This work is supported by the generous backers who adore my cat stories at Patreon.com/amberunmasked and they also get first access to what’s happening with my books and podcast.
Where we left off:
Detective Inspector Guster Nabu found evidence that his human assistant/biographer Amber Love had accidentally cast a spell to create a new subspecies of Gorgons.
GHOST RIDER:
THE WINCHESTER-NABU ESTATE. AFTERNOON. EXTERIOR. GRUMPY OLD MAN’S AUTO SHOP.
Have you heard of vehicles being possessed or cursed? I bet you have even if it was famous fiction like Stephen King’s Christine or the old TV show My Mother the Car. Maybe you’re even one of the generous Patreon backers who has read the OPS: Rodham-Hodgkin story I penned which features the legendary 1962 Black Volga GAZ. One of my favorite stories was in Season 1 of Supernatural — the episode “Route 666” about the racist ghost pickup truck and one of Dean’s ex-girlfriends.
“Come on, big guy. Let’s go for a ride. Let’s cruise.”
–Stephen King, Christine
Those terrifying stories were what popped into my head as Gus and I walked up the driveway on one of our usual perimeter checks and I saw a strange black car just sitting there. It’s matte black with a substantial dent in the front end corner. It sat lifeless, or so I hoped, in the Grumpy Old Man’s driveway in front of his garage. I hadn’t heard any news about him taking in someone else’s car for repairs. Gus wanted to go check it out. I figured, what the hell? What harm could come of looking at it?
“It’s said that the West was built on legends. Tall tales that help us make sense of things too great or too terrifying to believe. This is the legend of the Ghost Rider.” Ghost Rider, 2007
Gus never had a problem navigating the ground full of the fallen black walnut shells which look like tennis balls littered all over the place. I, however, frequently planted a foot on them and came close to falling on my sweet ass a dozen times. This walnut tree shades the very spot where this mysterious car was parked. It was surrounded by the shells; and let me tell you, when they fall on a car they make a helluva thud.
The local law is well aware of The Winchester-Nabu Detective Agency and our operations. They like to pretend that we’re unwanted competition, but the truth is we take on the cases they can’t solve with mundane logic. They also know about Gus’ shady past at the Yard and why he was sacked. There weren’t many options for a rogue detective who wouldn’t follow the rules and is prone to long hours of crying and wailing with erratic, energetic behavior. Gus is not one to be controlled by The Man.
Professor Oliver Winchester sat up on the second balcony and watched our movements from there. He had a clear line of sight. He’s not one for getting his hands dirty, but told us to give the car a thorough inspection to look for any signs of tampering.
One thing Gus ruled out immediately was that this was not a phantom car, one of the top urban legends and ghost stories. In those cases, the vehicles usually disappear when you can’t hear the engines whether it’s a ship, plane, car, truck, or motorcycle. We would keep our minds open anyway. Nothing wrong with being the first to identify such a case.
Gus and Oliver have some sweet rides of their own (plus a semi-working one inherited from Caico). They’re picky about vehicles. They insist on a certain amount of freedom and luxury. The point being, if it’s meant for transporting, chances are Gus wants to inspect it up close.
We didn’t get any hits on fingerprints. In fact, there were no prints at all. It had been wiped clean which for a car in this ratty condition seemed like a red flag. Besides the large dent previously noted, we found scratches. Not just daily wear scratches. Scratches in a pattern — like claw marks. This allowed us to rule out another theory: the Hookman. It wasn’t one single scratch along the body with obvious force.
We should note that the scratches are on the outside of the car body. While doing some internet sleuthing into stories of attacks in cars, it seems that there are cases where the scratches are on in the inside which can signify people trying to escape when the doors and windows won’t work. We also don’t keep track of the Grumpy Old Man’s schedule so when this particular car vanishes and then reappears, we’re willing to accept that he moved it. It’s still weird that it will randomly appear in the front of the main bay door.
Case 2017-29A:
We’ve classified this as low level priority for now. The next time it appears, Gus wants to get photos of the claw marks and see if we can find any comparison matches in the computer files or archives. This is one we will have revisit!
Status: Open