'Where the hell am I?' Peter mumbled into his pillow, as he was pulled out of a deep sleep by the sound of a telephone ringing.

'Firehouse,' Ray's voice came to him through the semi-darkness. Then, as the phone stopped ringing, 'Hello, Ghostbusters... Aha... Yes, I understand. We'll be there as soon as we can, ma'am.'

'Why is it the eighties?' Peter said in slurring tones, as he dragged himself into a sitting position.

'Oh, wake up, Peter!' said Ray, turning on the light and beginning to get dressed.

'Right, right, right,' said Peter, remembering with a wave of satisfaction that he and Ray were there because Egon and Janine were off enjoying his wedding present of a honeymoon in Tahiti. 'I'll call the kids, shall I?'

'I don't think we need to bother them,' said Ray.

Peter frowned at him. 'You mean... you and me go? Just the two of us?' He didn't sound too pleased with the idea, but all the same, he got out of bed and started getting dressed.

'It sounds like a simple one. This ghost isn't even really doing anything, the woman said.'

'Don't speak too soon. It might suddenly decide to turn into a fire-breathing dragon or something the second we show up.'

'We'll be all right,' Ray said bracingly.

'You're probably right,' said Peter, suddenly sounding much more amenable as they made their way out of the room at a leisurely pace, both having taken the undramatic nature of the call as an excuse to go easy on themselves. 'I just remembered: we especially don't want to disturb Eduardo and Kylie tonight, do we?'

'It's practically morning.'

'That's the part of my sentence you pick up on?'

'There's nothing else to say about it,' said Ray and, to emphasise the point, he struck out ahead as they descended the stairs to the lobby.

Their client was a softly-spoken woman in a Brooklyn apartment block that looked rather run-down. As she led Peter and Ray through the lobby and towards the staircase, she told them, 'I wasn't sure whether to call you or not, to be truthful. If anything, she seems like she needs help.'

'What makes you say that, Miss Miles?' asked Ray.

'Just her body language,' said Miss Miles. 'I'm no expert, of course – I could be wrong. But she really isn't doing any harm. Do you dispose of them humanely? That's what I've heard.'

'Oh, we're very humane – don't you worry,' said Peter, thinking he had better be the one to answer that question, as Ray might not like to mislead this woman; none of the Ghostbusters had failed to notice that the proton streams were painful.

'We help them to cross over if we can,' said Ray. 'But that's rare. It just isn't obvious what they need for that, most of the time, so I can't make any promises except that we'll do our best. Now, you said you own the building? For how long?'

'Since my father died in 'eighty-one,' said Miss Miles. 'I've lived here for forty-two years.'

'Has there ever been any kind of supernatural disturbance before?' Ray asked. 'Or at least potentially supernatural?'

She shook her head. 'No, not that I ever noticed. But it's certainly happening this morning; my tenants have been calling me about it since four o'clock. This is where the last call came from,' and she came to a halt, indicating a door marked 3C.

'She's not around here anymore,' said Ray, consulting his PKE meter. 'But don't worry, Miss Miles, we'll find her.'

'Then I'd best leave you to it. I'll be down in 1A if you need me. And if you don't need me, will you come and tell me how it went?'

'You bet,' said Ray. 'We'll see you soon.'

Miss Miles turned and made her way back down the stairs; Peter and Ray, after consulting their PKE meters, went up. On each floor, they attracted the attention of one or two residents who came out into the hallways in their night attire; some of the less sleepy-looking ones were able to give eyewitness accounts of the ghost's activities.

'Searching,' Ray surmised, once they were on the top floor and hot on her trail. 'That's what they all say. She seems like she's looking for something.'

'Well, I don't know what she expects to find here,' said Peter, looking around at the peeling wallpaper and threadbare carpet. 'And that woman really wants us to find out, doesn't she? Can we just put this chick in a trap and say we helped her to cross over?'

'Peter!'

'If things don't get any clearer, that is. I mean, we can try...'

'We haven't even seen her yet,' Ray pointed out. Then, 'Oh – scratch that,' as the ghost materialised through a wall and floated past them down the corridor. She was a plump, honey-skinned woman wearing a pastel orange dress, a blue Alice band and a gold cuff bracelet on each wrist. She wandered between Peter and Ray, turning her face this way and that with an impatient look, her intangible form lightly brushing both of them and sending a chill through their bodies.

'Brr!' Peter remarked, taking a step back. Then, as the ghost continued off down the corridor, he turned to Ray and said, 'So what do we do?'

'Well...'

'Get her?' He put on a facetious grin and raised his proton gun.

'No,' said Ray. Then he turned and made his way after the ghost, calling, 'Excuse me! Ma'am?'

The ghost took absolutely no notice.

'She's heading downstairs,' said Peter.

'It seems like she started downstairs, and then systematically made her way up through all the floors,' said Ray. 'If she hasn't found what she's after, will she stay in the building, or go looking elsewhere?'

'Pass,' said Peter. 'We'd better follow her,' and he began to do so.

'Hey!' Ray called to the ghost, as he fell into step beside Peter. 'Don't be afraid! We just want to talk to you!'

He hadn't really expected the ghost to take any more notice of him this time than the last, and nor had Peter; they were both surprised when she stopped, turned and looked at them with wide, questioning eyes.

'It's okay,' Ray said reassuringly.

'Gaspar?' said the woman.

They both looked at her blankly. Then they looked blankly at each other. When they turned back to face the ghost, she was wandering off again.

'Let's put her in the trap,' said Peter. 'We don't have to put her in the containment unit, if you really want to take Miss Miles at her word. We can put her in that containment field device of Egon's and try to talk to her there.'

'I guess...' said Ray, not sounding completely sure, but Peter took the tentative phrase as a signal to go trotting after the ghost with his proton gun at the ready.

'You don't have to shoot her!' Ray called after him, feeling that he really did want to take Miss Miles at her word. 'Just use the trap!'

'I'll do what I can, okay?' Peter called back to him, attracting the attention of the ghost, who turned on the stairway and looked up to see him getting ready with the equipment. Her eyes went wide; she squealed in fright, and then shot off at lightning speed, leaving behind her a trail of vapour.

'Damn it!' said Peter.

'We'd better get after her,' said Ray, overtaking him and running after the ghost as fast as he could.

They followed her to the basement, then stood out of breath at the top of the stairs while they watched their quarry streak into a pile of junk – old furniture, packing crates and all sorts of miscellaneous objects – and disappear.

'We should've called at least one of those kids,' panted Peter. 'Not Kylie or Eduardo. Roland. For the stairs.'

'She's gone,' said Ray.

'Well, she's only in that pile of crap over there – I'm sure we can find her.'

They caught their breath quickly enough, as it had only been a downhill chase, and followed the ghost to her pile of junk. They looked helplessly at each other for a moment, then began sorting through the stuff, turning over chairs and picking up perishable objects that very nearly turned to dust in their hands.

'I hope no one wants this stuff,' said Ray.

'If you wanted something,' said Peter, 'would you put it down here?'

'Ah!' said Ray, consulting his PKE meter as he grubbed about in the rubbish. 'I think I've got something.' From between an old trench coat and a woodworm-ravaged hat stand, he pulled out a stone tablet. 'I... think she's inside this.'

'Okay,' said Peter, 'and what's that?'

'Some kind of tablet. There's an inscription on it – let's get upstairs so we can read it.'

'Roland could've probably read it in the light down here. They can read practically in the dark, these kids, can't they?'

'I guess she must be from some kind of ancient culture,' said Ray, 'if she's attached to this thing. Babylonian, Sumerian, Mesopotamian...'

'Oh, great,' said Peter. 'She'll have to wait for Egon to get back if she really wants our help.'

'There's always a chance I'll be able to make something of it,' said Ray. 'Or Kylie might've picked something up... I don't think it's really any of the others' kind of thing. Anyway, the first stage is to get it upstairs and take a look.'

They made their way back up to the ground floor, Ray carrying the tablet in one hand. Peter went and knocked on the door marked 1A, and Miss Miles answered it.

'She hasn't quite crossed over yet, ma'am,' Peter told her. 'She's gone inside this stone thing we found in your basement. Do you recognise it?'

Ray held the tablet up; Miss Miles looked at it, then shook her head. 'There's all kinds of junk down there. I'll ask my tenants if they know anything about it, but I don't recall seeing it before.'

'Would you mind if we took it with us?' asked Ray. 'It'd get the ghost out of your hair.'

'And into ours,' Peter added. 'Once we've dealt with her, we can bring the tablet back if someone wants it.'

'Of course you can take it,' said Miss Miles. 'If anyone here can tell me anything about it, I'll call and let you know. Thank you so much for all your help, gentlemen.'

Once Peter and Ray were out on the street, they remarked on what a nice woman she was, then had a good look at the tablet in the daylight.

'Oh,' said Peter, 'a picture of our ghost. I didn't think these kinds of things came with pictures.'

'They don't, usually.' Ray frowned at the inscription beneath the stone etching of the woman's face. 'This doesn't look like any ancient language I've ever seen. It's more like Latin.'

'Well, that's ancient, isn't it?'

'Not as ancient as some. Anyway, this isn't Latin – it just reminds me of it.'

'What about her clothes?' asked Peter. 'Do they tell us anything?'

Ray shook his head. 'They looked pretty nondescript to me. They don't go with this language, which doesn't go with this tablet, and maybe neither of them goes with her!'

'I guess that's her name.' Peter pointed to the inscription directly underneath the portrait. 'Lucía Gaspar.'

'Gaspar... that's the name she said when we tried to talk to her. Sounds European. Scandinavian, maybe? And what about this?' He pointed to the numeral 34 inscribed underneath the name. 'Thirty-four what?'

'Well,' said Peter, 'let's not stand here and speculate. We'd better get the thing back to the firehouse before Lucía decides to come out and continue her search.'

It was hours later when Roland arrived at the firehouse to a hug from Slimer. He endured it for a few seconds, then eased his way out of it, softening the gesture with a friendly, 'Hi, Slimer.'

'He's weirdly affectionate this morning,' said Garrett, who was by his open locker, wiping green slime out of his hair with a gym towel. 'More than usual, I mean.'

'He's probably missing Egon,' said Roland. 'Right, Slimer?'

'Aha,' Slimer agreed, nodding morosely.

'Well,' Roland said bracingly, 'he'll be back before you know it. And in the meantime, you get Peter and Ray to keep you company.'

'Yeah!' said Slimer, his whole demeanour changing as he was reminded of this fact.

'Looks like they've kept Janine's desk tidy up to now, anyway,' said Roland, as he went over to the admin area. He pushed shut a filing drawer that had been left slightly open, then turned back to the desk, where his eye fell upon the stone tablet from Brooklyn. 'What's this?'

'What's what?' asked Garrett, bundling his towel into a gym bag.

'This stone thing on the desk.'

'I don't know. Maybe nothing.'

'Ray and Peter brought it,' Slimer said helpfully.

'Yeah?' said Roland. 'They've been out this morning?'

'Aha,' said Slimer.

Garrett frowned at this. 'Why didn't they call us?'

'I don't know,' Slimer said with a shrug.

'They must not have thought they needed us,' said Roland, 'so they let us sleep. It sounds like they got back okay, anyway.'

'Yeah,' Slimer agreed, just as the front door opened again; this at once diverted his attention, and he shot off towards whoever was entering the building with arms outstretched.

'No!' Eduardo said firmly. This halted Slimer, who hovered with shoulders slumped and eyes downcast as Eduardo skirted around him and made for the stairs.

'Hey, Slimer,' said Kylie. 'I'm here too. But make it a quick one, okay?'

Slimer cheered up at once, turned and wrapped his arms around Kylie's head.

'From the sublime to the ridiculous, huh?' said Garrett.

Eduardo, about to crest the top of the stairs, ignored this remark. Kylie gently pushed Slimer away and turned to Garrett with a look of mistrust.

'Want a towel?' he asked, producing another one from his locker and giving Kylie what he hoped was an inviting smile.

'Thanks.' She walked tentatively over to him and took the proffered item.

'I don't have another one for you, Rolster,' said Garrett. 'Sorry. I guess I should've offered you that one first, really.'

'That's okay, Gar,' said Roland.

'Why didn't you?' asked Kylie, as she wiped herself clean.

'I don't know,' said Garrett. 'Why do you sound so suspicious? You think I have some kind of ulterior motive?'

'In offering me a towel?' Kylie looked at the now distinctly slimy object in her hands. 'Maybe.'

'You're waiting for the punchline, aren't you?'

'Yes. What is it, please?'

'I don't have one.'

'You don't?'

'Not right now,' said Garrett. 'I can probably think of some jokes later. About that "stone thing on the desk", maybe, if it's going to come to anything. But, since it's what we're all thinking, when it comes to what you got up to with our esteemed colleague yesterday...'

Roland shot him a warning look across the room.

Kylie narrowed her eyes. 'Yes...?'

'I'm happy for you, Ky.'

Suddenly, Kylie was wreathed in smiles; she leaned over to give Garrett a crushing hug, ruffled his hair, then tossed the slimy towel onto his lap before opening up her own locker. Garrett picked the towel up with a look of mild distaste, and dabbed tentatively at his jeans with a dry corner.

'Good morning, Eduardo,' Ray said with a cheery smile, as he carried two empty coffee mugs towards the kitchen.

'Hi,' said Eduardo, sounding neither cheery nor dismal.

'Are the others all here too?' asked Ray.

'Yeah.'

'Great. You can hear all about our call from earlier.'

'Okay, sure.'

Still smiling, Ray carried on towards the kitchen. Eduardo went and slumped down on the couch beside Peter, saying, 'He's chipper in the mornings, isn't he?'

'We've been up since five thirty,' said Peter.

'Ugh. Why?'

'We got a call... didn't think there was any need to get you guys out of bed too.'

'Well, thanks,' said Eduardo. 'I appreciate that.'

Peter smirked. 'I'll bet you do.'

'I'm sure we all do. Except maybe Kylie.' As soon as he said this, Eduardo wished he hadn't, and forestalled Peter's inevitable question with, 'I mean if it was anything we haven't seen before. She likes to get a look at all the different ghosts and stuff.'

'She wouldn't have appreciated being called out of bed this morning, though,' Peter said significantly. He was shifting his position, making himself comfortable as though for a lengthy conversation. 'Am I right?' He waited a moment. 'I mean, you ought to know.'

'I'm not gonna tell you anything,' said Eduardo.

Peter's shoulder slumped. 'Really? Nothing?'

'Nada.'

'Why the hell not?'

'Because it's private.'

Peter sighed. 'That's what they all say. Somehow I expected differently of you.'

'I can't think why,' said Eduardo. 'Anyway, you don't need to hear about that kind of stuff from me, or anyone – I'm sure your wife will oblige you.'

'Dana's gone home with the kids.'

'Yeah? Well, I'm not giving you your kicks.'

Peter laughed at this, taking it in the spirit in which it was intended, but he didn't also take the opportunity to stop. Instead he said, in wheedling tones, 'It was good, though, right?'

Eduardo took a few moments to decide whether or not to answer this. Then, as memories of the previous night and that very morning pushed themselves to the front of his mind, he found himself saying, 'Yes.'

'For both of you?'

'Oh, come on! If I don't answer that, you'll take it as a no.'

'Well,' said Peter, seeing his in, 'you wouldn't be alone – not by a long chalk. Not every guy your age knows what to do.'

Eduardo raised an eyebrow. 'You mean you didn't?'

'Hey now, I didn't say that.'

'Anyway, they're all different. I'm surprised you don't know that.'

'I am not going to rise to that,' Peter said with great dignity. 'Yes, you're right, they are all different. But there is a rule of thumb.'

'More like a rule of finger,' Eduardo heard tripping off his own tongue.

At that, Peter positively guffawed. 'Okay, I accept that you know what to do.'

'Oh, good. Now I'll be able to sleep tonight.'

'Don't give me that. You obviously didn't want me to think you... bought your impossibly cool clothes from a catalogue. Hi, guys.'

'Hi, Peter,' Kylie and Roland chorused as they appeared at the top of the stairs, followed seconds later by Garrett in the elevator.

'Good morning,' chirped Ray, coming out of the kitchen with a whole tray full of mugs, milk, sugar and a freshly brewed pot of coffee. 'Who wants coffee?'

'Oh, Ray!' said Kylie.

'You complete and total saint!' said Garrett.

'You shouldn't have,' said Roland.

'Can we keep you here even after Egon comes back?' said Eduardo, as Ray placed his tray on the coffee table.

'See if you still feel that way in a week's time,' Ray said smilingly, just as Slimer materialised through the floor and started hovering around the coffee pot. 'Slimer, you can have some if you don't drip into anybody else's.'

'Okay, Ray,' said Slimer, moving back a few cautious inches.

Once everyone was settled with a cup of coffee just the way they liked it, Roland said, 'So how about your call this morning? I saw the stone on Janine's desk – what is it?'

'We can't figure it out,' said Ray.

'Well, we know more than that,' said Peter. 'That woman whose picture is on there – she's our ghost. And she's inside the stone right now.'

'We scared her in there,' said Ray.

'Even though we were trying to help her,' said Peter.

'You were about to trap her,' Ray reminded him.

'Well, yes,' Peter said irritably, 'but we were going to help her after we got her back here.'

'I guess she didn't know that, though, did she?' Roland said reasonably.

Peter shrugged. 'Guess not.'

'Help her why?' asked Garrett.

'Because the client asked us to,' said Peter. 'And we haven't even charged her yet.'

'I happen to think she's right,' said Ray. 'The ghost wasn't doing any harm – just looking for something, we think. It seems cruel to put her in the containment unit when she's not hurting anybody, and maybe even needs help.'

'So, can we find out what she wants?' asked Kylie.

'Maybe,' said Ray, 'if she'll let us communicate with her, but she won't even come out of that stone. That's why we've left it downstairs: in case she felt inhibited by us hanging around it.'

'How old's the stone?' asked Kylie. 'Is there anything else on it? Do you recognise the culture?'

'Don't know, yes, and no,' said Ray. 'I didn't recognise the language, but I'm sure it's not consistent with any culture that habitually used stone tablets. For one thing, I can't think of any that used the Latin alphabet apart from the Romans, and it's not Latin. Not quite.'

'Huh,' said Kylie. 'Weird.'

'Keeping away from it doesn't seem to be making the ghost want to come out,' said Roland. 'We should all give it a look when we've finished Ray's coffee.'

'What about the ghost herself?' said Garrett. 'How did she look?'

'Pretty good,' said Peter. 'Kinda pretty... just on the right side of curvaceous.'

'Oh, good,' said Kylie, giving him a facetious look over her coffee mug. 'I'm sure she'll be delighted to know she just about scrapes through your standards of female beauty.'

'Oops,' said Peter. 'Sorry, Kylie.'

'Anyway,' she added, 'maybe this ghost doesn't think much of the way you look.'

'Oh, I'm sure she doesn't,' said Peter. 'I'm way past my peak.'

'She probably isn't thinking about that kind of thing at all,' said Roland.

'Unless she's looking for her honey,' said Garrett. 'You said she was looking for something, right?'

'That's what it seemed like,' said Ray, 'to everyone who saw her. But we can't be sure.'

'Great,' said Eduardo. 'That all sounds as clear as mud.'

'Well,' said Ray, 'who doesn't love a challenge?'

'I don't,' said Eduardo.

'Why are you so down on her, babe?' asked Kylie, ignoring the tangible jolt that shot between Roland and Garrett as they found themselves adjusting to the term of endearment.

Eduardo ignored it too, saying, 'I'm not. I'll help her if I can.'

'Great!' said Ray. 'Let's go downstairs and look at the tablet.'

'Somebody has to wash these mugs and stuff,' said Kylie, getting to her feet as she spoke and picking up the tray. 'I'll do it... let the rest of you get any more sexist comments out of your system before I come down.'

'Good plan,' said Garrett. 'You get in the kitchen where you belong, Ky.'

Kylie balanced the tray on her hip in order to free her right hand and hurl a cushion at Garrett's face. She then carried on to the kitchen, with the tray in both hands; Garrett put the cushion neatly back in its place before heading to the elevator; Ray, Peter and Roland made their way to the staircase, while Slimer disappeared through the floor, leaving a green puddle in his wake.

Garrett picked up the tablet from the desk, took one look at it and said, 'This is Spanish.'

Ray stared at him. 'What?' Then he snatched the tablet out of Garrett's hands and stared at that for some moments. Finally, he said, 'Oh, why am I so stupid?'

'You're not stupid, Ray,' said Roland, and was immediately backed up by Slimer giving Ray a hearty, rather messy pat on the back.

'I said it looked like Latin!' said Ray. 'I said the name sounded European! Why the hell did I think of Scandinavia before the Latin countries?'

'Well,' said Roland, 'the Vikings did use stone tablets.'

'Okay, fine,' said Ray, 'but they didn't use the Latin alphabet on them!'

'Calm down, Ray,' said Peter. 'We got up very early this morning.'

'Lucía Gaspar!' Ray went on, in the same self-deprecating tones. 'Spanish! Gaspar! Lucía!'

'Okay,' said Roland, 'so then we know what we have to do next, don't we?'

'Yeah, well,' said Garrett, 'I'm not fetching him away from whatever the hell he's doing up there.'

'He probably isn't doing anything much,' said Ray, looking doubtfully at the ceiling.

'I'll do it!' Slimer said eagerly, and made to fly off.

'No!' said Peter, successfully halting Slimer in his tracks, and receiving a look of hurt surprise for his trouble. He softened his tone. 'Not this time, Spud. I'll do it,' and he headed for the stairs.

Kylie was rinsing out one of the coffee mugs when she felt Eduardo press himself against her back, snake his arms around her waist and kiss her on the cheek. She smiled and leaned into him as he whispered, 'You're making me crazy.'

'I'm not doing anything!' she said, with mock indignation.

'No, I know, you can't help it – you never could,' he murmured, his lips brushing her ear, and her smile deepened. 'But it's so much worse for me now that I know I'm allowed.'

'Mmm... that's how I feel too,' she said, turning in his embrace and wrapping her arms around his neck. They looked desperately at each other for a second or two, then fell into a passionate kiss.

Kylie was the first to pull away, saying, 'Maybe we shouldn't.'

Eduardo exhaled heavily. 'If that's what you want.'

'Well, I'm thinking of you, really. I mean, I can get away with more than you can.'

At this, Eduardo let out a sharp, vocalised breath and grabbed the edge of the sink with both hands. He moved his head towards Kylie's and, holding his mouth against her hair, said in a sort of hiss, 'Don't say things like that.'

'I'm sorry,' said Kylie, though she didn't sound sorry as she laughed at the hint of humour she had detected in his voice. 'It was just a statement of fact; I didn't mean it to be a thing like that!'

'You're killing me.'

'I think I'd better get out of here.'

She ducked underneath his arm, and Eduardo stepped into the space she had left between him and the sink. This was where Peter, after passing a distinctly pink-looking Kylie on the stairs, found him splashing cold water on his face.

'Hi,' said Peter.

'Hey,' said Eduardo, not turning round.

'Are you okay?'

'I'll be okay in a minute.'

'You need a distraction,' Peter told him.

Eduardo nodded. 'Guess I do.'

'Well, we happen to have one downstairs. You're needed.'

'I'm needed?' He could not have sounded more surprised. 'What the hell for?'

'Garrett just noticed something obvious: the writing on that tablet thing is Spanish.'

'Oh,' said Eduardo, 'is that all? I can do that.'

'Whenever you're ready,' Peter said hastily, as Eduardo stepped away from the sink.

'I'm ready now,' he said, turning round and striding purposefully towards the door. 'Let's do it.'

Kylie had joined the group in the lobby, so that everyone was there when Eduardo and Peter arrived. Eduardo, having maintained his purposeful stride all the way downstairs, headed straight for the desk, picked up the stone tablet, looked at it briefly and then said, 'Okay, it says, "Lucía Gaspar thirty-four commemorates these two Christians joined no one can separate".'

There was a brief silence. Then Ray said, 'Are you sure?'

Eduardo gave him a stink-eye. 'Yes! It's half a marriage declaration. You know: what God has joined together may no man cast asunder, and all that stuff.'

Ray furrowed his brow. 'Half?'

'Well, yeah,' said Eduardo. 'I guess this ain't the smoothest stone in the world, but there's obviously been another part broken off here – see?'

He turned the stone to show everyone its most jagged side, and they all squinted at it, Slimer dripping onto it as he did so. Eduardo pulled it away from him in a strangely protective way, shook off the slime and then resumed looking at the inscription.

'That thirty-four must be half a year,' he added.

Ray sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. 'It's so obvious when you say it.'

'I wonder which year,' said Kylie.

'Who can say?' said Ray. 'I've never seen any marriage record like that before – I can't link it even tentatively with any culture.'

'Except Spain,' said Garrett.

'Weird,' said Eduardo, who was still staring at the tablet.

All eyes turned back to him, and Kylie asked, 'What's weird, babe?'

'Lucía Gaspar's a name in my family,' he said.

'Really?' said Roland. 'When?'

'All the time,' said Eduardo. 'I mean, there's one every couple generations or so.' He sounded distracted, and never took his eyes from the tablet while he talked. 'Well, I don't guess there'll be another one now. My grandmother was one.'

'So,' said Roland, 'the ghost might just happen to be your great-times-many grandmother?'

'I don't know.' He kept on staring at the tablet.

'Well,' said Garrett, attracting everyone's attention but Eduardo's, 'suppose she is. Does that help us?'

'It might,' said Ray. 'Maybe she'd talk to Eduardo about how we can help her.'

'If she ever decides to come out of there,' said Peter. 'It's been hours now – I don't get why she even bothered coming out last night. If she's happy to stay there, we could just leave her alone now, couldn't we?'

'I don't know about that,' said Ray. 'She must have been up to something.'

'Maybe not,' said Peter. 'Maybe she was just stretching her legs, or whatever she's got. Maybe we all misread her when we thought she was looking for something.' He turned his eyes back towards the tablet, and saw that Eduardo was still staring at it. He gave him a nudge with his elbow and said, 'Good distraction, huh?'

'I've seen the other half of this,' said Eduardo, still not looking up.

'What?' said Ray.

'Where?' asked Kylie.

Eduardo shook his head. 'I don't know.'

'When?' asked Roland.

'I can't remember.'

'Okay, great,' said Garrett. 'Thanks for that, Eddie.'

'Hey now, hold on,' said Peter, raising his hands in a gesture of authority. 'He'll get there if we just let him talk it through. Don't interrupt him with questions.'

Eduardo looked up at last, and turned a blank gaze onto Peter. 'I got nothing.'

'Then I'll give you one question, to get you started,' said Peter. 'Could this grandmother of yours have had it?'

'Um...' Eduardo lowered his eyes to the tablet again. 'I guess... she had to, or else her brother did. They were the only ones left.'

Ray opened his mouth to ask a question, then looked wounded as Peter gave him a smack on the arm that was none too gentle.

'They both died in the eighties,' Eduardo went on, staring fixedly at the tablet. 'So then what happened to it? If he had it, then it must've gone to Adela... but I'd have seen it at her place, wouldn't I? Did Dad ever have it...?'

He stopped there. The others waited for a minute or more while he continued to stare at the tablet. After this time, Ray opened his mouth, took a tentative breath and looked at Peter; then, when he was sure he wasn't going to be smacked again, he said, 'So what's the verdict?'

'Either,' Eduardo said, slowly and pensively, 'my cousin Adela has it, or my brother has it, or it got swallowed up when somebody died.'

'Who, babe?' Kylie asked gently.

'Either my father, or his mother, or her brother... but no, because then it would've gone to Adela, and she'd have taken care of something like that. Would my dad have gotten rid of it on purpose...? Carlos could've easily done that...'

'If it might've been swallowed up when somebody died,' said Garrett, 'are you absolutely sure it isn't that half you've seen before?'

Eduardo furrowed his brow. 'I don't guess I am.'

'You know what?' Roland said hesitantly. 'It sounds like you're going to have to ask Carl about it.'

Eduardo closed his eyes and sucked in a breath. 'I'd rather ask a bear to scratch my back... but I guess I'll do it.'

Kylie moved towards him and gave him a chaste rub on the upper arm.

Ray, who could hardly fail to notice the atmosphere brought on by the mention of Carl, said, 'This is your brother, right?'

Eduardo admitted to the fact with a grunt.

'I have an older brother Carl,' said Ray.

'Oh, really?' Roland said interestedly, when Eduardo didn't respond. 'I don't suppose he's a cop too, is he?'

'No,' said Ray, 'but he is in the military – that's sort of similar.'

'Is he a total jerk?' asked Garrett.

'I don't know. I really don't see much of him these days.'

Eduardo looked up at this. 'You wanna switch?'

'It doesn't sound like I do,' said Ray, with an apologetic smile.

'Eduardo,' said Peter, 'how sure are you this cousin doesn't have it?'

'About seventy percent,' said Eduardo. 'She could have it, but even if she doesn't, I guess she might know something.'

'I think we should do our best to find it,' said Peter, 'if we really want to help our ghost. And I think you should start by calling your cousin. Do you remember the number?'

'Maybe,' said Eduardo, 'but she lives in Mexico.'

'Well, that's all right,' said Peter.

'Yeah?' Eduardo turned towards the desk and put down the tablet. 'So, when Janine comes back and sees the phone bill, I can say, "Dr Venkman told me to call my cousin in Cozumel"?'

'Yes,' said Peter, 'and you could tell her why, too.'

'I guess I could,' said Eduardo, already picking up the phone and starting to dial. When he had finished, he said, 'My brain doesn't remember, but my dialling finger does.'

Kylie made a very small noise and stuffed the knuckle of her thumb into her mouth; Eduardo noticed this and gave her a half playful, half admonishing look.

'Oh, don't be gross,' muttered Garrett, too quietly for them to hear, and turned his chair away.

'I don't guess Eduardo wants us to listen in on this,' said Roland, making a move to follow Garrett's example.

'You can if you want,' said Eduardo, as a faint ringing escaped from the earpiece of the phone. Then it stopped, and a moment later, he said, 'Hola, Adela, aquí Eduardo...'

'Sounds like he's happy to talk to her, anyway,' said Ray, moving off a few steps with Peter. 'Poor guy – it seems like most of his family are either dead or he doesn't like them.'

'Oh, he's all right,' said Peter, noticing that Kylie was listening in, if nobody else was, hugging her arms to her abdomen and chewing her lower lip. 'Can we do something about those two? I mean, look at that! He just has to call his cousin and it gives her a tickle.'

'You shouldn't say things like that, Peter,' said Ray. Then he looked over at Eduardo. 'I wonder if he's finding out anything.'

They tried listening in, but couldn't catch anything that made sense to them. Very soon, Slimer was so bored by the proceedings that he disappeared through the ceiling, making a beeline for the kitchen. Eduardo rattled on in Spanish for some time, until eventually Peter said, 'Is he still asking her about that tablet, or have they moved on to holiday plans or something? I didn't sanction that.'

'He's talking about those people he said might've had the thing,' said Garrett, pulling up beside them. 'Tu padre, mi abuela...'

'How much Spanish do you know, Garrett?' Ray asked interestedly.

'Not much,' said Garrett. 'Just what most halfway intelligent people remember from high school.'

They stopped talking and, along with Roland, had another go at listening to Eduardo.

'Sí. Sí, sí, sí, sí,' he was saying (they were all fairly confident they knew what this meant). 'Sí, gracias! Sí... sí, yo lo haré saber.'

'I'll let you know,' supplied Garrett.

'Sí, sí, sí, prometo. Gracias, Adela. Adiós.'

Eduardo didn't speak straight away after hanging up. He gathered his thoughts, trying to ignore the four pairs of eyes gazing expectantly at him (the fifth pair, Kylie's, was trying very hard not to look at him).

'Okay,' he said at last, 'she doesn't have it, but she thinks she knows all about it. She says it's definitely not this half we had,' indicating the stone on the desk, 'because ours has the dude on it. And the century. She says there was a picture of him, just like there is of Lucía, and it said "Capitán Gaspar" and then fifteen in numbers. And then the first half of that other stuff, obviously.'

'What an unusual thing for Spaniards to do in the sixteenth century,' Ray remarked.

'People do unusual things every day,' said Kylie, 'in every century.'

Ray nodded. 'True.'

'So he was just "Captain"Gaspar?' said Peter. 'Didn't the guy have a first name?'

'Probably,' said Eduardo, sounding completely disinterested, 'but I don't know – I wasn't there.'

'It sounds like that tablet half featured strongly in your family's lives at one point,' said Ray. 'Seems strange that it's disappeared, and you can barely even remember it.'

'I guess no one really cared about it after my grandmother died,' Eduardo said, with a nonchalant shrug. 'Adela said it was definitely her that had it, and then my dad got it, and now she thinks Carlos must have it.'

'Must?' said Peter. 'You said he might have deliberately gotten rid of it.'

'Yeah, well,' said Eduardo, 'I can ask him, anyway.' He made no move to set about doing so.

'Good plan,' said Peter. 'Where'll he be now?'

'At home,' said Eduardo. 'He has this week off work.' Then he laughed utterly without mirth, and added, 'Can you believe the luck?'

'That's the next step, then,' said Peter. 'You go now and ask him about it. I think you'd better take Kylie along for moral support, and I expect Ray'll lend you his car. Right, Ray?'

'Um... sure,' said Ray, and produced his car keys, which a moment later had been whisked out of his hand by Kylie.

'Thanks,' she said. 'Come on, Eduardo,' and Eduardo, after picking up the tablet, followed her to Ray's car like an obedient puppy.

'Take a trap, just in case!' Ray called after them, and watched to make sure they did so. Then, once they had driven off, he turned to Peter and said dryly, 'You never did learn the art of subtlety, did you, Pete?'

Peter shrugged. 'Subtlety schmubtlety. I swear, Ray, I was five minutes away from pouring a bucket of water over them both.'

'I'd kinda like to see that,' said Garrett.

Peter turned round, looked at Garrett and then at Roland, and said, 'Oh, you're still here, are you? I noticed you both kept completely out of that.'

'Eduardo doesn't like talking about his family,' said Roland.

'Oh,' said Ray, looking guilty.

'I can't believe how much you got out of him with that "let him talk it through" trick,' added Garrett.

Peter looked stung. 'It wasn't a trick – it was a subject-centred interview technique.'

'Whatever,' said Garrett. 'What I'd really like to know is: is it just an incredible coincidence that this ghost is Eduardo's ancestor, and her husband's ghost might just happen to be sitting dormant somewhere in Carl's house?'

'Her husband's ghost?' said Ray.

'Well, yeah,' said Garrett. 'I thought that was why we wanted the other half of the tablet: because she actually is looking for her honey.'

'She was looking for him, Ray, remember?' said Peter, who had only just remembered himself. 'She said his name... sort of. She calls him "Gaspar",' he added, with a look of distaste.

'Maybe, when she's happy with him,' said Garrett, 'she calls him "Captain". Or "babe".'

'But she must like him well enough if she's actively looking for him,' said Roland. 'Mustn't she?'

'I don't know,' said Peter. 'Maybe, maybe not. But in any case, if we can reunite them, it has to lead to something.'

'Maybe there isn't any ghost in the other half of the tablet,' said Roland.

'Maybe,' said Peter, 'but it'd make more sense if there was.'

'Would it?' said Roland.

'Well, sure it would,' said Peter. Then he looked enquiringly at Ray, and added, 'Wouldn't it?'