‘But you found the body in the river! Touched him …’ A tremor runs through her as she thinks of the cold, clammy skin.

‘I don’t know what you’re getting so upset about. You were here, you didn’t see nothing.’

‘Yes I did!’ Pearl insists. Tea slops from her cup onto her shawl. ‘I kept seeing water in my head … And then the fishbowl exploded … Don’t you follow? I predicted the death. All I could think about was water, and then you found a drowned man.’

Myrtle shrugs and takes a vicious bite of toast.

‘You don’t think that’s weird?’ Pearl prompts.

‘You’re a spirit medium, ain’t you? ’Course you’re going to see things. And you need to deal with them better than you did that one in the cabinet, if we’re going to make any money out of you.’ Pearl pouts at her. ‘Well, what did you expect when you got the Power?’

Some acknowledgement, maybe, of how frightening it is. A sense of wonder, at the very least. But Myrtle’s seen it all before. ‘I didn’t think it would be … like this,’ Pearl says lamely.

She wanted to see Mother, to hear her voice for the first time. And maybe she’d hoped the ghosts would be like the friends she never had, making the house less lonely when Myrtle’s out and about on her errands.

‘It’s different for everyone,’ Myrtle reasons. ‘You’ll figure it out. Maybe we’ll try and contact the drowned man at our next séance. See if he’s all right over there. Would that make you feel better?’

It really wouldn’t, but Pearl finds herself nodding. She drinks the tea, hoping it might dilute the power that’s inside her body.

‘Myrtle?’

‘What?’

Pearl looks down at her cup. ‘D’you think it was the same killer? Who murdered Mr Boyle then drowned that man? Because a sailor would’ve been able to swim …’

‘Might’ve been.’ Myrtle considers. ‘Or maybe the sailor was just drunk and hit his head before he fell in the river. You can ask him, can’t you?’

‘But Myrtle …’ Pearl’s feet are growing numb beneath her. She adjusts her position in the chair. ‘What if I’m … seeing him? The murderer? Seeing the ways he’s going to kill people. First it was water, when I was so thirsty, and now I’m cold. What if he’s going to freeze someone to death next?’

Myrtle rolls her eyes. ‘Don’t be daft. You’re just poorly.’

But Pearl can’t stop talking now; she’s opened the dam and her thoughts are spilling from her. ‘Maybe that’s it. That’s why I’ve got this Gift, and we can use it, use it to catch him—’

‘Enough!’