Lockwood & Co.: The Screaming Staircase

exposed as a murderer and scoundrel, there’d have beenterrible repercussions. And with the Problem worsening daily, that’s not something DEPRAC was prepared to consider.’
    I put down my fork. ‘Well, so what if there were repercussions? This fudge isn’t really justice , is it? No one’s ever going to know the truth now about Fairfax, or about Annie Ward, or how—’
    ‘Thanks to you, Lucy,’ Lockwood interrupted, ‘the ghost of Annie Ward got exactly what she wanted. Justice has most definitely been done. In fact it’s a great result, whichever way you look at it. Annie Ward gets her murderer, Fairfax is punished, Barnes gets his cover-up . . . And since Barnes needs us to keep quiet about the true nature of the case, he’s had to let me go to The Times with all the other juicy details. So that means we’ve got our free publicity too. Bingo. Everybody’s happy.’
    ‘Except Fairfax,’ George said.
    ‘Oh yes. Except him.’
    ‘I wonder what else DEPRAC’s concealing?’ I said. ‘Did you see how quickly they moved into that place, and started taking away material? It’s almost as if they were more interested in Fairfax’s suit and helmet than in his crimes. That helmet was so bizarre . . . I would have loved to take a closer look at it.’
    Lockwood gave a rueful smile. ‘Tough luck. It’ll be in the vaults at Scotland Yard now, deep underground. Youwon’t see any of that stuff again.’
    ‘Good thing I nicked these goggles, then,’ George said. He pulled down the thick glass eye-pieces, which had been hanging on the back of his chair. ‘They’re very odd,’ he said. ‘They don’t do anything, as far as I can see. They’re just a bit blurry; make your eyes feel weird . . . There’s a strange little mark on them too – just here. What do you think that is, Lucy?’
    He passed them over. The goggles were heavier than I’d expected, and very cold. When I squinted close, I could just make out a tiny image stamped on the inner edge of the left-hand lens . . . ‘Looks a bit like a funny-looking harp,’ I said. ‘One of those little Greek ones with the bendy sides. You can see the strings, look. Three of them . . .’
    ‘Yeah. Well, it’s not the Fairfax logo, that’s for sure.’ George tossed the goggles on the table between the jellies. ‘I suppose all I can do is keep experimenting.’
    ‘You do that, George,’ Lockwood said. We raised our glasses again.
    ‘We’re almost out of ginger beer,’ George said suddenly. ‘And we need to top up the doughnuts. This is another serious mission, which you can leave to me.’ He hopped to his feet, opened the basement door, and disappeared below.
    Lockwood and I sat facing each other. We met each other’s eyes, smiled, and looked away. It was suddenly just a little bit awkward, like the old days back again.
    ‘Listen, Lucy,’ Lockwood said. ‘There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.’
    ‘Sure. Fire away.’
    ‘When we were back there in the library, and Grebe was going to shoot you . . . You got the necklace out and purposefully freed the ghost, right?’
    ‘Of course.’
    ‘Which saved our lives, so obviously it was a great decision. Well done again. But I was just wondering . . .’ He studied the sandwiches for a moment. ‘How did you know it wouldn’t attack us too?’
    ‘I didn’t. But since Fairfax was definitely going to kill us, it seemed a risk worth taking.’
    ‘OK . . . So it was a gamble.’ He hesitated. ‘So the ghost-girl didn’t talk to you?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘She didn’t tell you to get the locket out of its case?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘She hadn’t, in fact, told you to take the locket from her body in the first place, back on the night of the fire?’
    ‘No!’ I gave him my trademark L. Carlyle quizzical grin. ‘Lockwood . . . are you accusing me of being controlled by that ghost?’
    ‘Not at all. It’s just sometimes I don’t quite understand you. In the library, when you held the necklace out, you didn’t seem frightened in the slightest.’
    I sighed; it was something that had been on my mind too, ever since it happened. ‘Look,’ I said, ‘to be honest, it wasn’t hard to guess the ghost would focus on Fairfax: I think we all could have predicted that. But you’re right. I was pretty sure she wouldn’t attack us again. She didn’t tell me, though. I sort of sensed her intentions. It’s a thing that comes with my Talent sometimes. I not only read the emotions of the