“No. Spode.”

“What did he want?” Eloisa demanded in a tight voice.

“He said the man who came into the shop with LeClair isn’t an insurance investigator. He’s Harlan Rancourt.”

“Rancourt? So he really is alive? Shit. And Arganbright and Pine are working with him? That is almost unbelievable.”

“We’re working with Spode. Some would say that’s unbelievable, too.”

Eloisa shuddered. “Don’t remind me.”

“Spode said the effort to grab the oracle at Sefton’s house failed. The team screwed up again when they made another attempt on the way to Fogg Lake. It was after dark. The fog had rolled in.”

“Rancourt and LeClair are in Fogg Lake?”

“For now. They can’t stay there indefinitely, not if they want to find Vortex. It’s obvious Rancourt is in a hurry.”

“We have to get LeClair.”

Gwendolyn gripped the handrail. “Spode seems to think he can lure Rancourt out of Fogg Lake and grab LeClair.”

“You do realize Spode is fucking insane?”

“We’ve known that from the start.”

CHAPTER 32

Harlan read aloud from Alexander Winston’s logbook . . .

“There’s been a breakthrough at last. I had begun to give up hope, but this afternoon the tests provided proof of Aurora’s theory. We have overcome the biggest hurdle involved in focusing para-energy that is powerful enough to make a functioning weapon feasible. As is often the case, the solution is astonishingly obvious—music.

“My wife and I have long suspected that currents of music transmit energy across the spectrum. It was always obvious that music is capable of exerting a powerful effect on the human sensory system. It impacts mood, emotions, thought processes. It was the knowledge that it can also affect sleep that led us to the conclusion it can alter the dreamstate in such a way as to allow for a hypnotic suggestion to be implanted . . .

“. . . I never doubted music could be used to generate not only a hypnotic state but also a weapon. All three rats died . . .

“. . . I have turned my attention to the design of a prototype weapon. It is clear now the device must incorporate the new crystal that Aurora and her team developed . . .

“. . . The simple recorders are ideal in many ways, not the least of which is that they do not appear to be weapons and therefore will not arouse suspicion. Unlike more sophisticated forms of the flute, they are easily mastered. From a technical point of view the crystal allows for very sharp, clear notes to be played. The purity of the sound is of critical importance when it comes to the hypnotic effects . . .”

Harmony looked up from the files she had spread out on the long workbench. She peered at Harlan over the frames of her reading glasses. “Well, now, that provides a few answers.”