Free The Fatal Fortune by Jayne Castle Page B

what?"
    "We will discuss this after work," he informed her, and hung up in her ear.
    Guinevere replaced the receiver and kept smiling confidently at Sally Evenson. "Don't worry," she announced. "Zac's going to help us. He'll handle everything."
    Chapter Five
    "I can't believe I let myself get talked into this." Zac glanced over his shoulder once again to make sure the night-dark back yard of Madame Zoltana's house was still empty. "I must be getting soft in the head. This is what comes of indulging women. They get uppity, demanding, and headstrong."
    "I don't understand why you're complaining so much," Guinevere muttered as Zac used a thin strip of metal to work the back door lock. "You do this sort of thing all the time in your line of work."
    "Rarely do I do this kind of thing in my line of work," he retorted. "I find that lately I'm doing it chiefly when I'm mixed up in one of your grand schemes."
    The lock surrendered in his hands and the back door swung open with a faint squeak. Zac stood on the threshold, listening.
    "What do you think?" Guinevere asked softly.
    "I think no one's home."
    "Well, we already know that. We knocked on the front door first, remember? And tried the phone. What can you see?" She prodded him forward until they both stood in the silent kitchen. Zac closed the door behind them.
    "Did she have any pets?" he asked.
    Guinevere shook her head. "None that I saw. Sally hasn't mentioned any either." She wrinkled her nose. "But she does smoke, as you may have noticed." The stale smoke smell hung in the air, probably absorbed in the drapes and imbedded in the furniture. "I think this place has been closed for several days."
    "I think you're right. But then, you already knew that, didn't you?" Zac moved slowly through the kitchen. "Remember what I told you. Don't touch anything."
    "I heard you." Guinevere peered around his shoulder into the dark living room, an undeniable sense of excitement running through her veins. She ought to be ashamed of the emotion, but she couldn't pretend it didn't exist. "I can't see a thing. She left all the drapes pulled."
    Zac removed a small pencil-size flashlight from the inside of his jacket. "Luckily one of us came prepared."
    "I expected no less from you," she retorted with mocking admiration. "Now, where do we start?"
    "Beats me. I'm a stranger here myself."
    The withering look she shot him was lost in the shadows. "I wish you would take this more seriously. Come on, let's go down the hall to her contemplation room. That's where she holds her psychic sessions."
    Zac shrugged and followed obediently. The contemplation room looked very much as Guinevere had last seen it. The crystal bowl was still sitting in the middle of the table.
    "When she did her psychic bit in the dark room, I was almost sure the bowl glowed just a little. It was weird." Guinevere looked down into the crystal object. "I wonder how she did it."
    "It's an old trick," Zac said. "There's a small drawer hidden under the table. Probably got a light bulb in it. The crystal bowl sits over a cutout on the table surface. The light shines up through it and into the bowl. Small-time stuff. Fell for it, huh?"
    Guinevere sensed his grin. "I did not fall for it," she announced loftily. "I knew it was a trick. I merely wondered how it was done." She turned away from the table and walked around the room. "I wonder if she keeps any files on her clients?"
    "I wouldn't be surprised. From what you've told me, she sounds like a real businesswoman." Zac played the light around the room. "But I don't see anything in here."
    "Let's check the rest of the place."
    They walked through the remainder of the small house. All the drapes were pulled and there was an ashtray in every room, the ashes and butts several days old. Zoltana's interesting collection of caftans was hung neatly in the bedroom closet. The dresser was full of clothing. There was no evidence of any filing cabinet, and the desk they discovered in the bedroom