The Empty Grave (Lockwood & Co. #5)(114)

I breathed out sharply. ‘Yeah, OK. I can see what you’re holding. That wretched DEPRAC statement. All right, I’ll sign it, but not now. Chuck it down somewhere.’

He hesitated. ‘I’ll just put it on the bed, shall I?’

‘Yeah.’

I turned away and looked out of the window at the iron railings and sparkling ghost-wards. A small kid with a plastic rapier ran down the other side of the street, chasing two of his friends. Lockwood came to stand beside me. He put his hand on the sill, next to mine.

‘The Problem’s still here,’ I said after a pause. ‘Another half an hour, everyone will be hiding away indoors.’

‘Maybe things will start to improve,’ Lockwood said, ‘now that those idiots are no longer messing around on the Other Side. I mean – it should help, shouldn’t it? More spirits will be free to move on to their proper place and not come back here.’

I just nodded. Truth was, neither of us knew.

Lockwood opened his mouth to say something, then shut it again. For a moment we didn’t speak. He was very close to me. Our hands stayed on the windowsill like they were glued there. All at once he stepped back. ‘In the meantime,’ he said, ‘there are ghosts to foil and lives to save. But right now it’s a lovely evening and I’m going for a stroll. That was the other thing I wanted – to see if you’d come with me.’ He adjusted his collar. ‘It’s the first outing for my new coat. What do you think of it?’

‘It’ll need a few claw marks to really make it look like yours, but other than that, it’s nice.’

‘You don’t think I ought to get a macho leather jacket like Barnes?’

‘No.’

‘OK, well, if you do want to come with me, Luce, I’ll be in the hall.’ He went to the door, paused and grinned back at me. ‘And don’t forget to sign the statement!’ With that, he was pattering down the stairs.

As always, I found myself smiling after him. As always, the room felt a little darker after he’d left. Yes, I was going for that stroll. I started over towards the bed to get my jacket. As I did so, I thought I heard a little noise behind me. I turned and – just for an instant – saw a faint and greenish glow on the windowsill.

I blinked and stared at it, heart racing.

It had probably just been a last reflection of the waning light. My little attic was filled with the dusk of early evening. On the sill, the skull was a squat shadow. Its cracked sockets were black and dull. I could hear George whistling as he painted the door on the landing below.

Probably nothing …

Then again, it wasn’t yet dark.

For a few seconds I stared across at the quiet windowsill, a smile slowly widening on my face. Then I turned away, and went to get my jacket off the bed.

Lockwood had put the DEPRAC documents beside my jacket. The papers formed a neat rectangle on the darkness of the counterpane, gleaming white in the fading light, but also softly sparkling.

Sparkling …?

I bent close, frowning. It was only then that I saw the beautiful golden necklace curled on the papers, with the sapphire glinting at its heart. Lockwood had taken it out of the old crushed box his mother had kept it in. Even in the dusk, the gem was glorious, undying and undimmed. It was as if all the light and love it had gathered in the past was shining out on me.

I stood gazing at it for a long time.

Slowly, carefully, I picked up the necklace and hung it around my neck. Then I put on my jacket and ran for the stairs.