Read Online The Hysteria: Book 4, The Eddie McCloskey Paranormal Mystery Series (The Unearthed) by Evan Ronan - Free Book Online Page B

want her found when Leonard was looking for her, but now you do…” More of the picture came together. “…Megan was undercover, wasn’t she?”
    Pater looked at his two agents. Riehl nodded. Manetti looked as pissed as her official capacity would allow. She obviously didn’t approve of me being let in. She’d probably worked hard to get where she was, glass ceiling and all that, and here was this shlub ex-con who’d skipped tryouts and now was being considered for the starting lineup by coach.
    I went on. “She was under when she disappeared from her house. You didn’t want Leonard finding her, ruining the operation, whatever the hell it is, but now she’s actually gone.”
    Pater raised an eyebrow. “You’re smarter than you look.”
    “You must think I’m a genius then.”
    Manetti’s eyes shot daggers at me. Despite her olive skin, I could see the enraged blush on her face. Pater ignored her. Riehl seemed to be enjoying this, in a detached sort of way. But when it was game time, I knew he’d go cold and switch on.
    I said, “I’d start with Ken Hernando.”
    Manetti’s head snapped toward me. “Who’s Hernando?”
    I shrugged. “Witherspoon mentioned him.”
    Pater and Manetti exchanged a look, then Manetti left the room by the door Pater had just indicated to me. I couldn’t see much of anything in the next room. It was dark with maybe the light of a computer monitor hitting the wall.
    “What do you think’s going on here?” Pater asked.
    “I think I’m being Patriot Acted up the ass.”
    Pater smiled. “I mean here, in this town, with Megan. What do you think is happening?”
    I smiled right back. I had an idea. I hoped it was right.
    “You’ve got a mass psychogenic illness on your hands.”
    “What’s that?”
    The nausea was gone. There was only the beginning of a dull headache. “Could I get some water? I tend to get dehydrated when I puke my guts out.”
    Riehl disappeared behind me. I waited for him to come back with a bottled water before I said anything. I took a sip.
    “There is no such thing as coincidence.” I smiled at Pater. “Over the years there have been cluster murders annually around here. One of the more recent vics was Megan’s mother. In her search for answers, Megan must have come across MPI. It sparked her interest and she wrote her senior thesis on the subject. She joined your team, she presented these cluster murders as potential MPI outbreaks, you thought there was enough evidence to investigate, and voila, here you are.”
    Pater said nothing.
    I kept on. “Definitionally, MPI is very similar to mass hysteria, though it’s differentiated by the fact it has no organic cause. And we have some very good examples of it in the historical record.”
    “Tell me about them.”
    He was testing me. I didn’t like tests but I also wanted to find Megan Turner and I figured I could do that better with Pater’s help. I didn’t want to let a little thing like ego get in the way of finding Megan, especially if the working hypothesis was correct and she was in the throes of an MPI.
    I drank half the bottled water in one gulp. “My favorite example is the Tanganyika laughter epidemic. It’s part of Megan’s thesis. Girls between the ages of 12 and 18 broke into laughing fits, some of which lasted for two weeks straight. At one point, they had to close the school because nobody could focus on the lessons.”
    Pater said nothing.
    I decided to keep on impressing teach. “The laughing fit spread to a couple other schools and villages where some of the students lived. As abruptly as it started, it ended.”
    “You’re a man that likes to read,” Pater said.
    “I’m a man that likes to do his job. I want to find Megan. So do you. Let’s start helping each other.”
    He ignored that. “What do they think caused the laughing fit in Africa?”
    “I’m done with your little test, Patterson, or Pater, or whatever the hell your name is. You know who I am, what