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We continue flipping through the rest of the file but aren’t able to discover any additional information on why the warehouse was renovated.

The archivist, bless her, isn’t ready to give up.

“Our next best option is to look through some of our local newspaper indexes. If we type in the street address, we might find some hits,” Jane tells us.

She sits us down at two of their guest computers to get to work, and Callum and I spend a tedious two hours going through old digitized newspaper articles.

This part of investigation is far less exciting.

My eyes are starting to glaze over a little from all the material I’ve been trying to skim through when Callum gets a hit.

“Look at this.”

I lean closer and read the headline:

New Night Club, The Midnight Vault, Opening Friday.

We decide to look at the planning drawings in more detail, which is where we see that a bar was proposed for installation, as well as toilets and updated electrical work.

“Looks as though they only fitted out the ground floor,” Callum says.

We return to combing newspapers, using the club name in our searches. I lose track of time and find myself nearly nodding off when Callum cries out, startling me.

“What?”

He practically bristles with excitement. “I think I found what happened to our ghosts.”

I jump out of my chair and stand behind him to look at his screen.

There, I see in stark print: Mysterious Fire Destroys The Midnight Vault.

Oh, dear.

CHAPTER

NINE

Fall is here at last and as we all know, that’s everyone’s favorite spooky season! So curl up with a warm mug of apple cider or a pumpkin spice latte while you enjoy today’s episode.

I have an interesting email question of the week from Samantha, who writes:

Dear Beau, I love your show and tune in every week—Aw, thanks, hon—and this is my first time writing in. My grandmother passed away a few weeks ago—I’m so sorry for your loss—and I’m definitely heartbroken, but I also know she’d been suffering and it was her time. I miss her a lot. Ever since the funeral, I’ve been having dreams of her. It’s like she’s visiting me from the great beyond. The dreams are so vivid, different from my usual ones. Is it possible she’s actually visiting me? Or is it just a creation of my mind in this time of grief?

Thanks for reaching out, Samantha. It’s quite common for folks to dream of their loved ones after they pass. Are some of those dreams actual visitations? That’s hard for me to say for certain. What I can say is that I believe it’s possible. Your love for your grandmother and your desire to see her leave you more open for her to be able to reach you in some way. Dreams are easier for spirits to access than face-to-face manifestation. Now, does this happen often? I’m not sure. It’s not something I can prove or disprove. But if it gives you comfort to think it’s her taking time to visit you in your dreams, then I say hold on to that feeling because it’s beautiful.

—Beau’s Boos and Beyond, Episode 17

Beau

As I continue reading, my heart breaks. In 1979, six people were trapped in the building when the fire started and were unable to make it out, succumbing to the blaze.

Those poor, unfortunate souls.

Callum frowns. “This is odd.” He points to a paragraph of the article. “Right here, it says the investigators thought the fire started a good hour after closing, so I’m not sure why there were people still in the building. From what all these documents tell us, the upper floors weren’t in use because they just renovated the main floor.”

“More cost-effective for them, I’m sure,” I offer.

“It certainly wouldn’t pass code today by any means, but not uncommon for the time, no doubt.”