14

DEAD SILENCE GREETED SERAFINA’S SUGGESTION. AS THE technical hostess to this motley group, however unwilling she may have been in the role, Sarah felt obligated to break the awkward silence.

“What do you think will happen if you go back to the house?”

Serafina turned her remarkable eyes on Sarah, and once again Sarah marveled at the charismatic power the girl possessed and her seeming ability to turn it off and on at will. “We will find out who killed Mrs. Gittings.”

“How will you do that?” Sarah asked.

Serafina raised her chin. “The spirits will tell me.” She turned the force of her gaze back to Sharpe. “You will return with me, will you not?”

He didn’t look as if the idea appealed to him very much. “Is that really necessary?” he tried. “I thought the Italian boy killed her.”

The girl’s eyes blazed with fury. “No, he did not.” She turned to Malloy. “I will prove he did not, but I must return to the place where it happened, so the spirits can speak to me.”

“Couldn’t you speak to them here, dear?” Mrs. Decker asked, obviously trying to be helpful. No one wanted to go back to that house on Waverly Place.

“They will not be able to find me here,” Serafina declared.

“I don’t know why not,” Malloy murmured for Sarah’s ears only. “You’re in the City Directory.”

Startled into a laugh, Sarah had to cough to cover it. Serafina gave her a disapproving glance, then turned her attention back to Sharpe. “We must reenact the séance,” she was saying. “Everyone must be in their exact places.”

“I can’t imagine the others will want to do that,” Mrs. Decker protested in alarm. “Mrs. Burke has taken to her bed from the shock. She couldn’t possibly go out.”

“I could take her place,” Maeve offered.

Serafina shook her head. “Mrs. Burke will come,” she said confidently. “Mrs. Decker will come, will you not?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “And Mr. Cunningham will also come, if I ask him. Only the real killer would refuse. Am I not right, Mr. Sharpe?”

Sharpe had to swallow before replying. “Yes, of course, my dear,” he agreed, but he still looked as if he’d bitten into something unpleasant.

“We must send them word,” Serafina said. “We will arrange it for tomorrow morning.” She turned back to Maeve and said, “You will sit in for Mrs. Gittings.”

Sarah opened her mouth to protest, but Malloy grabbed her arm, startling her into silence and giving Maeve the opportunity to reply.

“I’d be happy to,” she said with obvious satisfaction.

“It is settled. You will be there at ten o’clock?” she asked Sharpe.

“If you’re sure this is the right thing to do,” he hedged.

“It is. You will be there, and when it is over, I will give you my answer to your offer.” She graced him with a dazzling smile that promised he would not be disappointed.

Sharpe could not possibly resist. “Yes, I’ll be there.”

“What about the Professor?” Mrs. Decker asked suddenly. “Shouldn’t you tell him we’re coming?”

“I will send him a message that we are coming and to be ready,” Serafina said. “He will expect Mr. Sharpe to bring him money, so he will be there. But you will not give him money,” she added to Sharpe. “If you do, he will leave, and he must be there during the séance.”

“Yes, yes, whatever you wish,” Sharpe assured her.

Serafina nodded, satisfied she had his support. “I am sorry, but I must be alone now to prepare for tomorrow. Until then,” she said and gave Sharpe her hand again. He took it in both of his and for an instant Sarah thought he might kiss it, but he simply bowed over it, and stepped back when she withdrew her hand again.

She turned and moved past Sarah and Frank and silently ascended the stairs, moving so gracefully that her feet might not have even been touching the floor.

When she was gone, Mrs. Decker said, “Well,” breaking the second awkward silence. “This should be very interesting.”

“Do you really think Mrs. Burke is too ill to attend?” Sharpe asked with a frown.

“I don’t know,” she said with a meaningful glance at Sarah, who recalled her mother’s theory that Mrs. Burke was simply pretending to be sick. “I’ll take her the message personally, though, so she’ll understand the urgency. Perhaps that will persuade her to make the effort.”

“I can go see Cunningham,” Sharpe said. “He’ll do anything Madame Serafina asks of him, I’m sure,” he added with obvious disdain.

“Try to get to him before he goes out for the evening,” Malloy suggested. “Otherwise, he’ll be too hung over to be much use to us.”

Sharpe scowled, but he nodded his understanding, then made his apologies to Mrs. Decker and to Sarah and took his leave.

“Oh, my,” Mrs. Decker said when he was gone, “what have we gotten ourselves into?”

Sarah looked up the stairs where Serafina had disappeared and wondered if she should go after the girl. She’d had a terrible shock today at the morgue, seeing Nicola’s body, and now she had made plans to relive Mrs. Gittings’s murder. She really shouldn’t be alone, but before she could decide what to do, Maeve came up beside her and called, “He’s gone! You can come back down!”

She’d brought Catherine with her, holding the child’s hand, and Catherine instantly moved to Sarah’s side. Sarah instinctively reached down and picked her up, settling the child on her hip.

Serafina appeared at the top of the stairs and hurried down. “Did he say he would visit Mr. Cunningham?” she asked before she even reached the bottom of the steps.

“Yes, and Mrs. Decker is going to visit Mrs. Burke,” Maeve told her. “Do you think you should write her a note?”

“Yes, I must,” Serafina said. “She is afraid to come, so I must make her more afraid not to come.”

“But that’s cruel,” Mrs. Decker protested.

“Not if she is the killer,” Serafina said coldly.

Maeve bit back a grin. “There’s writing paper here in the desk,” she said, leading the other girl over to the desk that had been Sarah’s husband’s. She started opening drawers and pulling out the items Serafina needed.

“Sarah, you’ll go with us, won’t you?” Mrs. Decker asked. Sarah had rarely seen her mother so unsure of herself. “If that’s all right,” she added to Serafina.

“Oh, yes,” the girl said absently as she selected a sheet of writing paper. “She must be there to see who the killer is.”

“So you’ll go?” Mrs. Decker asked Sarah to confirm.

“Of course, Mother. I wouldn’t miss this for anything.”

“I don’t want to go,” Catherine informed everyone.

“You can stay with Mrs. Ellsworth, sweetheart,” Sarah assured her, then she turned to Malloy. “I’ll tell you everything that happens.”

“You won’t need to,” Malloy replied smugly. “I wouldn’t miss this for anything either. Besides, if the spirits are going to tell her who the killer is, I need to be there to arrest him. Or her.” He glanced meaningfully at Mrs. Decker, who gasped in outrage.

“I hardly even knew that woman!” she reminded him.

“He’s only teasing you, Mother,” Sarah said. “Just ignore him.”

“It isn’t nice to tease people, Mr. Malloy,” Catherine told him sternly.

“I’m sorry,” Malloy said, feigning meekness. “I won’t tease Mrs. Decker anymore.”

“Mr. Malloy,” Serafina asked from where she was sitting at the desk. “Will you take a message to the Professor? I want to be sure he is there when we come and that everything is ready.”

“I would be happy to,” Malloy said graciously, surprising Sarah. “I should probably tell him about Nicola, too.”

Serafina’s head jerked up, and her eyes blazed. “No, please do not tell him. I will do that when I see him. And also do not tell him we are trying to find the killer. It will be better if he thinks I am just going to start doing the sittings again. I will tell him we must begin again since all the money is gone.”