Everyone's Talking About Phoebe

 The management of Witch's Cove and Doll County Paranormal finally meet about the postponed investigation.  

Jeremiah: Of course, any current employee of the amusement park that is also on my team will not be a part of the on-site work.  That's to protect everyone involved from accusations of staging.  Phoebe did do the research into the history of the park, collection of lore, but she will not be here for the active investigation.

Pocahontas: I'm curious about how this actually works.  I've watched the TV shows, of course, but they seem to skip a lot of detail work.  Fill me in. 

Jeremiah: I'm sending you a detailed list of our techniques, but I can give you an overview.  For one thing, we use scientific methods to do this.  No spirit boards or seances - those are largely for show and very hard to analyze the results of.  The closest we come to any of those things is the use of a medium.  

Pocahontas: That was my next question.  Your medium is a child? 

Jeremiah: My daughter Lottie.  Her gift is what got me into all this in the first place.  Now, let me qualify this by saying she doesn't actually talk to the spirits or get possessed or any of those kind of things.  Her great-grandmother explained it to me as seeing a silent movie, except it's based on feelings instead of actually seeing anything.

Pocahontas: Kind of like how you can sense a person in the room without seeing or hearing them?

Jeremiah: That's a good comparison.  One very important aspect of our method is that no one on my active investigation team will know what Phoebe's research turned up.  That way we know our observations aren't tainted.  We compare all that after the fact.

Pocahontas:  I noticed that on one of those shows - they got an EVP that they decided was "he killed me" when it sounded to me like it said "leaking".  

Jeremiah: Exactly.  They probably knew it was a murder site, and were expecting it.  We go in without expectations.  

*******

A few miles away, at Barbieville Middle School.

Guinness: Since we've finished with this unit early, I'll give you the rest of the class time to study or talk quietly.  We'll have the unit test tomorrow. 

He ignores the quiet scraping of desks being pushed closer.

Courtney: Any drama at your house this weekend?  We just had the usual with Charlotte.

Wendy: Whitney and Dad got into a big screaming match.  He's still after her to come work at the station and she doesn't want to.  Even if he hadn't been such a jerk when she had Wilma, Whitney just doesn't have an interest in broadcasting.  

Courtney: I understand he's mad at her for getting pregnant so young, but really, Whitney's a grown woman now.  And he had nothing to do with her or Wilma for years. 

Wendy: He's still got nothing to do with Wilma.  I wish he'd just go back in the hole he crawled out of. 

Ginny: That brother of yours ever gonna ask Becky out?  

Claudia: I wish he'd date somebody.  He spends way too much time parenting me!  He works, and goes to those Kin As Parents meetings, and that's it.  I mean, I get that he wants to take care of me, but he acts like I'm six.  

Nikki: I thought he was still hung up on Phoebe?  That him and Becky are just friends? 

Ginny: I told Becky to ask him out, but she's like Nikki.  Thinks he wants Phoebe back. 

Claudia: Becky, Phoebe, I don't even care at this point.  I just want him to find someone else to hover over.