Mr Udnam asks Agnes but she says nothing. His answer is spelled out on the board.

Y

E

S

– Dear spirits, this is Agnes, I want to thank you for coming. How many are there of you?

F

I

V

E

– Is there anyone else?

Y

E

S

– Do you need to ask something?

Y

E

S

Agnes opens her eyes and looks straight at him.

– I have some people here who want to speak to you, Mr Udnam.

– I can’t.

– If you don’t speak to them through me, they will come straight for you. It will be less pleasant for you. There are five red-haired sisters in the room.

– Jesus Christ.

The board rattles violently.

– There are others on their way too, I can feel a few more. They know you are here.

Pipes clang low down in the belly of the building.

Mr Udnam begins to pray as the front door locks and bolts itself.

– The sisters are all barefoot. The youngest is six years old, the next is twelve years old, the third is nineteen years, as are the fourth and fifth. Let me listen…

The planchette spins.

– They’re looking fir their eldest sister and she is twenty-one years old.

– Elise?

– Yes.

– I need to sit down, he says.

Archie pulls out a chair for Mr Udnam.

– The sisters say there was a fire, Mr Udnam.

– Liars!

The coal embers in the open fire glow bright red.

– They say you sent someone to light a fire at their home to stop them from finding out what happened to your fiancée – their eldest sister, Elise?

– They’re fantasists!

– I don’t believe they are, Mr Udnam.

– Delusional!

– They say you ken fine well exactly what you did to them.

– Wicked liars!

– If you don’t tell them exactly what happened to Elise, they won’t let ye leave here today!

Mr Udnam claws at his shirt like he can’t breathe.

The two women at the table are in a deep, deep trance.

Agnes’s eyes are clear as a Highland seashore.

She nods her head slightly as one by one five sisters appear in spirit and through the depth of his guilt Mr Udnam is able to see them too.

They are all barefoot, in cotton nightdresses, with identical long curly red hair. They hold hands and stand in a row. The youngest steps forward and scuffs her foot. She raises her arm and points at Mr Udnam – she is going to be the first to speak.

1963

Flat 6F6

William Burroughs (49) the basement