Murder of a Hermit, page 22
‘I’m not jealous,’ she replied. ‘You’re free to gallivant around town and charm whomever you like.’
Dylan’s smile became rakish. ‘So you think that I’m charming?’
To Hope’s annoyance, her cheeks warmed. To her further annoyance, she found herself rather relieved at Dylan’s explanation of the circumstances surrounding the séance. Although she had never thought that he and Rosemarie were going on a true date, she had – if she was entirely honest – felt an uncomfortable twinge when confronted by the possibility that Dylan had glamorous plans for the evening.
‘Having everyone in pairs doesn’t help a séance,’ Summer disputed. She turned to her sister. ‘How would having everyone in pairs help a séance?’
Eager to focus on something other than Dylan’s charm and rakish smile, Hope gave the subject her full attention. ‘It wouldn’t help at all. An even – or odd – number of participants doesn’t make a séance any more likely to succeed or fail.’
‘But why would Gina spout such rubbish?’ Summer said.
‘She might have been trying to sound knowledgeable to Nate. Or,’ Hope added thoughtfully, ‘perhaps she wants to be sure that a particular person attends the séance. Austin and Jill, for example.’
Summer nodded. ‘If that’s the case, then it’s crafty rubbish.’
‘Another piece of rubbish from Gina,’ Dylan said, ‘is that a séance should always be held at dusk.’
There was a slight pause.
‘That isn’t rubbish,’ Hope told him.
He raised an eyebrow at her.
‘Dusk isn’t strictly necessary,’ she explained, somewhat reluctantly. ‘A skilled medium can ply her talents effectively at any hour of the day. But the veil between the worlds grows thinner as the sun falls below the horizon, and the spirits tend to become more communicative then. So sunset is good, twilight is better, and dusk is arguably ideal for a séance.’
The eyebrow remained raised, but Dylan didn’t say a word.
‘I wonder how Gina would know about that?’ Summer mused.
‘If she’s swindled as many people with her séances as we think that she has,’ Hope replied, ‘then she’s bound to have picked up some proper terminology and genuine information along the way.’
‘That’s probably why she likes stealing books on the occult, so she can make her scams sound more authentic.’ Summer gave a bitter laugh. ‘Although next time she should take a book that she can actually read and doesn’t require a translator.’
Dylan was quick to understand the reference. ‘Does that mean there is a Volume II? And Gina has it?’
Hope’s initial instinct was to refute and deny everything, but then she realized that there was no good reason to do so. On the contrary, since Dylan already knew about the first book, he could help in their search for the second book. The more eyes that looked for the book, the more likely they were to find it.
Instead of responding to Dylan, Hope turned to her sister. ‘We have to go to the séance. It’s the only way for us to get into Gina’s house and retrieve our book from her.’
Summer’s mouth opened in protest, but after a moment of reflection, she grudgingly agreed. ‘We’ll go to the séance.’
Half an hour later, they were headed out of the city and toward Bent Mountain. It would have been even faster if Hope and Summer hadn’t changed their clothing. Although they had been fully content to remain in their refrigerator-cleaning jeans, both Dylan and Rosemarie had objected, albeit for different reasons. Dylan’s argument had been the persuasive one. If they wanted Gina to believe that they were participating in the séance and therefore be invited into her house, they needed to dress accordingly. Rosemarie’s argument had been more decorative. After concluding her cooing phone call with Percy, Rosemarie was in a jubilant state, anticipating a splendid evening ahead, and she was convinced that Hope and Summer would be in a similarly buoyant mood if they were wearing pretty things. Neither sister was willing to go to the extent that Rosemarie had, with a formal gown and gloves, especially on such short notice and with the knowledge that the séance was a sham. After some debate, they had settled on a middle ground: Summer in a flattering burgundy jumpsuit, and Hope in a three-quarter sleeve sweater dress in cobalt blue.
As Dylan’s date, Rosemarie was given the honor of sitting in the front passenger seat next to him. Dylan had elected himself as their driver, and he quickly proved up to the task. He handled the twisting mountain roads so smoothly and skillfully that he compensated for some of their delay in leaving the brownstone. Gina’s house was at a much lower elevation than Carter’s cabin, so they arrived at their destination before Summer’s stomach experienced too many ill effects from motion sickness.
The black steel security gate at the end of the cul-de-sac stood open. As Dylan pulled through it, Hope shifted in her seat with a sense of uneasiness. What if they were making a terrible mistake? What if their calculations turned out to be wrong, and instead of helping them to regain possession of their book, attending the séance brought them further trouble? This time an accusation of murder would include a large number of witnesses – including the police, namely Nate. Hope caught a glimpse of Dylan’s expression in the rearview mirror, and its gravity brought her no comfort.
‘Isn’t it a beautiful approach?’ Rosemarie gushed, as they traveled along the driveway. ‘Gina must have a team of gardeners to keep all of those hedges so neatly sculpted. Wait until you see her fabulous house. It’s just over the next rise. We’re lucky that it’s a clear sky. We could have a glorious sunset in a little while.’
There was some tetchy muttering from Summer. Given the circumstances, she wasn’t interested in the neatly sculpted hedges or the prospect of a glorious sunset, and she was getting rather tired of everyone’s euphoria toward Gina’s wondrous house, particularly since the money for the house had in all probability come from the victims of Gina’s schemes, including Carter. But Rosemarie wasn’t distressed by Summer’s remarks because, unlike Hope, she couldn’t hear them over the continuation of her own enthusiastic commentary.
‘When I was last here,’ Rosemarie told them, ‘we were in a big sitting room that has a whole wall of windows facing west. I hope that we’re in there this evening, too. The colors will be gorgeous at the end of the day. The view over the valley is sublime…’
Summer started to mutter again, this time about the supposed view, but she was compelled to stop a moment later as they reached the top of the rise that Rosemarie had mentioned earlier, and Gina’s house appeared before them. Harriet Lipscomb’s description of the property was correct: it was an enormous house on the side of the mountain. And Miranda’s description was also correct: it wasn’t a house that anyone would easily forget. The house sat on the edge of a rugged crag that jutted out from the mountain like a thumb, except it was an extremely narrow thumb that gave the impression of possibly breaking off at any instant from a puff of wind or drop of rain. The house itself could have been a glossy photograph out of an architectural magazine. It was constructed of polished stone and gleaming glass, which reflected the late afternoon sun in a prism of colors.
Hope was so focused on studying the house, she didn’t notice as they reached the end of the driveway. It wasn’t until she heard Dylan’s door open that she realized he had stopped the car and shut off the engine.
Summer pointed through her side window. ‘That’s the Larsons’ car.’
‘Nate’s is on the far right,’ Dylan observed.
‘Gina’s is by the garage,’ Rosemarie added.
‘I think the one across from us is Jill’s,’ Summer said. ‘I recognize it from the other morning in front of the boutique when she came in for the palm reading.’
‘So we’re the last to arrive.’ Dylan climbed out of the car and went around to open Rosemarie’s door and help her to climb out, as well.
As Rosemarie thanked Dylan for his assistance and burbled about his gentlemanliness, Hope exited from the opposite side of the vehicle, with Summer following suit.
‘Do we have a plan?’ Hope asked.
‘You mean other than crossing our fingers that Carter’s purported ghost chooses someone new to blame for his murder?’
Before Hope was able to respond, Rosemarie came over to them, beaming with excitement.
‘This is so thrilling!’ she exclaimed.
The sisters did not echo the sentiment.
Rosemarie fussed with her gown and adjusted her gloves. ‘I hope that I’m not overdressed.’
Hope smiled at her. ‘No, you and Dylan outshine the rest of us. As soon as you walk into the house, everyone will admire you and not notice anybody else—’ She broke off and turned to Summer. ‘That’s a possible plan. They go in first, and we hang back. It could give us an opportunity to nose around.’
Rosemarie shook her head, misunderstanding. ‘But you don’t need to hang back, out of sight. You both look lovely.’
Dylan shook his head, too, except he comprehended Hope’s meaning. ‘Hanging back won’t work. Gina isn’t going to let you nose anywhere.’
Again, Rosemarie misunderstood. ‘Oh, Gina will be happy to give you a tour of the house!’ And with dancing steps, she headed toward the front door.
As they followed her, Dylan walked beside Hope.
‘You’re a little liar,’ he said in a low tone.
‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ she replied.
He gave a quiet laugh and moved closer to her. ‘Telling Rosemarie that she outshines you and that everyone will admire her but not notice you. You know perfectly well how untrue that it is and how striking you are in that dress.’
‘Nonsense,’ Hope scoffed, grateful that they weren’t able to look directly at each other while walking, thereby keeping her blush undetected.
Dylan laughed again, and his fingers brushed against the back of her hand. ‘Did you see the inn that we passed on the way up here? If it weren’t for this farcical séance, we could go there for dinner…’
His touch was so distracting that Hope had to concentrate to put one foot in front of the other and not stumble in the process.
‘And then get a room…’ Dylan continued, his voice soft and tempting.
For an instant, everything disappeared around her. Gina’s house and Bent Mountain; the séances and Carter’s murder. The only thing that Hope thought of was having Dylan take her in his arms and to the inn. Then her sister brought her back to reality.
‘Wait a minute,’ Summer said.
Hope turned to her unsteadily. Summer had paused several paces behind them.
‘If we’re all in pairs for the séance,’ Summer asked, ‘who is Nate partnered with?’
This time Dylan’s laugh wasn’t muffled, because the answer was obvious. ‘Madam Gina, of course.’
TWENTY-FOUR
Together, Gina and Nate met them outside the front door of the house. Nate had added a navy sports jacket to his standard tan slacks and white button-down shirt. Likewise remaining loyal to her preferred solid and neutral tones, Gina wore a floor-length silk dress in an unusual shade of black that took on an almost purple sheen as the fabric shifted around her. It was certainly not the sort of black dress that Dylan could accuse Gina of falling back on out of safety. The silk had the delicacy of lingerie and flowed over her body, showing all of her contours. Around Gina’s neck and both of her wrists were matching strands of black pearls that similarly adopted a purple hue as she moved.
‘We were beginning to worry about what might be delaying you,’ Nate said, stepping forward to greet them.
He smiled at each of them in turn – with his gaze lingering for an extra moment on Summer – then he took an additional step toward Dylan and shook his hand. Although from her angle, Hope couldn’t see their full expressions, there was enough of a pause that she knew some look of import passed between the two men.
‘I told Detective Nate that you couldn’t have gotten lost, because you were already familiar with the location after coming here yesterday.’ Gina purred the words, making them sound innocuous to everyone except Hope and Summer, who were informed that their visit to the gate on the previous afternoon had not gone unnoticed by her.
Rosemarie blinked at the sisters. ‘You came here yesterday?’
Summer’s reply was swift. ‘We weren’t at the house. We spoke with Miranda outside on the cul-de-sac.’ She turned to Gina. ‘Did you speak with Miranda yesterday also – after Hope and I left? Did she give you that book you were interested in?’
Gina’s mouth twitched. To Hope, it appeared to be more a sign of uncertainty than agitation, as though she was trying to understand the purpose behind Summer’s question. Hope was trying to understand it, too.
‘Miranda was mistaken,’ Gina said. ‘I have no interest in the book.’ Her mouth twitched again, but before Summer could comment further, she addressed Rosemarie. ‘You look wonderful this evening. Let’s walk to the back patio. That’s where we are all assembled, and there’s wine.’
With a wave of her hand indicating that the rest of the group should follow them, Gina ushered Rosemarie along a serpentine path of white pebbles that bordered the length of the house.
‘She isn’t taking us inside,’ Summer whispered to her sister, as they trailed behind the others. ‘We can’t look for the book if we don’t go inside.’
‘Why did you ask her about the cookbook?’ Hope whispered in return.
‘When she made it clear that she knew about us being at the gate, I thought it was a good opportunity to see her reaction to the mention of a book. Did you notice how her lips twitched? Although we were technically talking about the cookbook, Gina realized that I was alluding to our book at the same time.’
‘But haven’t you now alerted her that we’ve come here for our book?’
‘I’m sure that she had already guessed it. It’s probably one of the reasons she decided to use the back patio. That way we’re all together in a single, manageable space where she can monitor our movements.’
As the pebble path curved around the side of the house, Dylan stopped walking and waited for Hope and Summer to catch up. When they reached him, they stopped also, taking advantage of being momentarily out of view from everybody else.
‘What book does Miranda have?’ Dylan asked.
‘A crepe cookbook,’ Summer told him. ‘It has no connection to our book, but…’
He nodded. ‘You were testing Gina with it. She deliberated too long on her answer. She was definitely also thinking about your book.’
‘That was my impression, too,’ Summer agreed. ‘Except how do we get our book if she keeps us outside?’
‘She won’t keep us outside if she actually intends on holding a séance,’ Hope said. ‘No one with the slightest knowledge of the spiritual world would take that risk, even a charlatan. The sun is close to setting. In another couple of minutes, everything on this mountain that was concealed in the shadows during daylight will start roaming about and be drawn straight to this spot if there’s a séance.’
‘Everything?’ Dylan questioned. ‘Everything like owls and whippoorwills?’
Summer rolled her eyes. ‘Hope isn’t referring to nocturnal birds. You have no clue what comes out of hiding after dark, do you?’
Hope responded before Dylan could. ‘He’s fortunate that he doesn’t know, Summer. And we need to try to keep it that way. Not only for him, but also for Nate and Rosemarie and the Larsons. Which means that our immediate concern – more important even than retrieving our book – is to make sure that Gina doesn’t attempt to hold a séance outside. But I don’t think that she will. I think this is all a ruse.’
‘Why do you say that?’ Summer asked.
‘Because of the wine. Gina told Rosemarie that there’s wine on the patio. No serious séance ever includes alcohol – it muddles the connection to the other side – and again, even a charlatan with limited information would know that. More to the point, Gina would realize that we know it. She would also realize that we would be able to detect in an instant that her séance isn’t real. So this must all be a ruse.’
‘But what’s the purpose of it?’ Summer said. ‘And do we confront Gina about it?’
‘No,’ Dylan answered without hesitation.
The sisters looked at him curiously.
‘Confronting Gina may make you feel good temporarily, but it won’t accomplish anything of substance,’ he told them. ‘It won’t return your book to you, and it won’t give Nate evidence to use against Carter’s killer. Gina clearly has some plan in mind. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have accused you of murder with the first alleged séance, or wanted to hold a second séance, or agreed so readily to Nate’s stipulation that everyone be present at this one.’
Hope considered for a moment. ‘If we don’t confront her, then our only other option is to play along with her.’
‘Exactly,’ Dylan said. ‘Pretend as though it’s a real séance. See where she leads with it. You can always confront her later on if things start to go wrong.’
Summer frowned. ‘I’m not using a Ouija board.’
‘Definitely not,’ Hope agreed. ‘We’ll draw the line at that.’
‘And I’m not pretending that Gina and Nate are an actual pair.’
Dylan shook his head at her. ‘You should trust Nate—’
‘Gina is the one that I don’t trust—’ Summer interrupted him.
She was interrupted in turn by Rosemarie, who had come back from further up the pebble path.
‘There you are!’ Rosemarie exclaimed. ‘Gina sent me to check on you. She was concerned that you might have twisted an ankle on the stones.’
‘As if Gina cares about our ankles,’ Summer muttered.
‘We’re all fine,’ Hope assured Rosemarie, as she quickly tried to think of an excuse for their delay. ‘We stopped to admire the view.’
