Page 97

Desi and Archie quickly reached for the planchette, fingertips resting lightly. The faded wooden surface felt smooth and warm beneath so many hands.

So many years. So many hands. So many spirits?

Leo’s eyes glinted as he looked around the table. “Now. Concentrate,” he said, voice steady. “Think of John. Picture him. The way he spoke, the way he laughed. Focus on the energy he left behind.”

The energy he left behind? What did that even mean?

Silence fell as they each bowed their heads, breathing in unison as they reached out to the memory of John. The corner candle flames danced, sending primitive shadows that looked like folk art, leaping and twirling across the walls.

Priscilla was right. It was cold in that room. Desi shivered. A moment later, Azizi gave a little shudder.

Leo was the only one who didn’t seem to notice the cold.

“John,” he intoned, his voice taking on a practiced rhythm, almost a chant. “If you are with us, give us a sign. Move the planchette. Show us you’re here.”

Priscilla suddenly leaned forward and said through chattering teeth, “John, who murdered you?”

The candle flames jumped.

There seemed to be a collective gulp around the table, though maybe that was just Desi.

“John.” Priscilla sounded more urgent. “Name your murderer!”

The planchette shuddered slightly, as if someone tried to yank it from the others, and the room seemed to hold its breath.

Then, without warning, the room plunged into complete darkness.

“You have to admit. That was freaky as hell,” Desi said on the drive back to McCabe House. “It was like a…an invisible hand reached out of nowhere and pinched out all the candles at once. And it was so cold. My God. It was freezing in there!”

Archie, preoccupied with his own thoughts, nodded.

“I wasn’t afraid, though. Regardless of whatever that was at the end. I knew Uncle John was still there with us.” She threw a glance at Archie.

“Mm-hm.”

To his surprise, she said, “Don’t mm-hm me. I know you felt it too, Archie. I could feel it. I could feel you feeling it.”

They exchanged looks in the light of the dashboard before Desi turned her attention back to the road.

“I think it makes sense,” she said. “He loved us. We loved him. I think he was there with us tonight.”

It affected him in a way he couldn’t have expected. The last person in this town he had ever thought he would feel a connection to was Desi. But he did. There was no question what they had experienced that night had created a bond.

Archie said, “I think you could be right.”

“It was weird at the end, though.”

“Very,” Archie agreed.

“You’d think they’d have been happy. I think they were scared.”

Archie said, “Maybe they never dialed the right number before.”

Desi laughed, then threw him another quick look. “Do you think that was it? They finally got an answer?”

Archie shook his head.

“Professor Azizi was smashed. But Priscilla and Leo were definitely off. They kept staring at each other like they thought the other one was going to say just kidding!”