"Ghost-hunting takes me along the whole of the West Coast of North America. And I had a loved one who helped me practice conversations."

Dan doesn't particularly want to talk about Ellie, much less with a stranger, but he has plenty of stories of hunting ghosts in Acapulco and Ensenada. He listens for Miguel's accent, but he supposes that it must just be Nueva York or the century of difference because it doesn't quite track to any location in particular.

"I speak French, American sign language and Common Tongue, too. I pick up languages like fleas. I'm shooting for Mandarin next."