The Ghost at Eden Station
by J. H. Zech
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Table of Contents parts 1, 2, 3 |
part 1
Dahlia Williams sucked the boba pearls through her straw then set down the milk tea. “You’ve got some nerve waving your police badge to get past the apartment security. Isn’t this totally an abuse of power?”
The cold autumn wind blew across the rooftop courtyard and ruffled Richard Gim’s wavy black hair. Dahlia glanced away. He was too handsome for a police inspector. “You definitely would have refused if I called you up. It was a necessary use of power.”
“If you knew I would refuse, why did you muscle your way in here and knock on my door? You know I’m on vacation.”
“My friend Rudy is really in a pinch, and I need your help.” Richard clasped his hands around hers and stared deep into her with his rich, black puppy-dog eyes.
Dahlia blushed and shook her hands free. “I’ll at least hear you out. No promises though.” What a dirty trick. The police chief had deliberately sent Richard to convince her.
“Thank you. This matter concerns Eden Train Station.” He pointed to a small concrete station in the distance surrounded by a few warehouses and parking lots. “My friend Rudy Stan works for a developer named Atlantis Co. He’s a manager in charge of redeveloping that station area into apartments and a shopping center.”
“This sounds more like a real estate deal. What do you need me for? I do only crime consulting.”
“The problem came in over the weekend. Rudy got an anonymous call saying the spirit of Xu Ling would take vengeance on anyone who dared disturb his resting place, just as he did twenty years ago.”
“Twenty years ago... It’s referring to the incidents that happened at Eden Station back then.”
“Right. Rudy told the police and his bosses about it, too, but his bosses are dismissing it as superstition, and we, the police, don’t really have any leads. He’s afraid the same thing that happened twenty years ago will happen again... or worse.”
“I don’t believe in ghosts either,” Dahlia said. “Someone really doesn’t want Eden Station to be redeveloped. The last time, after the mysterious accidents, one worker was killed, and that led to the developer pulling out of the project. The fact that this is happening again, right as there’s another redevelopment project, suggests there’s some reason why the caller doesn’t want it to happen.”
“Do you think the same person was involved twenty years ago?”
“Maybe. It’s too early to say. But I suspect the motive is similar between the two cases. What that motive is though, remains to be seen.”
“Does this mean you’re willing to help in this case?” Richard asked.
Dahlia rose from her seat. “On one condition. I will tell my findings to you and Rudy only. The Chief can’t take any credit. Rather, he should be humiliated that a civilian had to do his job for him.”
“I guess you’re not going to be convinced to come back to the force.”
“Not a chance.”
Richard sighed. “Oh, well. I’ll arrange a meeting between you and Rudy.”
* * *
The meeting was arranged for the next afternoon at City Hall. Dahlia would wait for Richard in the lobby, which was a boring white cube with large windows and a few ornamental arches at the front door. The lobby interior was all concrete with vaulted high ceilings. Thankfully the couches were made of leather and not concrete. Dahlia took a seat and looked around.
A young woman with a ponytail and wearing a suit chased after a wealthy-looking old woman with sagging cheeks. “Mayor Fjord, can I get a comment about the Eden Station redevelopment proposal?”
“It’s cramming a lot of people into our quiet paradise, so this needs to be carefully reviewed. I have no further comment.”
After Mayor Fjord left the building, the young woman smiled, writing something in her notepad. On the other side of the lobby, an old man in a collared shirt with thick glasses was talking to a young woman with pink hair. The young woman with a ponytail noticed this and hid behind a column to eavesdrop.
“Director Lucius, please hear me out. The developer’s current plans for redevelopment are terrible for pedestrian access to the train station. Most of the documents talk about road widening and parking garages but no crosswalks. The city needs to ask for changes to the plan.”
From his title and name, he was presumably Maximillian Lucius, the public works director. The heckler must have been some local activist.
Maximillian rolled his eyes. “I appreciate your enthusiasm, but the developer-submitted plans are in accordance with our guidelines. Train station or not, all roads must support a minimum throughput per capita and there needs to be at least two parking spaces for every apartment unit. That’s non-negotiable.”
The eavesdropping lady furiously took notes and seemed pleased.
The front doors slid open, and Richard walked in with a tall thirty- or so year-old man with a precise but worn-down look. The perfect image of an early mid-career office worker.
“Hey, Dahlia, this is Rudy.”
“Nice to meet you,” he said, reaching out for a handshake.
She shook his hand. “Dahlia.”
The young woman at the column ran over uninvited. “Excuse me, are you with Atlantis Co.?”
Rudy raised an eyebrow. “Yes. And you are?”
She gave him a business card. “Jessica Li. Reporter for the Eden Times.”
“Let’s talk outside,” Rudy said.
They walked out and gathered at a picnic table in the park in front of City Hall.
“You didn’t tell me a reporter would be coming along,” Rudy complained to Richard.
“I didn’t know she would be.” Richard looked at Dahlia.
“Don’t look at me. She invited herself.”
Jessica grinned. “There’s no need to be scared. I’m just poking around. But there must be a reason a police inspector brought someone from a development company to meet with the city’s most famous crime consultant. I smell a scoop.”
“I have personal reasons. That’s all I have to say,” Rudy declared curtly.
“Personal reasons? Coincidentally, your company has released a controversial proposal to redevelop Eden Station. And coincidentally, rumors are circulating whether there’s going to be a repeat of twenty years ago. Those are some suspicious coincidences.”
“Rumors are rumors. They aren’t to be taken seriously.”
“So, you don’t believe in Xu Ling?”
Rudy bit his nails. “No further comment.”
Jessica chuckled. “You’ve given me enough for me to do further research. Thank you.” She left them.
Rudy crossed his arms. “I don’t like this. I haven’t mentioned that phone call to anyone except you, but it seems like rumors are already spreading.”
Richard replied, “It was inevitable. Even if people don’t know about the phone call, they’re going to speculate. But if this did get revealed, it would add fuel to the fire.”
“Let’s stick to the facts, Rudy. What happened?” Dahlia asked.
He looked down at the table with his hands folded. “It was ten at night on Saturday. I got a call on my cell from an unknown number. It said ‘Withdraw your company’s proposal to redevelop Eden Station. If you don’t, tragedy will befall you and those around you. Just like it did to others twenty years ago. I am Xu Ling. Those who disturb my rest shall feel my wrath.’ I called Richard the day after.”
“I did look into the number that called Rudy, but it was from a burner phone.”
Dahlia asked, “It doesn’t sound like this is something personal against you, Rudy. Why would this Xu Ling specifically be so mad about this development?”
Richard answered, “There’s a bit of a complicated history with Eden Station. About fifty years ago, when Eden Station was still being built, there was a rail workers’ strike. But there were tensions between the Orientians and the Yurazanians over the Orientians being paid less and demanding equal pay while the Yurazanians opposed it. Things really took a turn for the worse when the leader of the Yurazanian workers, Albert Koth, turned up dead.
“The Yurazanians blamed the Orientians, and there was a race riot. Xu Ling was the leader of the Orientians, and he was lynched and hanged. No one really knows who killed Albert Koth. It was too long ago, and the riot probably destroyed any evidence. But legend has it, Xu Ling was buried somewhere around Eden Station, and he’ll curse anyone who disturbs his rest.”
“Something is weird about this legend though. Wouldn’t Xu Ling be angry at Yurazanians or their descendants?” Dahlia asked. “Why would a ghost that died through injustice care so much about resting peacefully?”
“Beats me,” Richard said. “These legends aren’t exactly logical.”
“Has anything suspicious happened since you got that call?” Dahlia asked.
“No,’ Rudy said, “but it’s only been two days.”
“That’s not much to go on, but I’ll investigate.” Dahlia stood and shook Rudy’s hand. “Please let me know if you get any new information.” She left them and pedaled away on her electro-bike.
* * *
Eden was supposedly a model of a perfect city, one with high incomes, beautiful neighborhoods, and peace, but Dahlia had always had an uneasy feeling that something about this peace was fake, that it wasn’t a peace built on justice but one that had swept tensions under the rug. And something was about to crawl out from under that rug.
Later that evening, Dahlia had been researching everything related to Eden Station, Atlantis Co., and the people related to the project. On the surface, everything seemed above-board. The property was a vacant plot of land around the station, so no one was being evicted. There was no evidence of bribery or blackmail in the approval process. The financing had come from reputable sources. Public opposition was minimal. Rudy was an unexceptional manager from out of town and didn’t have any local enemies. There must have been something deeper she was missing.
Her cell phone rang. It was an unknown number. Dahlia’s heart pounded, reminded of the call that Rudy had received. She picked up.
“Hi, is this Dahlia Williams?” a young woman’s voice asked. She sounded familiar.
“Yes, who is this?”
“It’s me, Jessica Li, from earlier today.”
“What do you want?”
“Come on, don’t be so cold. You’ll appreciate what I’m about to say. I’ve got my hands on some spicy information about the Eden Station development, and I know you’ve got more details regarding those rumors about Xu Ling. What do you say we meet up and exchange information?”
“What is this spicy information?”
“It’ll be a shocking revelation that will make history. And it could be relevant to whatever your case is, too. You won’t regret it.”
Dahlia didn’t like being left in the dark, and this Jessica Li didn’t seem like the most reliable person, but she needed a lead to break the deadlock. “Fine. Time and place?”
“Eden Station at midnight tonight.”
Jessica had a thing for theatrics. Given the Eden Times’ penchant for sensationalism, she was a perfect fit. “Fine. I’ll see you there.” Dahlia hung up.
The uneasy feeling returned. Those incidents from twenty years ago weighed on her mind, but she didn’t know what it all meant at the time.
* * *
Later that evening, when it was almost midnight, Dahlia climbed into her white sedan, and it hummed to life with an electronic whir. She spun round and round in the spiral maze of the underground parking garage, going forward in an endless cage of grey with dim yet harsh white lights. She finally made it outside, and it was dark. The residents didn’t like bright lights at night, so all the streetlamps were purposefully kept dim and yellow. Dahlia turned onto the main road and floored it towards Eden Station.
When she arrived, a few other people were at the station, but she could only make out vague silhouettes in between the two cones of blue light from the only lamps on the platform. The station was normally busy during the day, but Eden was for sure not a city that never slept. The station was a simple affair of two concrete platforms separated by a fence and tracks with one gate to cross to the other side.
The lights were out at the waiting room and convenience store off to the side, leaving only a dark rectangle that cast a darker shadow. No passenger trains would come at midnight. What were these people doing here? Dahlia approached cautiously, staying in the shadow of the building until she could get a better view.
It was an odd grouping of people. Mayor Aileen Fjord, Director Maximillian Lucius, Rudy Stan, and the pink-haired activist from earlier in the day. “Hello. What are you all doing here?” Dahlia asked.
“Were you invited here by Jessica, too?” Maximillian asked.
“Yes. The rest of you, too?”
The others nodded.
“Jessica said she was going to share something important,” the activist said.
“I’m sorry, who are you?” Dahlia asked.
“I’m Katy Hernandez. I’m with the Sustainable Urban Cities Coalition.”
Dahlia decided wisely not to comment on what the group’s acronym would be. “I’m Dahlia Williams, a detective.”
Aileen said, “Against my better judgment, I chose to come here because it sounded urgent, but I’m not sure why this specific group of people was invited.”
“Where is she, anyway?” Rudy asked. “It’s about to be midnight.”
Jessica was nowhere in sight.
The bells for the train crossing began to ring. The red lights pulsed as the striped crossing arms lowered.
“A train at this time of night?” Katy asked.
“It’s probably a freight train,” Maximillian said.
The rumble of a diesel engine drew closer in the distance. The train horn blared. Between the ringing from the crossing and the blaring of the horn, Dahlia could barely hear her own thoughts.
A circle of bright light appeared at the opposite platform. Jessica stood in the middle of it, with a man in dirty work clothes standing next to her. On closer examination, Jessica’s arms and legs had been tied. The man looked back at them. A ghastly face of rotting flesh with a fu man chu and a topknot grinned as he showed them a rope. Dahlia followed the path of the rope up a tree branch... and over to Jessica’s neck.
Dahlia ran towards the gate, but Aileen pulled her back. “Are you crazy? The train’s here!”
The man pulled on the rope and hoisted Jessica into the air as she flailed. Moments later, the train locomotive rolled through the crossing, hauling a procession of double-decked freight containers that stretched on into the darkness. They could do nothing but stand there for several minutes while the freight cars continued streaming through. Dahlia’s heart pounded. A murder was taking place right in front of her, but she couldn’t save anyone. It was no different than it had been in the police force.
When the train had finally passed, the arms lifted, and the circle of light was gone, leaving the other side pitch black. They opened the gate and ran to the other platform. Dahlia shone a light with her phone.
Jessica Li hung from the tree, motionless.
Katy screamed. Maximillian stood aghast.
Aileen grabbed Rudy. “You, help me get her down!” She untied the rope while Rudy held up Jessica’s shoulders. He lowered her down onto the ground and untied the rope around her neck.
Dahlia knelt down and checked for a breath. She held Jessica’s wrist and felt no pulse. It was too late to save her. A passing wind howled in mourning and then left the survivors to confront death in silence.
* * *
Copyright © 2025 by J. H. Zech
