‘Do you believe ghosts exist?’ Jason asked him.

‘Well, to be honest, that’s a bit like asking me if I believe air or water exist. I began life a physicist, long before I became ordained. One of the basic laws of physics is that matter changes but can never be eradicated. Whatever was, always will be. We humans are, among all else, balls of energy. If you were to stab me to death right now – please don’t – my energy would dissipate into the surroundings. Just like videotape, the ground beneath us and the walls and ceiling around us are full of carbon and other conductors of electricity. We need to separate, always, the physics – the physical – from the spiritual. This is one of the challenges the modern Church needs to address.’

‘And the Harley-Davidson is part of this?’ Jason said.

Robert Parnassus looked coy. ‘We all have to have our toys, don’t we?’

‘We do.’

The Bishop became serious. ‘So, tell me, how do you feel I can help? Or perhaps I should ask what help you would like from me?’

‘What I’ve learned from talking to locals, in the past few days since moving into our house, is that the site on which the development’s been built has a history of tragedy. I’ve had hints that it is cursed – not something I’d ever normally have believed.’

‘And you think this unfortunate fellow killed on the construction site, right in front of your eyes, is part of that – ah – curse?’

‘Honestly? I don’t know what to think. What I do know is that my wife and I are becoming increasingly scared. I know moving house is meant to be a far more traumatic experience than people realize.’ He shrugged.

‘That is very true. But what you’ve told me seems to go beyond that. Most intriguing – but perhaps that’s not the right word. I do have an interest in all areas of the paranormal, with my other hat on, as Diocesan Minister of Deliverance.’

‘Is that a more socially acceptable term than exorcist?’ Jason asked.

‘Well, to be honest, it’s a bit of a faff lugging around a bell, book and candle on a Harley.’ The Bishop smiled. ‘So, I prefer to look for the logical explanations for what appear to be hauntings, or instances of demonic possession, or disturbances such as apparent poltergeist activity.’ He sipped his coffee.

Jason drank some, too. ‘What would your initial logical explanation be for our apparent situation. A ghost that both my wife and I see – and one only I have seen?’

Absently fiddling with his ring, Parnassus said, ‘Well, where I always prefer to start is not by looking at the site where the haunting has occurred, but looking inside the minds of those who have seen it.’

‘Is that because Emily and I have both seen ghosts, so we must be crazy?’

Parnassus smiled. ‘Not at all, but we always need to remember the complexities of the human mind. Right back in the sixteenth century the Catholic Church was aware of this. The Vatican issued an edict that no exorcism was to be carried out on someone within two years of a bereavement.’