Read Online Ghost Town by Jason Hawes - Free Book Online

was murdered.”
    Trevor pounced on the statement like a cat eager to catch a mouse before it scurried away. “You were? What was it about?”
    â€œNothing earthshaking, I assure you. Erin’s been filming background on the town’s various attractions over the last week. The Ancient Spirits bar, the Beyond the Veil Museum, and so forth. Important enough for the project, I suppose, but dull work. Erin insists on my being there to offer a quote or two about each place, which I dutifully provide, but the rest of the time, I’m standing around watching Erin and her crew work.”
    â€œShe has a crew?” Drew asked. “I had the impression she films alone.”
    â€œIt’s a minimal crew: one camera operator, one sound person, one lighting-slash-makeup person. Occasionally, Erin will film onher own if she doesn’t have time to get the crew together, like this morning. But that’s rare. It’s quite a shoestring operation overall. Nothing like what I was used to in my heyday. I remember one time when we were filming a segment for Beyond Explanation in Las Vegas. We were on location at a casino once owned by an organized-crime figure back in the 1960s. Supposedly, he killed several of his enemies and concealed their bodies in the building’s foundation during the casino’s construction. There had never been any proof, of course, so we’d brought a medium with us to attempt to make contact with the spirits of the victims. We were in the middle of shooting my intro to the piece when a little old grandmother from Tallahassee hit on a slot machine not ten feet from where I was standing. She screamed in joy, lights and sirens went off on the machine, and coins started flooding out of the damned thing and pouring onto the floor. When she noticed us, she thought we were there to document her triumph and insisted that I interview her on camera. She refused to listen when I attempted to explain to her why we were really there. Finally, I relented and asked her a few questions to placate her, and she departed with her winnings, satisfied that she was now the celebrity she thought she deserved to be. Well, the crew and I had a good laugh about it, of course, and then resumed filming. And wouldn’t you know it? Another damned slot machine paid out and interrupted me yet again! And since I’d interviewed the grandmother, the gentleman who’d won this time insisted he get his turn on camera as well. By this time, my good humor was wearing more than a little thin, so—”
    Trevor interrupted. “That’s a great story, but before the women return, I’d like to get your professional opinion on what happened at Forgotten Lore last night.”
    Carrington scowled with displeasure at having his monologue cut short, but he put on a smile as he turned to Trevor. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
    â€œYou know, your opinion as a paranormal investigator.”
    Carrington looked at Trevor a moment and then laughed. “My boy, I have been investigating strange phenomena since before you were born, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned in that time, it’s that the principle of Occam’s razor usually holds true. The simplest explanation is almost always the most likely one. So my professional opinion is that last night, poor Tonya had the unfortunate luck to encounter a lunatic with a strong throwing arm. Nothing more. Now, if you’ll excuse me, gentlemen, I think I’ll get a coffee after all.”
    Carrington got up from the table and headed over to speak with the barista.
    â€œHe seems more than a bit cynical,” Drew said.
    â€œI thought you’d approve. Better that than too gullible, right?”
    â€œI suppose.” But there was a difference between being objective and being snide, and Drew thought Carrington came down more on the latter side.
    â€œIt looks like we won’t have to worry about Carrington