Ghost Hunt

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This room is distressingly cluttered, like a Victorian ideal of domestic comfort. Faded paintings hang at random heights on the walls, overlooking a sofa, a writing desk, and — for some reason — a battered old sea chest. There are shelves, a bookcase, a dresser and even a wardrobe. Why is there a wardrobe in the same room as a sofa and a writing desk? <<first>>If you had more time for introspection, you might wonder how you even ended up here hunting a ghost, but the chill on the back of your neck tells you that you have no time for that.<<finally>>No time for wondering about that.<</first>> Where now? * [[The top end of the room (with the dresser)|room_top]] * [[The left side of the room (by the desk and sofa)|room_left]] * [[The right side of the room (by the chest)|room_right]] * [[The bottom end of the room (where the wardrobe is)|room_bottom]] * [[Just sit down in the armchair|chair]]

A large wastepaper basket has been shoved up against the end of the [[sofa]], next to the [[door]]. You don't hesitate to dig into it — it's hardly the first time you've gone through the garbage in search of supernatural infestation. There's always a chance that the ghost is hiding at the bottom (it doesn't seem to be), but there might be something else of use inside. <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "urn">> There's plenty of bits and pieces to be found, this time round, but all of it is spolied by a thick coat of grey ash, as if someone has emptied out the contents of a fireplace on top of the rest of the rubbish. Of course, a bin is exactly where you'd empty a dustpan full of ashes, but you are pretty sure you didn't see a fireplace when you shone your torch around the room earlier. You shine it around again, just to be sure. Potted plant, bookshelves, desk, sofa, wardrobe, shelf, chest, chair … no fireplace. Which makes these ashes quite suspicious. You rub some between your fingers … gritty. What does that tell you? <<case "sweet_tin">> The bin is full of the usual detritus: used napkins, pencil shavings, an apple core, torn open envelopes — and a surprising number of brightly coloured pieces of celophane. You fish one out and flatten it between your fingers. It is a little square, crinkled like a wrapper. Given the number of them, you assume that some container was emptied out — but what container? <<case "bible">> <<if !$inventory.includes("commentary")>> <<set $inventory.push("commentary")>> To your surprise, amongst the usual detritus is a single weighty book, which has fallen nearly to the bottom of the bin. It has dark blue linen covers and a gilded spine. There is nothing written on the covers, but the fly-leaf is inscribed: "Commentaries on the Latin Bible, by Father E Pootle". A quick flick through the pages with the torch held close suggests that it's exactly as dry a book as you might imagine. You decide to tuck it in a pocket. <<else>> You take another look through the bin, but there's nothing more of interest to be found other than the book that's already in your pocket. <</if> <<default>> Sadly, there really is nothing but junk in the bin this time, which is not exactly useful. <</switch>> * [[Walk up the room past the sofa|room_left]] * [[Walk across the bottom of the room towards the wardrobe|room_bottom]]

A weighty bookcase looms in the top left corner of the room, wedged in between the [[dresser]] to your right and the [[desk]] to your left. The [[top shelves|top_shelf]] hold children's books with bright thin spines, the [[middle shelves|middle_shelf]] seem to be fiction, while the taller [[bottom shelf|bottom_shelf]] is crammed with weighty reference books. <<if $inventory.includes("commentary")>>You notice a conspicuous gap on the bottom shelf.<</if>> <<if ['asterix','tinitn','poirot','sherlock','atlas','bible','songbook'].includes($ghostLoc)>>Books … books are //always// haunted, in your experience. But by the ghost you are looking for? That's another question.<</if>> <<clue>> * <<r [[Go left, towards the sofa|room_left]] [[Go to the left side, towards the sofa|room_left]]>> * <<r [[Go right, along the top of the room|room_top]] [[Go along the top of the room, towards the dresser|room_top]]>> * [[Pick your way back towards the armchair in the middle of the room|room]]

You run your finger along the top shelf, touching the spines of the little children's book. It comes away dusty. The beam of your torch reveals the bright colours of familiar childhood friends, [[tinitin]], [[asterix]], [[casper, the friendly ghost]], Rin-tin-tin, Swallows and Amazons. Someone had a family here once. <<if visited("photo")>>You remember the boy in the photo, was this his room once?<</if>> <<clue>> <<if !visited("pull_top")>>* [[Pull the books off the shelf|pull_top]]<</if>> * [[Move to the middle shelves|middle_shelf]] * [[Move to the bottom shelf|bottom_shelf]] * [[Step back|bookcase]]

<<here>> The moment you lay hands on the Asterix book, your head rings with sounds of blaring celtic horns and marching Roman legions. The book flings itself open and disgorges a spectral Obelix, complete with stripy trousers, only Obleix is actually a rotund laughing ghost … <<not>> You take down the copy of Asterix from the shelf. <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "cabin" "crows_nest" "uniform" "bowsprit" "lighthouse">> It is //Asterix and the Great Crossing//, with a picture of a storm-bound boat on the faded cover. <<case "urn" "sphinx">> It is //Asterix and Celopatra//, with a picture of the eponymous queen reclining on the faded cover. <<case "music_box" "songbook">> It is //Asterix and the Normans//. You flick through the pages, a lot of which appear to involve bards and lyres. <<default>> It is //Asterix the Gaul//, the very first of the series. An old and battered copy which has clearly been read many times. <</switch>> <<clue>> * [[Read more|read_more]] * [[Put the book back on the shelf|top_shelf]] <</here>>

You shine your torch along the middle shelves. They are stuffed with mystery books from the middle of the last century, penguin classics, Dorothy Sayers, Dashiell Hammett, Ngaio Marsh, a hardback copy of [[the Casebook of Sherlock Holmes|sherlock]]<<if visited("pull_middle")>>, Agatha Christie's [[Death on the nile|poirot]]<</if>>, and Chandler's [[The Big Sleep]]. All the spines are cracked and faded, as if they have been reread and then left out in the sun. <<if !visited("pull_middle")>>No Agatha Christie? What an omission!<</if>> <<clue>> <<if !visited("pull_middle")>>* [[Pull all the books off the middle shelves|pull_middle]]<</if>> * [[Move to the top shelves|top_shelf]] * [[Move to the bottom shelf|bottom_shelf]] * [[Step back|bookcase]]

<<here>> You have barely reached for the copy of Sherlock Holmes when the book flings itself off the shelf right at you! The pages flip madly, unleashing red-headed men, dancing stick-figures, a venomous serpent, and a pair of grasping purple hands that try to hurl you from the edge of the reichenbach falls … <<not>> You heave the Sherlock Holmes off the shelf, balancing it in one hand with the torch in your armpit so that you can flip the pages with your other hand. The classic illustrations jump out in the wavering circle of the torch-beam. Holmes and Watson on a train, <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "sofa_cushions" "sofa_cushions_small">> the famous consulting couch, with a nervous client clutching at the cushions, <<case "slippers">> Holmes plucking tobacco from the toe of his famous slipper, <<case "inkwell">> the vile blackmailer Milverton, seated at a writing desk, a pen poised in his hand, <<case "uniform">> a naval Captain, standing stiff-backed in front of the Baker Street fireplace, <<case "safe">> Holmes on his knees, head bent to a safe he appears to be trying to open. <<default>> Holmes peering through the iconic magnifying glass, <</switch>> Holmes slumbering against a background of chemical glassware. You half expect any one of them to come alive with spectral malace, but they are only drawings. <<clue>> * [[Read more|read_more_mid]] * [[Put the book back on the shelf|middle_shelf]] <</here>>

You crouch down to look at the bottom shelf, which is packed with reference books of all sorts: gardening books, cookery books, a woodworking guide, an [[atlas]], a [[popular song book|songbook]], and a copy of the [[bible]]. <<if $inventory.includes("commentary")>>There is an obvious gap next to the bible where the book you plucked out of the bin ought to fit.<</if>> <<clue>> <<if !visited("pull_bottom")>>* [[Pull all the books off the shelf|pull_bottom]]<</if>> * [[Move to the top shelves|top_shelf]] * [[Move to the middle shelves|middle_shelf]] * [[Step back|bookcase]]

<<here>> You go to take the atlas off the shelf, but it pulls //itself// of the shelf and takes a swipe at your head, to the accompaniment of spectral laughter … <<not>> You heave the atlas off the shelf and let it fall open at whatever the last consulted page was — an old psychometric technique. <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "pot" "taj">> It's a double-page spread of northern India, showing the mountains of Tibet in broad relief. <<case "shell" "uniform" "cabin" "crows_nest" "bowsprit">> It's a double-page spread of the pacific ocean, which means it's mostly blank and blue, save for a decorative sailing ship in the corner. <<case "asterix">> It's a map of France, showing the coast of historical Gaul. <<case "bible">> It's a map of the Leavant, showing the eastern Mediterranean and northern Egypt. <<default>> It opens on a trade map, showing aggregate grain shipments around the world. You are not sure what that tells you. <</switch>> <<clue>> * [[Read more|read_more_bottom]] * [[Put the book back on the shelf|bottom_shelf]] <</here>>

<<here>> You take the bible from the shelf. It is oddly heavy, and oddly … lumpy. In fact it is covered in bumps! As if a dozen marbles have been inserted under the leather covers. You poke one experimentally, and it pops open, revealing a rolling red eye! Then all of the lumps open into eyes, and wings sprout from the pages, and the wings also have eyes … Is it an angel? No, it's the ghost! <<not>> You take the bible from the shelf and flip it open, half expecting a ghost to burst from the pages, or for ectoplasm to gush out in your face — ghosts generally don't like bibles, and won't hesitate to desecrate one, when they aren't fleeing from it. To your surprise, it isn't a bible at all! It has a bible's covers, but the inside <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "shell">> is a reference book about shells and sea life. Flipping back to the fly page, you see that it is inscribed: "J. Pootle & R. Brown, Life on the Seashore." Who recovers a book on shells with the covers from a bible? You can't imagine! <<case "uniform" "purse" "compact">> is a Victorian outerwear catalogue. Page after page of etched coats, jackets, overcoats, naval and military uniforms along with attractive prices in shillings and pence. <<case "red_carpet" "hat">> is a scrapbook collection of red carpet publicity photos — A-list stars from the golden era of American cinema smiling at the camera as they pause on their way to premieres and award shows. The ladies simper as they show off their dresses, while the gentlemen tip their hats. You carefully lift the browning corner of a photograph of Carey Grant to look underneath. The pictures really have been pasted directly onto the pages of the bible. You shake your head and close the book again. <<case "harpoon" "lighthouse" "crows_nest" "bowsprit">> is a copy of Herman Melville's classic "Moby Dick". //Call me Ishmael// — has there ever been a finer opening to a novel? It doesn't help you find the ghost though. <<default>> has been hollowed out to leave space for a compact bottle of gin. You shake your head sadly, is nothing sacred these days? <</switch>> <<clue>> * [[Put the book back on the shelf|bottom_shelf]] <</here>>

In the bottom corner of the room, a trio of rolled-up carpets lean upright against the wall. Each roll is almost as tall as you, and arranged so that the canvas backings face outwards and the patterns in. From the little bits you can see, you guess that one carpet is [[black|black_carpet]], one [[red|red_carpet]], and one [[chequered|checked_carpet]]. Leaning against the left side of the leftmost carpet is a split-cane [[carpet beater|carpet_beater]] with a long handle — it looks like something a poltergeist would //love// to beat you with! Why are these carpets here? Did the owner of the room plan to open a carpet shop, or just intend to redecorate and never get around to it? You consider the carpets again. Red is like blood — very ghostly. Black, on the other hand, is traditionally spooky. When you come right down to it, a ghost could hide inside //any// of those rolls. <<either>>//Did you hear a snigger? Maybe.//<<or 5>><<clue>><</either>> * <<if !visited("kick carpets")>><<link "Kick over //all// the carpets" "kick carpets">><</link>><</if>> * <<r [[Look at the shelf to your left|shelves]] [[Look at the shelf on the left side|shelves]]>> * <<r [[Head over to the wardrobe to your right|room_bottom]] [[Head over to the wardrobe at the bottom side|room_bottom]]>> * [[Go stand in the middle of the room|room]]

You push and tug at the black carpet so that it starts to unroll along the wall. You aren't sure what you were expecting. <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "asterix">> Almost certainly not that the carpet was being used to flatten sheets of paper. The fact that it was, is immediately apparent when the pages flutter out and gather around your feet like drifting snow. You stop unrolling the carpet and gather up the pages, holding your torch in one hand and the paper in the other so you can look at them. You see brown newsprint, black line drawings, and panels of lettratone colour. Comic books. They are pages from comic books. Which makes entirely no sense at all. <<default>> What you get is a black carpet. A plain black carpet. It looks like it might be suitable for a hotel hallway, if that's your sort of thing. <</switch>> <<clue>> * [[Look at the red carpet instead|red_carpet]] * [[Look at the chequered carpet instead|checked_carpet]] * <<if !visited("kick carpets")>>[[Hurl the carpets to the floor|kick carpets]]<</if>> * [[Back off|carpets]]

<<here>> You push and tug at the chequered carpet so that it starts to unroll, and find red eyes staring back at you! It's the ghost, pressed as flat as a leaf between the layers … <<not>> You push and tug at the chequered carpet so that it starts to unroll along the wall. The inside is a chequerboard of black and white squares, each about a foot across. It reminds you, oddly, of the floor of your mother's kitchen. Not the new one, but the old one in the house where you lived as a child. <<first>>A frisson of emotion crawls over you, taking you back to those days as certainly as the scent of Angel Delight bannana desert, till the room around you starts to dissolve and … //Ghost tricks. You shake it off//<</first>> <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "inkwell">> On closer inspection, the carpet is very dirty, with purple staines spotted all over the white panels. Not just dirt, but ink? <<case "behind_portrait">> Looking at the top corner of the carpet you see see a label tied to it. You assume that it will have the name of the carpet's owner — or manufacturer — on it, but when you shine the torch on it, it is marked "Portrait of a young woman, Pootle Galleries". <</switch>> <<clue>> * [[Look at the black carpet instead|black_carpet]] * [[Look at the red carpet instead|red_carpet]] * <<if !visited("kick carpets")>>[[Hurl the carpets to the floor|kick carpets]]<</if>> * [[Back off|carpets]] <</here>>

<<here>> You push and tug at the chequered carpet so that it starts to unroll, and find red eyes staring back at you! It's the ghost, pressed as flat as a leaf between the layers … <<not>> You push and tug at the red carpet so that it starts to unroll along the wall. <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "taj" "mouse_hole" "pot" "sofa_cushions_small">> Bright colours dance before you in the gloom, twisted and knotting in geometric panels. It's a persian rug, crimson, black, and white. Sawtooth borders frame a white building flanked by needle-towers and angular figures with their heads bowed in mourning. You can almost feel the tropical heat and hear the buzzing flies … <<case "bible">> The back of the carpet is plain, utilitarian, hessian, marked "Office Carpet" on the corner, but the inside is a blaze of colour! The upper part of an angel, wings spread to reveal the eyes amongst the feathers, one hand raised in benediction, the other clutching a key, is visible on the unrolled portion. Its halo, and the knotwork frame behind it, sparkle with golden thread. You expect the image to shatter at your touch, just another ghostly illusion, but it //seems// real. <<default>> The inside is blood red, the sort of thick, deep pile that swallows sound and hides crimes. You can easily imagine someone being murdered on this carpet — their blood sinking into the fibres, their body being rolled up inside. Which is a clear sign that this hunt is getting to you. There's no blood, and no body, just a carpet that you roll up again. <</switch>> <<clue>> * [[Look at the black carpet instead|black_carpet]] * [[Look at the chequered carpet instead|checked_carpet]] * <<if !visited("kick carpets")>>[[Hurl the carpets to the floor|kick carpets]]<</if>> * [[Back off|carpets]] <</here>>

There is a single armchair sitting in the middle of the room, not facing anything in particular (though it's hard to tell in the gloom), and not particularly close to the [[sofa|room_left]] either. It is overstuffed, upholstered in a faded yellow plush that was probably originally meant to be gold. A single fat custion has been wedged in between the arms, with a fussy doily hung over the back. <<if !visited("chair_cushions")>>Anything could be under a cushion like that … a //ghost// could be under a cushion like that.<</if>> <<clue>> * [[Sink down in the chair|sit]] * [[Look under the cushion|chair_cushions]] * [[Head down, towards the wardrobe|room_bottom]] * [[Head left, towards the shelves|room_right]] * [[Head right, towards desk|room_left]] * [[Go back to the middle of the room|room]]

<<first>><<nobr>> <p>You whip the cushion aside, ready to reveal a lurking spirit, but instead you find yourself looking at a base of worn webbing and a litter of the sort of things you find under seat cushions: pistachio shells, loose coins, a spoon, a pen.</p> <<if $inventory.includes('coin')>><p>You compare the loose change with the coin you took from the shell, but they aren't the same. The coins under this cushion are tarnished with age, the one in your pocket is new. What does that tell you? Does that tell you //anything//? You aren't sure.</p><</if>> <</nobr>><<finally>> You heave the cushion up again, and survey the detritus of lost coins, nuts, cutlery, and writing implements. What a mess. <</first>> <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "sweet_tin">> Something bright catches your eye as you shine the torch under the cushion. Gold? No, it's just a yellow celophane wrapper, just the sort you wrap toffees in. Wait … wasn't there a tin of sweets on a shelf somewhere? <<case "inkwell">> Something about the pen makes you pick it up. Instead of the disposable biro you were expecting, you find yourself holding an elegant fountain pen, made of tortoiseshell and steel. This seems out of place. <</switch>> <<clue>> * [[Sit in the seat|sit]] * [[Leave the chair alone|chair]]

<<if !$inventory.includes("key")>> You try the handle of the drawer, but it does not open, even when you rattle it. It seems that it is locked. Judging by the tiny ornate keyhole that probably means you need to find a tiny ornate key, which is going to be a bit of a challenge in this place! * [[Give up on the drawer, for now|desk]] <<else>> You try the handle and find it locked. Then you remember they key you found in the dresser and find that it unlocks the drawer. Success! You were expecting letters, valuables, perhaps the ghost, lurking inside the drawer, but the drawer is almost empty. The only thing there is a copper pendulum on a string. <<nobr>> <<set _target = setup.getPos($ghostLoc)>> <<if _target.y < 4>> <<set _dir = "left, towards the top of the room">> <<elseif _target.y > 4>> <<set _dir = "right, towards the bottom of the room">> <</if>> <<if _target.x <= 2>> <<set _dir += ", and back, towards the wall behind you">> <<elseif _target.y > 2>> <<set _dir += ", and out, towards the further wall">> <</if>> <</nobr>> You pick up the string and give it an experimental swing. You've never been that skilled at dowsing, but the response is immediate. The bob pulls sharply _dir. Is it pointing at the ghost? Surely. * [[Close the drawer and go look|desk]] <</if>>

You fish around in the letter slot, and are rewarded with a bundle of letters. Most of them are written in the same distinctive violet ink, and equally distinctive rounded hand. You spread them out on the writing slope, trying not to feel too much like a snoop. <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "behind_portrait">> One catches your eye, though you can't say exactly why. It seems to be instructions for the reframing of a painting — which it refers to as "the portrait" — and begs for its speedy return. Your eyes slide to the painting hanging beside the desk. Could it be the same one? You've learnt before now that it pays to follow an instinct when ghost hunting. <<case "silver_compact">> One catches your eye, though you can't say exactly why. It's a letter, apparently from a woman to her husband. <div class="card script letter"><<nobr>> <p>Dearest James</p> <p>I cannot for the life of me find the silver compact that Mother gave to me. I have looked everywhere, but there is no sign of it. I know you've been away for a while, but perhaps you remember where I put it? Did I take it to the wedding? Or perhaps on holiday?</p> <p>Do write soonest.</p> <p>Your loving Jane.</p> <</nobr>></div> <<default>> You open a number of them, flicking through pages of ordinary correspondence, holiday missives, bills, and other miscelleny. None of them seem to offer much in the way of ghost hunting clues, that was probably too much too hope for. <</switch>> <<if !$inventory.includes("combination")>><<set $inventory.push("combination")>>As you are putting the letters back, a slip of paper falls from the stack. When you shine your torch on it, you see that it has a four-number combination <code>01-23-02-09</code>. You aren't sure what it's for, but you make a note of it anyway.<</if>> <<clue>> * [[Put the letters back|desk]]

<<here>> You peer dubiously into the inkwell, only for it to explode in your face! Purple ink fountains out, then forms into the shape of a hovering spectre … <<not>> You peer dubiously into the inkwell. It is, unsurprisingly, dry, though a violet residue is just visible against the polished ebony inside the well. It looks like no one has used this desk to write in quite some time. You are momentarily tempted to compose your own letter — lord knows there's more than enough writing around this place — but you've never been very good at automatic writing. <<clue>> * [[Examine the rest of the desk|desk]] <</here>>

The dresser looms against the back wall of the room like a craggy cliff face of old mahogony. Three pairs of handles, brass, tarnished, and shaped a little like the faces of lions with rings in their mouths, are the only notes of colour in a sea of old varnish and dust. They flash unexpectedly bright in the beam of your torch, so that the lion faces seem to roar and toss their heads. On top are a [[table lamp|lamp]] and a [[model sphinx|sphinx]]. To your left, the edge of a [[bookcase]] hovers in the darkness, to the right, the leaves of an [[aspidistra|plant]] <<either>>rustle — no, that's not right, they don't move at all.<<or>>hang limply in the still air.<</either>> You consider the three heavy drawers. If this were your dresser, the top drawer would be full of underwear, and the bottom one packed with clothes you never wear. Should you tug one open, or back away? <<clue>> * [[Open the top drawer|top_drawer]] * [[Open the middle drawer|middle_drawer]] * [[Open the bottom drawer|bottom_drawer]] * [[Back away|room_top]]

You tug open the top drawer of the dresser, expecting to see neatly folded rows of unmentionables. Instead the drawer is full of tightly rolled sheets of wallpaper. Judging from the peeling corners, they are mostly an assortment of faded chintz. The brightly printed flowers and geometric signs appear faded and washed out in the fuzzy glow of your torch, while the paper is brown and brittle. <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "black_carpet" "checked_carpet" "red_carpet">> For some reason, the bottom of the drawer is littered with little black pieces of fuzz, or maybe wool. <</switch>> <<clue>> * [[Open the middle drawer|middle_drawer]] * [[Open the bottom drawer|bottom_drawer]] * [[Reconsider|room_top]]

The middle drawer opens easily, probably because it is mostly empty. Instead of clothing, you are greeted with a loose array of objects: a brass gramophone horn; a bakelite telephone reciever, shorn from its cradle and trailing a piece of frayed cord like a tail; <<if !$inventory.includes('key')>>a small drawer key, which you take;<<set $inventory.push('key')>><</if>> and, oddest of all, <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "shell" "uniform" "cabin" "crows_nest" "lighthouse">> a chipped pottery model of a lighthouse tower, complete with little doors and windows. <<case "asterix" "sherlock" "atlas" "bible" "songbook">> about half a dozen books, even though there is a bookcase just to your left. <<case "sofa_cushions" "sofa_cushions_small">> a set of dollhouse chairs, sofas, and chaise longue, each no bigger than your middle finger. <<case "compact" "purse" "urn" "sweet_tin" "shell">> a large number of small empty boxes, such you might use to hold beads, or buttons. <<default>> a blank sheet of paper, on which the word GHOST is written in purple ink. <</switch>> <<clue>> * [[Open the top drawer|top_drawer]] * [[Open the bottom drawer|bottom_drawer]] * [[Step away from the dresser|room_top]]

You crouch down, placing your torch on the floor, and open the bottom drawer. <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "purse" "slippers" "hat" "compact" "suitcase">> Or, at least, you //try// too. The drawer seems to be stuck, and you really have to put your back into it. When it finally pops open, it's obvious why. The drawer has been crammed full with clothing, most of which has no business being in a dresser's bottom drawer — coats, hats, even pairs of shoes — as if someone has crammed the entire contents of a wardrobe in here. <<case "bible">> It comes open easily enough, revealing a boring mix of folded trousers, shirts, sensible skirts and the like. A single sheet of printed paper sits on top of the clothing, rather like a ship's bill of lading, but when you hold it close to the torch it proves to be a page of scripture, the book of Job, to be precisse. <div class="centered card"> <p>"A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end."</p> </div> Quite. <<default>> It comes open easily enough, revealing a boring mix of folded trousers, shirts, sensible skirts and the like. There's nothing ectoplasmic about any of it, and nothing obviously of use to a ghost detective. <</switch>> <<clue>> * [[Open the top drawer|top_drawer]] * [[Open the middle drawer|middle_drawer]] * [[Look somewhere else|room_top]]

The entire corner of the room is filled with the glossy mass of an aspidistra, a veritable jungle of drooping stems and pendulous leaves. A better symbol of dull middle-class respectability you could not hope to see — no self-respecting ghost would hide in an aspidistra … or would they? The plant is barely contained by an enormous teracotta [[pot]] which is in turn encased in a sort of rattan netting. A small model of the [[Taj Mahal|taj]] hunkers down in the dirt like a fish-tank decoration. <<if visited("drag pot")>>You left the plant far enough from the wall that you can squeeze round to check the [[mouse hold|mouse_hole]] behind it.<</if>> <<clue>> <<if !visited("drag pot")>>* [[Drag the pot away from the wall|drag pot]]<</if>> * <<r [[Check out the dresser to your left|dresser]] [[Check out the dresserat the top of the room|dresser]]>> * <<r [[Check out the sea chest to your right|chest]] [[Check out the sea chest on the right of the room|chest]]>> * [[Look somewhere else|room_top]]

<<here>> You clamber under the aspidistra leaves to get close to the pot, and what do you see … are those the points of spectral ears protruding from the dirt? <<not>> You push the aspidistra leaves aside and consider the dirt-filled pot. The bulbous terracotta sides are wrapped in a piece of rattan netting, not a hiding place for anything, let along a ghost. Are you really going to get yourself dirty sticking your hands in there? You poke the soil experimentally, it is bone dry, which only makes the thought of digging through it worse. No, you decide. No digging. You can leave the [[Taj Mahal model|taj]] in peace. <<clue>> * [[Stand up|plant]] <</here>>

You look up at the painting on the wall. It is a fine portrait of a woman in oils. She sits, slightly reclined, in a high-backed chair, facing towards the left of the picture. Her gaze faces left too. Slightly contemplative. Slightly wistful. It's both oddly formal, and oddly sad — the kind of portrait you might hang only after someone's death. <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "taj">> Behind the woman, an open window, looking out onto lush jungle brush. The orange flash of a tiger slinks through the waving fronds, coming closer. On the windowsill, a little bird in a gilded cage is heedless of its approaching doom. <<case "red_carpet">> Red carpet covers the floor and hangs from the wall, the sort of rich drapery beloved of renaissance masters, though you aren't convinced the picture has that sort of age to it. <<case "silver_compact">> The woman's hands are crossed in her lap, each one in a cream silk glove. Between them is a little flash of silver, hard to make out. It might be a silver cigarette case, or a polished compact, it's hard to say, but whatever it is was clearly important to her if it was included in the painting. <<case "silver_compact">> The woman's hands are crossed in her lap, each one in a cream silk glove. Hanging from her wrist by a little strap is a beaded purse, each bright fragment of glass picked out with a rough circle of white paint. <<default>> <<if visited("photo")>> Is this the woman whose photograph sits on the shelf? You aren't certain. Perhaps this was her room, and all these jumbled things her property? You'll likely never know. <<else>> You wonder if the woman in the portrait lived in this room? Maybe the painting was simply an antique that the owner decided to use for decoration.<<if visited("letter_slot")>> Perhaps she was the Jane who wrote the violet letters — there's no name on the frame to give you a clue.<</if>> <</if>> <</switch>> You stare at the woman for a long time, half-expecting the face to come alive and move — a classic ghost trick — but the old paint is immobile. <<if $ghostLoc == "behind_portrait">>//But … did the whole picture tremble on the wall?//<</if>> * [[Take the painting down from the wall|behind_portrait]] * [[Step back|room_left]]

<<here>> You lift the painting down from the wall and turn it over, only to find another painting on the back, a grinning purple balloon face with flashing red eyes … <<not>> You lift the painting down from the wall and turn it over. The back of the frame is finished with plain brown lining paper. A gallery label is affixed with ageing yellow sellotape. It reads: <div class="centered card"> <p class="large">Galeries Pootle</p> <p>Portraits taken in oils and watercolour. Framing.</p> <p>//no. 23 Radio Tower, Lavender Street//</p> </div> <<clue>> * [[Put the painting back on the wall|room_left]] <</here>>

A battered old sea chest sits against the wall here, just under the [[painting of a sailing ship|sea_paint]]. <<if $ghostLoc == "inkwell">>Labels cover the top, but you can't make out what most of them say because they appear to have been splattered with dark blue ink.<<else>>Labels cover the sides so thickly that the leather beneath is almost invisible. They advertise passage through Nice, Hyderabad, Rotterdam, and a dozen other places. A particularly battered one in the middle of the lid proclaims: "Cunard White Star: To Europe".<</if>> The chest is not locked, so you heave open the lid and consider the jumble of nautical items inside. Much of the space is taken up by a neatly folded [[naval officer's uniform|uniform]], on top of which are a [[seashell|shell]], a telescope, a glass fishing float, a [[rolled up paper|paper_roll]], and the delicate curl of a mermaid's purse. <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "suitcase">> You wonder if the owner of the room ever took this chest on holiday. It seems so impractical compared to an ordinary suitcase. <<case "shell" "music_box" "songbook">> //You hear a whisper of music hanging in the air ...// <<case "cabin" "crows_nest" "bowsprit">> //You feel a sudden sense of vertigo, like you are standing on a pitching deck …// <</switch>> <<clue>> * [[Take a look at the aspidistra to your left|plant]] * [[Consider the shelves to your right|shelves]] * [[Head back across the room|room_right]]

<<here>> You pick up the shell, and raise it to your ear, only to be greeted by a deafening <q>Boo!</q> and a fit of ghostly laughter … <<not>> You pick up the shell and put it to your ear, expecting to hear the rush and hiss of the illusionary sea inside your own head. <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "cabin">> Instead, the familiar sound is oddly muffled, like you are indoors and the sea is outdoors. Which is pretty hand, considering that the "sea" in question is inside your own ear … <<case "crows_nest">> And hear it you do! Not just the familiar hum, but the unmistakable crashing of waves, the screaming of gulls, and the creak of timbers. The world seems to shift unsteadily beneath your feet, and its all you can do to snatch the shell away before you become nauseous! For a moment, it felt like you were on a ship. <<case "sofa_cushions" "sofa_cushions_small" "safe">> <<set $inventory.push('coin')>> Instead, something //cold// touches you ear! You let out a shriek and drop the shell, flashing the torch wildly to see what touched you! A glint of metal reveals the culprit — a coin. Cautiously you pick the shell up and give it a rattle. It appears to be full of loose change, for some reason. Why? Why are they there? You tip them out on your hand and poke through them. It's all what your mother would have called "shrapnel", the sort of coins you loose under the sofa, or in your coat pockets, and never notice. <<default>> And there indeed it is, a familiar, comforting, childhood sort of sound. <</switch>> <<clue>> * [[Check out the folded uniform|uniform]] * [[Look somewhere else|chest]] <</here>>

<<here>> You reach for the uniform, only for it to leap from the chest as if inhabited by an invisible sailor. It dances a jig in the air, to the accompaniment of spectral laughter … <<not>> You carefully extract the clothes from the bottom of the chest, letting the [[shell]] and other junk settle in the bottom of the box. Shaken out, you see that this is a decidedly antique uniform of faded dark blue wool. A narrow-cut double-breasted coat with gold rings around the cuffs, heavy trousers with double buttons<<if $inventory.includes('hat')>>, and a pressed white shirt with a high collar. The hat is already on your head.<<else>>, a pressed white shirt with a high collar, and a white peaked cap with a heavy golden braid and an embroidered anchor on the brow. A ship's captain? A lighthouse keeper?<</if>> <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "atlas">> Looking at the uniform, you get a whiff of exotic smells, the ice of the far the north, the stink of guano, the damp tar of a sailing ship. It makes you think of whaling expeditions to Iceland, Greenland, and … what's the name of that island … Van something? You should look that up in an atlas. //An odd thought. Psychometry perhaps?// <<case "cabin" "crows_nest" "bowsprit">> Looking at the uniform, you swear you can smell the sea, as strong and fresh as if there was actually a sailing ship in the room with you! <<case "taj" "pot" "sofa_cushions_small">> Looking at the uniform, you get a whiff of exotic smells: cardamom, saffron, curry leaves. You //humph//, maybe someone used to wear this in an Indian restauraunt? <</switch>> <<clue>> <<if !$inventory.includes('hat')>>\ * [[Put on the captain's hat|wear hat]]<</if>>\ * [[Put the uniform away|chest]] <</here>>

You look up at the painting on the wall. A sailing ship, three-masted and full-sailed, plunges along through a welter of crashing waves inside a frame of dark-stained wood. At your feet is a battered [[sea chest|chest]] covered in luggage labels. The painting has been framed without glass, allowing a faint sheen of dust to gather on the wave-crests, but even so, it seems remarkably real. The planks glitter wetly in the storm, the canvas billows on the masts, and the candles of the storm lanterns flicker in the gale. //Even the ground under your feet rocks with the heave of the deck …// <<if $inventory.includes("hat")>> When you raise your hand to the painting it shimmers, and you realise you can step inside. * [[Step inside the ship's cabin|cabin]] * [[Drag yourself to the crow's nest|crows_nest]] * [[Take up watch on the prow|bowsprit]] * [[Stagger away|room_right]] <<else>> It almost feels that you can step straight into the picture, but when you cautiously reach out to touch it, it is merely canvas after all. Could this be a psychic echo? If so, perhaps it needs someone — or some //thing// — more in-tune with it to fully manifest. <<clue true>> * [[Look elsewhere|room_right]] <</if>>

<<here>> You open the cabin door, and and are greeted by the sight of a spectral Captain leaning over the chart table … <<not>> The cabin is a claustrophobic space, lit only by a single swinging lantern in the centre of the ceiling. Sea chests and hammocks, coils of rope and harpoons, barrels and trussed up sailcloth, litter the corners of the room, but they are low-resolution, merely indicated with uncertain brush strokes. Only the chart table directly under the light has been crisply painted. <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "uniform">> Beside the table, there is a figure-shaped void in the canvas, where it feels like an entire sailor has been removed. You can imagine a man in a captain's uniform, white-bearded and stern, but he isn't there. <<case "taj" "mouse_hole" "atlas">> You take a closer look at the charts on the table. For some reason they show the landlocked state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India instead of the open seas you expected. <<case "behind_portrait">> You take a closer look at the papers on the chart table. You were expecting sea charts, but instead they appear to be the sort of labels that galleries place on the backs of paintings. They are old and spotted black with mildew. The most prominant is inscribed: "Messrss Pootle, Brown and Elk, 19 Covent Garden Road, London" <<case "inkwell">> You take a closer look at the charts on the table. They appear to be unfinished, as if the draughtsman ran out of ink midway. A fountain pen with a worn ivory handle sits discarded beside the paper. <<default>> You take a closer look at the charts on the table. They show sounds and abysses, sea mounts and tidal currents, lines of longitude and latitude. They tell you nothing. <</switch>> <<clue true>> * [[Go outside and climb the mast|crows_nest]] * [[Make your way to the prow|bowsprit]] * [[Back off from the painting|sea_paint]] <</here>>

<<here>> You clamber hand over hand up the careening mast, and haul yourself over the top. Just as you do, a glowing face appears and gives you a massive <q>Boo!</q> You totter … careening on the edge of the abyss and … <<not>> You clamber hand over hand up the careening mast, and haul yourself over the top, flopping down into the belly of the crow's nest — little more than a barrel on the end of the mast — and out of the spray. There's megre shelter up here, and the ship is still pitching and surging in the storm, but there's a sort of unexpected beauty up here — a fierce wild sort of beauty that might have as much to with how light-headed you are feeling as it does with the scudding lead-white clouds, and the crash of the prussian-blue waves. <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "purse" "slippers" "hat" "compact" "suitcase">> It would be nice if there was no storm, granted, but what would be //really// nice is if you had a //hat//, or a raincoat. Or boots. Basically half the contents of your wardrobe. <<case "cabin">> Eventually you crawl to your knees and look over the side, down down down at the swinging deck. A burst of light from the stern cabin flashes across it, but you see no sign of who opened the door. <<case "bible">> In spite of yourself, you mumble a prayer under your breath. It never hurts to have some sort of faith on your side as a ghost hunter. You should probably have brought a Bible, or a Koran, or a copy of the Sutras … <</switch>> <<clue>> * [[Climb back down the mast and go to the cabin|cabin]] * [[Make your way to the prow|bowsprit]] * [[Shake off this dream and get out of the painting|sea_paint]] <</here>>

<<here>> You reach for the black metal urn with both hands, and the top explodes in a puff of ash as the ghost bursts out … <<not>> You have to put your torch on the shelf, and pick up the urn in both hands to lift it down, because it is very heavy. It appears to be made of lead, though on closer inspection, holding it up to the light of the torch, you think it is more likely some sort of stone. You lift the top off the urn with a little trepidation, expecting the ghost to burst out, but there is nothing inside but a bed of pale grey ash. Respectfully, you put the lid back on the urn, and the urn back on the shelf. <<clue>> * [[Look at something else|shelves]] <</here>>

<<here>> You turn the key in the back of the music box, and lift the lid, so that the small fairy inside can burst out and turn. Only, it isn't a fairy, it's a miniature purple ghost, arms up, dancing on tiptoe! <<not>> You turn the key in the back of the music box, and lift the lid. The tiny figure of a fairy ballerina pops up and begins to turn, arms up and en pointe, accompanied by <<nobr>> <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "sherlock" "songbook">>an insistant tune that you recognise as the theme to Sherlock Holmes. <<case "hat">>the jaunty strains of //Singing in the Rain//. <<case "cabin" "crows_nest" "shell" "uniform">>what appears to be some sort of sea shanty. <<default>>the wistful strains of //Für Elise//, plinked out on a tiny comb. <</switch>><</nobr>> <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "sweet_tin" "sofa_cushions">> It takes you a moment to notice that the inside of the music box is filled with scrunched up sweet wrappers, brightly coloured wisps of cellophane. Did some child collect them for their glitter? or perhaps to hide their illicit sweet consumption? <<case "purse">> Below the feet of the fairy, is a shallow tray, in which someone has put the contents of their coat pockets: keys, coins, two folded notes, a business card with the black-line picture of a small dog, and a small case filled with pills. <</switch>> <<clue>> * [[Look at something else|shelves]] <</here>>

You shine your torch directly at the photograph. It shows a mother and their son — or at least that's how you interpret the smiling woman and the small boy she has her arm around. The boy is dressed in an old school uniform — cap, tie, jacket, shorts — though his tie is half undone, and his shirt out at the waist. The woman is <<nobr>> <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "taj">> dressed in a tropical style, a light riding habit, a hat, and a headscarf tied under her chin. <<case "slippers">> dressed, in total constrast, for a day at home, in a loose belted houserobe. Her hair down, her feet in slippers, of all things. <<case "uniform">> dressed in a boating outfit, with a blousy white dress and a neat straw hat. <<default>> dressed for the turn of the last century, in a tight-waisted coat and neat little hat, much smarter than her son. <</switch>><</nobr>><<if $ghostLoc == "red_carpet">> The two of them are standing on a strip of darkly coloured cloth, like a red carpet at a film premiere.<</if>> <<if $ghostLoc == "urn">> You wonder, which one does the picture commemorate? Who is in the urn? The mother or the child? Perhaps it's both, or neither of them? <<else>> You wonder who they are, where they came from? Did they live here once, or is this just a random picture, picked and placed for decoration? <</if>> <<clue>> * [[Look at something else|shelves]]

<<here>> You decide to haul the seat cushions off the sofa, scattering the scatter cushions everywhere, in case the ghost is hiding beneath. Your reward is a grinning spectral face … <<not>> You decide to haul the seat cushions off the sofa, scattering the scatter cushions everywhere, in case the ghost is hiding beneath. Your reward is a pile of cushions and some exposed sofa strings, piled with the usual detritus people drop down the back of their seats. <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "urn">> There's plenty of rubbish under the sofa cushions, but what catches your eye is a scatter of grey, gritty, dust. It doesn't look like it fell through the cracks, but rather that it was scattered here. <<case "checked_carpet">> There's plenty of rubbish under the sofa cushions, but what catches your eye is a scatter of woolen tufts, black and white, as if someone was shearing a parti-coloured sheep while sitting on the sofa. They appear decidely out of place. <<case "sweet_tin">> There's plenty of rubbish under the sofa cushions. You sweep your torch back and forth and catch a flash of gold — no, not gold, but a square of bright yellow celophane, the wrapper of a classic toffee sweet, if you aren't mistaken. So ... who has been eating sweets today? <<case "music_box">> You attempt to search through the rubbish, but you find yourself distracted by a ghostly tune running through your head. What is that? //Alas, my love, you do me wrong, To cast me off discourteously …//. Greensleeves, that's it. You wonder why that came to mind? It's a carol, and a music box tune. You read somewhere that Henry the Eighth wrote it for his lover, but you aren't sure that's true. Is this a ghost trick? Surely not. <</switch>> <<clue>> * [[Put the cushions back|sofa]] <</here>>

There's no bed in this room (or at least, you don't think there is), but under the sofa is certainly the next best place for a ghost to hide, so you get down on your hands and knees and shine your torch underneath. Glittering eyes look back, scuttling towards you like a premonition of death — not a ghost, but a spider. It flees from the light of your torch until it vanishes into the shadows by the wall. Given how much junk is stacked around the rest of the room it's rather a surprise to see that the space under the sofa is rather clean. The only thing that really stands out is a piece of paper, just out of reach. <<clue>> * [[Drag the sofa from the wall|drag sofa]] * [[Get back to your feet|sofa]]

A fawn woman's coat hangs at one side of the wardrobe rail. The tortoiseshell buttons and conservative gut make you think of the second war, and you wonder if it's been hanging in this place ever since. There's something a little sad about the thought that it was neatly brushed down and then put away, never to be worn again. <<if !visited("purse")>>On impulse, you take it down, and are suprised by the uneaven weight. There's a [[beaded purse|purse]] in the pocket weighing it down. You wonder if that's been there as long as the coat has.<</if>> <<clue>> * [[Put the coat back on the rail|wardrobe]]

<<here>> You fish the beaded purse out of the coat pocket and click it open. A jet of purple gas explodes into your face, along with a gale of spectral laughter … <<not>> You fish the beaded purse out of the coat pocket and click it open. It is heavy with loose change, old empire-era coins that have tarnished brown and green with use and disuse. There's also a little [[silver compact|compact]], the metal chased with rays and circles. <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "pot">> As you rummage in the purse, you are surprised to see that your hands come away stained with something dark — like blood. You turn the torch on your own hand and are relieved to see that the stain brushes away, it's just dirt. Why dirt? Looking again, you see that the bottom of the purse is full of it, a rich, damp, loamy material that has no place being here. A quick sniff confirms your suspicions; the dampness is ectoplasmic residue, the telltale sign of apportation. The question is, from where? <<case "sofa_cushions">> You pull some of the coins out and spread them on your palm, only to discover that some of them are actually buttons. The buttons are faced with red cloth, as if they have been cut from a cushion, or perhaps a red coat. <<case "purse">> Under the coins and the compact you are surprised to see quite a number of boiled sweets, wrapped in twists of brightly coloured celophane, as if someone (or something?) has hidden the contents of a box of sweets in the bottom of the purse. <</switch>> <<clue>> * [[Put the purse back in the coat, and hang it up|wardrobe]] <</here>>

<<here>> You bend down to pick up the slippers from the bottom of the wardrobe and they kick you in the shins! Spectral legs fade into existence, followed by a ghostly body, a ghostly face, and a ghostly grin … <<not>> You bed down to pick up the slippers from the bottom of the wardrobe. They are fleece-lined and tartan-patterned, though you couldn't begin to name the clan the tartan is from. Royal Stewart probably, it's //always// Royal Stewart. You peer inside each slipper, in case a tiny ghost is hiding in the toes<<if $ghostLoc == "sherlock">>. There isn't, but there is a small waxed pouch, which proves to be full of coarse pipe tobacco.<<else>>, but there's nothing here to find.<</if>> <<clue>> * [[Put the slippers back|wardrobe]] <</here>>

<<here>> You lift the hat out of the hatbox, only for it to snatch itself out of your hands! Purple smoke billows out of it, forming a ghost body and a laughing ghost face under the real hat … <<not>> You lift the hat out of the hatbox<<either>>, holding it carefully, so as not to damage the brim<<or>> and place it on your own head for a moment — it doesn't really fit.<<or>> and look inside for a maker's label. There isn't one.<</either>> <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "music_box" "songbook">> With the hat removed you take a better look at the sheet music lining the box. There's a whole bunch of them, waltzes and the like, Clair De Lune, Für Elise, Ave Maria. It reads like a shopping list of music box tunes from a century ago. <<case "pot" "mouse_hole">> For some inexplicable reason the bottom of the hatbox has been weighted down with fragments of broken terracotta, like the ballast from the bottom of a boat. The only plausible explanation you can come up with is that it is meant to dry the hat out? //Either that, or the ghost is messing with you.// <</switch>> <<clue>> * [[Put the hat back in its box|hatbox]] <</here>>

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<q>Ready or not, I'm coming to get you!</q> The room is silent, but for the slow, regular, ticking of the clock on the shelf. //Tick, tock, tick tock//. Your breath catches in the flash of your torch, a puff of pale smoke condensing in the chilly air. Nothing moves amongst the clutter other than the restless circle of your torchlight and the second hand on the clock. That's the problem with hunting a ghost, it could be hiding literally anywhere in a place like this — and you'll only get so many wrong guesses before it loses patience and comes for //you// instead. <g>From somewhere in the room, there is a spectral snigger</g> <q>Right, here I come …</q> The question is, [[where?|room]] <<nobr>><div class="card padded-top"> <p class="centered large no-bottom"><b>Ghost Hunting Tips</b></p> <p class="centered small no-top">//courtesy of Pootle, Brown, and Elk, ghost hunters//</p> <p>The ghost could be hiding inside any item in the room. Click <span style='color:var(--link-text)'>item names</span> in the descriptions to check them out, but beware — you are on a clock. Look in too many wrong places and the ghost will get frustrated and come after you instead!</p> <p>Pay attention to the clues you recieve (naturally, they are often in items), they should help you find the right hiding place before time runs out! Keep an eye on the ghost-eye meter to judge how much time is left.</p> <<if settings.map>><p>Check the map at the bottom to see where you are.</p><</if>> </div><</nobr>>

A shelf is mounted on the wall here. It looks like the sort of thing that ought to be mounted above a fireplace, if only there was one. You //wish// there was — it would go some way towards dispelling the spectral chill! The shelf is packed with a bewildering array of bric a brac. Pride of place has been given to a [[funeral urn|urn]] of dull grey metal. To one side of it is a [[portrait photo|photo]] in a deal frame, to the other a [[music box|music_box]] with a fringe of frilly pink cloth around the edge, and a [[model lighthouse|lighthouse]]. At the end of the shelf is a [[tin of sweets|sweet_tin]]. <<if $ghostLoc == "sherlock" || $ghostLoc == "poirot">>On the other end of the shelf from the tin, someone has left a large magnifying glass with a black rim, rather like a movie prop.<</if>> Just to your left, a [[sea chest|chest]] sits against the wall. To your right, a pile of rolled up [[carpets]] leans against the wall in the gloom. <<clue>> * [[Head left, towards the dresser at the top of the room|room_top]] * [[Head right, towards the wardrobe at the bottom of the room|room_bottom]] * [[Make your way across the room|room]]

You <<first>>carefully step over a [[box]] lying on the floor and<</first>> sweep your torch across the top end of the room. The pale circle of light falls on a heavily laden [[bookcase]] to your left, a dark oak [[dresser]] with tarnished handles, and an [[aspidistra|plant]] in a frankly old-fashioned terracotta pot, shoved in the corner to the right. <<clue>> * <<r [[Go left, towards the desk|room_left]] [[Go to the left side, towards the desk|room_left]]>> * <<r [[Go right, towards the sea chest|room_right]] [[Go to the right side, towards the sea chest|room_right]]>> * [[Pick your way back towards the armchair in the middle of the room|room]]

You pick your way carefully to the left side of the room, <<nobr>><<first>>and nearly go flying face-first as your foot catches on the edge of a loose carpet! Your windmill your arms, sending torchlight scattering across the room. For a moment, blazing red eyes flash back, then are gone. <p>You catch yourself, and shine the torch again, trying to catch out the ghost, but now there is nothing to see.</p> <p>//Of course. It couldn't be that easy.//</p> <<then>>trying your best not to trip over the edge of the carpet — and yet you //still// nearly go flying all over again. You'd like to believe that this is the ghost's fault, but it's more likely you are just getting clumsy in your old age.<<finally>>stepping carefully over the loose carpet.<</first>><</nobr>> Just in front of you, an antique [[writing desk|desk]] sits against the wall. To the right of it a large [[bookcase]] fills the top corner of the room, to the left is a burgundy [[sofa]], and beyond that, almost invisible in the dusty gloom, a [[door]]. The [[portrait]] of a woman hangs on the wall between desk and shelf. <<clue>> * [[Pull up the carpet and look underneath|under carpet]] * <<r [[Go left, towards the wardrobe|room_bottom]] [[Go to the bottom side, towards the wardrobe|room_bottom]]>> * <<r [[Go right, towards the dresser|room_top]] [[Go to the top side, towards the dresser|room_top]]>> * [[Go back to the middle of the room|room]]

You make your way to the right-hand side of the room — or is it the left-hand side? all of these directions are pretty arbitrary in the dark anyway — careful not to trip over the [[armchair|chair]]. You sweep your torch back and forth, wary of anything you might trip over in the dark. The light illuminates a battered [[sea chest|chest]], a [[painting|sea_paint]] of a ship, and a line of [[shelves]] laden with ornaments. In the corner to your left you can just make out some sort of [[potted plant|plant]], while to the right, for no reason at all, a heap of rolled-up [[carpets]] leans against the wall. <<either>>You feel a chill creep slowly up your leg.<<or>>Somewhere, something creaks, resetlessly.<<or>><</either>> <<clue>> * <<r [[Go left, towards the dresser|room_top]] [[Go to the top side, towards the dresser|room_top]]>> * <<r [[Go right, towards the wardrobe|room_bottom]] [[Go to the bottom side, towards the wardrobe|room_bottom]]>> * [[Retreat to the middle of the room|room]]

You make your way towards the bottom half of the room, careful not to trip over the [[armchair|chair]] in the process. There's not much here, compared to the clutter at the other end. A massive oak [[wardrobe]] looms against the bottom wall, its door ever so slightly ajar. To the left of it, someone has piled a buch of rolled up [[carpets]] against the corner wall. To the right, beside the [[door]], a [[wastepaper basket|bin]] sits next to the [[sofa]]. <<if visited("sit")>><<if !visited("suitcase")>>Shining your torch upwards you illuminate the [[suitcase]] that you saw when you were sitting in the chair. You can just reach it if you stand on tiptoe.<<else>>The [[suitcase]] is sitting on the floor in front of the wardrobe.<</if>><</if>> <<clue>> * <<r [[Go left, towards the shelves|room_right]] [[Go to the right side, towards the shelves|room_right]]>> * <<r [[Go right, towards the desk|room_left]] [[Go to the left side, towards the desk|room_left]]>> * [[Retreat to the middle of the room|room]]

You stoop down and pick up the box, holding the torch under one arm to get some light. It seems to be a box of draughts — or checkers, as your American cousins would say — brown, and battered. The peeling label calims that the contents are "superior" and "finished", whatever that means. You give the box an experimental rattle, half expecting the ghost to burst out of it straight into your face, but nothing happens. Awkwardly, you slide the inner tray out. Inside are a handful of wooden pieces, some black, some plain. <<if setup.getDist("wardrobe") <= 2>>//Wait … shouldn't this be in the wardrobe? You are pretty sure it should. What's it doing here?//<</if>> * [[Put the box down|room_top]]

<<run setup.setGhostLocation()>> <<set $frustration = 0>> <<set $lastLoc = ''>> <<set $lastClue = 0>> <<set $lastCoords = { x: 3, y: 4}>> <<set $chimed = false>> <<set $clueGiven = false>> <<set $inventory = []>> <<set $uuid = setup.getUUID()>>

<<if $ghostLoc !== passage() && passage() != "jumpscare">> /*<p class="centered">$ghostLoc | <<=passage()>> | Turns: <<=turns()>> | Frustration: $frustration/<<=setup.MAX_FRUSTRATION>> | FLevel: <<=setup.getFrustrationLevel()>></p>*/ <p class="centered"><<link "Settings">><<run UI.settings()>><</link>> | <<link "Restart">><<run UI.restart()>><</link>></p> <div id="map"> <<set _loc = setup.locations[passage()] ?? $lastCoords>> <<set $lastCoords = _loc>> <div id="location" @style="`--x: ${Math.floor(_loc.x)}; --y: ${Math.floor(_loc.y)}`"></div> </div> <</if>>

<<here>> You peer into the open windows of the Taj Mahal model and see light! Through the tiny opening you make out flickering lamps, wafting veils, and the faint sound of singing … <<not>> You hook the model Taj Mahal out of the dirt and brush it off. It's a sad little thing, more like the rough pottery chimneys they used to sell in the algarve, back when that was the height of fashion. The little towers are thick with glaze, and the words //Taj Mahal// are written across the bottom in blue oxide, as you might be uncertain what it represented. You put it back. <<clue>> * [[Stand up|plant]] <</here>>

You sink down in the chair, which is more comfortable than it looks, but it's hard to take it easy in a haunted room, and you soon find yourself flicking your torch around the room, highlighting one thing after another, bookcase, wastebasket, plant, chest, carpets, a suitcase on top of the wardrobe that you didn't notice before … A chill creeps slowly over you, as if an icy figure has come up behind the chair and rested its hands on the back, one on either side of your head. <g>Get up, get up, or I'll come and geeeet you!</g> You jump up from the chair, heart pounding, pointing your torch at the source of the voice, but there's nothing to see behind the chair, nothing at all. Time to get a move on! * [[Head left, towards the sea chest|room_right]] * [[Head down, towards the wardrobe|room_bottom]] * [[Look around the room again|room]]

<<here>> You pick up the sweet tin and give it a shake — it sounds empty. You put the torch down on the shelf and prise off the lid, only to have the ghost burst out in your face! <<not>> You pick up the sweet tin and give it an experimental shake. From the muffled rattle, you assume it is filled with sweets. <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "sofa_cushions">> Instead, you are surprised to find that it has been stuffed with loose hanks of horse hair, like the stuffing from a cushion. <<case "black_carpet" "checked_carpet">> Instead, you are surprised to find that the tin has been stuffed with tiny snippets of black and white yarn, as if someone has taken a pair of clippers to your granny's knitting basket. <<case "safe" "purse">> Instead, you are surprised to find that the tin is filled with money, both coins and notes. <<case "red_carpet" "sherlock">> Instead, you are surprised to find that the tin has been stuffed with tiny snippets of yarn. It's hard to tell in the torchlight, but they look red, like blood. In fact, they //are// stained with blood! Thick red blood, sticky like oil, clinging to your grasping fingers, overflowing the tin like a tide of ichor … <g>Somewhere, the ghost sniggers</g> It's just wool, of course, just wool. <<default>> And it is, indeed, filled with sweets. Hard boiled toffees in wraps of brightly coloured celophane, like a fragment of your childhood stored up and preserved here. <</switch>> You close the tin. <<clue>> * [[Look at something else|shelves]] <</here>>

A large burgundy sofa sits up against the wall. It's an elegant piece, with nearly turned mahogany legs, but rather overstuffed for your tastes. The three [[large cushions|sofa_cushions]] that make up the seat are surmounted by a scatter of brightly embroidered indian [[throw cushions|sofa_cushions_small]] that glitter with fragments of mirror. The space [[under the sofa|under_sofa]] gapes blackly in the torchlight. You could hide a lot under there. Just to the left of the sofa there seems to be a [[wastebasket|bin]], while to the right is the corner of a [[writing desk|desk]]. <<clue>> * [[Leave the sofa alone|room_left]]

You tentatively pick up the carpet beater, wary that it might be possessed, but nothing bad happens when you touch it. You give it a few experimental swings through the air. It might be handy for attacking ghosts with, you suppose, but it doesn't really leave you hands-free given that you are also carrying the torch. Reluctantly, you put it back again. <<clue "carpets">> * [[Head left to the shelves|shelves]] * [[Head right to the wardrobe|room_bottom]] * [[Take another look at the carpets|carpets]] * [[Wander up the room|room_right]]

You bodily attack the carpets, flinging them aside like a madman, and shouting, I //know// you are here! <<if $ghostLoc == "checked_carpet" || $ghostLoc == "red_carpet">> Abruptly, the carpets are wrenched from your hands. To the accompaniment of <g>spectral laughter</g> they twirl around in the air, pausing only for the <<if $ghostLoc == "checked_carpet">>chequered<<else>>red<</if>> to take a swipe at your head, befoer neatly stacking themselves back where they came from. <<else>> By the time you are done, the carpets are scattered all over the floor, which has made an awful mess, but achieved nothing else. A little sheepishly, you decide to roll them up again, and put them back where you found them, which is a whole lot of effort and achieves essentially nothing.<</if>> <<clue "carpets">> * [[Back away, sheepishly|carpets]]

A roll-top writing desk is pushed up against the wall, half way between the [[sofa]] and the [[bookcase]]. The segmented lid is rolled back, and the blotting paper writing slope folded down. You make out flashes of polished brass and walnut inlay. The upright sections between the cubby holes and nooks are carved to resemble lion's heads. <<first>>Wait! Was one twisted into a ghastly face? No … it was just a trick of the light.<</first>> There is a [[drawer|desk_drawer]] at the front of the desk, an [[inkwell]] to the right, and a [[letter slot|letter_slot]] above the writing slope. A dip pen has rolled to the bottom of the slope, it doesn't look like it's been used in a while. Beside the inkwell is a [[meershaum pipe|pipe]] and an empty tobacco pouch. Just to the right of the desk, a [[framed portrait|portrait]] hangs at head height on the wall, while an antique whaling [[harpoon]] leans against the side of the desk. <<clue>> * [[Step away from the desk|room_left]]

<<if $ghostLoc !== passage() && passage() != "jumpscare">> <<set _flevel = setup.getFrustrationLevel()>> <<set _upper = setup.eye_positions[_flevel][0]>> <<set _lower = setup.eye_positions[_flevel][1]>> <<set _px = setup.eye_positions[_flevel][2]>> <<set _py = setup.eye_positions[_flevel][3]>> <<set _svg = `<svg style="height: 100px; width: 100px;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 100 100"> <defs> <clipPath id="eye_clip"> <path d="M 0 50 Q 50 ${Math.min(_lower,_upper + 3)} 100 50 Q 50 ${Math.max(_upper,_lower - 3)} 0 50 z" stroke="black" fill="black" stroke-width="1" /> </clipPath> </defs> <path d="M 20 10 Q -20 50 20 90 Q -13 50 20 10 z" fill="var(--gengar-purple)" stroke="transparent" /> <path d="M 80 10 Q 120 50 80 90 Q 113 50 80 10 z" fill="var(--gengar-purple)" stroke="transparent" /> <path d="M 0 50 Q 50 ${_upper} 100 50 Q 50 ${_lower} 0 50 z" stroke="var(--gengar-purple)" fill="var(--gengar-eye)" stroke-width="3" /> <g clip-path="url(#eye_clip)"> <ellipse cx="${_px}" cy="${_py}" rx="10" ry="20" fill="black" /> <ellipse cx="${_px - 2}" cy="${_py - 2}" rx="3" ry="10" fill="white" /> </g> </svg>`>> _svg <</if>>

<<set _flevel = setup.getFrustrationLevel()>> <<if $ghostLoc !== passage()>><div id="time"><<switch _flevel>> <<case 2 3 4>> <<if random(1,8) == 1>><p>//Tick tock. Tick tock//</p><</if>> <<case 5 6 7>> <<if !$chimed>><<set $chimed = true>><p><i class='chime vibrate'>BONG! BONG!</i> The sudden chiming of the clock startles you! Time is running out.</p><</if>> <<case 8 9>> <p>//You feel the cold hand of time on your shoulder//</p> <<case 10 11>> <p>//Your time is very close to running out!//</p> <</switch>></div><</if>>

<<first>>You approach the wardrobe cautiously. If there's one piece of furniture bound to hold a ghost it's surely this. What child doesn't think their wardrobe is haunted? You certainly did.<<finally>>You approach the wardrobe cautiously. Sure, nothing bad happened the last time you looked at it, but that doesn't mean anything.<</first>> <<either>>The door creaks slowly open as you get close. Great.<<or>>The door creaks as you get close, but doesn't open.<</either>> You ease the door open and take a look at what's inside. A [[coat]], a pair of [[slippers]]<<switch $ghostLoc>><<case "urn">>, a [[funeral suit|funeral_suit]]<<case "uniform">>, a [[captain's hat|captain_hat]]<<case "sherlock">>, a [[deerstalker]]<<case "asterix">>, a [[stripy blue pair of pants|pants]]<<case "music_box" "songbook">>, a [[tutu]]<</switch>>, and a [[hatbox]] sitting on a shelf. Sitting on the bottom of the wardrobe is a small closed <<if $inventory.includes("combination")>>[[safe]]<<else>>[[safe|locked_safe]]<</if>>. <<if ['purse','compact','hat','slippers'].includes($ghostLoc)>>//Wait … did the wardrobe shake?//<</if>> <<clue>> * [[Close the wardrobe|room_bottom]]

You carefully pick your way to the bottom left of the room and try the door, naturally it is locked, and you don't have the key. <<if $inventory.includes("key")>>The little one you picked up before is definitely not for this door.<</if>> It's not as if you were going to leave, though; you have a ghost to find! <g>Leaving so soooooon?</g> <q>No</q> You shine your torch around, and spy a [[bin]] next to the [[sofa]]. In the other direction is the side of the [[wardrobe]] where someone has tacked up a [[poster]]. * [[Try the light switch|light]] * [[Head along the left-hand wall (towards the desk)|room_left]] * [[Head along the bottom wall (towards the wardrobe)|room_bottom]]

You take the deerstalker down from the shelf and shake it out, wary, in case the ghost is lurking inside, but if it's in a hat, it's not this hat. You are tempted to put it on your head and proclaim "Elementary, my dear Watson!", but you remember that Holmes never //actually// says that. <<clue>> * [[Put the hat back on the shelf|wardrobe]]

You take down the pair of stripy pants — trousers is too modest a word — and what pants they are! The waistline is positively huge, with pale blue and bright white vertical stripes as broad as your palm. You could probably get into these twice, if there were two of you. Something about the style of this garment rings a bell<<if visited("top_shelf")>>. Didn't you see it on the cover of a book? It's hard to remember — you've seen so much clutter here already.<<else>>, but you can't put your finger on what. Maybe it was in one of the pictures?<</if>> <<either 4>>You consider getting into the trousers, but you are on the clock. You can feel the ghostly presence breathing down your neck.<<or>>You can't resit getting into the trousers. First one leg, then the other — both of which end up down the same leg. It's like being in a tent, and it doesn't help you on your ghost hunt one bit. You need to stop wasting time.<</either>> <<clue>> * [[Put the pants back on the rail|wardrobe]]

You put the torch on the shelf inside the wardrobe so that you can take the hatbox down and consider it. It's round, cardboard, a little browned with age, especially where the paper coating has peeled a little at the seam. On the lid <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "atlas">> a maker's label is insribed "Atlas, hats from around the world". <<case "music_box" "songbook">> where you might have expected a maker's label, some bars of music manuscript have been stuck down with yellowing glue. You can't read the tune, but the name at the top of the manuscript reads "Sweet William's Ghost". You suspect you are being toyed with. <<default>> the words: "Messrs. Pootle and Brown, Hatmakers" is inscribed in a fancy flowing copperplate script. <</switch>> You prise open the box with one hand and see that there is a smart brown [[fedora|hat]] inside, <<if $ghostLoc == "music_box">>surrounded by more sheet music<<else>>nestled in red crepe paper.<</if>> <<clue>> * [[Put the hatbox away|wardrobe]]

You lift the tutu off the rail, wary in case it should come to life and strangle you.<<first>> Sometimes you think you have been at this ghost-hunting game too long.<</first>> It's a pink chifon affair, almost gossamer-light, not practical for dancing at all. It's much more like the sort of thing you'd stick on a fairy ballerina doll than an actual dancer. What's it doing hanging up here? Is there a giant doll somewhere in the room? That's a worrying thought, but you are pretty sure you would have noticed.<<if visited("shelves")>> Then again, you are sure you //did// see a bit of cloth just like this somewhere already.<</if>> <<clue>> * [[Hang the tutu up again|wardrobe]]

You take the Captain's Hat down from the shelf, and turn it over in your hands. The label inside is too worn to read, other than the three letters E-L-K. The hat smells of the sea. The deep ocean sea, storm-wracked, filled with the screams of gulls and the crack of canvas against the gale. //Psychometric residue// … you take note. <<clue>> * [[Put the hat back on the shelf|wardrobe]]

You unhook the funeral suit from the rail. It's heavy, old wool, smelling faintly of mothballs and ash. You could well imagine a ghost possessing a garment like this, but it is quiescent in your hands. You frisk the pockets for possibly posessed items, but only find a funeral card, inscribed: <div class="centered card"> <p>In memory of</p> <p><b>AGATHA DRAKE</b></p> <p>Mssrs. Pootle and Elk<br class="show"> //funeral directors//</p> </div> <<clue>> * [[Hang the suit up again|wardrobe]]

<<here>> You flip open the compact and look at yourself in the little mirror and a pair of red eyes look back! The eyes widen into a purple face and a mocking grin before exploding out of the glass … <<not>> You flip open the compact and are greeted by your own reflection in the tarnished glass. <q>Lord above, when did I start to look so tired!</q> You snap the compact closed again, unwilling to contemplate your own mortality in the close presence of a ghost. <<if $ghostLoc == "safe">>You think this should really have been put in the safe, not left in a coat pocket, but then, this place is chaos.<</if>> <<clue>> * [[Put the whole kit and caboodle back in the wardrobe|wardrobe]] <</here>>

There's a poster on the side of the wardrobe<<if visited("wardrobe")>>, which you didn't notice from the front<</if>>. <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "asterix">> It appears to be a page from the Goscinny and Uderzo classic "The Mansion of the Gods". The faded paper has browned at the edges, but the colours of the characters are still bright in the light of your torch. <<case "shell">> It appears to be a shell identification guide, "Common species of the English Littoral", printed on glossy paper. Thick cracks run across it, as if it was rolled up in a tube for years before being pasted here. <<case "pot">> It appears to be a large-size guide to rattan weaving. Intricate line drawings of wicker patterns, all stars and circles, have been (you think) engraved and then hand tinted, brown on sepia. It's easy to imagine this hanging in a school room a century ago. What it's doing here you can't really imagine. <<case "lighthouse" "uniform">> It appears to be a cutaway diagram of the Bell Rock Lighthouse<<if visited("paper_roll")>> (just like the one you saw in the sea chest — whoever lived here really liked lighthouses)<</if>>, showing the internal rooms, the light, but most of all the bleak desolate mass of stone. You shivver. It's hard to imagine the life of a rock lighthouse keeper. Lonely, dangerous, maddening. You think you'll stick to ghost hunting. <<default>> It appears to be an engineering blueprint for a PKE meter, though you don't have one to compare it too, which is is a pity, because it would make this whole ghost hunt a lot easier. <q>Okay, this //has// to be a joke.</q> <g>snigger</g> //Quite// <</switch>> * [[Go round to the front side of the wardrobe|wardrobe]]

You aren't entirely sure what you are expecting to find under the carpet. You can only lift one corner, since the [[chair]] is sitting on it, and under it is only more carpet — this one wall to wall. Whoever's room this is, they certainly like carpets. The bottom carpet is charcoal grey in the torchlight, the top one is cream, with white tassels knotted around the edge like an oversized doily. <<first>>There's no ghost underneath, though that wasn't entirely implausible, considering the sort of places a ghost can hide.<<finally>>There's still no ghost underneath.<</first>> <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "tintin" "safe">> What there //is//, is a piece of loose paper. It proves to be a page from a Tintin book, showing the blond-haired detective at work, trying to open a safe. <</switch>> You drop the carpet, trying your best to flatten it down with your foot. It doesn't work. <<clue "room_left">> * [[Leave the carpet alone|room_left]] * [[Go back to the middle of the room|room]]

<<here>> You start lifting and dropping small cusions, searching through the cracks between them, and you are rewarded by the glimpse of twitching purple ears, of ghostly red eyes, of a spectral grin … <<not>> You start lifting and dropping small cusions, searching through the cracks between them in case there is a ghost lurking there. If there is, you don't find it. Instead you find embroidered roses, embroidered cats, embroidered foxes<<switch $ghostLoc>><<case "pot" "taj" "atlas">>, embroidered elephants<<case "cabin" "crows_nest" "uniform" "bowsprit">>, embroidered sailing ships<<case "bible">>, embroidered saints<<case "behind_portrait">>, embroidered portraits<<case "harpoon">>, embroidered whales<</switch>>, embroidered everything. The only common theme is the sumpteous border of Indian stars, blossoms, and curlicues that runs around each image, as rich and bright as rangoli spices. <<if $ghostLoc == "inkwell">>You turn over one of the cushions and are surprised to see a line of tiny inky footprints marked across the back of it. They look a little like bird prints, but you are pretty sure you'd have noticed a wild bird, or a birdcage, even with all this clutter.<</if>> <<clue>> * [[Put the cushions back|sofa]] <</here>>

You take down the copy of Tintin from the shelf. It is //Cigars of the Pharaoh//, dated 1955, and the cover shows Tintin sneaking through a hall of mummies. Is one of those wrapped-up dead men your ghost in disguise? You shine your torch directly at the paper in case they move, but nothing stirrs. It's just a book. <<if ['asterix','sherlock','atlas','bible','poirot','songbook'].includes($ghostLoc)>>Or, is it just the //wrong// book?<</if>> <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "asterix">> You always preferred Asterix to Tintin because of the puns, but there's something about the heroic journalist that reminds you a bit of yourself. <<case "sherlock" "poirot">> You liked Tintin as a child, you remember, but those days were long ago. These days your tastes run more to the macabre, to horror, to murder stories. Probably a hazzard of the job. <<case "silver_compact">> You flick idly through the pages in the torchlight, letting the book fall open where it will. On the page Captain Haddock is brandishing an open silver pocket mirror to try and peer round a corner. <<case "taj" "pot" "sofa_cushions_small" "sofa_cushions" "mouse_hole">> You flick idly through the pages in the torchlight, letting the book fall open where it will. On the page a bright orange monoplane crashes disasterously into the Indian jungle, flinging Tintin and Snowy into the leaves of a tropical plant. <</switch>> <<clue>> * [[Read more|read_more]] * [[Put the book back on the shelf|top_shelf]]

You take the copy of Caspar, the Friendly Ghost down from the shelf. It's a classic Harvey annual from the 1950s entitled //Caspar's Hide and Seek//, which is a little on the nose. <g>Hehehehehehe</g> <q>Laugh it up, spook. I'm still going to find you.</q> There's no further reply * [[Read more|read_more]] * [[Put the book back on the shelf|top_shelf]]

You wiggle the copy of //The Big Sleep// out from the packed shelf, and flick the pages. It is a battered paperback, well-loved, the brittle corners creased or broken where they have been folded down. The cover proclaims that it's "25<sup>c</sup> the complete book!" You try to recall the plot, but the only thing that comes to mind is <<switch $ghotLoc>> <<case "hat">> the image of Bogart from the movie, emoting beneath the brim of his snappy fedora. <<case "sofa_cushions" "sofa_cushions_small">> Lauren Bacall reclining seductively on a chaise longue. <<default>> Marlowe kicking the crazy Carmen out of his bed.<</switch>> <<clue>> * [[Read more|read_more_mid]] * [[Put the book back on the shelf|middle_shelf]]

<h1>Found You!</h1> <<fadein 0.5s 1s>> <p>Well done! You found the ghost … this time</p> <<set _score = setup.getScore()>> <p><b>Current Score:</b> You _score.player / Ghost _score.ghost</p> <<link "Play Again">> <<run Engine.restart()>> <</link>> <</fadein>>

<h1>BOO!</h1> <<fadein 0.5s 1s>> <p>Bad luck, the ghost got frustrated and caught you before you caught it … this time</p> <<set _score = setup.getScore()>> <p><b>Current Score:</b> You _score.player / Ghost _score.ghost</p> <<if settings.winloc>><p>The ghost was hidding in the <<=setup.locations[$ghostLoc].name>></p><</if>> <p>Having trouble finding the ghost? You can switch to easier mode in the settings.</p> <<link "Play Again">> <<run Engine.restart()>> <</link>> <</fadein>>

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<<run setup.caught()>>

You can't see everything under the sofa from where you are. The ghost might be hiding in the wallpaper, or possessing a piece of fluff — maybe it was posessing the spider! <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "behind_portrait">> You fish the piece of paper out and hold it to the light. It is a small placard of heavy card, an invitation to an artist's gallery. <div class="centered card"> <p class="large">Galeries Pootle</p> <p>Portraits taken in oils and watercolour. Framing.</p> <p>//no. 23 Radio Tower, Lavender Street//</p> </div> <<case 'sofa_cushions' 'sofa_cushions_small'>> Something hits you, softly, in the back of the head, and you whirl around to see a floating cushion outlined in <g>ghostly purple fire</g>! The cushion takes another swipe at you, and then it, and the sofa, slam themselves firmly back where they belong. <g>Hehehehehehe</g> <<case "pot" "mouse_hole">> You fish the piece of paper out and hold it to the light. It is a sheet roughly torn from a gardening magazine. Various articles are torn off around the edges, but in the centre is an advert for a plant pot supply company, "Pootle and sons". They appear to specialise in what they call 'architectural pots', judging by the advert. <<case "atlas" "songbook" "bible">> You fish the piece of paper out and hold it to the light. It's just a scrap, nibbled around the edge by a mouse, perhaps, but you can make out the sort of close-packed printing typical of try reference works. <<default>> You fish the piece of paper out and hold it to the light. It's just a blank piece of letter paper. <</switch>> * [[Stare in bemusement|sofa]]

You leaf through the book, certain that there must be a key clue amongst the pages that you've missed so far — there doesn't seem to be. //From somewhere, there's a growl …// * [[Put the book back on the shelf|top_shelf]]

You put the torch on the floor and wrap your arms around the plant pot in the dark, doing your best to drag is away from the wall. //Oh! Your back!// You are getting too old for this. You manage to heave the [[aspidistra|plant]] a foot or so away from the wall — that will have to do — and then retreive your torch to peer behind it. For a moment you see nothing, then you spot the dark opening of a [[mouse hole|mouse_hole]] in the skirting. Could the ghost be there? * [[Give up on the plant|room_top]]

<<here>> You get down on your knees and flash the torch into the little hole, and are rewarded with a flash of movement — not a mouse, but the skeleton of a mouse! Pinpoints of purple fire glow balefully in its eyes as it scurries towards you … <<not>> You get down on your knees and flash the torch into the little hole, and are rewarded with … nothing. The hole is as empty as your ghost-hunting score-card. <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "sofa_cushions" "sofa_cushions_small" "sweet_tin" "checked_carpet" "red_carpet">> You peer closer, desperate to validate the effort involved in moving the plant, and manage to spy a few bits of rubbish that have no business being here. A bright yellow piece of cellophane wrapper, a stray penny, and some nibbled off tufts of coloured wool. It doesn't help much. <<case "asterix" "tintin" "sherlock" "atlas" "bible" "songbook">> You peer closer, desperate to validate the effort involved in moving the plant and manage to spy a few scraps of nibbled paper. Evidence, you suppose, of the absent mouse. <</switch>> * [[Get back to your feet|plant]] <</here>>

<<here>> <<first>>You have to stand on tiptoe to heave down the suitcase, which isn't great for your back, but you do it.<</first>> The moment it touches the ground it bursts open of its own accord and a purple spectre flies screaming into your face … <<not>> <<first>>You have to stand on tiptoe to heave down the suitcase, which isn't great for your back, but you do it.<</first>> You flip open the lid, glad to find that it isn't locked, and flash your torch over the contents. <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "purse" "compact" "hat" "slippers" "uniform">> Naturally, it is full of clothing, which is rather what you'd expect, although what's the point of having a wordrobe and a dresser, and then keeping your clothes in a suitcase? <<case "asterix" "tintin" "sherlock" "atlas" "bible">> You are rather expecting it to be full of clothing, but maybe that's all just hanging in the wardrobe. Instead someone has filled it with books. You pick up a couple and point the torch at the covers, they all seem to be golden-age science fiction anthologies: Astounding, Galaxy, Spectrum, and many others, their one lurid covers now faded by time. <<case "checked_carpet" "red_carpet" "black_carpet">> You are rather expecting it to be full of clothing. Instead, you find that it is stuffed with sample carpet squares — the sort of foot by foot tiles that carpet shops love to send you home with. <<default>> Naturally, it is full of clothing, summer dresses, swimming shorts, a crushed straw hat. It looks like the aftermath of a holiday to the seaside, never unpacked. <</switch>> * [[Put the suitcase down again|wardrobe]] <</here>>

<<here>> You take the song book off the shelf and flip it open. Abominable music, a spectral wail like chalk screeching on a blackboard, pours from the open book … <<not>> You fish the song book off the shelf. It's a thin volume of popular tunes written out on manuscript paper. You flip through the pages and <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "pot" "taj" "mouse_hole" "sofa_cushions">> end up on a version of the popular hindi tune "Tum Hi Ho". The subtitle says that this version was arranged for piano by "G Pootle", but gives no further details. <<case "shell" "uniform" "crows_nest" "cabin" "bowsprit">> end up on an arrangement of "Spanish Ladies", the most famous of the classic Royal navy sea shanties. <<case "hat" "red_carpet">> end up on an arrangement of "Singing in the Rain", the classic show tune with Gene Kelly dancing in the rain. What a movie! <<default>> end up on an excerpt from the "Tam o' Shanter Overture", arranged for piano by "G Pootle". <</switch>> <<clue>> * [[Put the book back on the shelf|bottom_shelf]] <</here>>

<<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "asterix" "tintin">> You unroll the tube of paper between your fingers, expecting a treasure map. Instead it's a the corner of a page, seemingly torn from a brightly coloured //bande dessinée//. You hold it up to the light to try and guess the work, but there's nothing distinctive. It could be Asterix, Tintin, Grandeville, or a dozen other books. <<case "atlas" "taj" "sofa_cushions_small" "suitcase">> You unroll the tube of paper between your fingers, expecting a treasure map. Instead it's a beautiful film poster for //Around the World in 80 Days// with David Niven and Shirley MacLaine, showing two men hanging from a collapsing hot air balloon. <<case "purse" "compact" "hat" "slippers" "uniform">> You unroll the tube of paper between your fingers, expecting a treasure map. Instead it's a page torn from a 1890's Seer's Roebuck clothing catalogue advertising "Hard wearing clothing for the Gentleman at play". <<case "cabin" "bowsprit" "crows_nest" "lighthouse">> You unroll the tube of paper between your fingers to reveal a section drawing of the Bell Rock Lighthouse, the first and oldest of the sea-washed lighthouses of Britain, Robert Stevenson's masterpiece. <<default>> You unroll the tube of paper between your fingers to reveal a sea chart labbeled "Elken Abyss". Apart from fathom soundings and latitude lines, there is nothing to indicate where it might be. <</switch>> <<clue>> * [[Put the paper back in the chest|chest]]

<<here>> You plant yourself face-first into the gale and clamber forward to the front of the ship. Here, below your feet, a great carved mermaid stares ever-forwards into the storm. Except, just as you reach the bow, the mermaid rises purple and terrifying over the side of the bowsprit, waving her trident … <<not>> You plant yourself face-first into the gale and clamber forward to the front of the ship. Here, below your feet, a great carved mermaid stares ever-forwards into the storm. The gale drives streaks of lead-white rain into your face, a dark impressionistic spiral of storm clouds is loosly blocked in the distance, the brush-strokes fierce impasto. <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "atlas">> You stare into the storm, searching the darkness for the shape of land, for a coast, for rocks. There's nothing there but the rolling sea. You wish you had a map. <<case "harpoon">> You stare into the storm. There! A rolling back, a gout of spray, a whale breaching! Then it's gone, swallowed by the darkness. <<case "lighthouse">> You stare into the storm. There! A flash of light in the darkness. The sweeping beam of a lighthouse. <<default>> There is nothing to see but the darkness. <</switch>> <<clue>> * [[Leave the prow and climb the mast|crows_nest]] * [[Make your way to the stern cabin|cabin]] * [[Shake off this dream and get out of the painting|sea_paint]] <</here>>

<<set $inventory.push("hat")>>On a whim, you take the peaked cap from the chest and place it on your head. Perhaps it will help? <g>Kikikikikiki</g> //Ghostly laughter issues from … somewhere// * [[Do something else|chest]]

<<here>> You cautiously approach the harpoon, it's just the sort of item that a malicious ghost would love to possess. You aren't exactly surprised when it flickers with <g>purple fire</g> and lifts into the air, but you catch it before it can take a swing at you … <<not>> You cautiously approach the harpoon, it's just the sort of item that a malicious ghost would love to possess, but nothing happens when you grasp it<<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "cabin" "bowsprit" "crows_nest">> except for a sudden psychometric flash of a pitching ship and the bloodthirsty cheer of whalers as their boats go out. You could have done without that. <<case "music_box" "songbook" "shell">> except for a sudden psychometric burst of music, hard to place and gone as quickly as it came. <<default>> . <</switch>> <<clue>> * [[Put the harpoon down again|desk]] <</here>>

You take a look at the little safe. It looks like the sort of thing you might find in a hotel, to keep your passports in. You try the handle, but the safe is locked, so you take out your notebook and try the combination you found in the desk <code>01-23-02-09</code>, it works! <<here>> The safe swings open, and the ghost bursts out if it with a tremendous road, straight into your face … <<not>> The safe swings open, revealing a single shelf with <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "harpoon">> a folded piece of paper on it. You fish it out and unfold it. It's a reciept from an antique shop. <div class="card"> <p class="centered large no-bottom"><b>Pootle & Elk</b></p> <p class="centered small no-top">//antique sellers//</p> <p>Item: Single Flue Whaling Harpoon</p> <p>Price: £25</p> </div> <<case "sphinx">> only a single postcard sitting on it. You shine the torch on it to get a better look. It's a black and white picture of the Sphinx, with a row of sun-hat wearing Victorian tourists perched on mules standing in front of it. Rather an odd thing to put in a safe. <<case "suitcase" "shell" "uniform">> a brown cardboard luggage label attached to a piece of string. You shine the torch on it to get a better look. It reads: <<div class="card centered">> <p>Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company</p> <p>Plymouth to Alexandria</p> </div> <<default>> nothing at all on it. <g>Heehee</g> <</switch>> <<clue>> * [[Close the safe|wardrobe]] <</here>>

<<here>> When you pick up the model lighthouse from the shelf, a wave of cold splashes over you, as if a wave has crashed into you. The lighthouse flashes a siren beam of purple light, and sounds a foghorn that sounds like laughter … <<not>> You pick up the model lighthouse and turn it over in your hands. You are sure that was someone's labour of love, painstakingly reproducing a real edifice. There are little brass railings, hand-painted panes of glass, a tiny door and even tinier windows. Whoever lived here was a collector, a traveller, an eclectic. You would have liked to have met them. <<clue>> * [[Look at something else|shelves]] <</here>>

<<here>> You pick up the heavy pipe and put it to your lips. A purple bubble swells out of the bowl, like a spectral beach ball, then rotates to reveal glowing eyes and a toothsome grin … <<not>> You pick up the heavy pipe and turn it over in your hands. It is a well-used thing, the mouthpiece scratched where someone clenched it between their teeth, the bowl stained where tobacco built up over years of use. It's hard to imagine the person who left purses and chintzy cushions strewn around the room smoking a pipe, but then again they were clearly unusual if their posessions are anything to go by!. <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "hat" "slippers" "sherlock">> You have a sudden psychometric flash of a man in a wide-brimmed hat, pressing tobacco into the pipe before bending to strike a light. In the brief flash, you see a beak-like nose and a high forehead, before the vision is gone. <<case "taj" "inkwell">> You have a sudden psychometric flash of a man seated at a desk, leaning back to puff on the pipe, a pen held loosly in his other hand. He's dressed in tropical clothing, a white jacket and a panama hat. Just for a moment, you feel a flash of heat, then the vision is gone. <</switch>> <<clue>> * [[Examine the rest of the desk|desk]] <</here>>

You flick the light switch up and down. Nothing happens. Not quite sure why you bothered. * [[Look in the bin|bin]] * [[Example the poster on the side of the wardrobe|poster]] * [[Head along the left-hand wall (towards the desk)|room_left]] * [[Head along the bottom wall (towards the wardrobe)|room_bottom]]

You take a closer look at the lamp. The body is <<if ['taj','sofa_cushions_small','pot','mouse_hole'].includes($ghostLoc)>>an indian pattern<<else>>a chinese<</if>> vase, converted to hold a power cord and lightbulb. On top, a stained glass lampshade hangs slightly askew. You flick the switch on the power cord — nothing happens. You hadn't really expected it to. * [[Take a look at the rest of the dresser|dresser]]

<<here>> You stare into the eyes of the little china sphinx, and they stare back! The statue's eyelids close, then open again, to reveal burning red ghost eyes! <g>What's the difference between a raven and a writing desk?</g> <<not>> You pick up the little statue of the sphinx. It is carved from dark grey stone, and sits on a rectangular plinth marked with hieroglyphics. It looks like it might once have been painted — there's a few flecks of colour still on it, but most of it has rubbed off. <<switch $ghostLoc>> <<case "safe" "atlas" "bible" "songbook" "harpoon">> You turn it over. On the bottom is a brown sale label. <div class="card centered"> <p class="centered large no-bottom"><b>Pootle & Sons</b></p> <p class="centered small no-top">//vintage books and antique sellers//</p> </div> <<case "checked_carpet" "red_carpet" "black_carpet">> You turn it over. On the bottom is a rather incongruous label indicating that the statue came from a carpet showroom. Is that //really// the right label? You doubt it. <<case "cabin" "crows_nest" "bowsprit" "behind_portrait">> You turn it over. On the bottom is a rather incongruous label indicating that the statue was bought from a picture framing shop. Is that //really// the right label? You doubt it. <</switch>> <<clue>> * [[Put the statue down|dresser]] <</here>>

Like a nightmarish library vandal, you heave all the books off the middle shelves, scattering them on the floor with an awful clatter. Mystery books flutter to the ground like dying moths … you make quite a mess. When all the books are off the shelves, you spot a single volume wedged between the shelf and the back of the bookcase, where it has apparently slipped. Pulling it out, it proves to be a copy of Agatha Christie's [[Death on the Nile|poirot]]. You fish it out, and heave the rest of the books back on the shelf. * [[Back to the bookcase|bookcase]]

<<here>> You go to open up the book, only to have it fly out of your hand with a deafening screech like a demented steamship whistle. A cone of purple light spills out of the pages, like a deadly searchlight beam … <<not>> You open up the book and flip through the pages. It's a battered copy with a watercolour of the great statues at Abu Simbel displayed on the front. The flyleaf has "7/6" written on the corner in pencil. Familiar names jump out at you: Hercule Poirot, Linnet Doyle, Salome Otterbourne, Colonel Race. <<if $ghostLoc == "sphinx">> As you are flicking through the pages, a bookmark falls from between the pages, though you manage to catch it before it's lost in the gloom. Pointing your torch at it, you see that it shows the Great Sphinx at Giza. <</if>> <<clue>> * [[Read more|read_more_mid]] * [[Put the book back on the shelf|middle_shelf]] <</here>>

You heave all the books of the bottom shelf, stacking them in piles like a demented librarian building a wall out of books. Once you've done it, you wonder exactly why you did. <g>Vandal!</g> The ghost can talk! * [[Put the books back again|bottom_shelf]]

You grab handfuls of the children's books and pull them off the shelves, looking for who knows what in the frantic bobbing of your torchlight. Juggling the torch and the thin books is too much, and half of them tumble to the ground. <<if !visited("pull_middle")>>For a moment, you see the very top of a book stuck between the shelf and the back of the bookcase, but it slips down almost immediately.<<else>>You find nothing.<</if>> //A spectral growl fills the air … the ghost is not happy with you.// * [[Sheepishly put the books back on the shelf|top_shelf]]

You take a look at the little safe. It looks like the sort of thing you might find in a hotel, to keep your passports in. You try the handle, but the safe is locked, and you don't have the combination. * [[Stand up again|wardrobe]]

<div> <label id="setting-label-reset">Reset the game scores</label> <div> <<button "Reset">> <<run setup.clearScore()>> <<replace "#score_reset_msg">>Scores reset<</replace>> <</button>> </div> </div> <div id="score_reset_msg"></div>