Spectral Revelations by Ellen Butler

Author:Ellen Butler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: mystery, amateur sleuth, women sleuths, thriller suspense, cozy mystery
Publisher: Ellen Butler
Published: 2023-10-05T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

As unobtrusively as possible, I slid open one of the pocket doors. I’d been expecting strange, but this was almost comical.

The plantation shutters had been closed, darkening the room. The table was covered in a purple cloth with a giant white hand pattern embroidered on it. Strange symbols were printed on the fingers—runes or zodiac symbols perhaps. In the center of the palm was an eye with a triangle around it. I’d once heard the symbol referred to as the magic eye. On each corner of the triangle, a white candle burned. The flickering flames threw eerie shadows on the ceiling. At the tip of the middle finger, someone had poured sugar or salt in a circle about the size of a dinner plate. A small brass bell of my aunt’s rested inside the circle.

Madame Seraphina sat at the head of the table. Her eyes were closed, and her lips moved, but I couldn’t understand what she whispered. It sounded as if she spoke in tongues. Her beringed fingers moved in a circular motion above three different-colored stones that had been polished to a shine.

My sister hunched forward, her hands tucked beneath her legs, watching the medium with rapt attention. Tony appeared less impressed with the psychic’s machinations. He leaned as far back as the shield-back chair would allow, with his arms crossed, barely hiding the abject confusion he must have felt. But it wasn’t the human beings in the room that amused me.

In the center of the triangle, sitting directly over the pupil of the eye, was Smokey giving a look of disgust as only a Siamese cat can. He’d been watching Madame Seraphina’s show, but his head turned when I opened the door. I swore that cat spoke telepathically to me, along the lines of, “What the devil is this wingnut going on about?”

Full of attitude, Nightshade stalked past me into the hallway. Obviously, he’d had enough of the tomfoolery.

I was about to close the door and leave Jillian to it when Madame Seraphina’s eyes popped open. “Kanga-langa-coo.”

“Sorry,” I whispered. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Jillian gazed at me with irritation writ across her features. Incensed that I’d interrupted, she hissed, “Karina!”

I stepped back.

“Wait!” the medium’s voice rang out, and she pointed at me, her arm stiff. “Don’t go. Has the detective left?”

I nodded.

“Good. He was blocking my energy. His aura is very muddy today. You must join us. I can use the red aura to harness the spirits. Sit there, next to the young man.”

I glanced at my boyfriend, who’d remained hidden behind the other door, shaking in silent laughter. An evil grin crossed my features. I grabbed him by the elbow and dragged him into the room. “How about some violet aura too?”

“Yes, marvelous. You must sit there,” she directed, pointing to the empty chair next to my sister. “Jillian, dah-ling, I need something personal from your aunt.”

“This entire house is personal to my aunt. It’s all her stuff,” I drawled.

The springy orange hair flopped around her shoulders as she shook her head.

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