“This is a building with bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, and dining rooms,” Matt said. “If that’s your definition of a house, then Orsk is a house. ‘A Home for the Everyone.’ People come here all day long just to hang out, eat meatballs, leave their kids in Playland, browse, have coffee. You said it yourself: this place was your home.”

“I guess so,” Carl said. “Huh. Yeah, when you put it like that. This place does get pretty spooky after hours. You could have a séance in here.”

He laughed to himself but stopped when he noticed Trinity staring at him. Carl grew uncomfortable as Trinity kept staring. He shifted around a little, but she was boring into him with her eyes.

“What’d I say?” he asked. “I wasn’t making fun of you or nothing. Honest.”

“You’re a genius,” Trinity said. “You. Are. A. Genius!”

“I am?” Carl said.

“Matt,” Trinity said. “Get the gear! We’ll have a séance!”

“Viewers love séances,” Matt said, warming up to the idea. “And they come across great on camera.”

“We’ll grab candles from Home Decorations,” Trinity said. “And use the Frånjk for the table. The one with the black finish. It looks like the hood of a hearse.”

“We’ll have to hurry before Basil comes back,” Matt said.

“I don’t think that’s happening anytime soon,” Amy said. “But you still have one major problem. Isn’t the store too bright for a séance?”

Matt looked down at his wristwatch and at that moment nearly all of the store’s six hundred eighty fill lights clicked off at once, plunging the Showroom into a twilight gloom. A thousand shadows leapt from their hiding places. The furniture suddenly seemed strange, oversized, bigger than it ought to be. Ruth Anne let out a little yelp.

“Happens automatically,” Matt said. “Every night at 2 a.m.”

“Perfect timing,” Trinity said, grinning at the others. “Now, who’s in?”

08: Frånjk

After they convinced Ruth Anne that what they were doing was not “satanic” in any way, shape, or form, the next big objection came from Amy.

“I don’t want to hold hands,” she said.

“Trust me,” Matt said. “I have a way to complete the circle without holding hands.”

The final obstacle was convincing Carl to participate. Matt explained that three participants would not offer enough production value and that four people would look too symmetrical on camera. “The best-looking séances always have five people,” he said. “It’s five or nothing.”

“It feels a little spooky,” Carl said. “But I guess it’d be rude not to.”