Then the idea that she had to leave the room upset her. It was Tess’s hotel room, too, and what she referred to as “the person who used to be Max” was lying self-satisfied on the cot, weirdly reading The Encyclopedia of Birds, a subject that had never interested Max. His fake smiling at her was making her so irritated that she felt she had to leave her own room.

She was frightened she might snap at him, have an encounter with him, and she didn’t know where that could lead. . . . The truth is, she was a little frightened of him. Frightened and confused. And hurt and betrayed.

As if in punctuation, “the person who used to be Max” gave her another sweet, treacly smile, strangely evil, that almost did make her want to slap him. She wondered if that would work. If she slapped him, if Max would come back.

And then, she heard a knock at the door. It was probably Aunt Evie.

As Tess neared the door, she realized it sounded more like a scratching than a knock.

“Who’s there?” she called out, but nobody answered. Then the scratching noise shifted into a funny tapping noise outside the door. Tess hesitated.

The tapping kept on. There was definitely someone at the door. . . .

She called out again, “Who’s there?” But again, nobody answered.

Tess grabbed the fire poker, just in case . . . Not that she had any idea what she was going to do with it, but she wasn’t certain “the person who used to be Max” would come to her aid, if she needed him.

She glanced back at him lying so quietly, almost still, on the cot.

The tapping continued.

Tess looked at the door and shook her head. Everything was so messed up already, at least in her mind. How much more trouble could they get into if she opened the door?

In this case, it was sort of a relief, as she didn’t see anything at first and then she felt something jostle her feet and she was very happy the funny white terrier Princess had decided to pay a visit.

Tess didn’t have to ask her in, as Princess scampered through the doorway and rolled over on the carpet.

Tess laughed and said to Max or to “the person who used to be Max,” “It’s that sweet terrier I met yesterday.”

Was it only yesterday, maybe it was the day before?

Princess still had the pink satin bow tied into a lock of her hair at the top of her head, like a tiny ponytail sticking straight up.

Tess bent down to pet her, but as she did, the terrier Princess disappeared. Vanished? That was probably the right word. Morphed. It wasn’t like there was a “poof” or anything, just gone. And Adele the psychic was standing in front of her.