Part 5 (1/2)

”Yes, you are,” Roy said. ”Whatever is going on here, I believe you know the answers.”

”Well, you're wrong,” she said. ”Why do you think I have anything to do with it?”

”My father conducted a trance,” Steven said. ”It indicated you.”

Evie turned to her mother. ”I told you to never let that kind of thing happen around me!” she yelled at her. ”How dare you! You don't know what you're stirring up, mother. You're bringing this all upon yourself!”

”What are you talking about, Evie?” June asked. ”They're just trying to help.”

”They're doing the opposite!” Evie yelled. ”Get out!” she said to Steven and Roy. ”Leave, and don't come back!”

”The house is safe while we're here,” Steven said. ”Your mother has a token.”

Edie turned to look at her mother, observing her tightly pressed palms.

”Take it with you when you leave,” she said, and grabbed the lunch box, the briefcase, and a tumbler of coffee, and marched out the kitchen door, slamming it as she left.

Steven and Roy turned to June.

”Follow her,” June said.

They walked to the door and opened it. A few feet away, Evie was placing the items into her car. She heard the door open and turned to look at them as they approached her.

”Really?” she said. ”What do I have to do, call the cops?”

”I guess the cops could inspect the cuts and bruises on your mother's face,” Roy said.

”What do you want?” she said.

”We told you,” Roy said, ”we're trying to help figure out what's in the house.”

”Then do it and leave me out of it,” she said, getting into the car. Roy stepped over to her car door and stopped it from closing.

”What, you're not going to let me leave?” she said.

”Your son is in danger,” Roy said. ”You need to stop for a moment and talk with us. There's something you know you're not sharing.”

”You have no clue what you're getting into,” Evie said. ”The best thing you can do is leave and not come back. If you know what's good for you, you'll just move on and pretend you never met any of us.”

”Sounds like we're on the right track,” Roy said.

”You'll regret those words,” Evie said, reaching for the car door handle. ”Now get the f.u.c.k away from my car.”

Roy stepped away from the car door, and Evie slammed the door shut. She roared the car to life and pulled out of the driveway.

”Well, that didn't go very well,” Steven said, watching her drive off.

”She's always been strong-willed,” June said. ”She's wrong about needing your help, you know. I'm so sorry she spoke to you that way. Please don't abandon me. We do need your help, regardless of what she says.”

”Don't worry,” Roy said, the confrontation with Evie strengthening his resolve. ”We're not going anywhere.”

”Perhaps we can collect the lantern and be on our way?” Steven said.

”Oh, yes,” June said, turning to go back into the house. ”I'll get it for you.”

Steven and Roy walked with her back inside the house, and waited in the living room as June retrieved the lantern. She reappeared a moment later, a thin piece of metal in her fingers. She handed it to Steven.

”What's this?” Steven asked. The lantern was squashed flat, the handle broken.

”I'm sorry,” June said, ”but that's how I found it.”

Chapter Four.

Rather than take the Dixon ferry to Gig Harbor, Steven decided to drive around from Seattle. They parked in front of Judith Duke's mansion above the marina and walked to the door, where the maid once again let them in and asked them to wait. They were soon escorted back upstairs, to the same sitting room where they'd met Judith earlier. She sat in the daybed as before. Steven looked at her clothing, trying to detect if it was the same clothes he'd seen her in the last time. He wasn't sure.

”How did it go?” she asked them as they sat.

Steven held up the squashed lantern.

”Oh my,” she said.

”Roy conducted the trance as you instructed,” Steven said. ”It pointed to the daughter. We tried to talk with her, but she wouldn't speak with us.”

”So, two dead ends,” Roy said.

”No,” Judith said, ”not dead. But first, let's drink.” She had already poured the drinks they'd had last time. Steven wondered if the gla.s.ses had remained on the table by the daybed the entire time. They each took a gla.s.s and downed the liquid, feeling it burn as it went down.

Judith set her empty gla.s.s on the table, and motioned for Steven to pa.s.s her the lantern. She examined it closely.

”Ruined, I presume,” Steven said.

”But not destroyed,” Judith said. ”It still performed its job, even though someone didn't like having it around, apparently.”

”You mean you'll still be able to determine what we're dealing with?” Roy asked.

”Would you bring me something from the shelf over there?” Judith asked Roy. ”The shelf in the back, behind me. A black velvet bag inside a gla.s.s jar.”

Roy rose from his seat and examined the shelf she indicated, looking for the item. He found it, and returned it to Judith, placing the jar on the table next to the gla.s.ses.

”Would you be kind enough to open the jar for me?” Judith asked. ”My fingers haven't the strength, I'm afraid.”

Roy picked the jar back up, and opened it. The smell of cedar filled the room.

”Isn't it a delightful smell?” Judith asked as she reached into the jar and removed the velvet bag. She opened the cinch on the bag and removed a small wooden planchette, shaped like a heart. In its center was a hole, about an inch in diameter. She reached into the bag once again, and removed a circular gla.s.s piece, which she inserted into the hole in the planchette.

”Now,” she said, turning her attention back to the flattened lantern, ”let's see what we can see.”