"Do you remember the story of the haunting?" Apollo asked, as they walked down the street.

February had been colder than usual and the cars parked on the street were covered in ice. It was just the right temperature for a ghost story; even the sky was grey.

"It was a dark and stormy night." Trucy began, in a deep, theatrical voice. "A car crash victim was wheeled into the ER and the only doctor on duty had been drinking. One of the nurses tried to stop him from treating the patient, they fought and while the other nurses tried to stop them from killing each other, their patient died."

"Let me guess," Apollo cut in. "The car crash victim has haunted the hospital ever since, punishing the doctors and nurses for his terrible fate?"

"Her terrible fate," Trucy corrected him. "The dead patient was female. Otherwise, you're absolutely right. Did I manage to scare you?"

"Not a chance," he replied brazenly, but that wasn't entirely true.

The closer they got to the hospital, the more unease swirled around inside his stomach like a kaleidoscope of butterflies. He didn't even know what was causing it. Perhaps it was the story behind the haunting, or the fact that the name of the hospital rang a bell somewhere deep inside his mind.

It looked familiar too, a large, grey building that might have been made of stone, if it wasn't for the telltale bumps where clay and plastic panels overlapped.

"This place looks as creepy as it sounds." Trucy said, shivering slightly. Somehow she'd managed to put his exact thoughts into words. It was scary how often their thoughts overlapped. Almost like she was the little sister he'd never had.

"I'm sure it's less scary inside," he said reassuringly. "Come on. Let's get that file and get you back to the agency to finish off your homework."

Healsome hospital wasn't any less scary on the inside. In fact, it was even worse. The lobby was painted a garish shade of green, which wouldn't have been bad if the desk, the chairs and doors weren't all various shades of red and orange. The overall effect was like being trapped in a traffic light.

"We're looking for the morgue." Apollo told the lady at the desk, who didn't even blink at their arrival. She just pointed to a flight of steps in the corner and they descended nervously.

The steps seemed to go on forever and they passed several locked doors before they got to the foot of the staircase, where a single pair of double doors rose intimidatingly into the air.

"I recognize this from Ghostchasers!" Trucy grinned, skipping down the last few steps. Despite her cheerful demeanor, he could detect the fear in her bright, blue eyes.

A sign saying 'Healsome Morgue' hung on the front of the doors. Someone had crossed out the 'some' in Healsome, replacing it with 'none'. That the people who worked here had a sense of humor should have reassured him. Instead, he felt even more apprehensive.

Had he visited the hospital before? What was it about the place that bothered him so much?

Trucy went ahead and knocked on the door. She had always been the sort of person who faced her fears head on. Nobody answered.

"Hello?" she called and her voice echoed around the narrow hallway. "Is anybody in there?"

"They must be having their lunch break," Apollo replied, feeling oddly relieved. There was an odd aura around the hospital, just being there set his teeth on edge.

"We can't leave without the autopsy report!" Trucy admonished him. She bent down next to the door and started fiddling with the handle. "It's not even locked, we can be in and out in no time and nobody will even know."

"Trucy Wright, we are not-" Apollo began, but she'd already opened the door and walked inside. He had no choice but to follow.

The morgue, unlike the rest of the hospital, was spotlessly clean and clinical. The walls and floor were white and one part of the room was partitioned off by a curtain.

"I'll look over this side and you check over there," she ordered.

Apollo walked over to the curtain and pulled it aside, revealing a man covered in blood!

"Aaarghhh!!!" he screamed, stumbling backwards. "Trucy, run!"

"Eeeek!!!" she squealed, jumping about a foot in the air. They both made for the door.

"Excuse me?" the man said timidly, with a heavily accented voice. "Wait, please. I did not mean to scare you..."

Apollo stopped by the door and looked back at the man. On second viewing, he wasn't covered in blood at all. It was just his mouth. And the liquid was much too red to be blood from a long-deceased body.

"Ketchup," he said apologetically, wiping his face with a handkerchief. "I'm just having my lunch break."

Now that his face was unobscured, the man looked even more vampiric. He was wearing a black robe under his hospital regulation labcoat and his black hair was swept dramatically from his face. A few drops of ketchup still clung to his pale chin.

"We're very sorry to interrupt your lunch." Trucy said sweetly. "But we've heard you have an autopsy report for a Miss City? Our friend would really appreciate it if we could pick it up now."

"Of course, of course," he replied in an accent that Apollo finally identified as Romanian.

He strode out from behind the curtain and started sorting through a stack of files. "I'm sorry, I don't get many visitors down here. My name is Doctor Bludden Guts and I'm the resident pathologist at Healsome."

"It's nice to meet you," Apollo said. Now that he'd got over his initial shock, he found himself warming to the eccentric doctor.

"Now, where did I put that report?" Gutts muttered to himself. "I had it just this morning."

They watched as he strode towards the fridge at the end of the room and opened one of the long drawers. A horrible, chemical smell seeped into the room and the Doctor hurriedly shut the drawer, looking back at them apologetically.

“Wrong drawer,” he said. “I use one of them as a filing cabinet, but I can never remember which one.”

The next one he opened smelt even worse and Apollo covered his nose with the sleeve of his jacket.

“Why don’t you go and help him look?” murmured Trucy, a wicked smile on her lips.

“No way,” he replied under his breath. “Why don’t you?”

Another drawer had a woman’s blonde hair sticking out of the gap and Gutts hastily shoved it back inside.

“That’s Miss City,” he said to them, as he continued his search. “A sad case of poisoning.”

“I wonder if it was the poison Athena’s defendant made?” Trucy said aloud and Gutts nodded.

“Only someone with considerable experience in the pharmaceutical industry could have made such a unique poison. I’ll be saying the same thing in court tomorrow.”

“You’re going to the trial?” asked Apollo, shocked. “I thought the prosecutors usually summarised the autopsy report in cases like this.”

“There aren’t many cases like this,” Gutts chuckled. “Since the nature of the poison is so integral to the case, they’ve asked me to testify about it. I’m quite excited, I’ve never been to a real-life court!”

His chuckle became a textbook evil laugh, which continued until he opened another drawer and rifled though it excitedly.

“Aha, the autopsy report!” he proclaimed. “Familiarise yourself with it, share it with your fellow lawyers and I shall see you in court tomorrow!”

“I’ll be at school,” said Trucy dejectedly.

“But you’ll come, won’t you?” Gutts asked Apollo. “I’d like to see a friendly face while I’m on the stand.”

“Sure,” Apollo agreed. He had to admit that this case had already left its mark on him. It looked like Athena could use some help tomorrow in court and he’d be there for her.

“I’ll see you then!” The doctor said, pushing the report into Trucy’s hands. “Now, I must get back to my lunch. Goodbye, children!”

“Children?” sighed Apollo, but he bit his tongue. The man acted like someone much older, a few centuries older to be precise, but he seemed like he was willing to help their case.

“I hope you’ve got your appetite back,” Trucy grinned at him once she’d checked her phone. “Athena wants to meet us at Nemar’s Ramen House!”

They waved back to the doctor as they left the morgue and emerged once again into the grey-skied sunlight of the road outside.