Free Quick, Amanda by Wait Until Midnight

that particular vice?"
    "I admit that I am by nature a curious person, Mr. Hardesty, but as it happens, it was not curiosity that
    brought me here today."
    "No? Then may I ask what cork-brained notion made you decide to investigate a case of murder on
    your own? This affair is no longer any concern of yours."
    "Unfortunately, I cannot be certain of that," she said coolly. "I thought it only prudent to look into the
    matter personally."
    "The devil you say." He folded his arms. "How can you label such an action prudent? It is reckless,
    foolish and potentially dangerous."
    "I had little choice. The situation is already extremely dangerous, in my opinion. It is obvious that you are
    a very relentless and determined man. After you left my house it occurred to me that if you do not turn up
    a satisfactory villain, you may decide to revert to your original theory, the one that points the finger of
    Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    suspicion at my aunts and me"
    There was a short, tense pause while he absorbed that. She could tell that he was not pleased with her
    logic.
    "I admit I tried to rattle you a bit," he conceded, "but I thought I made it clear that I am reasonably well
    satisfied that you and your aunts had nothing to do with the affair."
    "Reasonably well satisfied does not sound all that certain to me. Now kindly cease carping. The
    demonstration is about to begin."
    Adam went silent but she knew that he would have a great deal to say later. She made a note to escape
    the room as quickly as possible after Irene Toller concluded her exhibition.
    A small man dressed in a dapper suit accented with a fashionable polka-dot shirt and a striped waistcoat
    walked out onto the stage. He cleared his throat.
    "Mrs. Irene Toller will now give a demonstration of automatic writing," he announced.
    There was some scattered, unenthusiastic applause.
    A woman emerged from behind a curtain at the side of the stage. Caroline had seen Irene Toller from
    time to time in the halls of Wintersett House. The medium appeared to be in her early thirties. She was
    tall and striking in a sharp-featured way. Her dark hair was styled in a profusion of complicated braids
    coiled around her head.
    Irene made her way to the table with a stately tread. In her hand she carried a device composed of a
    heart-shaped wooden platform supported by two casters and a vertical pencil. Caroline recognized the
    instrument as a planchette.
    It had been invented several years earlier and was designed to allow the medium to write messages from
    the Other Side while in a trance.
    "This would be mildly entertaining if it were not for the fact that murder has been done," Adam said in a
    low voice.
    Irene Toller took her seat and placed the planchette on the table in front of her. She looked out at the
    small audience for the first time. Caroline was surprised by the forcefulness of the woman's grim gaze.
    "Good afternoon," Irene said in a strong, resonant voice. "For the benefit of those of you who have
    never witnessed a demonstration of the planchette, I shall explain how the device operates. First, you
    must understand that there is a veil that separates this world from the realm where the spirits of the
    departed reside. Certain individuals such as myself are endowed with the ability to provide a conduit
    through that barrier. I am, in effect, only a channel—the medium—through which those who have gone
    before us can reach back into our mundane sphere."
    An attentive stillness settled on the audience. Irene finally had the full attention of everyone present. She
    positioned the planchette above a sheet of paper and placed her fingertips upon the small wooden
    platform.
    "I must first ready myself so that the spirits can make use of my hands for the purpose of writing out their
    Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    messages," Irene continued. "When I have gone into the required