Shadow appeared behind Sadie and Jack, standing so that I was forced to look into her eyes. “Almost all of what I have to say concerns Shadow.”
“Do you want me to send her away, even temporarily? I can do that before you start if you find it easier.” Isadora reached across Gabe and pulled my chin around, forcing me to look at her and not the ghost. “Look at me when you answer, Delia. You still let her too far inside.”
“No, I don’t want her sent away. Shadow’s part of this.” Dora dropped her hand and sat back in her chair, arms crossed over her chest. I met Shadow’s stare again, certain I saw relief in her eyes. “I need your help to let her inside without losing myself in her memories. She knows who the killer is. I have to find a way that she can tell me.”
Sadie clutched Jack’s hand, worry for me stealing the light from her eyes and the color from her face. My guilt grew, knowing I had sadder things for her to hear. “Are you sure that’s wise, Dee? Dora seems to feel it’s dangerous.”
“It is dangerous. Once you let a ghost in getting them to leave again can be dicey.” Isadora pawed through her handbag, coming up with a tortoiseshell cigarette case and a box of matches. She lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply. “Ghosts aren’t known for being truthful, Delia, especially ghosts that manifest as strongly as Shadow. I agree she wants something, but I’m not sure that what she wants is to find a murderer. There’s more to it, I can feel it.”
“Shadow’s trying to protect someone. I’ve sensed that for a long while.” I broke away from Shadow and looked Dora in the eye. “Until Jack and Gabe find this killer, that person is in danger. So are we.”
Gabe reached for my hand and threaded his fingers with mine, earning a raised eyebrow from Dora. Then he took my side. “Give Delia a chance to tell you everything before you make up your mind. She’s already learned important information about this case from Shadow. I didn’t want any of this made public, but this isn’t an ordinary investigation. If she thinks telling you will help us catch this killer, I’m inclined to trust her judgment. All I ask is that this doesn’t go any further than the five of us.”
Jack kissed Sadie’s hand and let go to tug a notebook and chewed pencil out of his pocket. He flipped through to a blank page, wrote the date at the top and then my name. Witness notes. “Gabe’s right. Listen to her, Dora.”
“Well, well … two champions. I feel properly put in my place.” Dora laughed and sat back in her chair, cigarette hand out to the side and the other arm folded over her stomach. “Obviously I’ve missed things while shut up in that stuffy tent at the Pan Pacific. Summon the waiter, Jack. We’ll order and get on with this.”
Ordering only took a few moments. Dora asked the waiter to close the curtain over the entrance, giving us privacy. She leaned forward and squinted at me, seeing more than what was on the surface. “Go ahead, Delia. I’m listening.”
Some of the story I’d told that first night at the fair, but I started at the beginning, afraid I’d leave something out. Building my case and convincing Isadora to help me was important. I told her about all the dreams, starting with the first few in New York where all Shadow did was lead me down dark streets. Detailing the first nightmare was difficult, relating the second one had me struggling to stay calm enough to speak. Even with Gabe holding my hand, I felt the weight of Shadow’s underground prison pressing in, cold and dark.
Jack scribbled down everything, even what I was sure he already knew. Gabe explained about the hieroglyphics the killer used as a signature and how I’d helped him discover what they meant. Dora frowned, but didn’t interrupt.
Then it was time to tell about Esther’s ghosts, Teddy and Beryl, and what Teddy told her about Shadow. That was most difficult, worse than describing Shadow’s injuries. I tried not to see Jack wince or how Sadie leaned against him with her eyes closed. She’d heard her mother talking to herself as had Annie, but not known what it meant. I hoped Sadie would forgive me for keeping that from her until now.
I’d felt certain Isadora would believe me, she knew much more about spirits than I did. But I’d had doubts about the others. Their expressions reassured me I needn’t have worried.
Dora had worked through two cigarettes and had started a third by the time I’d finished. She slumped back in her chair, mouth pulled into a thin line. “I’ll concede that you’re probably right and Shadow has a connection to the killings. She was a victim and would want her killer brought to justice. But everything you’ve told me has been planted in your mind or in Esther’s mind by a ghost. I’m not convinced Shadow isn’t looking to live her life again through you. Even to extract revenge by using you if she can. That’s very dangerous, Delia.”
A stiff breeze swirled through the dining room, guttering candles and fluttering the brocade curtain across the entrance. Anger built in the room, a storm centered on Isadora. She sat up straight and snapped commands at Shadow, a note in her voice I’d never heard before. “No, not this time. Hear me now, spirit. Stop immediately or I will banish you. I’m not as kind-hearted as Delia nor as willing to believe.”
The wind died instantly. Shadow hovered behind Jack’s shoulder, green eyes staring into mine and imploring me for help. “Show her,” I whispered. “Dora isn’t the enemy. Show her and make her believe.”
Isadora watched warily as the ghost drifted closer. Pins worked loose from Shadow’s neat plaits, sending hair straggling into her face. All the punishment she’d taken at the murderer’s hands, the bruises, the split and swollen lip came into view. Dora flinched as Shadow held up her broken hand, flinched again at the festering animal bites that appeared on the ghost’s arms and neck. I’d seen what he’d done to her before, but I forced myself not to turn away. Anger at how she’d suffered gave me more resolve.
Shadow looked more solid, more real with each second. Sadie gasped and buried her face in Jack’s shoulder. Gabe scowled and swore under his breath, gripping my hand tighter. They saw the ghost now, too.
Jack held Sadie and watched the rest of us, perplexed and confused at our reactions. He couldn’t see Shadow, that was obvious, but I didn’t understand why. Dora noticed as well. She studied Jack’s face and frowned before turning her full attention to the ghost.
The small dining room grew cold, chilled to the point of being able to see my breath and shivers rippling through me. Gabe put an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. Other spirits shimmered into view behind Shadow: young men from the docks and older women who might be storekeeper’s wives, or housekeepers from well-to-do neighborhoods. All were dressed in old-style clothing, beaten or wounded in different ways. I knew them to be more lost souls, victims of the killer never found by the police or their families.
More than a dozen spirits filled the corner of the room when Shadow stepped forward. She changed again as we watched. Mud flaked off her blue skirt, bruises faded, and the filthy white blouse became clean again. Shadow put a hand over her heart and stared into Dora’s eyes.
A spot of blood showed under her fingers, small at first, but spread until the front of the white blouse was stained crimson. Blood seeped between the ghost’s fingers and fat drops wept onto the floor. Shadow pulled her hand away, staring at the blood smeared on her palm and dripping down her skirt as if surprised.
She stretched a bloody hand toward Isadora and whispered, “Help them … please help them.”
A gust of wind fluttered the heavy curtain over the entrance and blew out the candles on the wall. The ghosts vanished.
We sat in silence for a moment, wisps of smoke curling toward the ceiling from blown out candles. Sadie was pale and trembling, but she wouldn’t cry. Not here, not yet. Jack helped her to stand. “I’m taking her outside for air. I’ll send the waiter in to relight the candles.”
Isadora stared as they pushed through the curtain into the main room. “Well, well … I wonder.” She looked pensive, but I’d no way to know what she was thinking and Dora wouldn’t speak until she was ready. That was fine. Sorting my own th
oughts and emotions was difficult enough.
“God Almighty.” Gabe squeezed my shoulders. “You told me, but I didn’t know, Delia. I couldn’t see before. I didn’t know and I’m sorry.”
Dora drummed long fingernails on the tabletop. “None of us knew, only Delia. The question now is what to do about this ghost.”
My hopes plummeted. “You’re not going to help.”
“Don’t be silly. I can’t leave you at the mercy of a spirit that strong and determined.” Isadora lit another cigarette, took one long drag, and let it dangle from her hand. “But I need to think. Once supper is over we can all adjourn to my house. Your ghost won’t be able to manifest and bring her friends along inside my walls.”
Gabe traded looks with me. He lifted his arm off my shoulders and took my hand again. “What do you have in mind?”
“Something I control, not the ghost. Spirits should be tame and docile, unlike men.” Dora smiled flirtatiously and leaned closer. “Have you ever engaged a spiritualist and dabbled in séances, Lieutenant Ryan?”
He cleared his throat and shook his head. “No. I can’t say that I have.”
Dora leaned back, her smile satisfied and slightly smug. “Good. It will be more entertaining that way.”
CHAPTER 11
Delia
Isadora lived in a neighborhood at the top of Potrero Hill. We turned into her gate and entered a far country, distant and isolated.
Dora’s home was set back at the rear of a big, wooded lot. Pine and cedar trees swayed in the breeze, branches creaking and needles scenting the air. A long front drive, tall black-iron fence, and hedges hid her sprawling, two-story cottage from view. Her house was cut off from both passersby and the neighbors on either side, an island of solitude.
“Living here must be lovely.” I glanced at Dora and went back to watching the lights of her house shimmer behind the trees. “Your neighbors are so far away I imagine it’s like living on a country estate.”
“A little like that, yes. Or at least as close as I can come and still be near the city.” She nodded at Gabe, sitting in the front with Officer Polk. “If I lived in a boardinghouse like Gabe or even a neighborhood like yours, I’d need an asylum within a year. All that humanity and their emotions would drive me mad.”
I must have looked shocked. Dora patted my hand, amused and patient. “Most people don’t understand there are different tiers of the spirit world, different energies that intersect with our world. Spirits of the dead, ghosts, are the only tier you sense and see right now. I have the misfortune to sense and see them all, and strong emotions seek me out. Extreme pain and fear are the hardest to weather. I need a retreat to recover and shield myself from the worst assaults.”
“Does that hurt?” Dora lifted an eyebrow, peering at me quizzically. I suddenly realized what I’d done. “I don’t know what just came over me, I sound like Sadie. Please forgive me, I’d no right to ask something that personal. I’m so sorry.”
She laughed, utterly delighted. “Don’t be sorry. I was a bit surprised, but not offended. You’re the first person to ever ask me if what I do causes pain. The answer is yes, sometimes what I sense does hurt. Tell me, could you see what happened between Gabe and me tonight?”
I nodded. “A spark jumped between you. From the way you and Gabe flinched I got the impression it hurt.”
“You see more than I thought. We’ll have to watch that carefully.” The car with Sadie and Jack stopped ahead of us. We waited farther down the semicircular drive at the front of the house for them to get out and Henderson to drive away. Dora pulled off the blue cloche and shook her hair out. “The energy from all the death surrounding Gabe’s job seeks him out, clinging to his aura. Touching me grounds him. Unglamorous as it sounds, I’m the lightning rod for his lightning. Gabe is only the second person that’s ever happened with. The first was a priest.”
“Why Gabe?” I straightened the seams on my gloves, fiddling to keep from appearing anxious and more than a little afraid of the answer. “Why not Jack? He’s working the same case.”
“Sometimes spirits seek a strong protector. That was certainly the case with Father Dylan. With Gabe, my guess is they sense he could bring them justice and put their souls to rest.” She frowned. “And Jack isn’t being haunted. The ghost that sometimes follows Gabe will attract more spirit energy.”
“Gabe was married before the quake, but he lost Victoria in the fire. Shadow led the ghost away the night I met him and I’d hoped she’d found rest. If you’ve seen her then she’s not gone, she’s still haunting him.” I swallowed, but it didn’t help. Truth left a bitter taste in my mouth. “He doesn’t know. I haven’t been able to bring myself to tell him.”
The car stopped. Officer Polk came around to open Isadora’s door. She held the handle, forcing the door closed again, and looked me in the eye. “You did the right thing, Delia. All you’d accomplish by telling Gabe is to hurt him. His wife’s ghost will leave when he’s ready to let go, not before. Now, let’s go inside.”
She let Polk open the door and help her out. I slid out behind her, relieved that Gabe had been too involved in giving Henderson instructions to notice our conversation. That relief was rooted in guilt over keeping secrets, even if Dora did think them best.
Jack and Sadie stood to the side, head to head and deep in their own intense conversation. Not wanting to intrude or appear to eavesdrop, I turned away. I needn’t have worried. Until Dora called to them, they saw nothing but each other
Shadow shimmered into view on the porch, blocking the way into the house. Dora took my arm and marched me up the steps, pausing one step down from the ghost. “Go. I’ve no plans to surrender Delia to you, now or ever. You won’t cross my threshold until I call you. Now leave.”
Green eyes sought mine looking for a reprieve, but I echoed Dora. “Go until she calls you. It won’t be long.”
She came apart, shattering into a pearly powder that swirled away on the wind. The ghost hadn’t gone far. Shadow’s presence was still there, a second heart beating in my chest. She never left me.
Isadora winked at me before turning to address our friends. A change came over her, something more than the flamboyant persona she donned for visitors to the Pan Pacific. The gestures and the stance were equally dramatic, but I couldn’t put aside the sense that this was more than playacting. Fear rippled up my spine, unexpected and out of place. “Friends.” Dora extended a hand, naming each of us in turn. “Sadie, Jack, Gabe, and Delia, come inside. Welcome to my home.”
We stood there for a few seconds, staring at her and one another. Dora threaded her arm through mine again, the air of being more than just a fortune-teller gone. “I need a drink. Who wants to join me?”
She held my arm tight and practically dragged me over the threshold. The sensation of something oily sticking to my skin made me jump. Gabe brushed at his cheek and looked puzzled, but Sadie and Jack didn’t react at all.
Dora whispered in my ear. “Keeps out the boogeyman. Relax, nothing will hurt you.”
A parrot squawked loudly from deeper inside the house, followed by the sound of Daniel yelping and the clang of an iron cage door slamming shut. The screech from the bird that followed was earsplitting, even from a distance. Daniel screamed right back, but in a tongue I didn’t understand. After a few seconds of man and bird both yelling, the noise died down. Either Daniel had thrown a cover over the cage or they both got tired.
“I don’t know which is worse, Daniel or the wretched bird.” Dora sighed and hung up her coat. “At least we’ll be in my workroom where it’s quiet.”
Daniel chose that moment to come padding down the hall and into the entryway. He was barefoot, dressed in a pair of loose cotton trousers tied below his waist, and wasn’t wearing a shirt. His dark curly hair was mussed, as if he’d been sleeping and come back down to tend to the bird. Sadie and Dora didn’t seem bothered by his state of undress, but no doubt they were used to seeing him this way. I stared at a painting on th
e wall, cheeks burning, reminding myself sternly that this was his home and we’d intruded on him.
He nodded to the rest of us and held his hand up to show Dora. “Blasted bird bit me again.”
“Ungrateful creature.” She kissed the bright red welt on his palm and trailed her fingers down his chest. My blush burned hotter, but I don’t think either of them noticed. “Go on up to bed, darling. Let me take care of this séance for Delia and I’ll join you.”
Daniel kissed Sadie’s cheek in passing and nodded to the rest of us again. He yawned broadly and started up the carpeted staircase, tugging the loose trousers up as he climbed. “Have a good evening, everyone. Call me if you need anything, Dora.”
Gabe waited until Daniel disappeared and cleared his throat. “How long have the two of you been married?”
Dora sidled over to him, smiling coyly. “We’re not married, Lieutenant. I’m afraid Daniel and I have rather bohemian views when it comes to marriage.”
For an instant, I thought Jack was going to choke trying not to laugh at the look on Gabe’s face. Sadie swatted him on the shoulder. “Behave, Jack. Dora, stop teasing Gabe. Start the séance so we can get the unpleasantness over with.”
Dora let out a dramatic sigh, but sobered right away. “You’re right, it’s late and the sooner this is done the better. I don’t want to be in the middle of a summons at midnight. Follow me.”
Isadora led the way down the darkened corridor, back the way Daniel had come from. She opened a door, the oiled wood dark with age, and waved us all inside. “Delia, sit between me and Gabe if you would. That will lessen the static.”
He gave both of us a puzzled look, but didn’t say anything. I followed Sadie in, curious about what Isadora’s workroom was like.
The room smelled faintly of sandalwood and cinnamon. A round table sat in the center of a fringed carpet. The table was draped in blue velvet that fell to the floor and a shorter, white silk square canted at an angle on top. White candles filled freestanding iron candelabras in all four corners of the room. I brushed a hand over one and any fears I had of it tipping vanished. The stands were near as tall as me, with a heavy base that weighed as much or more than Sadie.
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