Page 17 of Girl, Haunted

Luca voiced her concerns for her. ‘Dark tourism? Here? I thought this was Bigfoot country. You know, grainy videos of men in costumes running through the woods?’

‘Nuh.’ Redmond shook his head. ‘You’re thinking of the Willamette Valley, forty miles south of here. Yamhill’s ghost country.’

Ella pulled her eyes off the horizon. ‘Ghost country?’

‘Oh yeah. Yamhill’s got more haunted spots per capita than just about anywhere else in the country. We've got haunted hotels, spook lights on the backroads, abandoned asylums – all that crap.’

Ella exchanged a look with her partner. Dead bodies in haunted houses in what was apparently the most haunted town in America. There was something here: a static image concealing the true picture.

‘Do you believe in that crap?’ Luca asked the Sheriff.

‘I believe in my own two eyes, and what my eyes have seen is two dead bodies.’

Enough of the history lesson, Ella thought. ‘Can you show us the scene?’

Redmond led them through the doors and into Shadowland's lobby. Ella's eyebrows shot up, impressed despite herself. This was no rinky-dink operation. The space was cavernous, with high ceilings draped in flowing black fabric that seemed to absorb light. Each piece of antique furniture looked like it had been plucked from a different era. A chandelier hung overhead, and portraits of figures from bygone ages decorated the walls. A massive ticket booth dominated one side of the room, with intricate woodwork reminiscent of an old-timey circus wagon.

‘They really went all out,’ Luca said.

Redmond didn’t respond as he led them through a tunnel. Inside, the temperature seemed to drop ten degrees. The walls were lined with some kind of foam, molded and painted to look like rough-hewn stone. Ella had to hand it to them – in the dim light, it was pretty convincing.

They emerged into what looked like a decrepit Victorian parlor. Dusty furniture, cobweb-draped chandeliers, the works. In the corner sat a disturbingly lifelike old woman in a rocking chair with two dead eyes fixed on a television set. The detail was incredible, from the wisps of white hair to the gnarled hands folded in the old woman's lap. For a moment, she half-expected the granny to turn her head and start speaking.

Then Ella got her wish. Just as Luca passed by, the granny jumped out of her seat and shrieked a deafening cackle.

Luca let out an undignified yelp and reached for his pistol. ‘Jesus Christ! The hell is that thing?’

‘It’s an old lady,’ Redmond said.

Ella stared at her partner for longer than intended. ‘I think she likes you.’

Luca sheathed his weapon, then breathed a deep sigh. ‘At least someone does. Sorry lady, you’re not my type.’

‘Too many wires?’

‘Not enough wires.’

They followed Redmond deeper through the maze. A witch’s coven, a mad scientist’s lab, a room with too many clowns.

‘It’s about now that actors jump out at you,’ Redmond said. ‘Seems dumb to me. No idea why anyone would want to put themselves through that.’

‘Couldn’t agree more,’ Luca said. ‘I guess some people want as close to the real thing as possible.’

Finally, a neon sign announced they were entering the Chamber of Reflections. The room where Natasha Langston had drawn her last breath.

‘This real enough?’ Redmond asked as he held the curtain for them. Ella and Luca passed through, and Ella felt her heart turn to lead. The room was a dizzying kaleidoscope of mirrors, each one angled just so, creating an endless labyrinth of reflections. It was a funhouse on steroids.

But the illusion was shattered – quite literally. Fragments of mirror littered the floor, glittering like crystals. The largest mirror, directly opposite the entrance, was a spiderweb of cracks radiating from a central point of impact.

'Unsub made quite a mess, ' Luca said. He threw on a pair of gloves then tossed another pair to Ella.

‘No blood, despite this mirror being smashed to pieces. What do you think about that?’

Luca went over to the mirror and ran a finger along one of the cracks. ‘He avoided hitting skin. My guess is our killer pushed Natasha into this spine-first.’

‘There were no defensive wounds on the victim,’ Ella said. ‘Which suggests a blitz attack.’

‘Sheriff, who had keys to this place?’ Luca asked.

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