Page 60 of A Whisper and a Curse
Hadrian frowned at the man. “Why did you threaten Ward?”
“Because the man was despicable. I told him so. I said if he didn’t leave me alone, I would make sure everyone knew he was a fraud and that his levitation was an exceedingly poor parlor trick.”
“Did you see him levitate?” Tilda asked.
Eldred nodded. “At the first séance. It looked horribly fake to me.”
“You believe he can speak to the dead, but not that he could levitate?” Hadrian sounded dubious.
“I canseethe levitation with my own eyes.” Eldred jabbed his finger toward his face. “The man did not appear to be floating so much as standing on his toes or something. But I cannot explain how he knew about my past.” He spoke vehemently and now took deep breaths to calm himself.
“You did not pay the blackmail to the grocer?” Tilda asked.
“No. I wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction. Who would they tell and how would they prove anything? I waited to see if I would receive a second letter, but I did not. Then Ward was murdered, and I assumed he was behind it. I have to think he was blackmailing others, and someone wasn’t going to let him get away with it.”
“You mean someone killed him,” Hadrian said.
“It certainly wasn’t me,” Eldred declared sharply. “I will tell you what I already told the police. I was in Bath when Ward was killed. And when that other medium was murdered too.”
Tilda found Eldred credible despite his agitation. “Why didn’t you report the extortion to the police?”
“That is a difficult crime to prosecute and is often ignored.” Eldred cleared his throat. “And I preferred to let the matter die, as it were.”
“You want your past to stay a secret,” Hadrian said. “I confess I’m surprised you wanted to attend a séance to speak with the spirit realm if you had matters with a deceased person that you wished to keep secret. That seems risky.”
“I didn’t think the medium would contact anyone in the spirit realm other than my mother.” Angry furrows creased his brow. “It wasn’t at all fair that he would communicate with someone else.”
Tilda wholeheartedly agreed, of course. Hadrian sent her a look that told her he knew what she was thinking. She gave him a subtle nod toward the doorway to indicate she was ready to leave.
“Thank you, Mr. Eldred, you’ve been most helpful,” Hadrian said.
Tilda rose as Hadrian did the same. Eldred also stood, and Hadrian withdrew his glove to shake the man’s hand, just as he’d told Tilda he would.
They left and Tilda hastened to the coach, waiting until they were inside to speak about what had just occurred.
Hadrian didn’t wait for her question. “You’re hoping I might have seen what happened twenty years ago that prompted the blackmail.” He smiled. “You are in luck because I believe that is what I saw. The vision included a man wearing a very outmoded costume—it could have been twenty years ago—who was likely Eldred’s colleague. I was experiencing Eldred’s memory, and Isaw him take a silver dish and slip it into his coat. The other man tucked something else into his coat, but I didn’t quite catch what it was. It seemed clear to me that they were stealing things.”
“That would be worthy of blackmail, I should think.” Tilda pulled the small notebook from her reticule and spent several minutes scratching out notes. “This was a very helpful errand, thank you.”
They arrived at Tilda’s grandmother’s house, and Hadrian departed the coach with Tilda to walk her to the door. “Should we visit the grocer in Bedfordbury?” he asked.
“I’m not sure since Teague didn’t have any luck doing so. However, it would be helpful if we could somehow connect the grocer with the spiritualism society. It may be worth a visit. But that will have to wait, as tomorrow we travel to Swindon. Did you already purchase the tickets?”
“I did.”
Vaughn opened the door and greeted them. “Welcome home, Miss Wren. A letter was delivered for you a short while ago.” He gestured toward the small table in the entrance hall.
She glanced at the letter and saw the bold address:Miss Wren. Something about the flourish of the W pricked her curiosity. She plucked up the missive and quickly opened it.
Her flesh went cold, and the hair on her neck rose. Handing the note to Hadrian, she said, “I think the Levitation Killer wants to kill me next.”
CHAPTER 13
Hadrian practically snatched the letter from her. He quickly scanned the scrawled message.
Dear Miss Wren,
You must stop asking questions and nosing about in matters that do not concern you. If you do not, you may find yourself hanging from a staircase.