Ghost Tales of Seattle

Ghost Chase Part 16

Addie had to give us directions as we couldn't find any record online of where the Columbia Depot had been located. We reached the area and found parking around 4 pm, which was a good time because the construction crew had already packed up and left. There was a metal plate in the road surrounded by cones and no parking signs. I wondered how Robert planned to get permission to show this footage. I assumed that normally, one got permission to film in public areas before actually doing the show. Victoria had forced me to watch a few of her favorite ghost hunting shows and they generally stuck to private buildings where they had permission from the owners. I was glad it wasn't my responsibility to figure this out. Robert must know what he was doing since he'd convinced Netflix to back his reality show.

"Is there some sort of prize we're after?" Bill asked as he followed us to the cordoned off sight.

"You could call it that, I guess," Beth said. "My ancestor's ghost is leading us on a kind of treasure hunt. At the end of the line is a pistol that belonged to Buffalo Bill."

I whispered to Addie, "How is whatever you left in the depot going to be here still? As you said, construction happens all the time in this part of the city."

"I didn't leave it in the depot, I left it under the depot," Addie said. "I know it's still there. I've seen it."

I watched as Addie led the others to a spot close to the sidewalk using the smell of smoke. Bill pulled up the metal plate that covered the area. He'd brought a larger shovel and quickly dug a surprisingly deep hole. I heard the crunch of metal on metal, he pulled a box out and handed it to Beth. She pulled out a key.

"It's for a safety deposit box," she said.

"For what bank?" Bill asked. "Are there any banks that are still around from 1889?"

"No, there aren't, so the question is what would the bank have done with the contents of boxes from that long ago? There's a letter from The London and San Francisco Bank." She did a quick Google search on her phone. "It was bought out by the Bank of California in 1905."

"I've never heard of that bank either, so I'm assuming it was bought as well," I said.

"In 1996 it merged with the Union Bank and became the Union Bank of California," Beth said.

Our fascinating discussion of bank mergers was interrupted when a spray of water splashed those of us who were living as a large truck passed by and hit a puddle from the short rainstorm that had happened when we were in the theater. We decided to get back in the van in order to do further research. Addie wasn't saying anything. It seemed she wanted Beth to figure out this final clue on her own, or at least with only our help.