Whitstable Pearl

The ghost of Susan Lloyd, secret lover of Wynn Ellis,

owner of Whitstable Castle, roams this graveyard at night,

furious that Ellis' wife is laid to rest

beside him for eternity.

So close to Halloween,

we may chance to glimpse Susan's vengeful spirit.

- (Mike) Oh, God. - (Dolly) Shush!

I can't believe you dragged me along to this.

Bet's a bet. I told you that burglary was staged.

We could duck out now, get the first round in.

No, Charlie would be so disappointed.

This is our Halloween tradition.

How is Charlie?

I don't know. He seems different.

Different how?

A bit lost.

Mr Cranage used to proper freak me and my mates out as kids.

God, he's so weird. Really believes all this stuff.

Did you hear that?

- Happy Halloween, Mike. - Mm-hmm.

You should have seen his face.

I can imagine!

- I'm glad you had fun. - Oh, yeah, lots of fun.

Did you enjoy yourself, young man?

Yes, we did. We had a brilliant time.

- Thank you. - Then my work here is done.

My old bones crave the comforts of home.

So, I shall bid you all... good night.

- (Pearl) Good night. - (Dolly) Good night, Mr Cranage.

Thank you.

- He's gone now. - (laughter)

- (Ruby) He scared us. - Oh, wait! Mr Cranage, your hat!

Hello, love.

I'm getting too old for this.

I'd much rather be at home with you.

Cheers, my darling.

Jacob.

Eleanor!

Who's there?

# There once was a place with mudlands a'lonely.

# Way, hey, ho.

# And I'll sink and I'll search.

# And I know that I'll find it.

# Way, hey, ho.

# I know the wind, she blows.

# I know the tides are low.

# But you'll find me at the white post.

# You'll find me at the white post. #

He's got a really nice smile.

Maybe you should take him trick-or-treating later.

Hello? Whitstable Pearl.

Pumpkins done.

Oh, good. You can help me with this, then.

That's great. Thank you. We'll see you then.

Bye. That's it. Our last table's gone.

We're now officially fully booked.

Oh, well-done, Ruby.

Ah, she's really going for it, you know?

Special Halloween menu, all over the socials.

She's a natural.

Oh, do you mind if I do these in a bit?

I wanted to grab a word with Ruby.

I was just hoping to pick up a few extra shifts.

Oh, right.

Not 'cause you want to spend a bit more time with her, no?

No.

You do know, Charlie,

that Ruby's really busy at the moment.

She's working her fingers to the bone. Bless her.

Well, then she'll be glad for the extra help, won't she?

Yeah, go and ask her. Why not?

Thanks.

(ominous music playing, seagulls calling)

Hey.

I know it's Halloween and everything, but you look dead on your feet.

That'll be getting up at stupid o'clock for a wild goose chase.

Still nothing?

Not even a fingernail.

Well, I made a few calls.

Turns out Mr Cranage has previous.

A few months ago, he made a call to 999

saying a demonic spirit possessed his house,

was scratching up the walls and trying to get him.

Turns out he just had rats.

Mr Cranage, where exactly did you see this person digging?

Er...

I... I can't remember.

Erm... something seems a bit off.

Couldn't agree more.

Dad? Dad?

Are you okay?

Ian, what are you doing here?

You left us a message, Jacob. Remember?

We only picked it up this morning. I've been trying to call you.

I take it you're Mr Cranage's son?

I'm Ian. This is my wife, Freya.

DCI McGuire. This is DS Martel.

Can we, er, have a word?

Be right back, Dad, okay?

Are you aware

that your father reported someone burying a corpse?

I'm so sorry. He doesn't mean any harm.

Are you saying he made it up?

Of course he did.

Not intentionally.

Dad's always had an active imagination.

But recently, he's been getting confused.

- (Mike) Right. - His memory's been playing up.

That's why we've driven down here.

So, you don't live in Whitstable?

Goodness, no.

Not since I was a teenager.

Your father seemed perfectly fine on the ghost walk yesterday.

Jake has been running the tour since Ian was a child.

He could do it in his sleep.

Dad's not in trouble, is he?

It's fine.

Why don't you take him home?

-He must be exhausted -Thank you so much.

Mm-hmm.

We're done here.

Guess who?

Oh.

What are you doing?

Oh. Sorry.

Erm, can we talk?

I'm a bit busy here, Charlie.

Maybe we could catch up tomorrow, then?

Yeah, well, I've got rehearsals.

Right.

Hey, didn't Dolly say she still needs someone

to be a Captain von Trapp?

You'd have to ask her.

I will. Cheers, Ruby.

(sighs)

Happy Halloween.

Should we contact Social Services?

- What for? - Well, he's clearly not coping.

Oh, God. Look, just leave it to his son.

We're going to have enough on our plate today.

What can I get you? Heard you've had a busy morning.

Been down on the beach.

Jacob Cranage dialled 999 last night.

- You mean Creepy Cranage? - Charlie, he's harmless.

They said that about Hannibal the Cannibal.

Yeah, well, reckons he saw someone burying a body.

Weirdly, there was nothing there.

Or maybe it was just some kids winding him up.

You know, pranking Creepy Cranage is a Whitstable Halloween tradition.

- Since when? - Always?

Oh, come on. He owns that freaky house on the edge of town.

We used to knock on the door and run on the way home,

throw eggs and flour at the...

...at the windows.

Well, this was years ago.

Whatever happened last night, I had nothing to do with it.

Yeah, but you used to prank a harmless old man.

Yeah, when I was a kid. I don't...

- I don't do it anymore. - Right. Well, that's decided.

- You can come with me later. - Where?

Well, I'm going to take Mr Cranage's hat back to him.

You can come with me and explain this is probably a prank.

Think of it as atonement for past sins.

Seriously?

Unless you're still scared of him?

Course not.

We should share our location with Dolly, right?

Just in case we don't come back.

Don't be so ridiculous.

Look, maybe we can just leave the hat by the front door

with a note, yeah?

No.

Mr Cranage, it's Pearl Nolan from the Whitstable Pearl?

Me and my son, Charlie,

we were on your Halloween tour last night.

My hat! It was a gift from my wife.

You left it at the restaurant.

I don't want you to get in trouble with your missus.

Oh, thank you.

But she's not around to notice anymore.

Well, I'm sorry to hear that.