I climb off my bike and slowly walk into the crowd of spirits, trying to look unafraid. Germ follows my lead. The crowd mostly parts for us. Some ghosts we walk through and others move aside. I hold my breath as we make our way in through the decrepit double doors.

The hospital is just as crowded inside. Germ and I thread our way down the halls, looking at every face to see if it’s the right one, but no luck.

It’s not until we get to the courtyard at the back of the building that we find him. He’s alone, floating back and forth outside the windows of the maternity ward, muttering to himself.

Of course, I think. Of course he wants to be near the mothers and babies.

For a moment, we watch him through the window, scared to approach.

But then the Murderer turns, and his eyes slide to ours through the glass. He stops floating, and I go completely still with fear. His eyes flame up like coals as they lock on mine.

“I think I’m going to have to do the talking,” I say to Germ.

Germ looks over at me and says flatly, almost in despair, “Well, then this will go well.”

I lower my hands to grip the door, and step out into the courtyard. Germ follows.

The Murderer grins as we approach. His teeth glinting, he reminds me of a cat showing its jaws to a mouse before eating it.

I take a few steps closer, nonetheless. Behind me, Germ’s breath is quick and nervous.

“Terrible night to be out,” he says, looking up at the cloudy sky and smiling. “What brings you?”

I take a deep breath and blurt it out. “Helen Bixby,” I say.

At the name, the smile slides off the Murderer’s face. If he hated me before, his expression now holds something worse. Pure unadulterated rage.

I force my voice to leave my throat, to keep going.

“I think you have unfinished business, Mr. Thomas. And I’m hoping I can help you finish it.”

He blinks at me, confusion for a moment dimming the coals of his eyes. I’ve caught his attention.

“I know you didn’t help when you should have, and because of that, a woman and her baby died. I know that’s why they hanged you.”

He frowns now, rubbing his hands together agitatedly. Behind me, something falls. A bust from the hospital roof.

Germ jumps closer beside me, but for some reason I don’t budge. I am too close to everything to be turned away. My heart pounds in my chest. I have to convince him. Convincing him is everything.

“I think once, a long time ago,” I say, “you didn’t help someone, and it cost everything. And I think that now… you have a chance to help me, by telling me a secret. And maybe it will set you free.”