"That was a woman's voice," Zak said. He wasn't surprised when the others were agreeing with him and told Beckett, "Talk to her."
Feeling a moment's hesitation, Beckett nodded and said, "Are you Martin or Anais?"
"M-tin," a voice came over, a little louder than the first.
"Definitely a different voice," Jay commented.
"Martin," Zak said. "Why is your wife's voice so hard to hear? Is she upstairs and you're here?"
When there was no response Skye said, "I don't think they can answer that. But I can. They're separated, that's why there are hauntings."
"Does that mean she's still here?" Aaron asked.
Before the investigator could respond to that, there was a sudden high pitched squeal from the spirit box and everyone was covering their ears with their hands. It took Beckett a moment, but she managed to move and turn off the box before Skye was speaking first.
"You didn't mention anything negative being reported," the investigator said.
"Just the basement," Zak said. "But there's nothing demonic, I wouldn't have had the kids come if there was."
"Why didn't we go there?" Billy asked. When Zak didn't answer he looked at his fellow investigators and asked, "What's going on?"
"I don't know," Zak said, looking at Skye.
"Yeah, I have the same feeling," the investigator said. "I don't want to go near there… has it been searched?"
"A few times," Zak replied. "After Anais disappeared. But nothing was found."
"The floor?" Castle couldn't help asking.
"Yeah, nothing was there," Zak said. "They never found her."
"She's here," Skye and Beckett said at the same time before Mary was taking her wife's hand and Castle was talking slowly as he looked at his wife in slight concern.
"I don't think they should go down to the basement," he said.
"Alright, I wasn't going to have them go," Zak said before they were looking at Aaron when he let out a groan.
"That means he's making me go," the paranormal investigator said.
"No he's not," Julia said. "Seriously, don't make him go."
"Someone needs to go," Zak said.
"Do they?" Beckett couldn't help asking.
Hesitating for a moment, Zak then replied, "We'll have to see how things go in the house." He got up then and went to the credenza, turning off the recorder and telling Billy, "Once we get everything cleaned up check on this and see if we got anything."
With that, everyone got up and began clearing the table before going outside to the tent where Billy was waiting for them.
"You found something," Zak said.
"I did," the AV tech said while he nodded. Billy turned to everyone and said, "There was nothing until you started talking about the basement of the house." When he was looking at his laptop again he played the audio and said, "Right after Skye and Kate say that Mrs. Lindt is here there's this."
"That's a woman's voice," Zak said after they'd listened. "Does it sound like she's saying lost?"
"Is that Anais?" Eliza asked, looking up at him.
"I'm not sure," Zak said honestly. "There were other families here. But that was a class A EVP."
"Are we going to start?" Skye asked.
When the lead investigator nodded Beckett said, "Let me call my dad."
"I texted him already," Castle told her in a rush.
"Thank you," Beckett said in relief.
"While we're waiting," Skye said slowly. When the four men nodded she couldn't help smiling for a moment before she said, "There's something I'd like to suggest."
"For the lockdown," Jay stated after he'd checked the cameras that were set up in the house.
"For the beginning of it," Skye said swiftly. "There's a Victrola in the living room, it needs to be played."
"You said it was a suggestion," Billy said after he turned from his computer the same time Jay had.
"Yeah, I think one of them wants the music played," Skye said.
"I'll let you take control once I do an introduction in there," Zak said.
"Why didn't you do one before we ate?" Aaron said.
"I have no idea," Zak replied, shaking his head.
"Don't look at me," Skye commented. "If I knew what was going on I'd tell you." She frowned and then said, "At least let me start there."
Nodding Zak said, "I will," before they were turning at the sound of a car approaching outside the wall surrounding the manor's property.
"I wish I didn't need to go," Eliza said, hoping her parents were going to change their minds after she'd said goodbye to everyone else.
"You do," Castle said first. He wasn't surprised when the little girl was looking up at him in dismay and said, "I know, but your mom is right."
Waiting for someone to open the door in the wall, Beckett said, "I told you before Eliza, you might go when you're older."
Sighing, Eliza then said goodnight to her parents and said, "Don't go to the basement."
"We won't," Castle assured her. He and his wife said goodnight to her father and went back inside before Bernier was locking the door behind them. When they returned to nerve center he wasn't surprised to see the three men were gathering what they needed before they said goodbye to Jay.
Glancing behind her and Mary when they reached the three seasons room, Skye said wryly, "I thought you were in charge of all this?"
"Not at the moment," Zak said, shaking his head. He then stepped ahead of the two women and opened the door to step inside first. He led everyone to the entry just off the living room and said, "Ready?" to Aaron and Billy who had cameras. When they'd nodded he turned to the civilians of their group and asked, "Are you guys?"
"Very," Skye said firmly while Julia was nodding rapidly. She glanced at Beckett before she looked at the writer's husband and saw the slight concern on his face. "We should start," she then told Zak.
With a brief incline of his head, the lead investigator spoke to Aaron's camera before he said, "We're going to night vision now, but after that we'll be doing something a little different. Since we're all ready, let's get started and go dark."
Once she was sure the cameras were set, Skye walked over to the Victrola since she had been looking towards it and allowed her hands to move on their own. "Don't worry," she said, sensing her wife next to her shortly after she had the record she wanted. "I'm not being jumped, I'm being urged where to go." She got the record on the plate by touch and set the needle on it after cranking the device. "Can you get a recorder?" she told Zak. "Put it over here?"
"Yeah," the lead investigator said before Billy was doing that since he had one.
"Don't talk," Skye said.
"Yeah, let them talk if they can," Julia said. She nodded at the investigator since she could just see her before they were looking at the Victrola as it began playing the song Downhearted Blues.
The moment the song had ended, there was a loud muffled thud, making the girls cry out and the adults jump.
"Martin Lindt," Zak said. "Was that you? Did you listen to that with your wife?"
Feeling his wife grabbing his arm, Castle turned to her and felt her fingers moving over him in turn and said, "What's wrong?"
"I don't know," Beckett replied. She wasn't surprised when the others turned to her and said, "I want to go upstairs. Now, with Julia."
Rushing to her mother, the teen took her hand and said, "I think we should. Back to that room we were in where it felt really peaceful."
"Let them," Skye told Zak. "But just the women."
"And who'll film?" the lead investigator asked immediately.
"The x-camera," Skye said firmly. "Just the three of them, the paranormal puck and nothing else," she instructed him, not surprised when he was giving his assent reluctantly as he responded.
"Alright, but what about you?" Zak said.
"I can try and get in touch with Martin," Skye answered.
"Alright, go ahead," Zak told the three.
Castle was about to ask what he was going to do when his wife touched his arm and he said, "I have to leave, don't I?"
"Just for now," Zak said quickly. "We're not going to spend the whole time in one place remember."
"Help me grab the equipment before you go," Billy said. He and Castle walked to the kitchen where some of the devices were and he said, "I get the feeling Martin wants you to stay away from his wife's room."
"I realized that after I asked about leaving," Castle said. "You'll keep an ear out right?"
"We all will," Billy reassured him.
"And make sure she doesn't go to the basement," Castle said, looking towards the doorway.
"We will," the AV tech said with a nod.
"Thanks," Castle said. "Are you okay taking all that?" At the man's second nod he turned and went into the three season room, hesitating at the screen door before he went out into the tent. "I didn't want to leave," he told Jay when the man looked at him.
"I don't blame you," he replied while the writer settled next to him. "But it feels a lot better upstairs."
"Definitely," Castle said, nodding briefly before he was looking at the x-camera in the living room.
"Okay, take these up and investigate… I don't know for how long," Zak said before he frowned.
"Let Anais decide," Skye said firmly. She watched the three leaving before she said, "Alright, you have the Ovilus? I'm ready to start getting in touch with Martin."
Heading up the stairs, Beckett wasn't surprised she was leading the girls before she let them walk into the room first. "Do you want to start?" she asked Julia.
"I will," she replied. "Anais? You wanted us to come upstairs here in the room. I have this device and I'm going to ask questions. Actually we all will but you can answer with this." After holding up the tablet that went with the paranormal puck, Julia nodded to Mari who had the actual puck and once her friend had turned it on she said, "Will you talk with us Anais?" typing at the same time.
"What did it say?" Beckett asked, looking at the tablet but unable to read what came up.
"It says hello," Julia answered. "I think that means yes." She was about to type another question when she hesitated and said, "Mom?"
"Yeah?" Beckett said. When her daughter didn't continue she reached for the table but felt compelled to say first, "Anais? I used to investigate homicides and I hope you'll answer my questions." After that she then typed in and said at the same time, "Do you know who killed you?" Almost immediately there was a response and she said, "Enemies."
"More than one?" Mari asked in surprise.
"That's what it says," Julia said, looking at the screen herself.
"Who were your enemies?" Beckett asked, typing. She wasn't surprised when there was a response and she read, "Mother, family, friend."
"You think you guys can solve a hundred year old case?" Jay asked.
"We did solve one that was about twenty years," Castle commented, his eyes on his wife.
"Was it your mother?" Julia asked, reaching over her mother to type.
"Unknown," Beckett read. She moved to type though she didn't speak, jumping a little when her daughter was reading the tablet.
"Are you in the home," Julia said. "Mom-"
"Wait, sorry Kate," Jay said on the walkie-talkie Beckett said. "You don't have the volume on the tablet. It should be reading out the responses to your questions."
"Oh, sorry," Julia said, taking the tablet from her mother.
"Why did you take that long to realize that?" Castle asked Jay.
"I have no idea," the tech replied before they were looking at the screen in front of them.
"She didn't answer," Julia said with a frown. "Do you want to type the question again?"
"No, try another one," Beckett replied, letting her keep the tablet.
"Can you see your husband," Julia said. She waited for a response but when there was nothing she said, "The room changed."
"It did," Mari said. "It felt peaceful before but now it feels like someone left the room."
"Should we go downstairs?" Julia asked her mother.
When her daughter touched her arm, Beckett did her best not to jump and said, "To the top of the stairs. We'll see if we need to go back with the others." She took Julia's hand before Mari walked with them to the top of the staircase where they could see down into the living room.
"Have you had any luck?" Julia called when her mother didn't speak first.
"A little, just Martin telling us his wife was home," Skye said.
"What about you?" Zak asked.
"She answered some of our questions," Beckett said.
"Until I put the volume up on the tablet," Julia said.
"What?" the four in the living room said at the same time.
"Yeah, it wasn't reading back the answers," Mari said, wondering why she and Julia hadn't laughed at the comical sound. She glanced at her friend, seeing her looking a little serious before Zak was speaking below them.
"You're okay right?" he asked.
"I think so," Julia said. "I feel weird."
"I do too," Mari said honestly. "I think it's because we're outside of the room."
"No, because Anais left," Julia corrected her.
"Can we come downstairs?" Beckett asked abruptly. "I think we're finished up here," she added rapidly.
"Yeah, come down," Zak said before he heard a door opening. "Rick?"
"It's me," Castle said, walking into the room. He was about to tell them he wanted Beckett to step out of the house when she was speaking suddenly from the stairs.
"Could you come up here?" she asked.
"What're you sensing?" Skye said immediately before anyone could respond to the writer.
"I'm not sure," Beckett said honestly. She felt a certain sense of relief when her friend was making her way up the stairs before she turned to Julia when she began to speak.
"We should go," the teen said. "I think we need to go."
Nodding, Mari let Julia take her hand and they went down, passing Skye on the way. "Be careful," she told the investigator.
"Don't worry," Skye said. "I have a feeling what's going on here."
"You do?" Beckett asked in surprise.
"Yeah, Anais wants to talk to you without the devices," Skye explained. "And she can't with you."
"Should I even be here?" Beckett replied.
"Yes, but you need to be careful," Skye said. "Stay there Rick," she told him in warning since he was moving towards the stairs.
"But-" Castle started to say.
"I'm here and I can handle this," Skye replied. She felt the sudden chill on them and said, "And Anais doesn't mean any harm."
"She just wants to communicate," Zak said.
"She does," Skye said before she realized the frustration she was sensing wasn't going away. Looking behind them at the turn in the hall, she shook her head and said, "Something… do you think we can reset?"
"Sure," Zak said. "I was thinking of letting some people come in on their own now."
"Come on," Skye said, touching Beckett's arm.
"Yeah," she replied, looking behind her. She followed Skye to the stairs and they made their way down to the others before they were walking through the house to the back. Though she had no reason to, Beckett's gaze turned to the door to the basement before she was turning back ahead of her at Aaron's groan.
"Something in that room got really heavy," the investigator said to the others as they were leaving the three seasons room.
"Yeah, I felt that too," Billy said. "You two?"
Not surprised when Mari was shaking her head rapidly, Julia turned back to everyone and said, "I did, it was really sad. Super sad but I think that was Martin."
"It was," Skye said with a nod.
"If they're separated from each other…" Mary commented before they were entering the tent.
"What's up Jay?" Zak asked, seeing the tech was staring intently at one of the screens in front of him.
"There was some kind of weird sound," Jay replied. "But it was in the hallway upstairs."
"Is it still going?" Aaron asked.
"No, it stopped as soon as you were out of the living room," Jay explained. "I noted the time."
"What did it sound like?" Zak asked after he'd nodded.
"You know those old roll top desks?" Jay asked. "The sound was kind of like that."
"Maybe there was a desk in the living room," Castle suggested.
"Anais may have heard it from the second floor," Skye said.
"Maybe," Zak said. "Okay, so now that we're resetting here, I think I'd like Julia to head in, while it's still a little early for you," he told her.
"Not by herself," Beckett said firmly.
"Oh no, I wanted you to head in there with Rick," Zak said. "And you too Mari," he was quick to add when he saw the protest on the girl's face.
"And that's it?" Billy asked. "Just the four of them."
"At first," Zak said. "Since we know there's a couple there I'd like to see what having them there will do." He looked at Castle and Beckett and said, "Though I'm not going to force you guys to go in."
"We're fine with it," Castle said. He wasn't surprised when his wife was nodding before he looked at the girls. "I think you know their answer already."
"That's why I was directing that to you guys," Zak said with a laugh.
"Is there anywhere specific you want us to go?" Beckett asked.
"Not really, I think you should go where you feel you should," Zak said seriously. He then paused for a moment before he said seriously, "Don't go to the basement."
"We're not," Beckett said, looking at her daughter.
"I really don't want to go there," Julia said. "I hate walking by it."
"What about devices?" Aaron asked. "You didn't say."
"I want them to decide," Zak said.
"So Julia's going to be in charge," Skye said, looking at Beckett.
Making a face at her friend, the writer said, "I'll see what happens."
"Okay, you better head in now, it's getting late," Zak said.
After they had what they needed, Beckett walked with her husband after the girls towards the three seasons room. As the door came closer, she couldn't help feeling a shiver through her body, trying to push away the uncertainty filling her before they were walking into the house.