“I told you. I need to contact my mother.”

“To ask her a question, yes. What is that question?”

“I . . . I’d rather wait and ask her directly,” he said, not quite meeting her gaze.

“Ah, I understand. It is an embarrassing question, then.”

“Not embarrassing, just . . . Well, I’d just rather wait.”

“Then you must attend a séance and ask your question. We will see if your mother can answer it.”

“But I already told you—”

“Yes, I know. You cannot afford it, but I will do this as a gift to you. I will not charge you at all. You can come to one of my séances and ask your question. If you receive your answer, you will know the spirits are real and you will believe me when I tell you how you can help them.”

“You’d let me come to a séance for free?” Jake said skeptically.

“It would be an honor. I believe you were sent here for a reason. Nothing gives me greater satisfaction than helping people find the answers they seek.”

Jake doubted that very much. He asked her a few more questions but received little new information. Finally, Madame Ophelia sent him back to the waiting area to make arrangements with Persephone to attend a séance in the coming week.

He’d have to check with Lizzie to make sure no one he knew would be attending at the time Persephone scheduled him, but he thought he’d managed to avoid any conflicts by agreeing to attend the Monday afternoon session.

“I’m still a little worried about all this,” he confided to Persephone when she had written his name in the appointment book. He’d managed to peer over her shoulder and didn’t recognize any of the other names for that session, but people didn’t usually use their real names when they were running a con.

“You don’t need to be apprehensive, Mr. Miller,” Persephone said.

“I know but . . . Do you suppose you could explain to me what’s going to happen?”

She glanced uneasily at the door that led to the séance room, signaling her reluctance.

“Not here,” he quickly added. “I could . . . I mean, if you’d like, I could buy you supper or something. I know a nice quiet restaurant where we could talk. If I just knew what to expect . . .” He gave her the smile that usually worked on females.

It worked on Persephone, or else she wanted to have supper with him, too. “That would be very nice. I’m sure Madame wouldn’t mind if I described a typical séance to you.”

“I’d be very grateful, Miss Highland. And I wouldn’t have to eat supper by myself. I don’t know many people in the city, and it can get pretty lonely.”

Her expression softened, or perhaps it just grew more interested. “We can’t let you be lonely, can we?”