The Haunting of Lockwood Estates | Nancy Drew x Supernatural Crossover 01

Chapter 8 - Nancy

Perennial Boulevard

Blackridge, New Hampshire

Sunday 9 March 2008

I drum my fingers on my steering wheel as I crawl through rush-hour traffic. Driving is when I get my best ideas about a case, and I can use all the inspiration time I can get.

Who are Dean and Sam? How did they manage to show up at the same time as I did? Why did they pretend to be FBI agents? What was their intention behind hiding their ghost hunting background?

Speaking of ghost hunters, there are just as many questions about the victim. Was he there to investigate the first death, or was it merely a coincidence that he showed up so soon afterwards? Why were his van's tires slashed? How did someone get the drop on someone who hunts spirits for a living?

I take a deep breath and adjust my sitting position.

Why is Lockwood such a "haunted" place? And why have the deaths started up again? Why are so many people sneaking onto the property? I would think that if a place is filling up with dead people, I'd stay away.

Of course I say that, yet here I am.

I sigh. There must be something I am missing. Some kind of lore, some kind of local "common knowledge" that I'm missing. Why else would a killer hang out on one property... and still not get caught? Why else would all these people feel drawn to the place? I remember what Hattingson said about the place being "haunted as hell." Why? What am I missing?

I turn into the parking lot for a place called "Lucy's Diner."

Time to gain some local knowledge.

----

"Can I get you anything else, Ms. Nancy?" the waitress asks kindly, setting down my ice water while my meal is being prepared. She is a plump, cheerful woman named "Dot."

"Actually, I had a question," I say, unwrapping a straw and putting it in the glass. I am sitting at the counter, the first open spot in the crowded, 50's style diner. The smell of sizzling beef fills the air, and the chatter of customers is at a cheerful level. Hometown food and atmosphere at its finest.

"Name it dear," she says, holding her notepad at the ready.

"It's about something I heard in town... 'Lockwood Estates?'" I watch her face for a reaction, and I get one.

Her smile fades, and her eyes glaze over. She slowly closes her notepad and puts it in her apron pocket, avoiding eye contact for a good five seconds. The man next to me gives me an odd look before quickly glancing away.

"'Lockwood Estates,' you say," Dot says, crossing her arms.

"Yes," I say, taking a sip of water, "I heard it was 'haunted' or something. Is that a local legend?"

The man next to me, still turned away, says, "More like local fact, missy. Stay away from that manor if you want to stay alive."

Ah, right to the point. Thank you, Diner Guy.

"What does he mean by that?!" I ask Dot in a fake, alarmed tone.

"It's nothing dear. There's been a lot of things happening up there lately. Police just got involved again, I heard. Stay away."

"What Dot means to say is," Diner Guy interjects, glaring at me, "That place is cursed, and has been since that maid o' theirs was killed."

"Maid?" I start.

The woman to my left jumps in. "Bernie, you know that's just a legend."

"Isn't all of this a legend?" Bernie declares, gesturing with his coffee and spilling some. "That maid, Caroline Walker, was killed by the owner of the manor, and her ghost has been haunting the place since."