“Which I suppose is why she’s so anxious for you to be right,” Mother Bates said.

“How is Cybil going to prove she found the will?” Anna asked.

“Most people will simply take her word for it, but she’s going on a journey today, mainly to find out if she’s being followed. If she is, she will lose her pursuer and disappear for several hours before returning home. That will verify for anyone who doubts that she went to her uncle’s house and found the will.”

“How will she know if she’s being followed?” Mother Bates asked.

“Cybil would probably know if someone was following her, but the Old Man will be traveling the same route behind her just in case. Between the two of them, they’re bound to notice.”

“This seems like a lot of trouble to take,” Gideon said. “Why would someone follow Cybil at all?”

“Madame Ophelia probably doesn’t trust me yet,” Elizabeth explained patiently. “She’ll want to make sure I’m not in cahoots with Cybil somehow.”

“I suppose that means you won’t be attending the salon for a while,” Anna said.

“What a tragedy,” Gideon said with a sly smile.

“You should probably stay away as well, Anna,” Elizabeth said. “Madame Ophelia might well discover that Cybil is a professor at Hunter, but there’s no reason to encourage her to think you are close friends with Cybil and Zelda.”

“Speaking of Miss Goodnight,” Gideon said in all innocence, “will she be participating?”

“I thought she might be your maiden aunt, darling,” Elizabeth teased him back. “She’s trying to contact her lover who died in the Spanish-American War.”

“She would love that,” Anna said with a grin.

“But I’m afraid Madame Ophelia wouldn’t trust anyone closely related to Gideon,” Elizabeth said.

“Thank heaven,” Gideon said fervently. “So what happens next?”

“That depends on Madame Ophelia,” Elizabeth said. “I know what we’ll be doing.”

“Won’t you have to adapt to what Madame Ophelia does, though?” Anna asked.

Elizabeth smiled. “Perhaps, but I’m pretty sure I already know what she is going to do.”

Gideon nodded sagely. “The spirits probably told her.”

Elizabeth rewarded him with a kiss on the cheek. “Of course, they did, darling.”

—

Jake entered Madame Ophelia’s lair just as the city’s clocks were chiming three. He was a little surprised at how grim the place was. He’d expected something fancy with scrolled couches and artwork on the walls. But maybe mediums didn’t like to flaunt their ill-gotten gains. The Old Man’s offices behind Dan the Dude’s saloon weren’t the least bit fancy, either, now that he thought about it.