‘There were other disturbing incidents and, as I’ve said, Sir Henry reported the matter to the London Psychical Research Society. They sent three of their officials – two men and a woman – to investigate. They agreed to stay for two weeks in Ardvreck House as the guests of Sir Henry. The visit was in July. Sir Henry’s eldest son Alexander was a student at Edinburgh University at the time. With all the arrogance of youth he believed that there was nothing paranormal in it, that someone was playing tricks, that he and some of his university friends could be more successful than these spook-catchers. And so during part of July nineteen-fourteen there were four sets of interested people in this house – the family, the servants, the psychical researchers and Alexander Fraser’s three university undergraduate friends. I have no doubt they got on each other’s nerves.

‘For almost a week, as often happens in such cases, the influx of newcomers seems to have inhibited phenomena.’ Meredith smiled. ‘Parapsychologists are well-used to this. There’s an old adage “A watched kettle never boils”. Well, the analogous saying in psychical research is “A watched ghost never walks”.

‘As might be expected, the undergraduates got bored with their unproductive vigil. They were also contemptuous of the methods of the visitors from London, measuring, sealing rooms with blobs of red wax, drawing chalk lines round the objects alleged to have moved, and so on. The psychical researchers also seemed unappreciative of the students’ co-operation. In particular the woman, Miss Diana Spencer-Brown, riled them. Going by photographs of the time, she would be about thirty years of age, not unattractive, not unintelligent if one reads the reports she compiled or her other literary works. She was, however, a snob, an inveterate name-dropper and would undoubtedly have tried to impress the household whenever possible with her connections to various English titled families.

‘And so two at least of the students concocted a practical joke. Late one night, when it was the turn of Miss Spencer-Brown and Mark Tarrant (one of the students) to be on watch in the gallery, Bernard Gray, the other student, hid upstairs in one of the attic rooms which was alleged to be the place where a number of nasty things had occurred. He had supplied himself with a sheet or something of the sort. The students’ brilliant plan was that Tarrant should pretend to hear raps from upstairs. He and Miss Spencer-Brown would then ascend the stairs to the attic room to investigate, whereupon Gray would make noises. The only light would be the oil-lamp Tarrant was holding. When they opened the door, Gray, suitably enveloped in his white sheet, would rear up making spectral sounds, waving his arms, before dashing towards and past Miss Spencer-Brown. Doubtless she would be petrified, giving Gray time to get rid of his ghostly apparel and reach his bedroom.’

Meredith’s fleshy face registered anger and his voice hardened.