“Madame Serafina,” the Professor said, obviously pleased to see her. “How are you?”

“I am very well,” she assured him. “I am happy to be home again.”

“I’m happy to welcome you here,” he assured her. “Mrs. Decker, how nice to see you back again. And you’ve brought a friend.” He eyed Maeve critically, as if trying to judge her potential as a paying customer.

“Miss Decker,” Serafina said, “may I present my assistant, Professor Rogers. Professor, Miss Decker is Mrs. Decker’s niece. She has always been curious about the spirit world, so she is going to learn more about it today.”

“We’re very happy to have you here,” the Professor assured her, although Frank thought his enthusiasm sounded forced. He gave her a small bow, and then he caught her studying him with more than casual interest. He straightened, probably wondering why this young lady would be so interested in him, and then he said. “Have we met before, Miss Decker?”

“I don’t think so, Professor,” she said. “What makes you ask?”

“It’s just… You reminded me of someone there for a moment.”

Frank had been watching from the end of the hallway, unnoticed. The Professor’s back was to him, so he couldn’t see his expression, but Maeve gave the other man an innocent smile designed to disarm him.

Frank didn’t wait to see if it worked. He stepped forward. “Good morning, Madame,” he said to Serafina.

All the women looked up in surprise, and he was glad to see none of them looked more pleased to see him than was appropriate.

“Mr. Malloy, why have you come?” Serafina asked, as if she really didn’t know.

“I thought you might like me to be close by, in case something happened today.”

Serafina gave him one of her disapproving frowns. “May I speak with you privately, Mr. Malloy?” She turned back to the Professor. “Will you serve tea to Mrs. Decker and her niece?”

The Professor looked as if he would refuse, eyeing Frank the way he’d look at a rattlesnake from whom he expected the worst. He couldn’t think of any reason not to do her bidding, however, so he said, “Yes, Madame.” He took charge of the visitors and ushered them into the parlor while Frank and Serafina went across the hall to the office.

Once inside, Frank closed the door with a click and said, “Where’s Mrs. Brandt?”

“She’s waiting in the carriage. I thought it would be better if the others didn’t know the two of you were in the house during the séance. We don’t want the killer to be on guard, so I will ask you to leave when everyone has arrived, and then you and she will come to the back door, which I will unlock. I told Mrs. Brandt how to find the holes in the kitchen wall where you can listen to what is happening in the room.”

“What about the Professor? Isn’t that where he usually waits during the séance?”

“Mrs. Decker said you could handle him,” she said with a small smile.

“I probably can,” Frank allowed, wondering what he had done to earn Mrs. Decker’s confidence.

“Did you tell the Professor about Nicola?” she asked.

“No, you said you wanted to do it,” he reminded her.

“Good, I-”

She stopped when someone knocked on the door. It opened before either of them could react, and the Professor stepped in and closed the door behind him. “You can’t allow him to stay here for the séance.”

Serafina gave him a withering look. “I am the one who decides who is present for the séance,” she reminded him.

“Don’t get high and mighty with me, missy,” he told her. “I knew you when you were telling fortunes on the street.”

“And now you live off the money that I earn,” she reminded him right back.

He looked as if he wanted to say something else, but he glanced at Frank and changed his mind. He straightened himself again. “Well, perhaps it’s good he’s here after all. He can protect us in case Nicola comes back.”

“Nicola is dead,” Serafina said savagely before Frank could reply.

“Dead?” He seemed genuinely surprised. “How could he be dead?”

“Because someone killed him,” she told him.

The Professor looked at Frank. “Is this true?”

“Yes, someone beat him to death. We found his body not far from here.”

The Professor’s face flooded with color. “The little fool, he probably started flashing the money around and somebody killed him for it. Lucille tried to tell you he was no good, but you wouldn’t listen.”

An excellent theory, Frank thought, but the Professor didn’t know Nicola had no money to flash around. “Who’s Lucille?”

“Mrs. Gittings,” the Professor snapped. “So now he’s gone and the money with him.”

“Don’t worry, you still have me to make money for you,” Serafina told him acidly.

“Mrs. Decker didn’t give me anything when she came in just now,” he informed her just as acidly.

“I told them I would not charge them today.”

“What?” the Professor asked, outraged.

“After what happened, they would not come back unless I begged them. You should be glad they are here at all.”

“And the others? Are they coming, too?”

“Yes, they are. All of them will be here, just like before.”

“Just like before except for that girl. Why is she here?”

“I told you, she is Mrs. Decker’s niece.”

“No, she isn’t. She’s somebody’s maid, and she’s up to something. I don’t like it.”

“You do not have to like it. She is here because I want her here. Now go answer the door. Someone else has come.”

They could hear the bell, and the Professor gave her another glare before going to answer it.

When he’d closed the door behind him, Frank said, “How did he know about Maeve?”

“What does it matter?” She dismissed the Professor with a wave of her hand. “Do you know what you must do?”

“Do you want me to stay until everybody gets here?”

“Yes, and then I will tell you, in front of everyone, that you are to leave, so they all know you are gone. I do not want the killer to think you are here to find him.”

“Or her,” Frank added.

But she was already on her way out of the room. “I must unlock the back door for you,” she said as she disappeared.

Frank sighed. He had a bad feeling about all of this. Why had he let Sarah talk him into it in the first place? If Nicola was dead, nobody cared who had killed Mrs. Gittings. Nobody but Serafina and Sarah. He sighed again and stepped out into the hall. He could hear voices in the parlor, and he crossed the hall to see who had arrived.

John Sharpe was there, and Mrs. Decker was introducing him to Maeve. From the look on his face, he thought she was somebody’s maid, too, but Mrs. Decker didn’t care a fig what he thought and neither did Maeve. Frank could hear clocks around the city striking the hour. Cunningham would be late, of course, if he showed up at all.

The Professor was opening the door to someone, and Mrs. Burke came in. She looked pale and drawn and slightly terrified, especially when she saw Frank. He nodded politely.

“What is he doing here?” she fairly squeaked to the Professor.

“Madame asked him to come,” he said with obvious disapproval.

“Mrs. Decker is in the parlor,” Frank said, hoping to distract her. He succeeded.

She scurried away, not even waiting for the Professor to escort her, and Frank could hear Mrs. Decker’s welcome.

“Where is Madame Serafina?” the Professor asked.

“I don’t know. She had some things to do.”

“The boy, is he really dead?” the Professor asked.

“She identified his body.”

The Professor looked as if he wanted to swear but remembered just in time where he was. “If he’s dead, then why are you here?”

“Madame asked me to come,” he said, repeating the Professor’s own words without a trace of irony.

They could hear Mrs. Burke’s voice, shrill and too loud from nervous tension, “I didn’t know Mr. Decker had a niece.”

The Professor frowned. “That girl…” he said, then shook his head.