Page 7 of Chillingham Castle

“Evie, have you had any other paranormal teams in lately?” I asked.

“The last was six weeks ago.”

“Did they do anything unusual? A séance, mark a pentagram, try to agitate?”

“I don’t think so. We certainly didn’t find pentagrams,” Evie said, frowning.

“Have you heard of Chauncey Archibald or Gloria Stainer?” Reaver questioned, saving me from having to do so.

“Mr Archibald, yes, he applied to do an investigation, but there was something off about him, so we turned him down,” Evie replied.

“A word of warning: he’s a charlatan; he makes drama and fakes footage for views,” I informed Evie.

“Then I’ll add him to the banned list. Would you mind texting me his name and the woman’s? Is she trouble too?”

“Yes. They’re sometimes together; keep your eye out.” I managed not to cuss them out. However, it was damn hard not to. Considering the chaos they’d just caused at the Mermaid Inn.

An hour later, Evie finished the tour and stood a little awkwardly in the courtyard, looking at us.

“What happens next?” she asked.

“Now is when we make a plan. We’ll go through all the information you’ve given us, pick our priority areas, and then decide where to put cameras. We’ll need a command centre. The van is usually an option, but on an investigation of this scale, we’ll require a room. Can you suggest anything?”

“The team rooms would probably be best,” Evie replied after a few moments.

“Then we’ll set up base there. How long are you remaining shut?”

“It’s been decided for a week, and hopefully you can resolve this by that time. I’ll be your liaison, and I’ll be in my office daily if you need me. The only thing is, the owner doesn’t want to be bothered; he likes his peace and quiet.”

“We’re fine dealing with you. I’ll stay with some of my team, and we’ll start working on the plan here; the others will book into the hotel and return. The sooner we can get a plan going, the better,” I stated.

“These are the keys to the tearoom and outer door.” Evie held them out.

“Thank you.” I took them.

“As we’re closed, the estate manager didn’t want the food to go to waste. All your meals will be free if you eat here—if that’s okay with you. Our cook will put them in the fridge, and you can nuke them to warm them up,” Evie said.

“Perfect, that’s kind of you.”

Evie smiled before disappearing.

“She’s bloody terrified,” Lich murmured.

“With good reason. You ever seen our equipment do shit like that? Hell, even I nearly crapped my pants,” Trunk rumbled.

“I want that Ovilus tested, Gizmo.”

“Yes, Prez, that was some scary stuff,” Gizmo replied, already shaking the Ovilus. Oh, well, if he broke it, he could fix it.

“Okay, Jack, Dive, and Lich, you’re all with me,” I ordered—Jack because he was more experienced than us on TV, Dive because he was research, and Lich for camera placement.

“No probs. What about our bags?” Jack asked.

“The guys will take them to our rooms. Don’t worry, Jack, we’ve done this loads of times.”

“It’s just weird. I’m used to the tour bus.”

“How does that work? Callie said it sleeps ten, but there’s eleven of us,” I inquired.