Read Online Wait Until Midnight by Amanda Quick - Free Book Online Page B

that I thought it was for your own good at the time. But since fate has taken a hand in this affair, I may as well introduce myself properly. Adam Hardesty, at your service."
    "Why should I assume that you are telling me the truth this time?"
    "I shall be happy to offer proof of my identity, if you re-quire it."
    She ignored that. "You came here today because you found out that Mrs. Toller may have had a motive for murdering Mrs. Delmont, didn't you?"
    "You evidently heard the same rumors."
    "The rivalry between the two is common knowledge here at Wintersett House."
    "I expect that it was curiosity that led you to pursue the matter." He shook his head. "Has no one ever warned you of the dangers of that particular vice?"
    "I admit that I am by nature a curious person, Mr. Hardesty, but as it happens, it was not curiosity that brought me here today."
    "No? Then may I ask what cork-brained notion made you decide to investigate a case of murder on your own? This affair is no longer any concern of yours."
    "Unfortunately, I cannot be certain of that," she said coolly. "I thought it only prudent to look into the matter personally."
    "The devil you say." He folded his arms. "How can you label such an action prudent? It is reckless, foolish and potentially dangerous."
    "I had little choice. The situation is already extremely dangerous, in my opinion. It is obvious that you are a very relentless and determined man. After you left my house it occurred to me that if you do not turn up a satisfactory villain, you may decide to revert to your original theory, the one that points the finger of suspicion at my aunts and me"
    There was a short, tense pause while he absorbed that. She could tell that he was not pleased with her logic.
    "I admit I tried to rattle you a bit," he conceded, "but I thought I made it clear that I am reasonably well satisfied that you and your aunts had nothing to do with the affair."
    "Reasonably well satisfied does not sound all that certain to me. Now kindly cease carping. The demonstration is about to begin."
    Adam went silent but she knew that he would have a great deal to say later. She made a note to escape the room as quickly as possible after Irene Toller concluded her exhibition.
    A small man dressed in a dapper suit accented with a fashionable polka-dot shirt and a striped waistcoat walked out onto the stage. He cleared his throat.
    "Mrs. Irene Toller will now give a demonstration of automatic writing," he announced.
    There was some scattered, unenthusiastic applause.
    A woman emerged from behind a curtain at the side of the stage. Caroline had seen Irene Toller from time to time in the halls of Wintersett House. The medium appeared to be in her early thirties. She was tall and striking in a sharp-featured way. Her dark hair was styled in a profusion of complicated braids coiled around her head.
    Irene made her way to the table with a stately tread. In her hand she carried a device composed of a heart-shaped wooden platform supported by two casters and a vertical pencil. Caroline recognized the instrument as a planchette.
    It had been invented several years earlier and was designed to allow the medium to write messages from the Other Side while in a trance.
    "This would be mildly entertaining if it were not for the fact that murder has been done," Adam said in a low voice.
    Irene Toller took her seat and placed the planchette on the table in front of her. She looked out at the small audience for the first time. Caroline was surprised by the forcefulness of the woman's grim gaze.
    "Good afternoon," Irene said in a strong, resonant voice. "For the benefit of those of you who have never witnessed a demonstration of the planchette, I shall explain how the device operates. First, you must understand that there is a veil that separates this world from the realm where the spirits of the departed reside. Certain individuals such as myself are endowed with the ability to provide a conduit through that barrier. I