This was getting him nowhere. “Tell me what happened here today.”

“We were having a sitting,” he said.

“Yeah, all those people were in the room, holding hands in the dark, talking to the spirits,” Frank said, not bothering to hide his sarcasm. “What were you doing?”

“I was waiting in the kitchen.”

“That’s what you do when there’s a sitting?”

“Yes. My job is to greet the clients and make sure they’re comfortable. Then I stay close by during the sitting, in case I’m needed.”

“How do you know if you’re needed?”

“Madame calls for me.”

“Where were you when she called for you today?”

“In the kitchen, as always.”

“Why didn’t you come then?”

His eyes widened in surprise. “I came!”

“Nobody saw you,” Frank said, stretching the truth a bit. Nobody remembered seeing him, at least.

“I came immediately,” he insisted, a bit defensive.

“And what did you see?”

“I saw…” His voice trailed off, and he swallowed audibly. “I saw her on the floor.”

“What did you think when you saw her?”

He made a visible effort to control himself. “I thought she’d fainted. That’s what Madame said. She wanted smelling salts because someone had fainted.”

“When did you know she’d been stabbed?”

“I… Someone said it, I think. Then I saw the… I saw it. And she wasn’t moving.”

“What did you do then?”

“Everybody started running out of the room. The gentlemen were getting the ladies out. I… I went to see if… if I could help.”

“You tried to help Mrs. Gittings?”

“Yes, I went to her, but… Well, I could see it was too late. Her eyes…” His voice caught, and he closed his eyes.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes,” he said in a near whisper. “It’s just… The shock.”

“How did you know she was dead?” Frank prodded mercilessly.

“Her eyes,” he said raggedly. “They were open.”

“What did you do then?”

His eyes flew open and he stared at Frank as if just remembering he was still there. “I went out to find a policeman.”

“Why did you do that?” It was a reasonable question, considering that Madame Serafina would most likely not want any scandal associated with her business, certainly not with her wealthy clients there, and involving the police was the surest way to cause a scandal.

The Professor’s expression hardened. “Because I wanted to be sure that whoever killed her was caught.”

“And you think Nicola killed her?”

“He’s the only one who had a reason.”

“And what is that reason?”

“I told you, she wanted to send him away.”

Frank was confused again. “Mrs. Gittings wanted to send Nicola away?”

“That’s right.”

“Because he was a distraction,” Frank remembered.

“Yes.”

“But why would Madame Serafina have to do what Mrs. Gittings wanted?”

“Because…” The Professor caught himself, sitting up straight and staring at Frank again. “Hasn’t anyone told you?”

“Told me what?”

“This is her house.”

“Whose house?”

“Mrs. Gittings. This is her house. She is Madame’s sponsor.”

Suddenly, everything made sense. That was why Mrs. Gittings was at every séance. That was why nobody knew anything about her. Sponsor was a nice word. Mrs. Gittings was really the brains behind the whole séance scam. They all worked for her.

Frank nodded his understanding. “How long has this been going on?”

“Almost a year. Madame’s talent was beginning to draw the attention of some important clients.”

Frank thought of Mrs. Felix Decker. “And starting to bring in a lot of money,” he guessed.

“Madame cares nothing for that,” the Professor insisted. “She only wishes to help others.”

Sure, Frank thought. That’s why she charged so much for her services. “But Nicola was causing trouble,” he guessed.

“He’s an ignorant child. He was jealous of Madame’s success, and he was trying to convince her to leave here.”

“Why would she do that?”

The Professor shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “They are lovers,” he admitted. “When Mrs. Gittings discovered Madame, she was supporting him by telling fortunes on street corners. Mrs. Gittings recognized Madame’s true talents and brought her here. Madame insisted on bringing Nicola along. She wouldn’t come without him, in fact, and so we put him to work. For a while, he wasn’t any trouble.”

Frank could imagine what happened next. Nicola saw how much money Serafina brought in with her séances and decided they didn’t need Mrs. Gittings and the Professor anymore. “So Mrs. Gittings wanted to get rid of him.”

The Professor nodded. “They had a terrible fight about it last night.”

“Did she throw him out?”

“No,” the Professor admitted angrily. “Madame refused to continue her work unless Mrs. Gittings allowed him to stay.”

“Sounds like a compromise,” Frank observed.

“One that pleased no one,” the Professor said bitterly. “So Nicola found a solution of his own.”

Someone knocked on the door. Frank muttered a curse and got up to answer it. The cop guarding the front door grinned sheepishly. “Sorry to bother you, but Donatelli’s here with a lady. She says she’s come for Mrs. Brandt.”

“Wait here,” Frank told the Professor.

He stepped into the hallway and saw Sarah Brandt standing there. The sight of her brought him a surge of unreasonable joy even though he hated the very thought of having her at a murder scene. She gave him the smile he loved, which only made it worse.

He nodded politely, careful not to say her name. “Your mother’s in there,” he said, nodding toward the office door, which opened as he spoke. Mrs. Decker stuck her head out.

“Mother,” Sarah said.

“Oh, Sarah, I’m so glad you’re here,” Mrs. Decker said with relief.

Then the door to the parlor opened and Madame Serafina cried, “Mrs. Brandt, oh, please, you’ve got to help us!”

Before anyone could stop her, she threw herself into Sarah’s arms and began to sob.

Sarah looked up at Frank accusingly.

“I haven’t even talked to her yet,” he defended himself.

“They’re going to arrest Nicola,” Madame claimed to Sarah. “But he didn’t do anything. I swear to you, he’s innocent!”

“Who’s Nicola?” Sarah and her mother asked in unison.

“Her lover,” Frank said.

This shocked Sarah and her mother and made Madame sob more loudly.

They all heard a disturbance upstairs followed by shouting. Nicola was probably trying to get downstairs to find out why his lover was crying. Frank noticed Gino Donatelli standing behind Sarah. “Donatelli, go upstairs and see what you can get out of that Nicola fellow.”

Donatelli pushed by them and hurried up the stairs. Frank turned back to Sarah and her mother, who were still trying to comfort Madame Serafina.

“What on earth is going on?” Sarah asked him.

He wanted to tell her it was all none of her business and why didn’t she just take her mother home and forget she’d ever been in this house? He wanted to get her as far away from here as possible and erase any memory of Madame Serafina from her mind. He wanted to perform a miracle. Unfortunately, it was far too late even for a miracle.

Instead he sighed with resignation and said, “Why don’t you take Madame Serafina back into the parlor and get her calmed down?”