of help?”

He told her all about Terri and their chat the previous evening. He heard the hesitation in Melinda's voice when he told her that she was a reporter, but he managed to reassure her that Terri was not about to write a huge piece about them in the paper. He hadn't mentioned Melinda's name and even if she wrote a piece, which he didn't believe for a moment she would, it was unlikely to do any damage to the university or the department he was studying in. There had been plenty of stories about their work in the past, and they were almost always dismissed without a second thought and forgotten in a matter of days. There was no story to tell, unless it was about the little girl herself.

“In that case I've got some more information for you,” she said.

“You've spoken to her?” He was hoping that she had not done any more than that. He hated the idea of her having resolved the situation without his help once he had started doing the work he had promised. He also didn't like the idea of not having an excuse to see Terri again. Not that he really needed an excuse, or so she had said.

“Yes, just for a little while. We were right that her name is Alice, though. It's Alice Fallon.”

“What else? Did you find out how she died or what's keeping her here?”

“Not really. She disappeared when someone else came into the room, but she wants my help to find her sister.”

“Okay. If you leave it with me,” Ned said, “I'll see what I can do.”

“And you'll pass her name on to this Terri to see if it helps her to dig anything up?”

He could hear the smile in her voice and feel the heat rising to his cheeks. No doubt the minute she hung up, she would be calling his mom to let her know that he was seeing a girl. Before the day was out she would be on the phone giving him the third degree.

“Of course, but could you do me a favor, though?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Please don't mention Terri to Mom.” Even as the words left his lips he knew that he was asking the impossible.

“You bet,” she said, though he was not sure if he believed her. The chances were that by asking her not to say anything, he might have made sure that she wouldn't be able to keep quiet about it. He was still holding the phone long after she had hung up, certain that he had made a mistake. He summoned Terri's number on his phone and made the call, but it went straight through to her voicemail again.

“Hi, Terri,” he said, his voice much lighter, breezier than it had been when he had made the call the day before. “I've managed to get hold of the girl's last name. It's Fallon. Alice Fallon. Hope that helps. Let me know how you get on.”

He hung up and slipped his phone back into his pocket. He was hoping that she hadn't wasted too much time digging around with so little information to go on yet, but hopefully this would speed the process up a little at least.

Melinda closed the shop early to pick Aiden up from school. She thought about going inside again in the hope that Alice had returned but decided against it. She didn't think she would be ready to talk to her again until she had found out a little more about the girl's family and hopefully found her sister for her. She was still a little puzzled over why she should want her sister rather than her mother; was she an orphan? Had she left her sister alone in the world? That would certainly account for the sadness—that was for sure.

Ned hadn't gotten back to her yet, but she wasn't really expecting him to have turned anything up so quickly. He would call as soon as his new friend had anything for them. She was glad that she hadn't seen Delia since they had last spoken. She had the feeling that Ned didn't want his mother to know that there might be a new girl in his life. He would tell her himself when he was ready, assuming that there was anything to tell.

“So how was your day, honey?” she asked as she strapped Aiden in.

“Okay, but the ghost wasn't there at all today. Are you sure that you haven't helped her already?”

“I don't think so, but I spoke to her this morning. Her name was Alice Fallon when she was alive,” she said, then handed him a carton of juice from a bag of groceries she had picked up on her way to the school. He fiddled with the straw until he had managed to puncture the seal, then took a deep draw.

“Do you think she'll be back?” he asked when he stopped to take a breath.

“I hope so. She wants me to find her sister for her.”

“I would want someone to find you if I was dead, but I know that you'd be able to see me.”

Melinda laughed and ruffled his hair. Sometimes he said the most obvious things that gave such an insight into his world. It was not always easy to know what he could see and what he couldn't, but he always seemed to be able to identify the heart of a problem. So often he felt things rather than saw them, and that was what made his gift so special, though neither of them really had any idea of just how much he might be capable of as he grew older.

“I have to go out this evening for a while,” she said. “Is that going to be okay with you? I'm sure that you and Dad will have fun without me.”

“Sure, Mom. Have you got someone else you need to help?”

“I'm going to try.” She waited for his reaction but none came. He was just making conversation between taking slurps of his drink and was soon lost in his own thoughts as he stared out of the window, watching the world go by. Melinda wondered if he saw things out there that even she couldn't see.

She was ready to leave the house by the time Jim came home from work. They had managed to speak earlier in the day, so her departure came as no surprise.

“You're sure you don't mind?” she said, though she knew what his response would be. She put out dinner for him and Aiden before she left with strict instructions for them not to worry about the dishes. The least she could do was clean up after them if she was going to desert them for the evening. She would rather be spending the time with them than trying to help a grumpy old man fix his mistakes, but she knew that he would be hanging around until she did.

“There's ice cream in the freezer,” she said as she stood by the door, ready to leave.

“Can't guarantee that there'll be any left by the time you get home,” Jim said. “You've got a couple of guys here with large appetites.”

“I'll survive without it,” she said, kissing Aiden before she left. “I'll try not to take too long, so have a good evening, you two.”

They made their goodbyes and even before she had closed the door behind her, she was regretting agreeing to go to see Tom this evening. Evenings at home with Jim and Aiden were precious, and every time she missed one she felt a pang of guilt. She should have stood up to Jez. She should be doing things like this on her own terms, not allowing a ghost to dictate what she should be doing and when. He was bullying her in the same way that he had bullied Tom, always getting his own way no matter who he upset along the way. He might have been sweetness and light to customers like Dana, but that didn't tell anywhere near the whole story. Clearly that part of him had just been an act. Her heart sank when she climbed into her car and found that he was sitting in the passenger seat once more.

Ned had almost given up on hearing from Terri before the day was out, but he was about to head home from the university when his cell phone rang and her name lit up on the screen.

“Got your message,” she said. “Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you, but it's been one of those days.”

“No problem, hope the name makes the job easier.” He had tried to do another search on the Net again himself now that he had the extra information but it hadn't brought anything up. He had thought about giving Jim a call in case he could do a search of the hospital records, but he'd done that kind of thing before and had almost been caught. The last thing he wanted was to cause any problems, especially not without clearing it with Melinda first. There was no record in the phone book of anyone by the name of Fallon still living in the town. He needed an expert, and that was Terri.

“Piece of cake,” she said. “I've made you copies of everything you need.”

“You found her?”

“Of course. I don't know how you could possibly have doubted me. It looks like it was quite a famous story back in the day. The little girl's body was never found.”

“Are you still at work?” Ned said, his mind already racing with possibilities. This was clearly more than just a simple case of a lost soul. Something bad had happened to this child, and Melinda would want to know about it as soon as she could.

“I am. If you want to swing by the office, I'll make sure that there's an envelope waiting for you at the front desk.”

“What time do you get off?”

“Late one tonight, I'm afraid, so if you're thinking of dragging me off to a bar again, I'll have to take a rain check.”

“You have to eat, don't you?” he said, echoing her line of the previous evening.

“Sandwich at my desk tonight, but if you give me a call this weekend I'm sure that I'll be able to find a window for you.”

“I'd like that,” he said, though he wondered if he had competition for her time.

“Me too.”

Almost as soon as she had hung up he headed for his car. If he was quick he might even be able to pick up the envelope and drop it off at Melinda's before it was too late. He didn't want to call and disturb Aiden if she was trying to get him to settle down, but he still wanted her to have the information as soon as possible. He really felt as if he had been part of this and wanted to see it through to the end.

He spent much of the drive stuck in traffic as it crawled along. Ned had almost lost track of time and hadn't even given a thought to the fact that he might get caught up in the rush hour snarl. He could have carried on working for a while and still reached his destination just as quickly. But he was eager to read what Terri had managed to find out for him. He could have asked her to scan and e-mail the clippings for him, but she had been more than generous with her time and he didn't want to take her for granted.

When he pulled up outside the newspaper's offices in exactly the same spot he had used the previous evening he took a breath before getting out. It was hard to keep the smile from his face and just as difficult to keep the bounce out of his step. At that moment he felt that life was treating him well, and he hoped that it was going to continue.

The reception desk just inside the glass doors was manned by a man in uniform who looked at him with more than a little suspicion. Clearly it was late for visitors to come calling. “Can I help you?” he asked.

“I've come to pick up an envelope,” Ned explained. “Terri was going to leave it down here for me.”

“Name?”

“Ned,” he said. “Ned Banks.”

“Do you have any identification, sir?” the security guard asked.

“Are you kidding me?” he asked and fumbled in his jacket for his wallet. He produced his university ID card with the photograph that looked like it had been taken the day after one hell of a party. The guard took a couple of looks at it before he was happy that he was who he claimed to be.

“Could be anything in there,” he said. “It would be more than my job's worth not to check that you're the right person.”

Ned rolled his eyes in exasperation. He wanted to tell him that he was wasting time. He was tempted to open the envelope and tip the contents out in front of him to show that they were nothing of any importance, but that would make him no better than the guard. It would be better to just brush off the officiousness and walk away knowing that he had got what he came for.

“Thanks,” he said instead and gave him a smile in farewell.

Once he was back in his car he tore the envelope open and pulled out a sheaf of paper. He had to turn on the car's internal light to take a better look, but even that was not enough to allow him to read the text on the photocopies of the clippings. It would have to wait until he reached Melinda's house to take a proper look at them. The traffic had already started to thin out, and it should not take him too long to reach his destination.

Melinda still didn't really know what she was going to say when she stopped the car outside Tom Lowe's house. Jez had insisted on giving her directions at every turn and intersection along the way, even though she had a good idea of where she was going. She almost reached the point where she wanted to tell him to leave the car and that she would see him when she got there. Clearly there had been no point in her even writing the address down.

Unlike the car-repair shop, this home was well cared for. The lawn looked like it had been recently mown, even though the air was chilly and it felt as if they were closer to winter than summer. A child's tricycle lay tipped on its side outside the house as if its rider had abandoned it in a hurry to go inside when called in for supper. No doubt it would be collected and stored before the evening was over, ready for its owner to use the following day.

“I guess this is it,” she said and slid out of the car.

The porch light came on as she walked along the path to the house, and a moment later the drapes twitched as someone looked out. She had a feeling that it was Tom, but the movement had been too quick for her to be sure. The front door opened before she even had the chance to ring the bell.

“What do you want?” Tom asked. “I thought we had already said everything that needed to be said.”

“So did I,” she said. “But since your father won't leave me alone, I decided that I had better give it one last shot. He says he's sorry.”

“Sorry? What is he sorry for? Screwing up my life?”

“Everything, I think, but he says he wants to help put things right.”

“Help? How can he help? You've seen the mess that he's left me in. This isn't something that can be fixed just by saying
sorry.
”

“He says that he has a solution.”

“Is he here? Please don't tell me he's here.”

Melinda couldn't lie to the man. His father's ghost was standing next to her, jabbering in her ear so much that she was having trouble concentrating on saying what needed to be said to the younger man.

“I'm not going to get rid of him until he's had the chance to say his piece,” Melinda said. “Believe me, I want this to be done just as much as you do.”

“Then you'd better come in,” he said. “Let's get this over with.”

His wife was sitting in the living room, the television turned down low. The room was scattered with toys, and the sound of children filtered through the ceiling from upstairs.

“This is my wife, Lauren,” he said. “And this is Melinda.”

Lauren looked her up and down. “You don't look like a crazy woman,” she said.

“Thanks, I think,” Melinda said. “Though I'm not sure what a crazy woman is supposed to look like.”

She didn't receive a response.

“So,” Tom said once they were all sitting down. “What's this big plan that my dad's supposed to have come up with?”

Clearly she was still fighting a battle to convince him that his father's ghost really was haunting her. At the end of the day she didn't need him to believe her—she just needed him to listen and maybe do what Jez wanted him to do. Maybe it would work, maybe it wouldn't, but she had to try.

“He says that you can't manage on your own,” she began, ignoring the grunts that they both released after she stated the obvious. “And he says he's sorry for driving Lauren away.”

“Sounds like the list of things he's apologizing for is growing,” Tom said. “But there's plenty I could add if you like. Especially if he's listening.”

That brought a grunt from Jez in return, but at least they were spared from hearing it. Clearly he wanted to put things right, but he seemed to want to do it on his own terms. He needed to take the credit for putting his son on the right path even if it had been his fault in the first place. She decided to ignore them all and just press on. It was likely to be the only way that she would be able to deal with this.

“He says that the only way he was able to keep the business going was to lean on someone else. He had someone who could do some of the work in the repair shop so he could keep on top of the paperwork. He can see now that he was wrong, that he should have spent more time showing you how to deal with the kind of stuff that comes through the doors of the business, and he should have let Lauren have a free hand on the office side.”

“It's a bit late for sorry now, though, isn't it? It's too late for him to look over my shoulder and point out what I should be doing instead of pushing me to one side and taking over all the time. Maybe if he'd done that when he was alive, we would have been in a better place than we are right now.”

“I can't argue with that,” Melinda said. “But maybe there is someone who might be able to help.”

“You've seen the business. You know I can't afford to take anyone on full time. A trainee would take up more time than they would be worth for the first couple of years, and I still wouldn't know any more than I know now. I know how to look after top-of-the-line cars, but the people who drive those aren't likely to come to a back-street repair shop like mine.”

“Your dad said there's someone who used to work for him. Someone called Dan?”

“He retired,” Tom said.

“Your dad said he retired so that he could look after his wife, but she died.”

“I'm sorry to hear that,” Tom said, clearly suddenly shaken by the news. His voice dropped a little. “I had no idea.”

“Well, your dad thinks he might be willing to come in a few hours each day or maybe a couple of days a week to help you out. He thinks he could be a really good teacher.”

The couple looked at each other as they took in the suggestion. Melinda was keeping her fingers crossed, hoping that they would at least agree to think about it. That might be all it took.

“He's a nice guy,” Tom said. “People might come back if they knew he was working there again. They trust him, and he knows a lot of people.”

It was clear that Lauren agreed. Maybe she felt that she needed an interest outside of the house too; maybe it would help them both in some way. They were soon in deep conversation, discussing the possibilities that it might open up for them, even the idea that they might be able to offer a few hours' work a week to a youngster to keep the place looking tidy. It would be hard work to turn it around, but in the long term they both accepted that it would be worth it, especially if they pulled together. Even if Dan couldn't commit to more than a couple of hours a day, he could at least help Tom with the stuff that he hadn't come across before.

“I guess I've done everything I came for,” Melinda said when they finally paused for breath. There was nothing else that she could say or do that would make any difference, and yet Jez was still there, sitting next to her.

As she said goodbye to Tom and his wife she saw Jez was now standing beside her car. By the time she reached it, the front door of the house had been closed behind her, the tricycle taken inside. Lights were on in all of the houses on the street, but there was not another soul standing outside watching them.

“I guess that's it,” Jez said with reluctance in his voice.

“You know what to do?” Melinda asked.

“I've seen enough folks do this since my life ended,” he said. “More than once I've been tempted to follow them, but I've always known that there would be no coming back once I'd taken that step. I'd almost given up hope of finding someone who could see me and be able or willing to help. I guess I just got lucky in the end.”

“I'm glad that you're going to be able to pass over with no regrets,” she said as a pinprick of light started to form.

“Oh, I've got plenty of regrets,” he said. “But there's nothing I can do about any of the others. Not in this place, at least. Maybe on the other side I'll get the chance to say sorry to the other people I let down.”

The pinprick of light had grown until the street was filled with the brightest glow.

“Thank you” was the last thing that Jez said as he stepped into it. The light winked out almost instantly, and night returned. He was gone, and Melinda felt a sense of relief.