Bod retrieves a mysterious brooch—a large ruby set in a silvery clasp shaped like snakes and claws—from the Indigo Man crypt. It’s intended for use in a ritual sacrifice and its value as an ancient gemstone artifact is enormous. The brooch seems to have strange effects on whoever holds it, even Bod: “Bod stared into the stone wondering if there were things moving in its heart, his eyes and soul deep in the crimson world” (116).

Not realizing its monetary worth, but believing it will fetch him at least enough to purchase a gravestone for his ghost friend Liza, Bod tries to sell it to antique shop proprietor Mr. Bolger. The shopkeeper does understand its selling price, tries to steal it from Bod, and fights over it with his partner, Mr. Hustings. The brooch is a reminder of the dangers of magic and of the world beyond the graveyard, where most people don’t simply love Bod, as do the ghosts, but regard him as someone they can dupe.

The graveyard, atop a hill in the middle of a city in England, is very old—its oldest denizen is Caius Pompeius, a Roman gentleman buried there 2,000 years ago. Older still is the crypt of the Indigo Man, a mysterious long lost being whose burial chamber is guarded by an ancient power, the Sleer.