Lug went to Gavan and asked him who was miss Parnac.

"Parnac...? Vonne's little tomb, beautiful white marble, good quality photo… You asked me about it about an hour ago? I don't know what craftsman they hired, but it's beautiful work." Gavan said nonchalantly with his cup near his mouth, speaking quickly as if that was the only thing that kept him from taking a sip.

"Thank you but I rather wanted to know who the person buried there is, I didn't see any ghosts around the grave." said Lug impatiently.

"No I never met her ghost, I don't know any more." Gavan seemed to have lost interest in the subject.

Lug knew him well enough to know that there was no point in asking him for more.

He went back to the grave, perhaps was there a hint there, something Hannah missed?

The wind blew a cold air, Lug tucked his face up to his eyes in his coat.

He liked to drink tea with Gavan when it was cold and windy, but instead he was now out in one of his least favorite neighborhoods, looking for clues in a case he knew nothing about and for a woman he might never see again.

"What the hell am I doing..." he thought to himself as he looked at the grave of this woman who had died too young.

After a few minutes of standing still, he decided to return home when he suddenly heard a mocking voice behind him.

"Two visitors in one day? I find it hard to believe."

Lug turned around and saw a man in his fifties with slicked back hair, a three-day beard and a long beige coat.

He had the look of a private detective, or perhaps a man who had recently lost his job and was drowning his sorrows in alcohol.

"Do you know her?" Lug asked without getting cold feet, he was finally beginning to tell the difference between living and ghosts.

"She was my cousin. I was buried near her even though we weren't close." said the man with his elbow leaning against a grave.

"And where is her ghost?"

"Oh wow, the thick of it right away. You should learn to hide your intentions, what are you giving me for this information?" The ghost smiled as he spoke.

"I'll light a candle for you." said Lug coldly.

"And what would I do with a miserable candle?"

"If you prefer I can dig up your body and throw it in the dump." Lug said these words with a cold look in his eyes, which looked almost threatening with the heavy rings under his eyes.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

He had lived with ghosts for months, he knew very well what they were afraid of and he himself had forgotten the fear of ghosts a while ago.

"You wouldn't dare, idle threats." chained the ghost whose apprehension could be detected.

"I've put up a fountain, a swing set, painted the walls of a castle hundreds of years old and even organized a boxing match. I don’t mind adding a crime to the list."

The ghost knew Lug's reputation, he knew that his actions were sometimes chaotic and devoid of logic.

He cleared his throat and said :

"All right, all right, go for the candle… Her name was Linette, her ghost disappeared overnight a... I don't know, a long time ago."

"Her ghost disappeared? You mean she's gone somewhere?"

"No, she didn't go away. She's really gone. Before that she looked empty, she had no energy, she didn't speak. It almost looked like she was going to die, except she was already dead."

"Mmmh... I don't quite understand… But… thanks for the info. And what can you tell me about her life?"

"We weren't close like I told you, but we saw each other from time to time when we were younger. She was pretty reserved, she didn't play with us... And then... She had this funny habit of collecting postcards and writing messages to herself behind each one. That's all I can think of when I think of her." as he spoke the ghost looked as if he was reaching deep into his memory.

Lug rolled his eyes, scratched his head, thanked the ghost and said before leaving:

“I'll bring you a candle the next time I come here.”

He waved his hand as he left.

Before going back in his house, he wondered where Eno was.

"Does he usually hang around here...?"

He decided to go ask Malda.

She was as usual playing with her children in Valmont.

When she saw him approaching she greeted him with a big smile.

"Lug, nice to see you, it's been a while!"

The cemetery wasn't that big, even so Lug could spend days exclusively tending to one part of the cemetery, and even though Valmont was next door to his house, he quite rarely passed by its northern part, where Malda and her children stayed.

"Good morning, Malda. Good morning, children. Do you know where Eno is?"

"Yes I saw him heading to the dump early this morning." replied Malda, sitting on a rock and still dressed in her thin summer dress.

"I know ghosts don't feel the temperature, but you make me feel cold with that outfit." said Lug as he sank a little deeper into his coat.

His relationship with Malda had become that of a big sister and little brother, she sometimes gave him advice and he took care of her grave and those of her children as best he could.

He thanked her and went towards the wall that overlooked the dump.

Once there, he saw Eno rummaging through a pile of garbage.

He jumped off the wall and landed on an old mattress, he got up and went to Eno.

"I had to get closer to make sure it wasn't a raccoon, what are you doing with your head in the garbage?" said Lug curious and amused.

Eno took the head out of a box, stood up and said:

"I'm not doing anything special, I'm just exploring" he looked panicked.

Lug bent down and saw that the box had a hole in it, revealing a TV buried in the garbage.

Eno had never given up his addiction to sitcoms, he had just found a way to go watch TV without Lug noticing.

He knew that Lug was a man of habit, every Monday he was busy cleaning up around his house and garden.

Lug was so often lost in his thoughts that he never realized that Eno was never around on Monday mornings.

“I guess he must be ashamed to watch TV again, after he told me he was quitting” thought Lug.

Eno seemed embarrassed to be caught in the act, but Lug wasn't there to give him a hard time.

"I have a question for you, have you ever heard of a ghost disappearing?"

Eno seemed relieved that the question had nothing to do with TV.

"Yes, it happens from time to time, I guess ghosts can die too" he mumbled, as if the information he had just given was trivial.