A Tale, Nearly True, of Richmond, Virginia

During a preliminary investigation, researchers of the paranormal found Richmond, Virginia to be a strong candidate for a study of ghosts of its past. Eight researchers were selected to conduct a study of extra-normal phenomena in specific areas of the city. -four from Richmond and four from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Among the Massachusetts group is the newest investigator, Professor Zatorah Leeman. This project piques her interest for a number of reasons. For one, Richmond is both the city of her birth and a place of which she has little knowledge or memory. Her mother has been closed-mouthed about the particulars of her brief marriage and stay in Richmond around the time of Zatorah's birth. The research begins, and the team visits locations in Richmond that earlier showed high concentrations of otherworldly energy. The Richmond psychic, Evan Nesset, a spirit-hunting eccentric, serves as the team's "spirit channeler" and relays the ghostly messages he receives at the various sites. To everyone's growing amazement, some of what Nesset's spirits have to say relate to Zatorah and to Merquan Paler, a streetwise hustler from one of Richmond's most ill-reputed public housing projects. Their unusual alliance provides extraordinary insights into the past.