I took a few notes, but I got the feeling he was telling the absolute truth, at least to the best of his knowledge. That didn’t explain the ghostly audience…and when you investigate the paranormal, things are rarely what you first believe.
“Amazing. So, she’s a possibility. Good job, Cassidy and Sierra, for digging all that up.” The girls gave me a thumbs-up and whispered to one another. “Well, who’s up for a daytime investigation? Norman has agreed to let us poke around the theater. We’ll take the van and do some preliminary setup for the night investigation. Might as well kill two birds with one stone.”
“If you could find some answers before the fourteenth, that would be wonderful. I hate to lose any more clients. I need Miss Perry to stay with the concert. She’s the big draw. Without her, I might as well walk the keys over to the bank today.”
“We will do our best to find some answers for you. Here are some of the things we’ll use. This is an EMF reader, Norman. It tells us when there are anomalies in the electromagnetic field. Some investigators believe that spikes in the EMF indicate the presence of spirits. These small machines help us determine where these things might be coming from and where they will most likely appear.”
Norman appeared both fascinated and worried. He removed his glasses and said in a hushed voice, “And you know how important discretion is to me?”
“Yes, we do.”
He breathed a sigh of relief. “I am grateful for your help, Midas. All of you. You see, Ginger Perry refused to play if I didn’t have someone come out and investigate. I want to put her mind at ease, and all the other performers’ too. I have sunk my life savings into renovating the Crescent. Please, help me.”
“You have our word that we’ll be discreet. We will do what we can to figure out who’s hanging around, if anyone. Are you ready to go?” I asked him with a smile.
“Sure, let’s do it.”
“Great. Norman, why don’t you ride with me? The rest of the gang will ride with Joshua in the van. No signs and no t-shirts, guys. Meet you there in ten minutes.” The GCP team loaded up in the van while Norman and I signed the NDAs and headed to my truck.
“I can’t believe you’d do this for free.”
“It beats writing ‘paranormal investigator’ on my tax form.”
Norman laughed. “I can believe that.” After a few minutes, he asked, “So Cassidy Wright. Is she…I hardly even know how to ask this. I hope this isn’t inappropriate.”
Before he could finish I lied, “No, she’s not single.”
“I wasn’t going to ask that.” Norman shrugged. “I was wondering if she’d be available for an exhibit, maybe in the Crescent’s lobby. We could serve wine and cheese. That would draw culture lovers. I dream of filling the place with artists.”
“Oh, that’s something you’d have to ask her. I can’t speak for her.” Well, make an ass of yourself next time, Midas. You haven’t done it in at least six hours.
The team and I unloaded quietly and hustled into the building. It wasn’t long before Norman locked the door behind us and led us on a tour of the place.
“For investigation purposes, we’d like to record our interview with you and record while we travel through the theater. You have our word that nothing will be used without your express permission. It’s in the paperwork you signed earlier,” Josh assured him as he began filming. Norman agreed and took us through the lobby first.
“Any unusual activity in here, Mr. Mayhew?” Cassidy asked as she swept the lobby for a baseline with her K2 meter.
“Not really, except for one of our older clients won’t use the ladies’ restroom in the lobby here. She says there was a woman looking back at her from the mirror. It upset her so bad she goes at the house before she comes. At least she hasn’t stopped coming. That’s more than I can say for Ginger Perry.”
“I’d like you two to do an EVP session in that room, Sierra, while we move on. Catch up in five?” I nodded at Cassidy, and she smiled back.
Sierra didn’t seem too thrilled about it. Oh, yeah. Ever since that ghost called her name at Oakleigh Historic Manor, she’d largely sworn off EVP sessions. Well, she’d have to get over it. Sara wasn’t around anymore to shoulder that responsibility. And Cassidy was a total rookie when it came to talking to spirits.
“Sierra, just a few preliminary questions. We’ll review it back at the office.”
“Roger, captain,” she said playfully, but I could tell her heart wasn’t in it. I left the two younger women to gather evidence while the four of us moved on.
Norman led the way. “This wall here is new. When it was the Century Theater, this whole area would have been open. We closed this side and that side in. That gives us two smaller auditoriums, mostly for movies, and the one large auditorium for movies, symphonies and plays. I thought it made more sense to use the space more efficiently.”
“When did the renovations begin?” I asked with pen and paper in hand.
“The end of last year.”
“And when did the activity begin?”
“The end of last year. Oh my goodness! You don’t think the renovations stirred up something…” Norman’s eyes bugged out behind his glasses.
“Stranger things have happened. I wouldn’t doubt it.” I climbed up on the stage, and Josh jumped up beside me. We scanned the audience. “Where did Ginger see the apparition?”
Norman walked up the aisle and toward a seat in the center front. “This one. The ghost was sitting here and then suddenly appeared on the stage. That’s when Ginger left.”
“Josh, I want cameras focused on both the stage and that particular stretch of chairs, especially that one. If we can, let’s find some violin music to play over these speakers, see if we can draw her out. Preferably the piece that Ginger was playing. Hey, Norman! Any chance we can talk to Ginger?”
“I doubt it, but I’ll give it a try.”
Jack whispered in my ear, “I’m seeing shadows, Midas, and that’s no bull. This place gives me the willies. I am glad I’ll be working in the van.”
“Not on this one, Jack. You’ll be setting up in the lobby. Or in Norman’s office. You pick.”
“Office, and that’s bogus. This is why I hate working with you—you’re nuts. You know that, don’t you?” he said, grinning nervously.
“I know, I know. You’re used to playing armchair detective, but if you’re going to work with Gulf Coast Paranormal, you’re just going to have to dive right in and have a few screams.”
“Whatever,” he said, acting like he wasn’t scared a bit. Dang if he wasn’t worse than Josh. Speaking of which, Josh was laughing at Jack. I guess he was finally glad that there was someone around who startled easier than he did.
“Okay, guys. Let’s move on to the next part. We need to see the old dressing rooms. Let’s put down some cords and get the cameras set up.”
Norman smiled nervously and looked at his watch. “I have to head upstairs. I live on the top floor, and I’m scheduled to have lunch with my mother today. The old girl doesn’t like to wait. But I’m giving you free rein, Midas. Please find answers.”
“We will do our darnedest. I’ll call you when we’re ready to lock up.”
Norman disappeared out the back door, which presumably led upstairs to his apartment.
Well, here it was. Day one with no Sara on this investigation. No sorry-ass Pete either. I smiled as I watched my busy crew. Cassidy and Sierra had rejoined us, rolls of cables on their arms, their ponytails swaying as they talked and worked.
This was going to be a good night.
Chapter Seven—Cassidy
“Sierra and Cassidy in the ladies’ restroom,” Sierra said as she pressed the button on the walkie-talkie.
“Sounds good. Base here.” Jack’s voice came through the radio perfectly.
“We’re going to do another EVP session in here before we move on. We’re ready for lights-out now.”
“Okay, go ahead.” It was Midas’ voice the second time. It
was good to hear him. I’d been in this area just six hours ago, when the sun was up and the lights were on. Everything felt fine then. Now things had changed. As we stood in total darkness I was keenly aware that we might not be alone. And that’s what being in the dark does to you. It makes you think. Makes you question everything. Makes your senses tingle. Now that the air conditioning had been turned off, the air quickly got stale. It smelled of old popcorn, wood polish and antibacterial soap.
“Let’s see if we can recreate what the customer saw. You film our walk-through, okay?”
I nodded and clicked on the camera, setting it to night vision. I was happy to see Sierra’s face glowing in the camera’s viewfinder.
“The customer came out of this stall.” Sierra opened the stall door and went inside, then came out and walked to the mirror. “Then she came here to wash her hands. When she looked up into the mirror, she saw a woman’s face.”
“Was it behind her, or did it replace her face?” I asked.
“I think it replaced her face. So, she’s washing her hands and…” Sierra turned on the water and turned it off again.
Stop it.
“What did you say?” she asked in a whisper.
“Nothing. I didn’t say anything.” The hairs on the back of my neck crept up again. We waited and heard no other weird voices or sounds.
“I know I heard something. Play it back on the camera, Cassidy.”
I frowned into the dark. She kindly waved her cell phone over the camera so I could find the rewind button. “Here it is.” I hit play, and we heard the voice again.
Stop it.
“Let’s try to get more,” she said. I nodded in agreement, my hair creeping up on both my arms and neck now. “If there’s anyone here, my name is Sierra, and this is my friend Cassidy. We want to know why you are scaring people in here.”
We didn’t hear anything. I asked, “Is it you who said, ‘Stop it’ just a minute ago? Can you do that again?”
I heard a sighing sound, but it wasn’t clear. “Turn the water on again, Sierra. Maybe that’s the trigger.” I didn’t know what to call it. I wasn’t hip with the lingo, but I was sure turning on the water had something to do with it. We didn’t hear a sound until she pretended to wash her hands.
“Sounds good. You recording all this?”
“Um, yes.” I focused the camera on Sierra’s pretty face, and she smiled nervously.
“Okay, just going to wash my hands. When I look up, I hope to see you in the mirror.” Her youthful voice sounded kind of sing-songy. It reminded me of my experience with Kylie this morning.
If that had been Kylie and not my imagination. Estella Winters had certainly not been my imagination. Not in the least!
Sierra turned on the water, looked down at the sink and began to look up when we heard a slamming sound. One of the bathroom stall doors slammed shut. “Oh, crapola!” She jumped and did a staggering step at the sink, then gave me a wide-eyed stare and chuckled. “Clearly that wasn’t you or me.”
“Nope. I’m nowhere near that door. And you were at the sink.”
Sierra said cautiously, “We know you’re here. Why won’t you talk to us? Are you angry that I used the water faucet? Is this your bathroom?”
…unintelligible words…
“What did she say? Was that a female voice?”
“I think so. I’ve recorded it. Should I play it back?”
Sierra swallowed and glanced around the bathroom. “No. We’ll review it later. Let’s check out this door before we move on to the lobby. I hate to leave when we’re getting so much activity, but we’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”
“Me too.”
“Can you slam the door again? I’m going to open it now, but you can close it again if you want to.” Sierra tentatively touched the door and tried to push it open. She frowned at me. “It won’t open.”
“Is it stuck?” I asked, reaching out for the door now too. I pushed against it. She wasn’t joking. The darn door wouldn’t budge. “Maybe it locked when it slammed back.”
Sierra squatted down and peeked under the door. “If that’s you holding the door closed, we’re leaving now. You can let it go. We’ll leave you in peace if that’s what you want.” She stood up and waited. I could hardly believe it, but right before our eyes the door began to swing open slowly. As if it had never been stuck.
“I think that’s a sign, Sierra. We need to leave. Let the next team make contact. Obviously, whoever she is, she doesn’t want us in here right now.”
“You’re right. Let’s go. Sierra to Jack, we’re going to the lobby now. Leaving the ladies’ room.”
“All right. Great work, guys. Keep going.”
Sierra and I stood outside the ladies’ room, both of us amazed at what just happened. We swept the lobby, but there wasn’t much to see there beyond the usual recordings around the electrical equipment.
She asked, “You ready to check out the auditorium, or should we go to the old stage office first?”
“I say auditorium. That way we can retrace Ginger’s steps.”
“Roger that. Sierra to Midas. We’re heading into the auditorium.”
“All right. Everyone’s out of the building, and it’s just you two. We can see you.”
I couldn’t help myself; I waved at the closest camera. It made me feel like we weren’t quite so alone.
Sierra and I entered the back of the auditorium. It was small compared to some I’d visited during my college days, but it was truly nice. Norman had restored the place beautifully with dark red and gold carpets, decorative curtains on the outer edges of the stage and wonderfully comfortable seats. I glanced above us. There were balcony seats up there. So far, there hadn’t been any reports from that area, but it still might be worth checking out. I’d suggest it if Sierra asked me. We sat together at the back of the auditorium. I kept one eye on the IR camera and the other on the stage. I half expected Estella Winters to walk out and begin singing. What would I do if she did? Pass out? Probably. Seeing a ghost in a dream or vision was one thing, but real life was something else.
“Sierra, you’re a sensitive, right? What do you feel right now?” I didn’t know why I asked that question. Perhaps because I didn’t trust my own feelings at the moment. I felt sad. Extremely sad.
Sierra shivered and pulled her jacket closer around her. “I feel cold. Are we under a vent?”
“It wouldn’t matter if we were because the air is turned off.”
“I feel uncomfortable, but that’s a good sign. Why don’t you lead this EVP session? See if you can get Estella talking. She’s already reached out to you. It only makes sense that she’d want to continue. Here, Cassidy. I’ll take the camera.”
I hated to relinquish the camera. It made seeing in the dark so much easier, although my eyes were growing accustomed to the darkness. I heard a popping sound and turned around in my chair. “Did you…”
“Yes, I did. Go ahead and talk to her.”
“Estella Winters, are you here? Did you follow us from the ladies’ room? We really want to talk to whoever is in here.”
Another pop came from the side of us now, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. “That almost sounded like a firecracker or something.”
“Look, the recorder is flashing. You caught something. Play it back.” Sierra kept the camera trained on me as I played back the recording.
“Estella Winters, are you here?”
Estella…unintelligible words…
“That’s not a female voice. It’s a male!” I glanced around the room just to make sure Joshua wasn’t playing some mean joke on us. I picked up the walkie-talkie off the seat. “Cassidy to Midas. Are you sure we’re alone in here?”
“Yep. We’re in Norman’s office now. We’re watching from here. We can see and hear you two just fine. Keep going, Cassidy.”
I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to talk to that dark voice. It was Estella I was hoping to reach out to, but if she wasn’t talking there was
n’t much else I could do.
“All right.” I put the walkie-talkie back down and turned on the digital recorder. “I hear you. Are you looking for Estella? Is your name Martin?”
…whispers…
I froze in the chair as a shadow crept up the aisle. I grabbed Sierra’s free hand.
“I see it,” she whispered. She waved the camera in the direction of the shadow. I couldn’t see what she was seeing, but she was holding her breath.
“Martin, where is Estella? We want to talk to her.”
I heard something again that I couldn’t quite make out. The audio recorder flashed, but I didn’t want to hit the play button. In fact, I couldn’t make myself. The shadow collapsed and didn’t rise again. I gripped her hand even tighter. What if he was crawling toward us?
“Martin, why are you here? Is it you making that popping sound?” Sierra piped in. “Can you sit with us?”
Before I could object, we heard the theater chairs in front of us begin to squeak, like a great weight was sitting on them. Suddenly the sound stopped. “Are you here with us now, Martin, or did you leave?”
Then we heard nothing but silence for a few minutes, and my skin began to crawl in anticipation.
“That’s a violin…I can hear it!” I stood and raised my digital recorder higher. It was flashing red now and definitely picking up something.
“We hear you, Martin,” I said, trying to show courage that I didn’t really have.
I sat back down and waited. We waited for another ten minutes but didn’t hear anything else. If it was Martin, he was gone now. We decided to make one more stop. We walked up the aisle toward the big wooden stage. I hadn’t stood on a stage since elementary school, but I could see why some might find the experience exhilarating.
Imagine, standing here and hearing an ocean of applause rolling your way…what love! What admiration!
What did Estella feel like standing up there?
Why was I asking that question? I knew what she felt like. I’d experienced it in a supernatural way.
Ghosted on the Gulf Coast (Gulf Coast Paranormal Trilogy Book 1) Page 17