Unused to the level of detail from someone without training caught Ellie a little off-guard. “How did you get the information on the van?”
Pleased with himself, Noah smiled widely at Ellie. “Channel Fourteen News isn’t private broadcasting, so everything they do is subject to public record.” He shrugged, “I just put in a request to see the travel logs and they sent it to me.” Swapping pages, he displayed the current wanted picture for Wendy, “I double-checked too, that was her van. No one looked into the news van after they took fingerprints in Virginia Beach, where they found her crew washed up on shore.” Watching as Terry dropped off their dinner, Noah waited until Terry refilled her drink and left the table before he pointed out a final detail. “I am a little nosey and went down there saying I was trying to help locate Wendy Richards, and asked who dropped off the van.” He paused, “They told me a guy with patchy skin dropped it off, and happened to be picked up by a large guy in a powder blue Chevy Bel Aire.”
“That is a very specific car, Noah. What made the person recall it, did you happen to ask?” Ellie asked between bites of pasta.
Shuffling the pages once more, Noah tilted the grainy picture so Ellie could see it. “I did. It was also on video.” He pointed to the tail-fins, “A 1955 Chevy? Most people would recall an older car like that.” He flipped out another piece of paper. “That happened to be the only Bel Air with the same color and year still registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles, belonging to Denise Crow.” He placed the pile of paperwork beside Ellie and took a bite of his cheeseburger. “I would call that a connection.”
Pushing her wide bowl to the side, Ellie went over the stack once again and followed the trail presented. “How do the six prior murders line up with the subsequent twelve?” Leaning over to grab another bite of chicken, Ellie covered her mouth briefly as she tried to chew fast. “Are there any behaviors that match what the police collected in Virginia Beach?”
“Unfortunately not that I can tell, Agent Miller.” Noah sipped on his rum and cola, “That doesn’t mean there isn’t a connection, It is more likely that the information is confidential and hasn’t been released.” Taking a couple potato wedges, Noah bit into them and wiggled his finger a moment. Digging into his bag again, He pulled out a layout plan to Phantasmagoria. “This is the floor plan, a generic one that they handed out to customers so they wouldn’t get lost.” Noah pointed to a room on the third floor, “That was where they found the skull, covered in water.”
“Salt water?” Ellie probed.
Excitement washed over Noah’s face. “That’s right, but here is the interesting part. It’s not ocean water.” Noah’s fingers found what he needed almost immediately. “The ratio is way off. Ocean water is a little over three percent.” Noah handed Ellie the sheet and took a bite of his burger.
“Is this right? About one percent?” Ellie looked up moderately confused. “I found one report saying it was salt water, but nothing beyond that. I assumed the trucks carried it from the beach or something.” She laughed and took more of her pasta down. “I just hadn’t figured out the finer details.”
“Are you a religious person, Agent Miller?” Waiting until Ellie shook her head, Noah lowered his voice and quickly explained his question. “I was when I was younger. I learned all sorts of things as an altar boy.” He pointed to the paper. “I suspect that is holy water. We used salt to purify normal water with a blessing.”
Ellie sat back in her chair and crossed her arms, “Holy water? Why use that?” She asked herself and Noah while rubbing her bottom lip lightly. “This is getting strange, Noah. Holy water is effectively useless.” She paused, “Harmless.”
Finishing off his mixed drink, Noah nodded in agreement with Ellie. “You are right. Harmless to us, Agent Miller.” Once again looking at the quickly filling diner, Noah pulled out a small junk news article. “I know this is hardly evidence and they make up things all for shock value, but this seemed to click. Especially when you add the trucks.” He handed the tabloid to Ellie and shrugged, “When you look at the water lines, you see these trucks were where they needed to be in order to set off the sprinkler system.”
Puzzle pieces locked in place for Ellie and she closed her eyes in disbelief. “I can’t believe I didn’t suspect the sprinkler system. That is how it got in there, huh?” Twirling food onto her fork, Ellie looked down at the shady paper. “Really? Noah, this is a bit much.” Turning the image up to Noah, she laughed. “You can see the actors' plastic fangs falling out in the picture.”
“I said it gave me the idea, not that the image was real.” Reaching over and taking back his fake news, Noah tucked it away and pointed to the layout of Phantasmagoria again. “Now they found bones all over, but none of them were as old as the skull upstairs.” Noah quickly finished off his sandwich, “Let me give you this card.” He reached into his bag and handed Ellie a small card. “Professor Charles Sheppard. He’s a forensic anthropologist.” Taking down a couple more potatoes, Noah lightly slapped the salt from his hands and handed Ellie another small document. “I know you won’t believe it, but the skull is about eight hundred years old.” Noah smiled and added, “There are three listed owners of Phantasmagoria. Two can’t be found, the last owns a bar in Colonial Heights.”
“I know this name, Sylvie Miakoda. She was partly interviewed after the attack.” Agent Miller studied the document and then stared blankly at Noah. “This can’t be true, I mean…” Ellie stopped while looking at a set of dates that went back beyond 1900. “The same name?”
Holding his finger to his lips, Noah waved his other hand so Ellie would lower her voice. “This is where all my friends think I am crazy.” Glancing around once more, he whispered. “I have seen the headstones myself. I mean it is possible that the mother’s all passed down the same name.” He shrugged, “But when you add it all together, it seems very peculiar, doesn’t it?”
Lost in thought, Ellie stared at the little card Noah handed her. “If this thing about the skull pans out, then I will agree that it is strange.” Ellie finished her dinner and thanked Noah for his hospitality while one word echoed in her head.
-Vampires?-
Seems like a noose is tightening and with the disaster or massacre at the Phantasmagoria a lot of loose ends that did not get cleaned up.