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that no doubt involved hypnosis.”
    “But I never used hypnosis in the course of the private sessions,” she said. “Dr. Fleming was the expert in mesmerism. I’m quite sure that Mrs. Trafford never booked any sessions with my employer. She was very specific about wanting to consult with me.”
    “Which makes you my primary suspect, especially given the fact that Dr. Fleming is dead.”
    “I don’t understand any of this,” she whispered, appalled.
    “As far as I have been able to determine, there were no other employees at the Academy.”
    “No,” Beatrice said. “At least not at the time that Mrs. Trafford booked her appointments with me. We had a medium for a while who conducted séances. Quite popular. But she ran off with Dr. Roland’s assistant. I believe they are now touring in America.”
    “I looked into that pair. You’re right, they are currently in America. It’s highly unlikely that they are blackmailing people here in London because the instructions in the extortion note stipulate the location of the first payment—a country house named Alverstoke Hall.”
    “I’ve never heard of it,” she said. “But, then, the only times I move in social circles are when I’m on assignment.”
    “Lord Alverstoke is a noted eccentric whose collection of Egyptian antiquities is said to put the British Museum to shame.”
    She frowned. “What in the world does he have to do with this extortion business?”
    “I have no idea,” Joshua said. “Yet. But given what I do know about Alverstoke, I suspect he is being used. I’m told he is easily confused these days and has become somewhat absentminded. He has scheduled a country-house party at the end of the week. It is an annual event during which he shows off his collection. Alverstoke and my sister have a passing acquaintance but she has never before been on the guest list for these yearly affairs. She is not fond of country-house parties or Egyptian antiquities. But the blackmailer indicated that she must attend this one.”
    “Alverstoke Hall will be overflowing with guests,” Beatrice said. “All in all, a perfect cover for a blackmailer. So many suspects.”
    “Exactly. Assuming for the moment that you are not an expert in hypnosis—”
    She glared. “I’m not.”
    “Then let us consider another scenario. My sister tells me that she remembers the appointments with you. When she arrived at the Academy, Dr. Fleming always showed her into a dark room and told her that you would arrive momentarily. She recalls the consultations—”
    Beatrice raised a hand to stop him. “One moment, sir. Did your sister describe me?”
    “She described Miranda the Clairvoyant. That was you, Miss Lockwood. You used a black wig and a heavy veil in your act.”
    “In other words, Mrs. Trafford never saw me, did she? She could not identify me.”
    “No, but I am aware that you were Miranda, so there is no point wasting time trying to deny it,” Joshua said calmly. “To continue, at each appointment, my sister was shown into the consultation room. You entered. She talked to you for some time. But now I’m wondering if perhaps on one or more occasions Dr. Fleming returned to the room and put her into a trance during which he learned her secret. Perhaps he gave her a post-hypnotic suggestion instructing her to forget that he had ever come into the room. My sister then left the Academy remembering only that she had consulted with you.”
    “That’s not what happened,” Beatrice insisted. “I am very sure that Mrs. Trafford never requested hypnotic therapy. Dr. Fleming never treated her in my presence or otherwise.”
    “Then how did someone at the Academy learn her secret?”
    “I don’t know.”
Beatrice paused, trying to marshal her thoughts. “What makes you so sure that whoever is blackmailing your sister was involved with the Academy?”
    “The note my sister received implied that her secret had been discovered by paranormal means at the Academy. I