Chapter 14
Noble looked back towards the counter, his eyes widening when he realized that it had worked.
Leaning with her hip against the counter, standing between two chrome swivel stools with white seats, clear as can be, even if a bit transparent, was a colorless waitress.
Her form was various shades of gray, black, and white.
With pure white skin and short pale-gray hair styled in a way that reminded him of the fifties and sixties, the woman looked to be either in her late twenties or early thirties, and she had a beauty mark beside her left eye.
She was obviously wearing make-up, and her waitress outfit consisted of a button-up dress with a collar and an apron.
“Wow…that’s…bizarre.”
“It worked!” Ollie whisper-yelled in excitement.
The question was…how had it worked? Being what he was, Noble should have felt it the minute any sort of magic was being cast on or around him.
It was sort of ingrained in his makeup, due to what he had done to stop the aging process after becoming a fully-fledged witch hunter.
So how had it worked without him even feeling it?
God, there were just so many unanswered questions when it came to Ollie’s powers.
Looking back at Ollie, he said, “I see what you meant when you said it was like someone dropping a person from a black and white film into your vision.”
“Weird, isn’t it?”
“It is,” he chuckled, before giving his head a shake and saying, “We should check out and head back.”
“Back to the chaos that is spooky season at the library!”
Ollie snagged the bill as he stood, before Noble had a chance.
“Let me pay,” Noble said as they approached the counter.
“No, no, no, I’ve got this,” Ollie insisted.
“You can pay next time.”
The little witch’s bottom lip popped out as he huffed, “You said that last time.”
“Well, I mean it this time.”
On reaching the counter, Ollie turned to him, arms crossed, and just glared. The man’s lip was still popped out, so he was definitely being cutely pouted at more than anything.
After a moment of being stared down, he smiled and gave in. “Fine, fine, you can pay.”
The librarian giggled and adorably pumped one of his arms at winning. “Yes!”
Noble stared ahead blankly as Ollie went about getting their desserts and paying, his eyes drifting behind the cash register and Sammy, straight at the wall.
He was absently looking over one of the older framed photographs there, specifically one with a group of diner staff gathered together, with a little kid standing slightly off center.
That's when he realized he recognized one of the faces in it, not to mention the waitress outfits.
Nudging Ollie with his arm, he nodded towards the wall when the man looked up at him with a frown.
It took a few seconds for the witch to see what he had, but when he did, the man’s eyes widened and he gasped, before pointing and asking, “Sammy, would you happen to know who the blonde woman in the center photo on the wall is?”
Her face twisted a bit in confusion as she briefly looked back to where Ollie was pointing. “Why?”
“Well, uh, th-there’s this old—uh—newspaper clipping! Yes, I found a newspaper clipping, but nothing is readable. There is only a picture of her,” Ollie blurted, almost too quickly, his words sounding a bit stiff.
As it turned out, the witch could very much come up with a lie on the spot. The man may not have sounded super convincing, but he supposed it would be enough for most.
“Ah, you and your old papers and books,” she giggled before sighing.
“I'm afraid I don’t know who she is. It was before my time. All I know is that the photo is of the staff who first worked here when this place opened in 1961. You’d be better off asking the owner.
Though, he’d have been pretty young at the time.
” She blinked before looking back at the photo again, and adding, “In fact, that’s him there in the picture. He's the little kid.”
“Is Georgie in today?” Ollie asked.
“No, not today. Sorry, Ollie.”
“It’s fine, I’ll catch him next time! Thank you, Sammy.”
“Progress!” Ollie chimed excitedly, buckling up as Noble started his truck.
“Yeah, at least we now know she isn't wearing a costume, but was here when the diner opened.”
“Part of the original crew.”
“You know, if she was murdered, her killer is likely already dead,” Noble pointed out, as he pulled out of the parking lot and started driving back to the library.
“Either dead or really, really old. Then again, we don’t know if she was murdered at all.
She could have died from natural causes.
Speaking of that, I sort of know how I could attempt to see how she died, but it won’t really work if she died from something internal.
Also, I haven’t managed to get it to work. ”
“Well, hopefully, we'll at least get a name once we talk to the owner.”
Ollie frowned. The problem with that idea was that Georgie Babs didn’t come in on set days, and his hours were really random.
It also would possibly mean multiple unnecessary outings, because they’d likely then have to meet with Georgie more than once, as more questions would come up after learning her name and having time to research about the woman.
“You know I could probably find the name out myself, though we should still talk to the owner at some point. But if she went missing, or was found murdered, it would have been mentioned in the local newspaper back then. We’d just need to narrow it down based on her estimated age, cross reference with when the diner first opened, based on the fact she’s wearing the first uniform they used here,” he said with a smile.
He blinked when Noble stared blankly at first, before slowly asking, “Wouldn’t it be faster to talk to the owner…or just ask the ghost what her name is?”
Ollie wrinkled his nose. “Okay, but…that would take more planning, and require me to leave my library more than I possibly want to. Also, I don’t think the waitress ghost realizes I can see her, and I’m not sure how to get her attention without looking like a weirdo.
” On realizing what his words could imply, he quickly added, “Not that I don’t like leaving my library with you. ”
Noble barked out a laugh. “Is my little Hermit Baby coming out to play?”
“I am not little,” he huffed. Okay, he was little, since he was technically below average height at five foot five, and he may have also been very thin, but like, he wasn’t little, little!
“Not denying the hermit part, I see.”
“What’s wrong with staying inside?”
“Nothing, nothing at all.” Noble winked. “Especially if you’re staying in with me.”
Ollie giggled. “Then it’s a good thing you are my favorite person to stay inside with.”