The Case of Larry Kittredge

This casefile was compiled by Alva Keel through witness interviews and observations conducted by SQ.

      If one made a list of the most unlikely places to be haunted, you would probably find the Hill Ridge Realty office in Lowell, New Jersey, somewhere near the top. A normal, everyday sort of place, it appeared to be haunted nonetheless. Some of the things that were happening there were phantom creaking and knocking sounds, lights that often malfunctioned, doors slamming, objects falling over and moving about on their own, radio malfunctions, and such.
      Mr. Callan and I were called in to investigate the haunting by one of the employees, Ms. Francine Goldfarb, who assisted us in setting up interviews with her co-workers. We asked the usual questions that would rule out other, mundane explanations for seeing and hearing unusual things, such as signs that would indicate a brain tumor. Everyone in the office seemed to check out fine health-wise.
      We met with the manager of the office, Mr. Lawrence "Larry" Kittredge. He dismissed the idea that the office was haunted, and attributed the employees' experiences to the power of suggestion, caused by Ms. Goldfarb. According to him, she subscribed to many new age beliefs, and had basically convinced everyone else that the office was haunted simply because she believed it. Before we left, Mr. Callan asked Mr. Kittredge about the security cameras all over the office - were there security tapes we could view to see if any of the employees' experiences had been caught on film? Mr. Kittredge reported that the cameras were just for show, that there were no actual tapes available for viewing.
      Back at our hotel, Mr. Callan and I discussed the possibilities for what was at the heart of this case: The employees had really seen something, and Mr. Kittredge was in denial; the employees had all fallen under the power of the suggestions of the one employee, and had not witnessed any actual phenomena; or the employees had seen something out of the ordinary, and Mr. Kittredge had simply not witnessed any of it. Going further, perhaps Larry Kittredge himself was at the center of the disturbance. If something were really happening in the office, there were two basic possibilities to explain it. Either there was a ghost, the spirit of a deceased person, inhabiting the office and trying to make its presence known through its disruptive activities; or the phenomena was being caused by a poltergeist, which is a living person with psychokinetic powers. Psychokinesis, formerly known as telekinesis, is the ability to move objects with the mind. Often, psychokinetic people do not even know they are the origin of the poltergeist activities, instead assuming a ghost is responsible. Wild, destructive displays of psychokinesis are almost always caused by adolescent teenagers and people in turmoil, as if the inner disquiet they feel is dramatically taken out on their environment. It is interesting to note that no one in the real estate office had reported seeing any apparitions (ghosts). This leads one to the conclusion that this may be a poltergeist case from the onset.
      In order to narrow down our possibilities, Mr. Callan interviewed a young lady in the office, Miss Tanya Sherwood. She informed him of the fact that Mr. Kittredge's son, Kevin Kittredge, had died the year before of bacterial meningitis. Tanya and Kevin were apparently close, so it was doubtful she could be the center of a poltergeist case. Those with pent up sexual desires, such as virgins, are far more likely to be the cause of such phenomena.
      Next, Mr. Callan conducted an interview with Larry's wife, Mrs. Meg Kittredge, to see what she knew of the "ghost" at her husband's office. It was obvious that the grief was still very fresh and still present over their son's sudden death. Mrs. Kittredge indicated that her husband was back at work very soon after Kevin passed on, which could mean that he had never properly dealt with it.
      Mr. Callan went to the realty office to question Larry Kittredge further. He found the place quiet and seemingly unoccupied, so he headed into Mr. Kittredge's office to wait for him. Strangely, the office was now completely devoid of furniture. A creaking sound above his head alerted him to the amazing fact that all of the office furnishings were now on the ceiling, upside down, as if the ceiling had become the floor. Everything in the room down to the filing cabinets, picture frames on the desk, and even the pencil can was now tenuously plastered to the ceiling. Mr. Kittredge came into the office immediately thereafter, and claimed he could explain everything.
      Larry Kittredge informed Mr. Callan that he felt his son had come back to him because he had prayed for it, and thus was the culprit in the haunting. When he was told that his wife was unhappy and lonely without his companionship, as well as her son's, Mr. Kittredge seemed to be happy just having his son back, that things were best left the way they were.
      The next morning, Tanya came to our hotel room with a trash bag full of video tapes. She wanted to do what was best for Mr. Kittredge. He had thrown the security tapes away the previous afternoon. Obviously, these tapes from the security cameras would reveal something Larry Kittredge did not want us to see.
      Our suspicions were confirmed - the employees' experiences were quite real, and Larry Kittredge had been personally present for all of them; not a single haunting occurrence had taken place without him being there. Mr. Callan was convinced upon seeing those tapes that there was no ghost involved.
      Mr. Callan and I returned to the real estate office to discuss our findings with the staff, but we found them literally fleeing from the building in terror, all but, apparently, Mr. Kittredge. Mr. Callan and I found the place in a shambles - papers flying everywhere, desks rambling across the floor, chairs sailing through the air, lights exploding, all before our very eyes. A wastepaper basket even suddenly caught fire, the flames leaping to the ceiling, leaving me to wonder if it was something in the chaos of the room that started it, or if Larry Kittredge was pyrokinetic, as well. (Pyrokinesis is the ability to start fires with the power of the mind.) We eventually entered Mr. Kittredge's office, and found him inside, quietly listening to his CD player through headphones, completely unaware of the mayhem taking place in the outer office.
      Mr. Callan and I brought Larry Kittredge back to our hotel room to speak with him about our theories. Mr. Callan explained that he believed Mr. Kittredge was the cause of the entire haunting; he was releasing psychokinetic energy without his knowledge in reaction to his son's untimely death. All of the grief he had swallowed was released each time his "son" paid his office a visit. It was the man's way of keeping his son with him. He had said himself that Kevin had come back to him because he loved him and had missed him. When confronted with this idea, Mr. Kittredge became very upset, denying that our theory was possible. Objects began flying about the room of their own accord; the destruction became more violent as Larry Kittredge grew more upset. A lamp soared right into Mr. Callan's head, knocking him down; at this moment, Mr. Kittredge noticed what he had done to the room and Mr. Callan, and realized that our poltergeist theory was true. He had caused all of the ghost activity in an effort to bring his son back, even though Kevin was gone for good.
      Soon thereafter, Larry Kittredge spoke with his wife and explained to her what had been happening in his office for the last six months. They are currently working to put their marriage back together.
      This case is closed.

Please see related cases: Hauntings; Callan, Paul

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