Ghosthunting Illinois. John B. Kachuba

him and his brother-in-law, Nick Rice.

      Nick had longish white hair and a receding hairline. He wore a T-shirt that read, A dog is the only relative you get to choose. “We feel him all the time,” Nick said.

      It was mid-afternoon on a weekday and the pub was not crowded. As I sat at the long bar with the two men, my wife, Mary, sat at a booth by the large window overlooking the street. The sunlight came in through the window, but farther back at the bar, the pub was not as well lit.

      “I’ve got a photo that was recently taken by one of our customers that I’m sure shows my father,” Colin said. The photo depicted some people at the bar and a misty figure with a face that Colin recognized as that of his father. “I knew it was my father,” Colin said, “because he had his hand on the girl’s breast.”