"How much of the local folklore has its roots in any kind of truth?" you ask her. "We have a lot of legends and ghost stories here. How many of them were spawned by actual, real life tragedies?"
"It's hard to say in a lot of cases," Mrs. McGlynn says. "Have there been deaths at the quarry? Yes, but that's to be expected. Have people died in the waters around Arbor Isle? Of course. It's true that Arbor Isle gets unusually dense fog, so perhaps that really does have a psychological effect on people. It gives them something to blame when there is uncertainty about the death of a loved one, and blame gives people the illusion of control. Arbor Isle residents have been blaming the fog for deaths since before the town was incorporated. My ancestors included, and the Peterson family, and the Michaels."
"Michaels as in Barry Michaels?" Diego asks.
"That's the one," Mrs. McGlynn says. "That family's been here just about from the start, though I suppose now it's just him with his father having passed away. They did well for themselves in trade and shipping until around the eighties. Then there was some legal trouble."
That does ring a bell now that you think of it. It's one of the things people make fun of him for, since he's not much of a legacy for a family to leave behind.
"You didn't hear it from me, but Wyatt Michaels was a piece of work," Mrs. McGlynn says. "He totaled my dad's car about twenty years ago and tried to blame the whole thing on him. Went so far as to threaten him if he tried to take legal action, but kept it vague enough that nothing could really be done about it. That was one of the reasons my parents finally moved away. Now my daughter and I are the only McGlynns left here."
"How long has your family lived here?" you ask.
"Since shortly after the quarry opened up. My great great grandfather moved here to become a quarry worker, and his son was one too, and he was charming and business savvy enough to end up working his way up the social ladder. He married a girl from a wealthy family and they're the ones who bought this house. They saw their fair share of tragedies here, I suppose." She takes a sip of lemonade and seems to change her mind about wanting to discuss the subject during that time. "Really, though, we have worse things to worry about in Arbor Isle's currently unfolding history. There's a terrible drug problem here, for instance, and I assure you that's taking far more lives than any mythological fog curse."
You look at Kirill and Diego as they sit there looking a little bit stunned. It's a lot to take in and process. They may have been expecting some fun ghost stories and that's it, but this will definitely be more helpful in the long run.
"Anyway, you're free to take a look at the contents of that bin," Mrs. McGlynn says. "I have a lot of work to do though, so you should probably get going fairly soon."
As she forces a smile, you get the feeling that she isn't very pleased with you. Instead of pushing your luck, you sort through the materials she provided without asking any more questions.
Next