frown. “Because the door was open when I got here. What are you talking about?”
I realized the grooves of the flashlight were digging into my hand where my fingers were gripping it. “You weren’t the person trying to open my door? Jiggling the handle?”
“No. I didn’t have to. Like I said, the door was open. What happened?”
“Nothing. Just that. I woke up, and the door handle was turning. Or at least I thought it was. But when I opened the door there wasn’t anyone there.” I willed my fingers to uncurl from the flashlight. “I thought I’d locked the door. Where did you come from? Did you see a person in the hall?”
“I took the back stairs from the kitchen. Had the place to myself.”
I pictured the layout of the house. There were the front stairs I’d come up and another set originally built for servants that connected to the kitchens. I’d forgotten about those, but if Bain had been on them, no one could have gone that way. I said, “I must have dreamed it.”
“Probably,” he agreed, losing interest. “Especially after what that medium said at Coralee’s party. That was really something.” He started moving around Aurora’s room—my room—picking up and putting down her things. “Appearing at the party and having them haul you in was a smart play. You got them to run your prints without us having to ask. Once they got over being stunned by you being conjured from the dead. Made for some great YouTube viewing.”
“I didn’t know she’d hire a medium. That hadn’t been part of my plan.”
He sat in the desk chair and pivoted right, then left, balancing the tip of his index finger on the top of the desk. “Yeah. Tell me about that. Your
plan
. How did you come up with the idea to show up like that instead of doing it the way we talked about?”
“It seemed more like something your cousin would do.” I shrugged. “Make a big entrance. Plus people are always more likely to believe something that has to be coerced rather than volunteered.”
As I spoke the words I realized I’d said too much, revealed too much of my actual approach. If I’d been talking to Bridgette, it could have been a crucial mistake, reraised questions in her mindI’d worked hard to put to rest, but Bain didn’t seem to recognize it. He nodded toward my bandaged left hand, which was on top of the covers. “You got hurt.”
I held it up. “No one can ask me to play tennis or the piano with this thing,” I said.
He let out a low whistle. “Nice.” He got thoughtful again. “The only thing I don’t get is, why not tell Bridgette and me? We would have gone along with it.”
“This way you won’t have to pretend to be surprised.”
He gave a little bark of laughter. “I think you wanted to show us who had the power.”
“I think you must have me confused with your sister. I’m not nearly that clever.”
He gave me a quick, sharp look. “Sure.” He got busy opening desk drawers, poking around them with one finger. “Just remember that we’re all on the same team here. Working together. Right?”
“Right.”
Another sharp look. He picked up a piggy bank in the shape of a cat, shook it, and put it back down. “Of course Bridgette is livid. She spent something like six hours at the train station trying to figure out where you’d gone. She doesn’t like it when people don’t follow her plans.”
The adrenaline must have been leaving my body. I felt spent, exhausted again. I yawned. “I got that.”
“She’ll come around. Now that you’re here, the pressure’s off. Since Grandmother brought you home, everyone else has to believe in you too. Tonight was a triumph. Only two more hurdles to go.” He lifted a finger. “One, meet the Family. That shouldn’t be too bad. And two, answer the cop’s questions about what happened and where you’ve been.”
“I’m sorry, Officer, I don’t remember anything,” I chirped, then went back to my regular voice. “I know what to
I realized the grooves of the flashlight were digging into my hand where my fingers were gripping it. “You weren’t the person trying to open my door? Jiggling the handle?”
“No. I didn’t have to. Like I said, the door was open. What happened?”
“Nothing. Just that. I woke up, and the door handle was turning. Or at least I thought it was. But when I opened the door there wasn’t anyone there.” I willed my fingers to uncurl from the flashlight. “I thought I’d locked the door. Where did you come from? Did you see a person in the hall?”
“I took the back stairs from the kitchen. Had the place to myself.”
I pictured the layout of the house. There were the front stairs I’d come up and another set originally built for servants that connected to the kitchens. I’d forgotten about those, but if Bain had been on them, no one could have gone that way. I said, “I must have dreamed it.”
“Probably,” he agreed, losing interest. “Especially after what that medium said at Coralee’s party. That was really something.” He started moving around Aurora’s room—my room—picking up and putting down her things. “Appearing at the party and having them haul you in was a smart play. You got them to run your prints without us having to ask. Once they got over being stunned by you being conjured from the dead. Made for some great YouTube viewing.”
“I didn’t know she’d hire a medium. That hadn’t been part of my plan.”
He sat in the desk chair and pivoted right, then left, balancing the tip of his index finger on the top of the desk. “Yeah. Tell me about that. Your
plan
. How did you come up with the idea to show up like that instead of doing it the way we talked about?”
“It seemed more like something your cousin would do.” I shrugged. “Make a big entrance. Plus people are always more likely to believe something that has to be coerced rather than volunteered.”
As I spoke the words I realized I’d said too much, revealed too much of my actual approach. If I’d been talking to Bridgette, it could have been a crucial mistake, reraised questions in her mindI’d worked hard to put to rest, but Bain didn’t seem to recognize it. He nodded toward my bandaged left hand, which was on top of the covers. “You got hurt.”
I held it up. “No one can ask me to play tennis or the piano with this thing,” I said.
He let out a low whistle. “Nice.” He got thoughtful again. “The only thing I don’t get is, why not tell Bridgette and me? We would have gone along with it.”
“This way you won’t have to pretend to be surprised.”
He gave a little bark of laughter. “I think you wanted to show us who had the power.”
“I think you must have me confused with your sister. I’m not nearly that clever.”
He gave me a quick, sharp look. “Sure.” He got busy opening desk drawers, poking around them with one finger. “Just remember that we’re all on the same team here. Working together. Right?”
“Right.”
Another sharp look. He picked up a piggy bank in the shape of a cat, shook it, and put it back down. “Of course Bridgette is livid. She spent something like six hours at the train station trying to figure out where you’d gone. She doesn’t like it when people don’t follow her plans.”
The adrenaline must have been leaving my body. I felt spent, exhausted again. I yawned. “I got that.”
“She’ll come around. Now that you’re here, the pressure’s off. Since Grandmother brought you home, everyone else has to believe in you too. Tonight was a triumph. Only two more hurdles to go.” He lifted a finger. “One, meet the Family. That shouldn’t be too bad. And two, answer the cop’s questions about what happened and where you’ve been.”
“I’m sorry, Officer, I don’t remember anything,” I chirped, then went back to my regular voice. “I know what to
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