Spirit Investigator (3)

Edited by: Kuro and Lille

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emery and Nora felt better after getting all the information they could from Grey. Grey seemed to have an answer to everything like why Emery was in spirit form and why he could only talk with Nora while holding hands with Grey.

All humans had an energy source. When they died, the spirit would consume that energy and use it to reincarnate. If they were attached, they used that energy to interact with the environment around them. As for Emery, Grey had all of his energy, so he needed to hold Grey's hand to have the energy flow to him as well.

Emery and Nora felt they could trust Grey.

After the long talk, Grey, Emery, and Nora finally began talking about the "mission" they were sent on.

"The spirit is named Cameron Winter. He is trapped in that house and does not know how the fire in his house started. He is obsessed with wanting to know what had happened back then." Grey said as he sat at the computer. He was ready to do some research on what the news had to say. Also, he thought it would be best if he located the wife and the two children.

Emery remembered going to that house before getting teleported back to his room. "When I was searching the house, I noticed something strange. I don't know if the investigators saw it, but it looked like oil trails were going around the first floor of the house."

The second floor was no more since it was burned to the ground, but the first floor showed that there was once a house in that place.

Nora was writing this all down in her journal as she felt it was easier to burn paper than to delete something off the internet. "So you are saying that this could be a homicide?"

"It was ruled out as a suicide." Grey brought up the news articles and statements from the police. "There was even a written letter conveniently outside the house that stated his reasons for not wanting to live anymore. Also, in his will, he gave all of his assets to his wife and left nothing for his two children."

"Ah, then this is definitely a homicide and someone wanted him dead." Nora connected all the dots quickly. "Quite odd for a father to not leave anything for his children or even give his money to charities. How did no one find this suspicious?"

Emery, the brains of the group, gave his hypothesis. "Someone probably fabricated a lot of the information and suppressed the media to make sure they didn't give suggestive comments. The person who planned and executed this is probably very rich or they have a rich backer."

Grey, with the help of System 225, hacked into phone records, social media followings, etc. but found no connections to someone with that amount of influence.

"From the looks of it, Mr. Winter didn't have any sort of contacts, not even through his job. He was an office worker with no titles. He made a consistent paycheck though, so his family's income was very stable if they didn't include how the wife spent her money. We will have to investigate his wife and children to see who they have been talking to and if any of their friends or partners had something to do with this."

Emery was looking over Grey's shoulder and quickly scanned through all the documents that were being brought up. He was impressed by Grey's speed and accuracy. As a hacker himself, Grey's skills were on par or even greater than his. "I think the wife is pretty suspicious. Even though there was 'evidence' that it was a 'suicide' she didn't mention anything about trying to help her husband get through it, nor were there any records of him going to therapy."

Though it was too early to confirm these suspicions, there was just too much evidence pointing toward the wife.

"Alright, I will go searching for more information on the wife. Nora, can we leave it to you to go and try to talk to the wife and kids and see what you get? Make sure you record everything but be discreet about it."

Nora nodded and gave a thumbs-up. "Don't worry Grey! This is my specialty, so leave it to me. It's funny how you are kind of like Emery as he was also the one investigating and finding information online."

If Emery's spirit wasn't here, it seemed like Grey would have blended in just fine.

"That gives me some comfort. This is my job, so I guess it feels good to get complimented on something as simple as impersonating someone…" He mumbled to himself.

They heard him but didn't really get what he meant by "his job" so they just ignored that comment.

It was late so they decided to let Nora talk with the wife and kids on the following day. Emery and Grey promised to send her all the information she needed on the family during the night. They were going to send her the addresses, phone numbers, etc. as well as the names of the wife and children.

When Nora went out to gather information like this, she went as a Spiritual Guide. She even had her license for it. Emery had a license too, but it said Spiritual Investigator instead.

Spiritual Guide's specialties were to contact the dead and guide them into the light. They were also there to give the families of these spirits closure. She was going to the family precisely to "give them closure" but for this particular family, it was another way to get information without being suspicious.

Spiritual Investigators were people who researched everything about the spirit. A job comparison would be a forensic scientist of some sort. Emery was one of the few who knew how to hack and use the internet as his source of information. He was able to go out into the field to check out where and who the spirit was attached to.

The reason why they were investigating Cameron Winter and what happened to him was because the agency they worked for wanted information as to why that man was still attached to the house. The agency was called "Spiritual Light" as they specialized in helping ghosts move on and sometimes, they dealt with demons.

There were a few ways that they could give closure to these spirits. Sometimes, cold cases that were not solved would be solved by them. Other times, scandals that were in the dark would be brought out into the light. Whatever the outcome, the agency and its members did not care as long as the lingering spirit was able to step into the light and move on.

As for the demons, they were still trying to figure out how to deal with them properly. The best they could do was detach these demons from the people, but some were too powerful. They also gave talismans to help lessen the power of these demons that they had on people and the places they occupied.

When morning came, the Host and Emery were able to gather all the information that each family member had on their cell phones and computers. The kids were still in high school so there wasn't too much they could grab from them, but the "widowed wife" was a different story.

She wasn't a widow anymore and her new husband was an extremely rich CEO.

*****

Nora went to the children first as she knew they would be a bit easier. The two kids were both in high school with the oldest one in their last year and the youngest in their second year. The two were close with each other but they weren't as close with their mother, Audrey.

She didn't get much from the youngest child, Hazel Winter, as she didn't like to be at home because of how often her parents fought with one another. The oldest child, Hunter Winter, had a close relationship with the father, but what he knew wasn't much.

Yes, Audrey fought with Cameron, and it was over money issues. Cameron didn't have a lot of money for them to spend and Audrey didn't want to get a job to support her hobbies.

It didn't make sense to Nora, why get married to a man but not love him because he didn't have enough money? Just marry someone with money and not waste people's time or feelings.

Well, she had to put down her biases against Audrey and talk with the woman. Nora called but didn't get an answer, so she tried to go to her favorite salon, but Audrey ran away.

'It seems I have to go to her place instead.' 

Audrey and her two kids were living separately from the CEO she married because he was out of the country and she didn't want to be alone in that house. There were pictures of the CEO's dead wife everywhere, so she opted to live separately.

When Nora arrived at the apartment, the kids were still at school. The mother was home and refused to open the door.

She knocked and rang the doorbell. "Mrs. Winter, this is Agent Nora. I'm a Spiritual Guide wanting to ask you about your husband-"

Audrey shouted from within the house. "My husband is dead! Go away from me. Can't you see I'm grieving?"

Grieving? Shameless, Nora couldn't help but think to herself.

"Your husband is still attached to this world, that's why I must get some answers. I won't stop until you answer my questions."

The door opened slightly, but it was still just a slither of a crack. Nora couldn't see too much but she knew that Audrey had the door chain in place so that she couldn't rip the door open.

"What do you mean he's still here?" Audrey said, her voice cracking a bit as though she was nervous.

"It's just as I have said, he is still here, attached to the house that was burned down. The Spiritual Light Agency was tasked to figure out why he is still there and what we can do to help him move on. We thought maybe you would have any idea as to why he could be there or what happened to him."

"You call yourselves an agency but you still haven't seen the news. It was a suicide. He killed himself and left me behind! Isn't that enough? What more could you need?"

"I'm trying to get information that's not on the news. I want to be able to help Mr. Winter. I would like to know if you know why he wanted to kill himself and things of that nature."

"Didn't the letter that was released say everything about why he wanted to die?"

"I read the letter but all it said was that he didn't want to live anymore. Can you tell me about how he was feeling during the time you were married to him? What was it like for him working at his job? Did he try to get therapy?"

Nora was saying this outside of the apartment so other people could hear her as well. Many people poked their heads out of their rooms to see what was going on.

The apartment was an expensive one with 17 floors. The staff were used to catering to the rich, so all the facilities were up to date. There was a private gym, bar, swimming pool with a hot tub, and even a spa room.

"If we can understand how he lived his life, it would be easier to help him move on."

"I don't know anything because he didn't tell me. He didn't love me, that's why he wanted to die so much. Now leave me alone and don't come back or I will call the police on you!" After that, she slammed the door.

Nora didn't pursue anything any longer. She got the recording of her interaction with Audrey.

Her dodgy behavior and her lack of empathy were dead giveaways to her involvement in Mr. Winter's death, but they needed some more evidence.

When she got home, she found that Grey was taking a nap while Emery was floating around because he couldn't touch anything. His eyes were closed but she knew he was awake.

"Emery, Grey, did you two find anything?" Nora asked as she sat down at the computer desk.

Before Emery could say anything, Grey, who was a light sleeper, quickly sat up and looked around. Even though he was a light sleeper, his mind was a bit slower than his body… He found that Nora had come back. He didn't say anything for a few minutes as Emery and Nora waited for him. After he yawned, they realized that Grey was bad at waking up.

"Notebook, information, on the desk." Grey rubbed his temples as he tried to wake himself up. He also saved a bunch of documents and evidence on phone calls and text messages that he would tell them after he fully woke up.

He knew that Nora liked to have everything written down so he had it both digitally and physically.

Nora grabbed the notebook and looked through it. Nice handwriting filled the pages and everything was organized. She could only wonder if he stayed up all night digging for information.

"It says here you found some phone calls and text messages."

Grey nodded. "Even if they try to delete messages or phone calls, it's easy to find. There's evidence on the computer that Mrs. Winter was begging her rich sugar daddy to cover up for her."

Nora recalled the 40-year-old woman with two kids and couldn't help but sigh. She wasn't surprised at all.

Emery looked at the screen and felt like it was disgusting to look at it. "We must tell Mr. Winter, no?"

"Should we expose Mrs. Winter to the public before we do that?" Nora felt like it was better to do so.

Grey shook his head. "We should see what Mr. Winter says first. If he wants to, then we will give him justice. If not, we must respect his wishes."

Grey didn't know if Mr. Winter would find peace knowing that his wife wanted him dead though. He didn't know if anyone would find peace in that.

"Shall we go?" Grey looked over at Nora and Emery who were sitting at the desk.

Emery nodded. "Let's go see Mr. Winter."

"Wait, I need to give the evidence to the agency," Nora said as pulled out a flash drive and downloaded everything that Grey and Emery were able to find. After that, she put the flash drive in her pocket.

"I have the information on my phone too so that we can show Mr. Winter," Grey said, coming prepared. Even if he didn't, it was easy to have System 225 send him the information in an instant.

The three of them went into Emery's car and dropped off the flash drive at the agency. After that, they drove an hour to get to Mr. Winter's burnt-down home.

The sun was going to set so they took out the flashlights from the trunk of their car. They had some with batteries and one crank-up flashlight just in case the batteries died. It was loud but it did the trick. Plus, the sound made it hard to be scared of anything.

It had been over a year since Mr. Winter had died so the property was overrun by weeds and vines. They trudged through the grass before hearing a piercing cry.

"It burns! It burns so much." Mr. Winter cried out as he roamed the first floor. "Why can't I open the doors?"

Mr. Winter was reliving the night he had died every single day. Each day, he felt himself slipping away, becoming more and more obsessed about wanting to know why he had died.

No one else could see it, but Mr. Winter saw the red and orange flames spreading through the first floor and quickly moving its way to the second floor. The doorknobs were hot and felt like it would make his skin melt if he touched it. The windows were glued shut, and they would not break no matter how many times he tried to hit them. It was almost as if someone replaced the windows with something stronger and more durable.

He was burnt alive.

It was the first time Nora and Emery had seen someone living in such torment. Most of their cases were light and easy to accomplish. Though this could be easy, it was hard to watch someone suffer like this.

As for Grey, his facial expression didn't change. As someone who was forced to be a Villain, there were many ways he had died, and being burnt alive was one of them.

"Mr. Winter!" Grey called out hoping that Mr. Winter would hear his voice. "Please come back to us, it's an illusion, you aren't burning anymore."

A piercing scream echoed through the night, but Grey, Emery, and Nora were the only ones who could hear him cry in agony.

"We have the reason as to why you died in this fire so please, come back," Nora shouted hoping that Mr. Winter could hear her through his screaming.

The crying instantly stopped and the man that was once screaming and shouting for help on the first floor seemed to come back to reality. The burnt flesh that Grey had seen the other day was worse this time around, as though his spirit was truly burning.

"You… you came back. You came back!" Mr. Winter floated toward Grey and tried to grab his hands but his hands slipped right through. "I'm dead, I'm dead and I don't know why. Why did I die, what did I do to deserve this?" He questioned quickly, giving no one the room to answer. His voice was filled with grief with each passing sentence.

Grey smiled and grabbed Mr. Winter's hand. For some reason, he was able to touch him as well. This only worked if he touched them first. Grey ignored the man's palm which was slowly melting off and tightened his grip. "I promised you that I would come back, did I not?"

His warmth seeped through Mr. Winter's cold hands. For over a year, even though he was burning in this house, he could not feel the heat of the fire and only the pain, but now, he felt a soothing warmth travel from the palm of his hands to his very core. He felt relaxed and wanted to move closer to the source of warmth that he longed for.

"Are you ready to find out what happened to you even though it could be painful?" Grey asked, his voice was soothing, completely different from what Nora and Emery were used to. "Sometimes, ignorance is bliss, and not knowing would be better."

Mr. Winter felt like he was in a trance, but he shook his head and stayed true to himself. "I want to know. I want to know because even if she was the one who did this to me… I... I don't hate her, it was me who could not give her everything that she wanted."

It seemed that Mr. Winter had already connected the dots of his murder, but he couldn't accept it at first. After feeling Grey's warm hands, he felt that it was okay even if he knew. He felt at peace with himself already.

"We understand, Mr. Winter," Emery took over as he felt that he couldn't let Grey say all those bad things. "Let me tell you what we found and if you need, we can show you the proof that has already been submitted to the Spiritual Light Agency."

Mr. Winter looked at Emery stunned and realized that the man was a fellow spirit but was also in front of him holding his hand. The two looked so much alike that he felt that they were the same person but not at the same time. He looked between Emery and Grey and felt even more confused.

"Uh, we can see your confusion, I am Emery, but the one occupying my body is Grey. It's a long story."

Mr. Winter knew of the weirdos in the Spiritual Light Agency and felt that it was probably something normal that went on in the agency. Though in fact, this was not normal, but he didn't know that!

"I understand, can you please tell me what happened then?" Mr. Winter accepted his fate and closed his eyes. It was his way of showing that he was listening.

Emery grabbed Grey's empty hand so that Nora could hear what he said and back him up if needed.

The two gradually explained what they had found on the web and then stated what Audrey, his former wife, had said about him and his death.

"A suicide…" Mr. Winter gritted his teeth. He was a little frustrated but he knew it was her way of getting away from him. She even blamed it on him even in death.

He could only wonder how he fell in love with such a woman. He gave her everything that he had, but she wanted more than he could offer.

Audrey was originally from a rich family who owned many businesses that were passed down from generation to generation. During her father's generation, they lost everything. The teenage Audrey who grew up surrounded by riches, fell from grace and had to learn how to adjust to living a life with hardly any money to spend.

She got married to Cameron Winter thinking that he was enough for her, but she yearned to be covered in branded items so that the people she once knew wouldn't look down on her for being poor. In the end, she met a man 10 years older than her who had just lost his wife and seduced him. That rich man gave her everything that she wanted and she felt that she could hold her head up high.

But her husband, Cameron Winter, was in the way of achieving the happiness that she thought she deserved. She could have simply divorced him, but she didn't want to be seen as a shallow woman who only wanted money. What was the best way to get rid of someone without ruining your face? You get rid of them and burn the evidence. She even took the little bit of money he had as well as the money from his life insurance.

Knowing all of this information, tears streamed down Mr. Winter's face but there was a smile on his face. The burn marks on his body slowly healed until he looked like the man he was before he died this horrible death.

"Grey, Emery, Nora, thank you for helping me find out the reason as to why I died." Mr. Winter saw the light behind them and he was ready to move on. "I don't need anything else."

"You don't want us to expose her?" Nora asked as she felt it was best to show the world these kinds of horrible people.

"Even if you did that, I would gain nothing beneficial from it. I won't feel better or feel happier, no, all I would get is bitterness that I don't want. That's why, let her live the way that she wants to live, but if you could make sure that my kids make it through high school and university, that would be enough for me..."

After he heard that Grey, Emery, and Nora would watch over his kids, he floated past Grey and whispered, "Your hands feel just like the warmth from this light, I wonder where it will take me."

After that, he disappeared, and the abandoned house that felt suffocating was somehow very peaceful.