Chapter 20: Lines of Demarcation

Callum carried his hard case back down four flights of stairs. The ghost followed without his coat. She had left it folded on the landing chair because it would not stay on her. Her face had repaired enough to cover the exposed teeth, but one eye still held smoke. She kept her burned side toward the wall when they passed Nathan's apartment. In the vestibule, nine stamped bone disks waited in evidence bags beside Nathan's rejected offer. Callum put them in the case. "You intend to work," the ghost said. "I need to inspect the cellar." "Now." "Yes." "Your judgment continues to improve in unexpected directions." He looked at the basement door. "You can stay on the stairs." "And let you interpret my death in private?" "That wasn't the plan." "No. Usually you plan with more iron." He unlocked the door. The smell of the flood remained below: wet plaster,…