in spooks! I don't! I don't!"
Tyber grinned against her curls. "Okay, inverted cowardly lion; you're safe." He kissed the top of her head. "You know, baby, it's occurring to me that all of these gadgets have exactly the same trajectory."
"Tyber, how can you think of physics now? We are experiencing a genuine paranormal event!"
"Well, I suppose I could think of sex."
"Tyber!"
"Haven't you seen the statistics on men's thought patterns? Every three minutes we think of physics or—What is that scent?"
"Um, avatar of roses."
"No, that other scent. It smells like burnt eggs."
Sure enough, the sulfurous stench of burning eggs filled the library.
"Argh!" Zanita buried her nose in Tyber's chest, trying to inhale his delicious, clean scent instead of the noxious fumes.
"This happens sometimes on cases I've been on, Zanita." Calendula actually seemed joyous amid the otherworldly odor. "It's a type of haunting which stimulates the olfactory senses. Sometimes it's a perfume that the deceased wore; a spirit will use that to let the target know it is present. It's called a sign. I've also experienced the scent of pipe tobacco at hauntings." She took a big whiff of the malodorous aroma. "This is the first time I've encountered a negative scent." She paused. "I'm afraid we have an angry spirit here, Todd."
"What makes her think that?" Tyber groused as a cherry pitter bounced off his shoulder.
As suddenly as it started, it stopped.
Slowly, everyone stood up, warily looking around for stray basters zinging through the air. Hippolito, of course, remained in the same position: slack-jawed, on his back with all four paws in the air. Not even poltergeist activity was going to get this dude to move.
"Wow!" was all Todd said. Tyber wasn't sure if he was referring to the sacked-out cat or the ghost.
"Have you experienced anything like that before, Todd?" Zanita brushed off her dress.
"No. Nothing like that." He thought a minute. "Maybe the presence of the equipment has angered it?"
"Possibly." Calendula bent over the instruments, examining the results.
Zanita walked over to Hubble. "Why weren't you affected, Hubble? Do the psi-cogs have some immunity we are not aware of?"
Hubble put down his book. "Yes, Mrs. Evans, as a matter of fact, we do. You see, we don't believe in such nonsense and therefore we do not allow ourselves to be affected by it."
"That is ridiculous. You had to see what was happening. How can you dismiss this?"
"Oh, I don't dismiss it. On the contrary. I just don't believe that the cause of it was 'otherworldly.'"
Mark snorted. "Yeah. Right."
Tyber cleared his throat. "Hubble may be right."
Everyone stared at him doubtfully.
"I noticed that the trajectories of the objects were all identical."
"Was does that mean in plain English, Doc?" Todd asked.
"It means that they all came from the same source."
Hubble stood. Walking around his chair, he exclaimed merrily, "Now we are getting somewhere!"
"Do these poltergeist activities usually involve a single end source?" Tyber inquired.
"Not usually," Calendula responded. "Usually the activity seems to initiate from several different places at once. But that's not a hard and fast rule."
"Where do you think the objects launched from?" Zanita asked. Something wasn't right here. She could feel it.
Tyber's beautiful blue eyes gazed upward, following the path of the circular staircase.
"What's up there?" she asked Todd.
"Just a narrow platform and the upper level of the bookshelf."
"And an octagonal window…" Tyber began climbing the staircase, taking two steps at once.
"Be careful!" Zanita watched him anxiously. Spiral stairs always made her dizzy.
Tyber reached the landing and carefully examined the small alcove. There was nothing out of the ordinary that initially met the eye.
First, he went to the window and looked outside. It was too dark to see much of anything, but he did note that there was a foot-wide ledge possibly within jumping distance of the
Tyber grinned against her curls. "Okay, inverted cowardly lion; you're safe." He kissed the top of her head. "You know, baby, it's occurring to me that all of these gadgets have exactly the same trajectory."
"Tyber, how can you think of physics now? We are experiencing a genuine paranormal event!"
"Well, I suppose I could think of sex."
"Tyber!"
"Haven't you seen the statistics on men's thought patterns? Every three minutes we think of physics or—What is that scent?"
"Um, avatar of roses."
"No, that other scent. It smells like burnt eggs."
Sure enough, the sulfurous stench of burning eggs filled the library.
"Argh!" Zanita buried her nose in Tyber's chest, trying to inhale his delicious, clean scent instead of the noxious fumes.
"This happens sometimes on cases I've been on, Zanita." Calendula actually seemed joyous amid the otherworldly odor. "It's a type of haunting which stimulates the olfactory senses. Sometimes it's a perfume that the deceased wore; a spirit will use that to let the target know it is present. It's called a sign. I've also experienced the scent of pipe tobacco at hauntings." She took a big whiff of the malodorous aroma. "This is the first time I've encountered a negative scent." She paused. "I'm afraid we have an angry spirit here, Todd."
"What makes her think that?" Tyber groused as a cherry pitter bounced off his shoulder.
As suddenly as it started, it stopped.
Slowly, everyone stood up, warily looking around for stray basters zinging through the air. Hippolito, of course, remained in the same position: slack-jawed, on his back with all four paws in the air. Not even poltergeist activity was going to get this dude to move.
"Wow!" was all Todd said. Tyber wasn't sure if he was referring to the sacked-out cat or the ghost.
"Have you experienced anything like that before, Todd?" Zanita brushed off her dress.
"No. Nothing like that." He thought a minute. "Maybe the presence of the equipment has angered it?"
"Possibly." Calendula bent over the instruments, examining the results.
Zanita walked over to Hubble. "Why weren't you affected, Hubble? Do the psi-cogs have some immunity we are not aware of?"
Hubble put down his book. "Yes, Mrs. Evans, as a matter of fact, we do. You see, we don't believe in such nonsense and therefore we do not allow ourselves to be affected by it."
"That is ridiculous. You had to see what was happening. How can you dismiss this?"
"Oh, I don't dismiss it. On the contrary. I just don't believe that the cause of it was 'otherworldly.'"
Mark snorted. "Yeah. Right."
Tyber cleared his throat. "Hubble may be right."
Everyone stared at him doubtfully.
"I noticed that the trajectories of the objects were all identical."
"Was does that mean in plain English, Doc?" Todd asked.
"It means that they all came from the same source."
Hubble stood. Walking around his chair, he exclaimed merrily, "Now we are getting somewhere!"
"Do these poltergeist activities usually involve a single end source?" Tyber inquired.
"Not usually," Calendula responded. "Usually the activity seems to initiate from several different places at once. But that's not a hard and fast rule."
"Where do you think the objects launched from?" Zanita asked. Something wasn't right here. She could feel it.
Tyber's beautiful blue eyes gazed upward, following the path of the circular staircase.
"What's up there?" she asked Todd.
"Just a narrow platform and the upper level of the bookshelf."
"And an octagonal window…" Tyber began climbing the staircase, taking two steps at once.
"Be careful!" Zanita watched him anxiously. Spiral stairs always made her dizzy.
Tyber reached the landing and carefully examined the small alcove. There was nothing out of the ordinary that initially met the eye.
First, he went to the window and looked outside. It was too dark to see much of anything, but he did note that there was a foot-wide ledge possibly within jumping distance of the
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