Agency

A **psychical investigation agency**, or simply an **agency**, is a business specializing in taking care of ghosts ever since the Problem occurred, by hiring agents with Talent. There are sixteen agencies in total within London alone. The two largest agencies of London, Fittes and Rotwell, had hundreds of employees. Lockwood & Co. was by far the smallest, with only three initially.

## Overview

Generally agents from agencies wear their respective uniforms; Lucy Carlyle had wondered more than once why Anthony Lockwood hadn't chosen to apply the rule to his agency. Agents from Tamworth wore blue jackets, Grimble's had lilac tones, Fittes dark-grey hues, and Rotwell] wine-red; though oddly enough, Lucy's description later changed to Tamworth with canary yellow, Grimble with green pea-soup, Fittes with silver, and Rotwell with burgundy.

In addition to agents, agencies typically employed adult supervisors to oversee teams of agents. These supervisors were normally former agents who had lost their Talent upon growing older. Lockwood & Co. was known to be unique in not employing any adult supervisors.

Following the dissolution of the Rotwell Agency after the discovery of their illegally activities on the Other Side, the Fittes Agency began taking on a greater role. Many smaller agencies were dissolved or harassed, with three quarters of all agency activity under the command of Penelope Fittes. Independent agencies were legally required to commit their investigations only to small-scale investigations, with Fittes agents regularly turning up for inspections and agents being harassed in the streets for papers. This was followed by the creation of the Fittes Initiative in which it was announced that starting at the end of October, Fittes would provide extra money and manpower for small agencies and oversee difficult operations for them, continuing until the end of winter. However, these agencies generally recognized this for what it was: that, like it or not, they were coming under her control. However, thanks to the actions of Lockwood & Co., this policy never came pass.

Following the death of Penelope Fittes, secretly controlled by the ghost of her grandmother, Marissa Fittes, the staff of the Rotwell and Fittes Agencies were combined into the United Psychic Response Agency, under the temporary control of DEPRAC inspector Montagu Barnes.

## Known agencies

* A. J. Lockwood & Co., Investigators (commonly known as Lockwood & Co.)
* Atkins and Armstrong
* Bunchurch
* Dollop & Tweed
* Epstein and Hawkes‏‎
* Fittes Agency
* Hambleton Agency (merged with Fittes Agency)
* Grimble
* Jacobs & Co. Psychical Investigators
* Mellingcamp
* Rotwell Agency‏‎
* Sinclair and Soanes (former)
* Staines
* Tamworth
* Tendy & Sons
* United Psychic Response Agency

## Behind the scenes

* In the US editions, "**psychical** investigation agency" is instead written as "**psychic** investigation agency." The Netflix TV series, however, retains the term "psychical investigation agency."

## References

1. ↑ *The Screaming Staircase*, **IV: The Hall**, Ch. 17: *"There are fifteen agencies in London bigger and more successful than Lockwood and Co."*
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 *The Screaming Staircase*, **III: The Necklace**, Ch. 13
3. ↑ *The Whispering Skull*, **V: A Big Night Out**, Ch. 21
4. ↑ *The Hollow Boy*, **II: Whitechapel Nights**, Ch. 6
5. ↑ *The Empty Grave*, **I: The Tomb**, Ch. 4
6. ↑ *The Empty Grave*, **III: A Body in the Street**, Ch. 13
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 *The Empty Grave*, **VI: The Beginning**, Ch. 28
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 *The Screaming Staircase*, **II: Before**, Ch. 6
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 *The Hollow Boy*, **II: Whitechapel Nights**, Ch. 5: *"Plus Tendy, Atkins and Armstrong, Tamworth, Grimble, Staines, Mellingcamp, and Bunchurch. Some others, too, but I forget the names."*
10. ↑ *The Screaming Staircase*, **II: Before**, Ch. 8
11. ↑ *The Screaming Staircase*, **IV: The Hall**, Ch. 24
12. ↑ *The Screaming Staircase*, **II: Before**, Ch. 5
13. ↑ *The Empty Grave*, **IV: The Siege of Portland Row**, Ch. 21: *"She was Florence Bonnard of the Sinclair and Soanes Agency."*