“What?” Gideon said as if learning Elizabeth could lie was a complete surprise to him. He was getting better at this.

“I didn’t think you had,” Madame said, ignoring Gideon’s outburst. “What else did you see?”

“Not much. I don’t know who was holding the knife, but he . . . It was definitely his blood.”

“Why didn’t you tell him?” Gideon demanded.

“And frighten him completely out of his wits?” Elizabeth said, swiping at her tears. “At least now he’s warned. That’s the most I can do, and he still thinks there’s a chance for him. I don’t know. Maybe there is. I had to give him that hope.”

“She’s right,” Madame Ophelia said. “And perhaps she is completely misinterpreting the message. We cannot be careless with the communications the spirits give us.”

“Then you agree that I did the right thing?” Elizabeth asked, absurdly grateful.

“I do. People think they want to know the future, but no one really wants to know how they will die.”

Elizabeth blinked at the wisdom of that remark. “I’m sure that’s true.”

“And you have no idea who was holding the knife?” Madame asked.

Elizabeth frowned and rubbed her temples as if trying to remember. “I . . . It’s just a feeling, but . . . I believe it is someone close to him.”

“So he’s wrong about everyone liking him,” Gideon said.

“We all have enemies, Mr. Bates,” Madame Ophelia said.

“Enemies who want to murder us?” he asked skeptically.

“Does one ever truly know the heart of our enemies, Mr. Bates?”

—

Is it almost finished?” Anna asked Elizabeth in a fervent whisper after church the next morning. She and her mother had wandered over to speak to the Bates family while other parishioners mingled and chatted at various places around the sanctuary.

Elizabeth glanced over to make sure Mrs. Vanderslice was engaged in conversation with Mother Bates. “We’re getting close, I promise. I’m sorry it’s taken so long, but we had to make sure the tale was convincing.”

“I know, and I’m the one who insisted you add an extra act to the play, but that woman is pressuring Mother to bring more of her friends to séances.”

“Because she knows she won’t get anything more than the séance fees from your mother, so she’s trying to attract some wealthier victims.”

“I know that, but Mother doesn’t or at least she won’t admit it if she does. She’s determined to get all her friends addicted to visiting the spirits. That woman actually offered her a discounted fee if she brought a friend.”

Elizabeth winced. “I can’t imagine Madame Ophelia is that desperate for new clients, but maybe she’s just trying to fleece as many victims as she can before she has to leave town.”

“Do you think she will? Leave town, I mean?” Anna asked.