"The one that involves psychical research?" Emma asked.

"Yes" Caroline stepped back and moved to her desk. "I believe Adam will once again be my inspiration." Adam groaned. "Please, my dear—"

"Calm yourself, sir. It is not your heroic qualities that I intend to make use of this time."

He looked wary. "My financial skills, perhaps?"

She sat down, picked up her pen and tapped the tip lightly against the blotter. "No. I was thinking of your psychical talents"

He straightened abruptly. "My what?"

"I believe they are obvious."

"Obvious to whom? What are you talking about?"

"Only consider the facts, sir." She smiled reassuringly, pleased with her own logic. "At certain critical junctures in this affair, you acted on your intuition in ways that could very well be considered psychical."

"Of all the nonsensical—"

Emma raised a finger. "I believe Caroline has a point, sir." "Indeed," Milly agreed, nodding sagely.

"I defy you to name one example of my psychical abilities," he growled.

"There was the manner in which you concluded that I was involved in this affair right at the start," Caroline said. "Had you not reached that conclusion and come to see me the morning after Elizabeth Delmont's murder, there is no telling what might have happened to me. As we now know, Reed had already begun to view me as a possible successor to Delmont."

"Hold on, I had a perfectly logical reason for coming here that day," Adam said. "Your name was on Delmont's list of sitters."

"And then there is the matter of that evening we spent together in that room in Stone Street," she continued. "Had you not chosen that night to seduce me—"

"Damnation, Caroline."

He gave Emma and Milly quick, appalled looks. They smiled back. Fiery heat burned on his high cheekbones.

"There are a few other things that strike me as excellent examples of your talents, sir, but the one that stands out the most is something you said the night you came here after your encounter with the ruffians Elsworth sent to attack you."

He scowled. "I don't recall saying anything that night that was of a psychical nature."

"You read some lines that I had just written," she said softly. "It was the scene in which Edmund Drake was about

to ravish Miss Lydia. I told you that, in his great rage, Drake had lost control of his passions. You said that only a brute or a madman would use such an excuse to assault a woman"

"What of it?"

"I had written myself into a corner with that scene and I knew it. After you left, I rewrote it. I could not change it entirely because the previous chapter had already gone off to Mr. Spraggett" She paused for emphasis. "So I was obliged to come up with another reason for Drake's behavior."

Adam looked at her, uncomprehending.

"The poison," Emma exclaimed.

"Yes, of course." Milly was delighted. "I should have thought of that myself."

"Thought of what?" Adam demanded.

She chuckled. "Because of your editorial comments, Mr. Hardesty, Caroline was obliged to come up with an-other explanation for Drake's unchivalrous actions. Namely, poisoned cakes"

"What in blazes does that have to do with any of this?" he asked blankly.

"That day when I found myself drinking the tea Reed had prepared for me, I sensed that something was wrong," Caroline said quietly. "Because of that scene, it occurred to me that Reed had poisoned me. I stopped after only a couple of sips. That was enough to make me feel very odd for some time but at least I did not succumb entirely to the drug. I was able to run for my life when the opportunity arose"

"Thus providing you, Mr. Hardesty, with the chance to kill Reed," Emma concluded. "Who knows how it all would have ended if he had been able to take Caroline hostage?"

He folded his arms. "And because of that small coincidence, you decided that I might have some psychical abilities?"

"Psychical research is still in its earliest stages," Caroline reminded him very seriously. "We know so little yet. Who is to say what will be discovered in the field?"

"That is the most illogical, most fantastical piece of reasoning I have ever heard in my life." He smiled his slow, rare, startling smile. "But in light of the fact that I intend to marry an author of sensation novels, I suppose I had better become accustomed to that sort of thing."

She was aware of the familiar thrilling frissons of certainty sparkling through all her senses.

"Yes, indeed," she said. "But never fear, I am a great believer in happy endings"

EPILOGUE

Noted Author Weds Mr. Hardesty

By Gilbert Otford Correspondent Flying Intelligencer

The well-known author Caroline Fordyce and Mr. Adam Hardesty were recently wed in a fashion-able ceremony that was attended by many of the most prominent members of Society.

Faithful readers will recall that the newlyweds were recently involved in a great sensation involving a number of violent deaths that some attributed to supernatural causes. Indeed, for a time it appeared that the dark clouds of scandal and murder would doom forever the prospect of future happiness for the two.

This correspondent is pleased to report, however, that on the day of the wedding the sun shone brightly, as if to underscore the fact that the ominous threats of the past had been overcome and success-fully banished.

All who were present agreed that the radiant bride and the proud, distinguished groom were enveloped in an unmistakable aura of sincere, abiding love. It was clear that a lifetime of marital bliss awaits the couple.

"Astonishing. Talk about your startling incidents." Adam tossed the copy of the Flying Intelligencer onto the nightstand, climbed into the big, shadowed bed and gathered a laughing Caroline into his arms. "For once the newspapers got it right."