( He considers, thoughts at once predatory and academic, circling without answer. Too much absents, narrowly refraining him from a conclusion. )

Perhaps. ( Soft, tentative, a sound like a smear of watercolours against inks. The pigment of his conviction insufficient. ) Often, spirits torture themselves as they torture others.

( And yet, there is little to suggest the culprit of their circumstances is dead, a phantom or elsewise gone. Still, this every exorcist learns: )

They cannot grasp the living world that no longer binds them. They summon old memories and emotion. ( Hurt, affection, wonder. )