by Joe Vadalma
"Five fifty."
"Oh, I'm sure they can't afford that. Let me buy it. I'll give it to them as a present. They'll be really surprised."
The proprietor shook his head. “Sorry lady, I couldn't do that. I promised to hold it for them. If those folks don't show in a couple of days, I'll sell it to you then."
"That would spoil the surprise. Tell you what. I'll give you a fifteen."
The proprietor rubbed his chin. “Fifteen hundred? In cash?"
Morgaine closed her eyes momentarily, said a silent spell and withdrew a roll of hundred dollar bills from her purse. The proprietor's eyes popped. “Well, they wasn't really coming back. Fifteen hundred dollars, you said?"
"Sold.” She counted out fifteen bills.
The proprietor pulled out a receipt book. “Name?"
"I don't need a receipt."
"Sorry lady, but I gotta make one out for my tax records."
Morgaine thought for a moment. Well, I'm going to need a pseudonym anyway. I may as well make something up now. “Claudia Van Best."
"Address."
"Oh, I just moved to New York. I'm staying at a hotel. But I won't be there long."
"Okay.” He skipped to the transaction columns and wrote Antique daguerreotype and the amount of the purchase. He wrapped the photograph in brown paper and string and handed the package and receipt to Morgaine. “Nice doing business with you. Have a nice day. Come back again soon.” He sat down and returned to his newspaper.
As Morgaine walked out of the shop, she thought, Good thing I got this before Melody saw it. Now to drive to Raven and Keith's next destination.
* * * *
Morgaine drove to Long Island and parked down the street where the detectives were interviewing Clorinn Jaspers, a woman who had been a house guest of Michael's during the time that Morgaine lived at his estate. When they headed back to Manhattan on Long Island Expressway, she followed in the Camero. After a while the Pontiac changed lanes quickly and sped up. Morgaine realized that the driver had spotted the fact that she was trailing them. She moved from the lane they had occupied into the one they had changed to and matched their increased speed. The Pontiac suddenly moved two lanes to the right in the northbound four lanes of the eight-lane highway and sped up to eighty—the speed limit on the expressways in the city is fifty-five. Morgaine followed suit fearlessly. She laughed. If the car crashed, it would make little difference to her. She was already dead. In fact she was enjoying this; it was fun driving so recklessly.
The Pontiac made another quick lane change, almost sideswiping a delivery truck. Morgaine stayed right on its tail.
A siren started, and a patrol car went after the Pontiac, which slowed down and pulled onto the shoulder. The cop pulled up in back of it. As Morgaine sped past like a bat out of hell, she saw the officer get out with a pad in one hand, his other on his revolver. She exited at the next off ramp, but cursed when she could not find an on-ramp to backtrack. It made no difference. She knew their next destination.
* * * *
She caught up to the detectives as they were leaving Sylvan Macrome's apartment. She followed them into The Firegrill, a steak house. When she entered, they were already seated. Keith Borgensen's seat faced the door. When he spotted Morgaine, his eyes went wide. He cried, “Holy shit. There she is."
"Who?” Raven turned around in her seat to see who he was staring at as Morgaine was being seated by the hostess in a table just behind theirs. She moved her chair slightly so that she could see Morgaine and not be too obvious about it. Morgaine smiled at Keith and sashayed over to them. When she reached their table, Keith stood politely, and Raven gave her the evil eye.
"Sorry to disturb your meal,” Morgaine said, “but I need to talk to you. My name is..."
Raven interrupted her. “Let me guess. It's Lilith."
Morgaine raised her eyebrows in a what are you talking about gesture. “No-o-o. It's Claudia Van Best. I know you don't know me, but..."
"Sure we know you, Claudia. You're the bitch who owns the red Camero that's been following us. Keith almost killed us trying to shake you."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I meant no harm. It's just that I learned that you were investigating Michael Ellul's disappearance, and I thought..."
Throughout this by-play, Morgaine slyly examined Keith inch-by-inch.
Raven said, “Okay, before you say anymore, you may as well sit down and join us."
"Thank you."
Keith held the chair for Morgaine although Raven gave him a dirty look. After she was seated, Raven held out her hand. “You seem to know who we are already. In case you don't recall the names, I'm Raven Lenore. My partner is Keith Borgenson. Now tell us why you're interested in the Elluls."
"Pleased to meet you.” After Morgaine shook Raven's hand, she held her hand out to Keith. As she held his hand, she stared into hypnotically into his eyes for several seconds, preparing to control him. “I'm with the Westchester Institute for the Occult. Michael Ellul and Morgaine Fabiano were our founders. That's why I bought the daguerreotype—for the institute. One man in it looks like Michael. So you must understand that we have an interest in finding Michael."
Morgaine almost burst out laughing when Raven kicked Keith in the shins under the table. He looked pained, but kept his mouth shut. His eyes slid away from Morgaine.
"Oh yeah, who told you that we were investigating Ellul's disappearance?"
"We're an institute of the paranormal. We have many psychics among us. There were portents of change, things hidden and found, new persons involved, a lover making a new start and so forth."
"Why are you following us around? If you think we might know something about Mr. Ellul, why didn't you just call us at our office?"
"Uh, we wanted to be sure that you were the right persons for the job. We needed to see how you operate."
"Was Ellul an active participant in this institute before he disappeared?"
"He was until about a year after he married Melody Trent. Then, for some reason, perhaps Melody didn't like his involvement with his former lover, Morgaine Fabiano, and pressured him to sell his half to his partner. After she died, we went public."
"I still don't get it. If he's no longer involved, why all this interest in him now?"
"We want him back. The institute has never done as well as when he ran things. If Michael is found, we hope to persuade him to take over again."
"We'll see. We need to talk this over between ourselves.” Raven glanced at Keith for confirmation.
His gaze was on Morgaine's assets. “Yeah, we gotta talk about it."
"Thank you,” Morgaine said sugar sweetly. She wrote a phone number and address on a card and handed it to Raven. “That's all we can ask.” As she rose from the table, she stared directly into Keith's eyes. “It's been a great pleasure meeting you. I sincerely hope you agree to work with us."
While she was leaving the restaurant, she thought, that was fun making that Keith guy drool all over me. Raven was suspicious though. If she only knew who I really am ... She chuckled mentally.
CHAPTER 11
INSTITUTE OF THE OCCULT
Morgaine appeared suddenly at a meeting among Michael, Deju and Longfeathers. They were sitting around a table at the Westchester Institute of the Occult discussing how to locate the journal of an eighteenth century alchemist. Because they were deep in discussion, only Michael noticed that she did not enter the room through the doorway but had appeared out of thin air. “Hello,” she said to announce her presence.
The men turned to stare at her. “Who are you?” asked Longfeathers. “How did you get in?"
Michael quickly replied, “I'm sorry. I should've informed you. I gave her a key. Her name is ... uh...?"
"Forgot it already, Michael,” Morgaine said. “Well, that's all right. I can introduce myself. My name is Claudia Van Best. Like yourselves, I'm a psychic. I specialize in finding lost objects and people. Michael contacted me to help you locate something for him. As I entered, I o
verheard you discussing a lost journal. Is that what I'm to find?"
Deju's and Longfeathers’ eyes returned to Michael with a quizzical look in them. “Uh ... yes. I called her in to help us. She's quite gifted. Claudia, please join us."
After she was seated, Longfeathers said, “The problem is that Michael wants to locate a journal written by a fictional character."
"And I'm telling you that Victor Frankenstein really did live and really did bring a creature consisting of body parts to life."
"How do you know that?” Deju asked.
"A diary of a woman who knew the Frankenstein family has come into my possession."
"Yes,” said Longfeathers, “I have read that diary. Assuming that it's authentic and not a hoax, it's not even an eyewitness account. This woman only knew that the creature was created by Frankenstein through hearsay from her boyfriend. You know very well that some men tell horrendous lies to women to impress them. This eighteenth century female might've been very naive."
Morgaine interrupted the discussion. “Gentlemen, before we go on with this discussion of the authenticity or not of Doctor Frankenstein, I have news I need to impart to Michael."
"Should we leave the room?” asked Deju.
"No. Since you're going to be involved, you ought to hear this too. It may bear on what your next action should be to forward the goal we're all working toward. Has Michael told you that his wife has hired detectives to find him?"
"Yes,” said Longfeathers. Deju merely nodded.
"Well, I've been following the detectives. They've been interviewing everyone who ever lived on Michael's estate. After they interviewed Jack Westcott, two men in dark suits also followed them. To me, these men looked like government agents. Michael, do you have any idea the FBI or other government agency would be interested in you? Or perhaps Jack Westcott?"
A worried frown appeared on Michael's forehead. “Isaac."
"Isaac? Who's Isaac?” Morgaine asked, pretending not to know in her guise as Claudia Van Best.
"Isaac is a humanoid robot that Jack, a woman named Elizabeth Wolfgang, and I are hiding from the authorities."
"Great Goddess, why?"
"Someone—I'm not exactly sure who; Jack would know—wants to harm it. It's a thinking, self-aware creature. I couldn't allow that to happen."
"Where is it now?"
"At Moonwood. Elizabeth Wolfgang is hiding there too. The authorities want to arrest her for stealing the robot."
This was not new information to Deju and Longfeathers. They sat placidly while Michael went through the sham of explaining things to Morgaine that she already knew.
"I see,” said Morgaine. “Well, I took the liberty of inviting the detectives here."
"What! Why here?"
"To throw them off the track. They'd come here sooner or later anyway. This way they'll never suspect that you're hiding right under their noses. Y'know, they're likely to start snooping around Moonwood too."
"What can we do about that?"
"Don't worry. I'll take care of them ... and those government men too. I should leave now. You men go on with your discussion."
She got up and walked out the door like a human being. As she was leaving, she heard Longfeathers say to Michael, “I don't understand that woman's role in all this. Why is she following those people?"
"Well, besides being a psychic, she's a detective. I needed her to counter the ones that Melody hired."
* * * *
It was three o'clock of a soggy afternoon when the detectives that Melody hired arrived at the institute. They thought they were there to interview Deju and Longfeathers. The meeting was to take place in the Seance Room. The room was laid out as a classroom. Since the building was old, the walls were cracked, seamed and under thick layers of institutional green paint; the ceiling stained and worn. Wind-driven rain cascaded down the long windows in rivulets. Most of the room was taken up by rows of scarred schoolroom desk-chairs. A dusty blackboard decorated the front wall. Where the teacher's desk would normally be was a round table upon which rested a single black candle. Five straight-back wooden chairs surrounded it. Outdoors a storm rumbled, boomed and crackled loudly. A hard wind-driven rain drummed against the roof.
When someone rapped on the door, Deju, Longfeathers and Morgaine were deep in discussion. As a result, at first none of the three responded. The rap became louder and more persistent. Finally, Deju said, “Enter please."
As the detectives stepped into the room, the three rose from their wooden straight-backed chairs. Deju bowed from the waist. “Greetings. I am Rhami Deju.” He extended his slender womanish hand first to Raven and then to Keith. After they shook it, he turned to Longfeathers. “This is my colleague, Robert Longfeathers.” Longfeathers nodded without expression and said “Hi,” which greeting they returned. “And I believe you've already met Ms. Van Best."
"Yes, we have.” Raven gave Morgaine a nasty look and glanced at Keith, who stared at Morgaine as though in a trance. Morgaine grinned inwardly. He was already falling under her spell. Her irises became dilated and catlike as she concentrated wholly on Keith.
Raven interrupted her concentration. As a result, she could not put Keith completely under her spell. “Well Claudia, I should've guessed that we'd run into you here, but not at a private meeting with Misters Deju and Longfeathers."
Deju said, “I invited Ms. Van Best. I hope you don't mind. She has a couple of ideas that may help you in your quest to find Michael."
"Oh, what might they be?"
"My specialty here at the institute is spiritism. Claudia suggested, and I agreed, that the best way we could aid you was to conduct a seance ... contact the spirit world ... unless you have some objection."
"I see that you're prepared.” Raven nudged Keith out of his contemplative stupor of Morgaine. “What do you think, Keith? Should we join these people in contacting the dear departed?"
"Well ... um ... I don't actually believe in such things ... but ... um ... if you think we should, Raven."
Raven said, “I'm game. So far we haven't made much progress. Words from the dead couldn't hurt."
Deju lit the candle and turned off the overhead light. The five joined hands around the table. Keith was between Morgaine and Raven. On Raven's left was Deju. To his left Longfeathers completed the circle by grasping Morgaine's right hand. Everyone's hands were in plain sight as was customary during a seance.
Deju intoned, “Please concentrate on contacting the dimension beyond the grave. Oh spirits of those who have crossed over into the great unknown, please hear us now and help us in our quest to locate a missing man.” He repeated this several times. Meanwhile the rain changed to a steady downpour, the thunder faded to faint rumbles and a thick white fog dematerialized the outside world. The flickering candle flame threw up looming moving shadows. Inexplicably the room grew darker. After a few moments Deju groaned as he went into his trance. An unfamiliar voice issued from his throat. “There is danger, danger."
Longfeathers asked, “Who are you? What danger?"
"My name when among the living was Steven Trent. Warn Melody of ... danger. An elemental ... means her harm."
"An elemental is the danger?” Raven asked.
"Yes. It is here now."
There was a long silence. Before any more was revealed about herself, Morgaine broke it. “Oh spirit of Steven Trent, can you tell us where we can find the man we seek, Michael Ellul?"
"The answer is in the book. Great danger."
"What book? Where is this book?"
"The journal of life and death. Stay away. Death."
"Stay away from where?"
"The house ... warn Melody ... the sorcerer."
"Whose house? What sorcerer?"
The answer never came. A gust of wind from the drafty windows blew out the candle, throwing the room into total darkness. Deju gasped and let go of Raven's and Longfeather's hands. His trance was broken. The seance was over. Longfeathers flipped on the overhead lights. D
eju rested his head on the back of the chair. His eyes remained closed. He was pale and drained. “Did you learn anything?” he muttered.
"Yeah, that you're a good actor,” Keith scoffed.
Morgaine frowned in deep thought. Whoever that spirit was, it had revealed much more than she would've liked. It made it even more likely that the detectives would search the mansion.
"This spirit,” Raven asked, “is the name familiar? Do you know who it is?"
"It is the ghost of Melody Ellul's first husband,” said Longfeathers.
"Well, nothing he said helped much. He simply warned about some danger to Melody."
"What about the book? And the house?” said Morgaine. “That must mean something.” She figured that they'd already guessed the meaning of those clues. Let them think that she was trying to be helpful.
Raven shrugged. “It might if it wasn't so vague. A journal, the spirit said. But what journal? In somebody's house. Where else would you find it? Well folks, thanks for trying, but we still don't have much to go on. C'mon Keith, I'm getting hungry. Let's leave."
"Uh, yeah, me too."
"See you guys,” Raven called from the door. “If you have any more visions you want to share with us, give us a call. You've got our number?"
"Indeed I have,” replied Morgaine, waving their business card at Keith. After the detectives left, she remarked, “That Raven is a smart one. I'll bet they'll head right out to Michael's estate."
Longfeathers remarked, “I wonder what Steven Trent's spirit meant by an elemental being here among us."
Morgaine shrugged. “What interested me more was his references to a journal. Could that be the Frankenstein journal that we're seeking?"
* * * *
Although the storms continued throughout the evening, Morgaine drove out to Moonwood in the Camero, hiding it around the side of the building. The front door was locked and bolted and boards were nailed across it. She walked through the door like a ghost and hid in the library. About an hour later she heard the detectives break into the house. She listened to their conversation.
Raven said, “Since the place is so big, we'll have to split up or it'll take us all night. You look around down here. I'll search the upstairs."