2 A Reason for Murder Read Online Free PDF Page A

was addressing us again. "Eliza's ghost has been seen in that window looking out to the well where her son, Stephen, drowned."
    He pointed to the window on the right side of the cottage. The cottage was small, and made from wide vertical slabs of rough timber. My flashlight revealed a shingle roof.
    Gavin produced a photo from his folder and shone his flashlight on it. "Gather around, guys. This was taken last month. Can you make out the woman in the window? She's in Victorian era dress. This is Eliza."
    The photo to me looked blatantly photoshopped. There was a white cloud around the figure which looked like it had been done by someone having their first go on Paint . Again, everyone else was impressed.
    I was concerned that some of the tour members pressed their hands on the window and tried to look inside the cottage. This was clearly the original glass, a century and a half old. The door was in the middle of the cottage and was flanked by large glass windows, each with twelve panes. I was sure the store owner wouldn't be happy to see fingerprints all over the windows in the morning.
    "Come on now, the next site is a few streets away, and it's very haunted." Gavin said the word very in a loud voice. "There've been many sightings at the Morpeth Convent Guest House. All of you stick together and be careful crossing the streets at night, especially this one, Northumberland Street."
    We all duly looked right and left then right again and crossed. Gavin was still talking. I was trying to take notes but it was difficult to walk while making notes.
    "Try not to shine your flashlights into people's houses; they don't like it. Here we are; turn left into Princess Street. Now that is the Church of the Immaculate Conception, and the Morpeth Convent Guest House is next to it. It started out in 1909 as a convent of the Sisters of Mercy and was only shut down in 1980. It's a Bed and Breakfast now. The chapel inside has beautiful stained glass windows."
    Just then one of the women on the tour grabbed Gavin's arm. "Something just pulled my coat, really hard."
    I could see Gavin looked pleased, even in the dark. "Yes, there's a lot of spirit activity here."
    I noticed a thin, scruffy looking man standing directly behind the woman. I was fairly sure he was the one who had been standing behind the girl at the time of the hair pulling incident. I made a mental note to keep my eye on him.
    I had become the Keeper of the Society upon the death of my Aunt Beth.
    Problem is, I didn't exactly know what being the Keeper of the Society entailed, or to be precise, I didn't have the slightest clue, and no one had contacted me to enlighten me. I didn't even know the name of the Society. I had changed since I had become the Keeper; since then, I had been aware of spirit activity. Trains, buses, stores, everywhere I went, I sensed spirits. I had expected Morpeth to be buzzing with the paranormal, but so far I hadn't felt anything at all. Zilch. Zero. Nothing.
    We backtracked somewhat and made a right turn which brought us opposite a church.
    "St. James Church," Gavin said unnecessarily, as we were standing in front of the sign that said St. James Church . "A shame a fog's coming in, as many people have reported seeing the ghost of a bishop who runs between the church and that building there which is now the residence." He pointed. "Careful not to go over to the church; we will have to stay on this side of the road. There's a cemetery and my research tells me that there are also unmarked graves all around there."
    I thought that unusually sensitive of Gavin, and made notes as he continued. "St. James Church was built by Lieutenant Edward Charles Close, the founding father of Morpeth. Lieutenant Close served in the Napoleonic Wars, and in 1811 during a battle, he made a vow to God that if he spared him, he would build a church in his honor. Later, Lieutenant Close erected St James Church to honor his vow. Just a moment; I'll read from his diary."
    Gavin