London's 'Phantom Hitch-hiker'

The phantom hitch-hiker is an old urban legend, and Frank Paston knew that. So when the East End Gangster saw a shadowy figure in the back of his car, he was more than a little surprised. He was even more surprised when the figure slipped into the front passenger seat and looked at him with glowing red eyes.

"I know what you did," the phantom, a transparent, black smoke-like figure, told him. It spoke in a quiet voice, the voice of a little girl.

Paston stared in horror at the awful thing.

"No!" he cried. "I was so careful! It was the perfect crime!"

"But I know. And I came back. Why did you do it?"

By this time Paston was making a gibbering noise, and threatening to lose control of his bladder. Like a lot of gangsters and crooks, he was a coward alone and without a gun. Not that he didn't have a gun with him, he just thought it wouldn't work on the ghost.

Phantom hitch-hikers he could deal with, but this was far more personal.

"I'll tell the police!" he cried. "I'll confess! I'll even tell them where I hid the bodies! Just leave me alone!"

"Drive to the police station, then."

Paston drove to the police station, and there the awful ghost faded from sight. The terrified crook spent all night confessing, first the the murder of a journalist and her young daughter back in 2001, and then to every other crime he could remember being involved in. He yelled about the ghost, but of course no-one believed him.

I was in the kitchen when the Outsider entered the locked flat and flopped on the sofa. Scruff greeted her with a friendly 'hi'.

"Who's there?" I called.

"It's Emily! She came in through the keyhole!"

I left the supper for a moment and went into the living-room where Scruff and Emily were.

"What are you doing in this part of London?" I asked.

"Dealing with a crook. I got in his car and said 'I know what you did.' He started confessing to a murder, and turned himself in."

"How did you know about the murder?" Scruff asked. Emily (alias the Outsider) laughed.

"I didn't. But I knew he was a criminal and so 'I know what you did' would trigger his guilty conscience on something."

Emily's wonderful. Of course, her being black and smoky with glowing red eyes all the time is tough, but her 'phantom hitch-hiker' routine is brilliant.

But she's no ghost. Her appetite disproves that!