Chapter 7
-oOo-

Having listened to Dean's introduction and the reason for him being there, the duty sergeant's gaze went from the fake FBI badge Dean held up for his inspection and on to drift down over his denims, tee and casual jacket before returning to Dean's face. Although he remained silent, the man had one eyebrow raised quizzically. Dean's pre-prepared cover story fell easily from his lips.
"I know what you're thinkin' partner, it's the clothes, yeah? No suit? Truth is I'm here unofficially, doin' a favour for a friend. You might know him; Phil? Castle Hotel?"
The sergeant gave a single nod of his head.
"I know Phil."
"Well, then you'll know this things affectin' his business pretty bad. I'm guessin' it's not just the hotel business that's sufferin' either? Must be puttin' a real strain on you guys in the department too? Not enough man hours to deal with this an' all the other stuff comin' at you. Must feel like folks' expectin' you to be in three places at once?
"You got that right Agent, uh, Foley. Sounds like you're here doin' some freelancin', that right?"
"Like I said, this' off the books, but it's strictly free gratis an', anythin' new I uncover? It'll come straight here to you guys. All I need is some time with the files, an' maybe a chat with some folk. You think that can be arranged?"
The cop glanced towards a door that led into a back office.
"If it was up to me I'd say go ahead, knock yourself out; but it ain't. I gotta take your request to the Sheriff...Tell you what, gimme a contact number. I'll see what I can do once my relief takes over. Afraid that's the best I can offer agent."

Grantsville community library turned out to be very much a small, local library catering primarily for the townships' residents. The majority of it's non-fiction collection supported Grantsville's focus on art, crafts and antiques. The township's visitor information service was sited within the same building and alongside the library. Sam hesitated, deciding which service to visit first. Making his mind up, he wandered into the visitor information area which was being manned by a twenty something female who was stood at a table keeping herself busy by sorting and tidying information leaflets, activity pamphlets and event guides, all aimed at what was holiday makers, day trippers and tourists in decline. The woman had headphones on and was singing along to what she was listening to. Sam's gentle tap on her shoulder startled her and she swung around sharply, finding herself face to chest with Sam.

Flustered, she stepped back, yanking off the headphones. Sam also took a step back while apologising to the woman.
"Oh, hey. Sorry, my bad."
Adjusting her line of sight up to Sam' face, she stuttered out her own apology.
"No, it was my fault. Shouldn't have been wearing the headphones...Um...Can I...I mean. Is there...? Ok, starting over... Can I help you sir?"
Sam gifted her with a charming smile.
"I'm hopin' so. Do you have a map of Grantsville that includes the surrounding area?"
The woman grinned happily back up at her customer and headed towards a rotating stand filled with different types and sizes of maps and atlases, talking to Sam as she went.
"Road map or ordinance survey?"
"Um..."
"What are you most likely to use it for?"

Sam made a show of checking that there was no one to over-hear while strolling across to her. He answered with his voice serious and lowered conspiratorially, his play instantly rewarded by the woman leaning closer, eyes wide, listening intently.
"This has gotta stay strictly between you an' me, right?"
"Sure. I swear!"
"Ok then...My job is checkin' out potential locations on behalf of a high profile paranormal investigation programme. D'you know the kinda show I mean?"

While useful to Sam, the woman's eagerness and her willingness to believe what he said was also worrying. What if he'd been the 'Moonlight Murderer' standing here, picking out his next victim? She'd definitely win first prize for being too trusting.
"Yeah, I do, and I love watching those shows! Which one of them do you work for?"
Ah, sorry, I'm not allowed to say. But, it's very high profile."
The woman was a living bundle of curiosity as she chose two maps from the selection she had for sale.
"OMG. This' so exciting. Are you allowed to tell me which place you're looking at round here? I might know it, then I could show you the way? I can't believe this. I never even knew there was any haunted sites round here. If it turns out there is, we should put some info about it in here. It'll be great for Grantsville if you end up filming an episode here."
Sam reeled in his catch.
"Actually, it's the whole area we're considerin'. You might be able to help me out if you can ID some exact locations for me? I gotta warn you though, if you provide any info about a location an' we end up filmin' there, your name would have to be included in the show's credits. Would you be ok with that?"
"Would I! My name's Anne Stowemarch, Annie if you like and I'd love to help, just tell me what you need?"
"Great. May I?"
Taking the road map from Annie, Sam moved to a table and began opening it out on top of the table's contents.

"Ok. The team's interested in doin' an episode about the Moonlight Murders. I need to check out the spots where each victim was found. Their spirits could still be attached to that area an' the team's idea would be to go to each location, try to contact each spirit, an' ask them the name of the killer."||
Sam's phone rang before Annie could respond. He moved away from her to take the call from his brother.
"Hi. Problem?"

Leaning up against the hood of the Impala, take out coffee in hand, Dean gazed over the main street into the park as he spoke to Sam.
"Nah, not yet anyway. You?"
"Right now? I'm in the visitor information centre with a lady called Annie who's helping identify locations for me to check out for the show."
"Show?"
"Yeah, an' like Annie said, if the paranormal team did film here, it would be real good for Grantsville."
"Right, I get it. Interestin' cover dude. Ring me when you're finished."
"Will do, bye."

Annie was watching Sam.
"I couldn't help overhear, was that someone from the programme?"
Sam smiled, starting to feel bad about conning Annie.
"Yeah, the production manager. The team's still keen on comin' here. So...Locations? Are there any you can mark on the map for me?"
Sam noticed Annie's smile fade and she gazed back at the open map with sadness.
"Yeah, some of them I can."

Dean was about to pocket his phone when it rang.
"Hello?"
"Agent Foley?"
"Yeah, that you Sergeant?"
"Yessir. I've managed to talk to the Sheriff, any chance you can get back here in the next 20 minutes? The Sheriff wants to meet with you."
Dean lowered his head before answering. He'd hoped to be able to do everything through the duty sergeant without having to go further up the chain, trouble was, he needed the access. He couldn't really refuse.
"Great. How about now? I'm only a couple of minutes away, stopped to grab a coffee."
"Now's just fine. I'll let the Sheriff know."
Sliding into the Impala's driving seat, Dean was already making another call.

-oOo-
Chick xxxxx
If anyone has the time, I would love to know your
thoughts on the fic so far. Don't worry, I can take it :D