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course.  I can help you with that.  Just one moment.”  Mary Brighton closed the volume she’d been reading and Alessa was hit with a puff of that old book smell again.  Ms. Brighton stood up.  “Come with me.”
     
    A few moments later, Alessa was seated at another uncomfortable study desk, this time in the back corner of the library’s third floor.  Mary Brighton had known exactly where to find all the old town records, dating all the way back to the 1700s.  Alessa was pretty sure that the ghost was from the late 1800s or early 1900s based on his clothes, though her limited knowledge of historical fashion was gleaned mainly from movies, and who knew how accurate they might be.  There was a thick book for every decade from 1760 to 1999, after which Ms. Brighton had explained that the records were electronic.  Alessa was worried she’d have to page through all 24 books to keep up the pretext for her research, but the librarian had given her a break when she mentioned that the house was built in the 1870s, knocking almost half the books off her list.
    Alessa picked up the first book and paged through to get acquainted with the organization.  The book was broken down by year, then the properties were listed alphabetically by address.  There was an entry any time a property was built, destroyed, or changed hands, with the date and any involved parties listed alongside it.  Alessa started with 1870 and skipped to the M section, scanning the page for 33 Mason Manor.
    Nothing. 
    She tried 1871.  Still nothing.
    Alessa continued in this manner until she came across the first entry in 1878:
     
    Mason Manor, No. 33.  New Construction, completed October 14th on 148 acres.  Owner: Albert B. Mason.  Residents: Albert B. Mason & Elizabeth Mason, children Albert Mason Jr., 3, and William Mason, 1.
     
    Now she had a start.  If the young man she was seeing was from the 1890s, it could be Albert Jr. or William.  She noted that the last name of the residents was the same as the address – she supposed they had named the property after the family.
    Alessa continued reading.  There was nothing more in the first book, nor in the second or third.  It was in the fourth volume – 1900s – that Alessa had another hit:
     
    Mason Manor, No. 33.  New Owner, Albert Mason Jr., as of April 25th.  Residents: Albert Mason Jr. & Martha Mason, children Isaac Mason, 6.
     
    That entry was from 1906, adding Isaac Mason as another possibility.  Alessa read for a few more moments, and found one more related record in 1908.  The family had acquired another 40 acres of land adjacent to the property and there was an additional entry beside Isaac under the children, a one year old Josephine Mason.
    If it was Isaac, the ghost she was seeing was probably from between 1915 and 1920.  She knew from the Z-E-Pi article that the university had purchased the property in the 30s, so that left two or three volumes to go through to narrow down the possibilities. 
    Unfortunately, though, it would have to wait.  Alessa glanced at the clock and realized she had only 20 minutes until her physics lecture, and she still needed to run home and grab her laptop, which she had forgotten in her rush to get to the midterm that morning.
    Alessa jotted down the information she had found and resolved to come back the next time she had a few free moments.  She stacked the volumes of records chronologically and carried them back to the shelves from which Mary Brighton had taken them.  She took one last look at the clock – 17 minutes.  That was just enough time to dash across campus, grab her computer, and meet Janie at the science building.

5. Encounter
     
    Alessa climbed the steps to her house with 13 minutes to spare until the start of her lecture.  She hastily bounded to the second floor and tried to remember if she had anything edible in her minifridge.  She thought there might be a few string cheeses left and made a mental note to grab one as