A few days had passed and the experiments with the EMD continued and the green ghost had been turned into a puddle of slime more times than anyone could count. Though the majority of those experiments were done by Peter when Egon wasn't looking in order to annoy the ghost that once attacked him at Hotel Sedgewick. She read the newspaper with her glasses that dangled on the edge of her nose, Janine read the headline that stated: Archeologist Edward Harrington Dies At 74, though it sparked no interest as she flipped the page. She looked up at Egon as he walked by with a stack of books and he headed toward the stairs and she stared with longing in her eyes as she tapped her nails on her desk. "Dr. Spengler, if only all men were as well read as you." Egon was too focused on the work at hand and didn't reply as he headed up the stairs, not because he was rude but because he simply never heard what she said.
"And if only all men were as well at listening as he is. Imagine the possibilites," Peter teased as he snook up behind Janine's desk, he had stepped out of his office.
She frowned and rolled the newspaper up and turned around as she raised the rolled up paper into the air. "Did you say something?"
She squeezed the paper firmly and Peter took a step backwards as he raised his hands up. "Wasn't me, I swear, must have been a ghost. Who you gonna call?" She threw the paper at his head but missed and Peter quickly retreated back to his office.
Ray worked in his book store with Louis Tully who acted as store manager whenever Ray was on duty as a Ghostbuster. Louis had even given up his job as an accountant to work at the book store full time, this was due to his rising interest in the supernatural. He was still uncomfortable around women but had found his place as manager of the store and does the occasional research work whenever the team needs it. He became quite well read on multiple aspects of the paranormal but what fascinated Louis the most was demonic possession. A new collection of books had arrived and one of them was something that Ray had been waiting on for quite a while. The Babylonian Demonology Texts, a book that focused on ancient Babylonian rituals involving the demonic and it even had a few chapters on Babylonian gods. He unwrapped and crumbled up the thin paper that kept the book relatively safe and stroked his hand across the cover.
"Louis, whatever happens we'll never sell this book. This is going into the personal collection," Ray said as he stared at the Babylonian symbol on the front cover and brushed his hand across it once more while Louis nodded in agreement.
Though the former accountant remembered something as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a note and gave it a quick read to remember what it said. "A representative of the Harrington family called and asked if you had any interest in taking a look at some of the rare books that Edward Harrington had in his collection," he said as he pushed his glasses up a bit. "Apparently Mr. Harrington died a few days ago and they are donating his collection to a museum. If you want to take them up on their offer, just go the Harrington mansion in Brooklyn." Louis cleared his throat and he quickly checked the note to see if he forgot anything.
"I read something about that in the paper this morning, he was an archeologist and supposedly he found some ancient artifacts from the Mayan culture. Those rare books of his might be worth checking out, thanks for the message Louis," Ray replied as he grabbed his phone and called Egon.
"Spengler? I got an interesting invitation from the family of the late Edward Harrington. The archeologist that's right. They asked if I had any interest in taking a look at the rare book collection he had. Feel like joining me? Okay great! I'll come to the office and we'll take the car. See you in a bit," he hung up and quickly grabbed his coat and headed to the exit. "I'll see you later, Louis!" he said as he left the shop.
Ray always traveled on a bicycle as much he could and he cycled toward the firehouse, meanwhile Peter had been out on a business meeting that he had with the Mayor. He had no intention on going though but they all drew straws and he drew the short one. They received a call by the Mayor's assistant saying that one of the four Ghostbusters had to come down to the Mayor's office and discuss a renewed contract with the city. No one wanted to go so they decided to vote by drawing straws and as luck would have it, Pete Venkman was the guy to go talk to the Mayor. He wore a suit and tie as he was welcomed into the Mayor's office, and Peter took a seat on the opposite side of the Mayor's desk after he shook his hand. "Dr. Venkman, thank you for coming. Though somehow I expected Dr. Spengler to appear," the Mayor said as he folded his hands together.
"Egon's a bit busy with blowing up stuff in the name of science. Geeks get all the fun, right? Mr. Mayor, I'll get straight to the point. We don't want early morning jobs anymore, they tire us out and interrupt with my beauty sleep." Peter crossed his arms and leaned on the desk while he tried to sound as serious as possible.
The Mayor raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "Not gonna happen. But you and your colleagues are causing too much destruction, it is becoming a serious problem. You even managed to blow up the top floor of a law firm just last month. Insurance payouts are mounting and I need someone to keep an eye on the Ghostbusters."
The door behind Peter opened and he heard footsteps as someone entered the room and a very familiar voice echoed in Peter's ears. "Dr. Venkman, wish I could say it was a pleasure to see you again." Peter's eyes got bigger and he slowly turned his head to the side as he saw Walter Peck who stood to his left.
At first he was slightly shocked at seeing Peck again. After shutting down the storage facility and getting thrown out of the Mayor's office, Peck pretty much disappeared. "Pecker! Thought I smelled something brown and nossy, speaking of which you got a little brown something on your nose there. Been visiting the big guy over here have we?" Peter said while he gave peck a thumbs up.
Peck's facial expression showed more than words could ever say as he was extremely annoyed already though the Mayor ended any further childish comments. "Quiet both of you. I've brought Peck here to act as an overseeing committee, he'll be the one to keep the Ghostbusters in check and make sure you don't blow up the entire city. Paranormal Contracts Oversight Commision or PCOC, every contract you get will be overseen by Peck." The Mayor leaned forward a bit as he looked Peter straight in the eyes. "Should damages run up too high he'll have the authority to shut you down. You report to him on very job that you do, fail to do so and he will shut you down. Understood?"
"Yes. But he's not invited to the Christmas party, that's only for immediate staff and Pecker here is not one of them." Peter said as he pressed his hands down on the desk. "Gentlemen, I'm a busy man so I'm afraid I'll have to be going now. Ghosts to bust and papers to throw at PCOC here. Mr. Mayor, always a pleasure. PCOC, sadly I'll be seeing you later." Venkman stood up and shook the Mayor's hand and gave Peck a tap on the shoulder.
He watched as Venkman left the Mayor's office, and Peck turned and cleared his throat as he fixed his tie. "Mr. Mayor, I won't let you down. I'll watch their every move and if they break any rules I'll shut them down immediately." The Mayor nodded in agreement and Peck left the office as well after being handed a set of documents.
The Ecto-1a was parked outside of the Harrington mansion and it looked like a small castle, with a giant gate that blocked the entrance from any unwanted guests. Egon and Ray stood in front of an intercom with a camera above it. They weren't in their jumpsuits as they wore civilian clothes though Egon had a pke meter with him just in case. Ray pressed the button on the intercom and swallowed. "Hello? Ray Stantz here, I got your message about the book collection." No one responded and he tried again and repeated what he said the first time.
"No response. Guess no one's home, too bad though I was looking forward to take a look at that book collection."
"It's a big house, I imagine it'll take a few minutes if you're at the other end of the house while people ring the bell," Egon said as he cleaned his glasses and suddenly the gate opened and Ray almost jumped up out of joy. They entered the mansion grounds and headed up to the front door of this big house. There were Greek statues along the way and they caught Egon's eye as he gave them a quick scan with his pke meter. Naturally the readings were cold and he stored the meter back inside his coat.
"Gentlemen, welcome to my uncle's home," William Harrington greeted them as he opened the door and invited them in. He wanted to take their coats but only Ray handed over his coat as Egon wouldn't part with his.
"This is a beautiful place, I can imagine myself living in a place like this one day. Beats living in the firehouse, right Egon?" Ray admired the house as they followed William through a few doors.
"I prefer the firehouse," Egon replied as he wasn't too impressed by the mansion thus far. He kept an eye out for those Mayan artifacts that the papers said Edward found.
William led them to a room with a marble door while he shared a few words with Ray and Egon about his uncle's death and why they were giving the books to a museum, he pulled out a key and unlocked it and slowly opened the door. They were led into a room that was filled with stacks of old books and they weren't even put into book closets. Ray's face sparked with excitement as he couldn't wait to browse through all of them and he hadn't even questioned why they called him in the first place. Egon cleaned his glasses again and cleared his throat. "Are the Mayan artifacts stored in this mansion as well?" Egon asked as he crossed his arms.
"Well two of them are, the rest have been relocated to my uncle's private vault," William answered as he noticed a slight curiosity in Egon's voice.
"I'd like to see them if that's possible?"
"For the famous Dr. Egon Spengler, I think I can make an exception," William said as he smiled though his smile wasn't all that honest. Ray meanwhile had taken seat on the floor as he looked through the first stack of old books.
"Raymond, I'll be back shortly," Egon said as he followed William out of the room although he wasn't entirely convinced that William was telling the truth about those other artifacts who were supposedly stored in a vault somewhere else.