Eduardo was in Carl and Beth's utility room, pulling damp clothing out of the washing machine and dumping it into a plastic basket. Beth was there too, sitting on a kitchen stool and leaning heavily on the shelf that ran along the wall.

'…and she said, "Well, that doesn't matter",' Beth was saying. 'That was it. Not anything like "He's not the boss of you" or "He'll have to put up with it" – just that it "doesn't matter".'

'Yeah, well,' said Eduardo, 'that's what she meant – he's not the boss of you and he'll have to put up with it. If you decide to do it, that is.'

'Well, maybe... but the thing is that it does matter. I mean... I love Kylie, I really do...'

Eduardo paused in the act of shaking out a crumpled T-shirt, and turned to look at her. 'But...?'

'It's just that it's such a weird way of putting it,' Beth went on. 'I mean... well, suppose the situation were reversed... and it was you and her. Surely Kylie wouldn't want to do something you don't like, any more than she'd want you to do something she doesn't like.'

'Well...' Eduardo considered. 'Yeah, I guess, but what wouldn't I like? I'm not unreasonable. If I was the kind of guy who said "I don't want you doing that job" or "I don't want you seeing those friends",' (there was a definite Carl impersonation in these words) 'she wouldn't be with me. But anyway, look, didn't you say she was drunk?'

'Yes, she was,' said Beth, 'but that's what made her say exactly what she thought.'

'You shouldn't be worrying about what Kylie thinks,' said Eduardo. 'It only matters what you think.'

Beth sighed. 'I guess so...'

Eduardo paused in the act of picking up his washing basket, and smiled at her. 'Do you wanna tell me what you think?'

'I think it would be much easier if I knew Carl would approve,' said Beth. 'I know it's my decision – I just don't want to have to fight with him about it.'

'So you're definitely gonna cover for Janine?'

'I guess I'll have to decide today, won't I? She said to call this week.'

'You can take a little longer if you really need to,' said Eduardo. 'She has a few months before she wants to stop completely. But you wouldn't have to wait that long to get started – she says she wants to train you up right away and have you cover during antenatal classes or something.'

'Well, it sounds like Janine's expecting me to say yes.'

'She said you sounded keen when she asked you.'

'Oh, really?' said Beth, frowning slightly. 'Well, maybe I'm not as predictable as all that.'

Eduardo looked worried. 'Have I said something wrong?'

'No,' said Beth. 'I'm sorry. It's just kind of annoying, everyone seeming to have an opinion on what should be my decision. Everyone except you, that is.'

'But I do have an opinion,' said Eduardo. 'I'd love it if you came to work with us.'

At this, Beth smiled warmly at him. Eduardo smiled back, hoisted his washing basket onto his hip and prepared to leave the room, squeezing her arm as he passed her. Then suddenly she was bombarded by an image of him kissing her passionately, letting his washing fall to the floor and flop out of the basket in a soggy heap.

A moment later, the image was gone, and Eduardo was standing there as innocent as the day he was born. Beth stared at him, utterly dazed.

'You okay?' he asked.

'Um,' said Beth. 'Yes. Are you, um... are you sure you don't want to use the dryer?'

'I'm sure I don't want Carl on my back about your electric bill.'

'Well, we don't have to tell him.'

'No, really, it's okay,' said Eduardo, beginning to look uncomfortable. 'I don't want to be a bad influence on you.'

So saying, he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, then left the room with a parting smile.

Carl came home in the middle of the morning and found Beth on her hands and knees, scrubbing away at a stain on the living room carpet.

'What's that?' he asked.

'I don't know,' said Beth, in a voice so tight it might be about to snap, 'but it won't – come – out!'

'Maybe you should leave it alone for a while.'

'Why? What would that achieve?'

'It'd give you a chance to relax and cool down. You could do something else instead... maybe put these flowers in water or something.'

'Flowers?' Beth looked up in surprise, and her furious expression melted away. 'Oh, honey, you got me flowers for no reason! Um... it is for no reason, isn't it?'

'Just that I love you,' said Carl.

'Oh, Carl,' said Beth, rising to her feet, her eyes filling with tears. She tore off her rubber gloves, hurled them onto the floor and took the small bunch of flowers from her husband. 'I'm sorry I was short with you just now.'

'That's okay,' said Carl. 'I just wish I knew how to make you happier. I know flowers aren't a quick fix. Maybe if I tried getting the stain out for you...?'

'No, don't do that,' said Beth, making her way into the kitchen with Carl following. She found a vase and filled it with water. 'You have to be an expert to do something like that without wrecking the carpet, and besides, you've been working all night. I'll fix you something to eat.'

'Oh, I can do that,' said Carl.

'Carl,' said Beth, beginning to sound irritated again, 'it's my job to look after this house and this family. Believe me, asking me to not even do that is not going to help.'

'I thought you were bored with housework,' said Carl, also beginning to get irritated.

'I never said that,' said Beth. 'I'm just bored with not having anything else to do.'

'Well, what do you want me to do about that?'

'Nothing! I never said I blamed you! In fact I think I said I didn't blame you!'

'Yeah, that's right,' said Carl. 'You told my brother that, but you don't tell me anything anymore, do you? Because I'm a problem for you too!'

'Don't be stupid,' said Beth. 'Not everything is about you. Anyway, you don't have to worry about it anymore because I've found a solution. You know I went out last week with Kylie and Janine and T'Keyah?'

'Yes.'

'Well, Janine asked me if I wanted to cover her maternity leave.'

'What?' said Carl. 'You mean... you want to be a Ghostbuster?'

'No. Janine's their administrator. I'd just... no, not just... I'd be running the office for a year or so.'

Carl looked at her in amazement, and as he did so an image of Kylie appeared. She was at Beth's shoulder, whispering in her ear and shooting evil looks across the kitchen. Then, a moment later, she was gone. Carl kept on staring.

'I knew you'd be like this!' said Beth, once he'd been silent for some seconds.

'Like what?' said Carl. 'I haven't said anything! Well... not much. But I definitely haven't said I don't want you to do it.'

'It doesn't matter what you want anyway,' said Beth. 'It's my decision.'

'I thought we always made decisions together.'

'Oh, come on! You make all the decisions, and then you refer to yourself as "we" so it sounds like I had some say!'

'That's just not true! I asked your opinion about trying to get my shield, didn't I?'

'You knew I'd support you because I always do! But obviously it doesn't work both ways!'

She glared at her husband until the face she was seeing began to distort before her eyes. He became a huge, red-eyed monster, and his voice sounded deep and savage when he gave his reply: 'I can't seem to do anything right lately!'

Beth was terrified, and she turned back towards the sink with a gasp. Carl, meanwhile, turned and stalked from the room.

Eduardo answered his door looking tired and dishevelled. Carl took a few moments just to glare at him. Then he asked shortly, 'Is she here?'

Eduardo frowned. 'What?'

Carl frowned as well. 'Is Kylie here?'

'No. I'm studying. What's the problem?'

'My problem's with your girlfriend.'

'What problem?'

'I want to know what she's been saying to Beth.'

'So you're having a problem with Beth, not Kylie.'

'I don't understand her attitude,' said Carl. 'She must have picked it up from somewhere, and it can't be my fault this time because I'm really trying!'

'It's not Kylie's fault either,' said Eduardo. 'You can't blame her for your problems.'

'I can if she's causing them!'

'She is not causing them! Look, I don't need this right now. I was really hoping you wouldn't have a problem with Kylie. I mean, at least she's white. You want me to dilute the genes, don't you?'

'You can't seriously be thinking that far ahead,' said Carl.

'None of your business what I'm thinking,' said Eduardo.

'If that's what you're thinking, you were better off with Bess. She was more the marrying kind.'

'Oh, why – because you thought she was just a doormat? Well, you were wrong. Bess has her own mind, Carlos. Just like Kylie. Just like Beth.'

'Kylie's nothing like either of them,' said Carl. 'If you think a woman like her is going to settle down and –'

'What do you mean, "a woman like her"?' Eduardo said sharply.

'I just mean that she's so independent-minded,' said Carl. 'She can't be in an equal relationship.'

'What the hell do you know about equal relationships? Kylie's in one! And if Beth's decided she wants to be in one too, I'd say that's a good thing. Now will you please leave me alone?'

'No,' said Carl, scowling deeply. 'You caused this by bringing that woman into our lives, and now you're going to help me fix it. The problem with you is –'

'Your problem with me is that you can't control me! You never could, and neither could Dad! And now you're freaking out because you can't control Beth either, and you can't control Kevin, and gracias a Dios por eso! Usted no merece tu familia! No se dan cuenta –'

'Whoa, calm down!' said Carl, raising his hands in a halting gesture. 'What's the matter with you? You're not speaking Spanish just to annoy me this time, are you?'

Eduardo closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he said, 'No, I didn't even think about it. Does it really matter more than what I actually said?'

'I don't care what you said.' Carl looked at him uncomfortably. 'Are you okay?'

'I'm just stressed, Carlos.'

'Yes, well, I –'

'Don't say I told you so!'

Carl scowled. 'I wasn't going to. I was just going to say, I guess you're almost done, aren't you?'

'Yeah,' Eduardo said with a sigh. 'Finals week starts on Monday.'

'So... one big push and then it's over, right?'

'Yes, assuming I can get it right first time.'

'What are you going to do after that?'

'Are you about to try to pressure me into becoming a cop again?'

'I just thought I'd mention it,' Carl said airily, 'now you're so close. Think of how proud Dad would be. No, wait... I guess that won't work on you.'

'What the hell's that supposed to mean?' said Eduardo. 'You don't think I'd want him to be proud of me? It doesn't mean I'm gonna do exactly what he would've wanted, but I do think about him, no matter what people might think.'

Carl frowned. 'If by "people" you mean me –'

'No, not you – all the rest of them. You remember, don't you? Even though I was just a kid, you got all the sympathy because you worshipped him and I hated him.'

'I didn't worship him.'

'Well, I didn't hate him.'

After this, the conversation stopped abruptly, and they were silent for a long moment. Then Carl said, 'Maybe Beth was right about us sitting down and talking about our differences.'

'I don't want to do that,' said Eduardo.

'Well, we just made a pretty good start, didn't we?'

'And now we're gonna finish. I've said all I want to, okay?'

'Fine, have it your own way,' said Carl. 'But look, the next time you see Kylie –'

'Don't start that again!' said Eduardo, suddenly flaring up again. 'It's not her fault!'

'You don't know what I'm going to say!'

'Sure I do.'

'No you don't. I was going to ask you to put a word in for me because... well, I don't think she understands the situation with me and Beth, that's all. You're always defending her to me, so why not the other way around?'

'Because there's no need,' said Eduardo. 'She has better things to do than try to sabotage your marriage. And of course I'm gonna defend her to you when you're unreasonable and she's –'

'She's scheming and manipulative and she's got you exactly where she wants you! Why can't you see that?'

'Don't you talk about her like that!' said Eduardo, balling his fists and taking a step outside the doorway. 'You don't know –'

'Whoa!' said Beth, appearing suddenly on the staircase and stepping between them. 'It sounds like you both need to calm down.'

'He needs to calm down,' said Carl.

'I just need to get away from you,' said Eduardo, and turned to go back into his apartment, but Beth took hold of his arm.

'Eduardo, wait,' she said. 'I actually came up here to see you because I think... maybe... we have a ghost.'

A short while later, the four Ghostbusters were in the Riveras' house, waving PKE meters around under Carl's disapproving gaze.

'So,' Garrett said to Beth, 'you're absolutely sure you don't want to tell us what you've been seeing?'

'It's personal,' said Beth.

Garrett turned to Eduardo. 'Can't you talk her into it, Eddie?'

'I already tried,' said Eduardo.

'Well, maybe you could just tell me,' said Kylie, putting her hand on Beth's arm. Carl glared at her, so Eduardo stopped what he was doing and glared at Carl.

'Sorry, Kylie,' said Beth. 'I definitely can't tell you.'

'Oh.' Kylie looked crestfallen and her hand dropped from Beth's arm. 'Well, I guess it doesn't really matter anyway, if we can just get rid of it for you.'

'Looks like it's upstairs, guys,' Roland announced from the hallway, and he began to ascend the staircase. Eduardo followed him, barging violently past Carl as he did so, and getting a vicious shove for his trouble. Carl then followed them, tailgating his brother all the way up the stairs.

Kylie turned to Beth, and asked in a low voice, 'What's with them?'

'I don't know,' said Beth. 'They were fighting about something just before we called you, but I have no idea what it was.'

The two women exchanged a look that clearly expressed what they thought about the situation, then Kylie made her way into the hallway and up the stairs. Beth let out a little sigh, turned round and saw Garrett smiling innocently at her across the room.

'So, Beth,' he said, 'you could just tell me.'

'Tell you?' said Beth. 'Oh, Garrett, I don't think so.'

'Why – because it's personal? That's exactly the kind of thing you can tell somebody you barely know. In a professional capacity, that is.'

'Do you mean it would help you to catch it?'

'Well, it'd sure help if we knew what we were looking for.'

'But you wouldn't see what I've been seeing,' said Beth. 'It shows me... things.'

'What things?' Garrett persisted.

'Well, visions, I suppose... illusions. It makes Carl look... different, and it makes me imagine things that... I definitely don't want, on any level. I mean, I guess it knows we've had... well, problems... but it's gotten its wires crossed somewhere. I love Carl, and I want him, and nobody else!'

'Okay,' Garrett said uncertainly, 'that's great, but getting back to the ghost...'

'That was about the ghost!' said Beth. 'Look, I don't want to go into details, but the truth is that Carl and I have had some issues lately and this thing is putting things in my head that make our problems look worse than they really are. And maybe in Carl's head too – I don't know because he won't tell me. But that's okay, because there's no way I'm telling him what I've been seeing. Oh, Garrett, I wonder what he has seen...'

'Well, don't get upset,' Garrett said hastily, as Beth's voice began to wobble. 'If you say there's no truth in these... "visions"... then there's nothing to worry about, right? It'd be bad news if we came here and found out there wasn't any ghost or demon, but there is, so that's what's responsible.'

'Are you sure about that?' asked Beth.

'What, that it's here? Absolutely.'

'No, I mean are you sure it's responsible? It's not... I don't know... tapping into my subconscious or something?'

'Hey,' said Garrett, 'only you know what's really on your mind. Are you sure it's responsible?'

'Yes,' Beth replied, without hesitation. 'I suppose I can see where it got the idea from, but I definitely don't want... well, I'm not telling you about that.'

'That's too bad,' Garrett said jovially. 'Sounds kind of interesting.'

Just as he finished saying this, there came from above the sound of heavy proton fire, and then a lot of splintering wood. Beth ran out into the hallway, hesitating for only a moment as a ghostly woman in white flew shrieking through the front door. Garrett at once set off after it, the wheels of his chair clattering loudly down the front steps.

'Oh, the stair rail!' Beth fretted, when she saw that the banister on the staircase had been almost totally incinerated.

'Sorry!' Roland called from the top of the stairs. 'My bad!'

Kylie ran down the stairs and out of the front door, just in time to catch Garrett's chair before it went careening into the street.

'Let's be careful, shall we?' she said.

'We don't have time to be careful!' said Garrett. 'She's getting away!'

They hurried after her, and Roland made to follow them, but Carl grabbed his arm halfway down the stairs and said, 'What are you going to do about this damage you've caused?'

'Lay off, Carlos,' said Eduardo, appearing behind Carl, and almost toppling off the banister-less staircase as he tried to get in between his brother and Roland. 'It was just an accident.'

'I've had about enough of you today, Eddie,' said Carl, turning on Eduardo. 'And you call me Carl!'

'Yeah, sometimes I do,' Eduardo muttered.

'What?'

'Nothing. Look, just let go of Roland, will you?'

Carl did let go of Roland, and turned his full attention to Eduardo. 'Your problem is,' he began, but Eduardo decided he didn't want to hear what his problem was, and barged past Carl to make his way down the stairs. Carl then grabbed Eduardo's sleeve to make him stay, and in his effort to pull himself free, Eduardo forgot the state of the banister and fell heavily onto the telephone table in the hallway. It broke, and the telephone ended up splayed across the floor and filling the space with an unnaturally loud dial tone.

Roland gaped in astonishment. Beth gasped, and her hand shot to her mouth. Kylie, having just appeared in the doorway, threw down the steaming ghost trap in her hand and ran to Eduardo's side. He was already pulling himself to his feet, wincing a little as he did so.

Kylie glared up at Carl, who was standing dumbstruck on the staircase, and said shrilly, 'Are you crazy?'

'It was partly my fault, Ky,' Eduardo said, putting an arm around her and shepherding her towards the doorway.

'It was not!' said Kylie, allowing Eduardo to lead her, but shooting foul looks at Carl over her shoulder as they went. 'I always knew he'd really hurt you one of these days!'

'I'm fine – don't worry about it.'

At last, Carl found his voice. 'Eddie...'

'I'm leaving now, Carlos,' said Eduardo.

At this, Carl's frown returned, and he said, 'My name is Carl!'

'And mine's Eduardo!' Eduardo said, turning suddenly, just as he reached the doorway. 'It's not Eddie, and it is definitely not "you" – it's Eduardo!'

With this parting shot, Eduardo turned again and ushered Kylie down the front steps, at the bottom of which Garrett was sitting and looking very awkward.

'So, um...' he said timidly, 'do you have a problem with me calling you –?'

'That's different,' Eduardo said tersely, and limped off towards the Ecto-1.

'He's not fine – I knew it!' said Kylie, trotting anxiously after him, while Roland scurried out of the house with Kylie's dropped ghost trap in his hands.

At the firehouse, Roland and Garrett watched with interest over Egon's shoulder as he tapped away at his computer, bringing up various information on his database. Kylie was pacing back and forth near the far corner of the room, while Eduardo was just coming in with an open ghost trap.

'Well, that's her done and dusted,' he said. 'What was she?'

Before anyone could answer, Kylie suddenly announced, 'I oughtta go over there and the beat the tar out of him with his old stick!'

'His what?' said Garrett.

'His nightstick, of course,' Kylie snapped. 'It's the least he deserves!'

Eduardo crossed the room, put his arms around Kylie and steered her gently into the corner.

'I wish you'd calm down,' he said, in a low voice, while the others politely concentrated on the computer screen.

'I can't,' said Kylie.

'It must've looked worse than it was. I really am okay, and it's not like he pushed me or nothing.'

'I don't care. It happened because he was being too physical with you.'

'Yeah, I know. But I don't want you getting so upset about it.'

'I can't help it,' said Kylie. 'Sweetie, just think how you'd feel if it had been me.'

Eduardo did think for a moment. Then he said, 'I'd feel like I wanted to punch his lights out.'

'Do you think you could?'

'No, not really.'

'Well, I know I couldn't. So I'll have to use his nightstick, won't I?'

'You'll have to find it first,' Eduardo said, giving her a squeeze and kissing the top of her head.

From across the room, Garrett announced suddenly, 'That's her.' Eduardo and Kylie broke their embrace and went to look at the image on Egon's computer screen.

'This is the image of a ghost who's been said to haunt various locations all over the country,' said Egon. 'Of course, there's no guarantee that every sighting has been of the same entity, but it's likely that at least some of them were. It says here that her history has been traced back to a woman who lived and died in Indianapolis in the mid-Nineteenth Century.'

'Traced back by who?' asked Roland.

'Some kind of local historian,' said Egon. 'His methods probably weren't very scientific.'

'Yeah, well,' said Eduardo, 'they'll do for me. What's her story?'

'Her ghost is said to be a vengeful spirit who comes between married couples and drives them to break their union,' Egon told him. 'When she was a woman living in Indianapolis, she died unhappy in a loveless marriage to someone who was held in high esteem and heir to a small fortune. Well, I suppose the theory fits the facts, as far as we can tell.'

'So,' said Garrett, 'she wasn't happy in her marriage, and now she goes around wrecking everybody else's?'

'Not anymore,' said Eduardo.

'What about your brother's marriage?' asked Roland. 'How much damage has this ghost actually done?'

'The ghost hasn't caused the damage,' said Kylie.

'We already know what you think about Carl, Kylie,' said Garrett. 'You don't need to tell us again.'

Kylie scowled at him. 'I wasn't going to. I'm just saying, marriages don't break from the outside.'

'Well, that's deep,' said Garrett.

'It's just the truth,' said Kylie. 'If a marriage is strong, it can survive ghosts or Classmates-dot-com or whatever. And if it's not strong enough to survive those things, the couple shouldn't be staying together and making each other miserable.'

'Whoa,' said Roland. 'That's pretty cynical, Kylie.'

'It is not,' said Kylie. 'Look, I know TV doesn't like divorce, but did you ever ask someone who's actually experienced it? My parents split up, don't forget, and we were all a lot happier after they did.'

'You're not thinking of letting her out, are you?' said Garrett.

Kylie scowled at him. 'Are you being serious?'

'Well,' said Garrett, 'I don't know... kind of half, I guess. I mean you'd obviously like to hurt Carl right now, and getting his wife to leave him would be a pretty effective method, don't you think?'

'You haven't been listening, have you?' said Kylie. 'I can't get Beth to leave him, and neither can... what's her name, Egon?'

'Helen Huntingdon,' said Egon.

'Neither can Helen Huntingdon,' Kylie went on. 'Only Beth can make Beth leave, if that's what she wants to do, but I don't think it is. And yes, that makes her insane as far as I'm concerned, but that's beside the point. Or maybe I'm wrong – what the hell do I know about their stupid marriage? I don't understand it, that's for damn sure. I'm going for a walk.'

Having made this sudden announcement, Kylie just as suddenly left the room. Garrett, Roland and Eduardo watched her go with looks of concern.

'Should one of us go after her?' asked Roland.

'I don't think so,' said Eduardo.

'I hope she's not going to do anything rash,' said Garrett.

'Like what?' asked Roland.

'Well,' said Garrett, 'like... I don't know... steal Carl's gun and shoot him in the face or something.'

'I don't think Kylie would do anything like that,' said Egon, as he logged out of his database, 'no matter how much she might feel like it. I must say, I'd rather that Carl and Beth had told you about what they saw – or something more specific about it, at least. I don't like missing information.'

'Yeah, well, it's personal,' said Eduardo. 'I wouldn't have told us either.'