The victim stood, or at least his soul did in the middle of the room on the other side of the guitar facing the blue eyed man. There was a moment in the surreal landscape where all three were entranced by the fact that they were in the same space at the same time and Ellie felt a sudden chill as the ghostly hands attempted to grip the neck of the guitar. He looked first to Ellie then to the man holding his guitar.
"Who are you?" the voice was almost more than she could handle but she knew the drill.
"My name is Danton," the man said putting the guitar back on the stand and looking at Ellie for a moment and then back to the soul of the victim, "and you died this morning." His voice was like smooth velvet, no wonder it could draw the veil between death and life aside like one would draw the curtains to let the sun in but it didn't make him any more appealing. There was something eerie about him, otherworldly that she just couldn't put her finger on but this was why she always called him in on cases like this.
"I'm dead?" the spectral voice spoke again, like nails drawing along a blackboard echoing in the Cathedral of an old Roman Catholic church. Danton nodded as he watched the spectral form shimmer as it moved through this plane of existence.
"Your time is short," Danton reminded him, "and we have questions." Ellie took out her notebook and short pencil and looked up at Danton. Speaking was not for her in these situations, it made keeping the connection difficult. "Do you remember? You were ..."
"At my computer," the voice said turning to the small built in desk and sitting in mid air where a spectral computer appeared before him. They had confiscated his laptop this morning but when he relived this moment, it would be just as it had been.
"You died several hours before daybreak ..." Danton prompted again. The spectral figure nodded.
"I was working on my latest manuscript, the novel Danielle had been asking for for weeks. I was typing away and I heard Rudy at my door ..." he turned and a spectral cat walked through the door, Danton giving a meaningful look to Ellie. "She came in and wanted to be fed but I was in the middle of a paragraph and couldn't be bothered." The two spirits brushed at each other and the cat vanished.
"Who are you?" the voice was almost more than she could handle but she knew the drill.
"My name is Danton," the man said putting the guitar back on the stand and looking at Ellie for a moment and then back to the soul of the victim, "and you died this morning." His voice was like smooth velvet, no wonder it could draw the veil between death and life aside like one would draw the curtains to let the sun in but it didn't make him any more appealing. There was something eerie about him, otherworldly that she just couldn't put her finger on but this was why she always called him in on cases like this.
"I'm dead?" the spectral voice spoke again, like nails drawing along a blackboard echoing in the Cathedral of an old Roman Catholic church. Danton nodded as he watched the spectral form shimmer as it moved through this plane of existence.
"Your time is short," Danton reminded him, "and we have questions." Ellie took out her notebook and short pencil and looked up at Danton. Speaking was not for her in these situations, it made keeping the connection difficult. "Do you remember? You were ..."
"At my computer," the voice said turning to the small built in desk and sitting in mid air where a spectral computer appeared before him. They had confiscated his laptop this morning but when he relived this moment, it would be just as it had been.
"You died several hours before daybreak ..." Danton prompted again. The spectral figure nodded.
"I was working on my latest manuscript, the novel Danielle had been asking for for weeks. I was typing away and I heard Rudy at my door ..." he turned and a spectral cat walked through the door, Danton giving a meaningful look to Ellie. "She came in and wanted to be fed but I was in the middle of a paragraph and couldn't be bothered." The two spirits brushed at each other and the cat vanished.
