Uneasy Spirits: A Victorian San Francisco Mystery by M. Louisa Locke
Authors: M. Louisa Locke
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wife is a good deal younger than he is. They live in Pacific Heights, and I believe that Hetty, my youngest daughter, may know the wife; they are more of an age. I will ask her Sunday when I see her. Another birthday party. I swear, with thirteen grandchildren, there isn’t a week that goes by without one or the other of them having a party.”
Annie, who knew that Esther doted on every one of her grandchildren, ignored this complaint and got right to the point. “That would be wonderful. I figure the more I know about who is sitting around the table with me, the more I will be able to judge how the Framptons keep their clients coming back. There is one other name I have, Mr. Ruckner, a banker, and I felt sure that Herman would know him.”
“ Abraham Ruckner, of course we know him! Oh dear, poor man, he lost his wife two months ago, left him with six children, all still at home. I hate to think of him getting involved with mediums. I wonder if Herman knows that? My goodness. He is a partner in the San Francisco Gold Bank and Trust, and, if I am not mistaken, that is the bank that Miss Pinehurst’s brother-in-law works for as a clerk. You don’t think there is a connection do you?”
“ There very well might be,” Annie replied. “Although I am quite sure Mr. Vetch would not have gotten his employer involved with the Framptons. It may be that the Framptons are using Sukie in some fashion to gain information about him or the bank. In any event, this is very helpful.”
“ I can tell you, Herman has a good deal of affection for Abraham. If there is anything he can do to help you expose them and protect his friend, he will be more than willing to help. You know this really distresses me. To think of this couple preying on poor souls like Sukie Vetch and Abraham Ruckner. I think I will just go up now and tell Herman about this. Dear me, what is the world coming too, when the dead are used to hurt the living.”
Chapter Eleven
Friday evening, October 17, 1879
“ J. J. Jackson, Medium. No 16 Stockton: circles Wednesday and Friday evenings; sittings daily.”
— San Francisco Chronicle , 1879
Although the circle was not supposed to start until eight p.m., Simon Frampton had instructed her to arrive by seven-thirty at the latest. Annie now saw why, as a number of the occupants of the room were imbibing liberally of the brandy and sherry that stood on a sideboard. Spirits to help prepare for the spirits , she thought. Once an imposing formal parlor, the room’s shoulder-high wainscoting and paneled wooden ceiling continued the decorative style of the hallway. The wallpaper, however, was a nightmarish pattern of tiny gilt flowering vines against a dark green, and the marble from the hallway gave way to a parquet floor. A thick piled carpet covered the center of the floor, and there were matching dark green velvet curtains pulled over the windows. The better to muffle the footsteps of any ghosties who might be running around.
Annie found the color scheme of dark green and even darker wood, which had seemed elegant in the hallway, oddly oppressive in this room. The incongruous placement of a large oval table and chairs in the middle of the room added to her sense of discomfort. Parlors were supposed to have open floors, with the furniture in conversational groupings around the walls. Instead, this room was some strange hybrid, with dining room table and sideboard mingling uneasily with a brown velvet sofa, a pair of floral armchairs, and four ladder-backed chairs placed at the corners of the room.
Sitting stiffly in one of those chairs was a Mr. Hapgood, whom Frampton had pointed out to Annie as they entered the room. He had said, “Harold over there has been fortunate enough to contact his father and some of his brothers, who have been very helpful in offering suggestions in how to run the business. You may have heard of Hapgood and Sons, one of the first successful grocers in the city.”
Annie had
Annie, who knew that Esther doted on every one of her grandchildren, ignored this complaint and got right to the point. “That would be wonderful. I figure the more I know about who is sitting around the table with me, the more I will be able to judge how the Framptons keep their clients coming back. There is one other name I have, Mr. Ruckner, a banker, and I felt sure that Herman would know him.”
“ Abraham Ruckner, of course we know him! Oh dear, poor man, he lost his wife two months ago, left him with six children, all still at home. I hate to think of him getting involved with mediums. I wonder if Herman knows that? My goodness. He is a partner in the San Francisco Gold Bank and Trust, and, if I am not mistaken, that is the bank that Miss Pinehurst’s brother-in-law works for as a clerk. You don’t think there is a connection do you?”
“ There very well might be,” Annie replied. “Although I am quite sure Mr. Vetch would not have gotten his employer involved with the Framptons. It may be that the Framptons are using Sukie in some fashion to gain information about him or the bank. In any event, this is very helpful.”
“ I can tell you, Herman has a good deal of affection for Abraham. If there is anything he can do to help you expose them and protect his friend, he will be more than willing to help. You know this really distresses me. To think of this couple preying on poor souls like Sukie Vetch and Abraham Ruckner. I think I will just go up now and tell Herman about this. Dear me, what is the world coming too, when the dead are used to hurt the living.”
Chapter Eleven
Friday evening, October 17, 1879
“ J. J. Jackson, Medium. No 16 Stockton: circles Wednesday and Friday evenings; sittings daily.”
— San Francisco Chronicle , 1879
Although the circle was not supposed to start until eight p.m., Simon Frampton had instructed her to arrive by seven-thirty at the latest. Annie now saw why, as a number of the occupants of the room were imbibing liberally of the brandy and sherry that stood on a sideboard. Spirits to help prepare for the spirits , she thought. Once an imposing formal parlor, the room’s shoulder-high wainscoting and paneled wooden ceiling continued the decorative style of the hallway. The wallpaper, however, was a nightmarish pattern of tiny gilt flowering vines against a dark green, and the marble from the hallway gave way to a parquet floor. A thick piled carpet covered the center of the floor, and there were matching dark green velvet curtains pulled over the windows. The better to muffle the footsteps of any ghosties who might be running around.
Annie found the color scheme of dark green and even darker wood, which had seemed elegant in the hallway, oddly oppressive in this room. The incongruous placement of a large oval table and chairs in the middle of the room added to her sense of discomfort. Parlors were supposed to have open floors, with the furniture in conversational groupings around the walls. Instead, this room was some strange hybrid, with dining room table and sideboard mingling uneasily with a brown velvet sofa, a pair of floral armchairs, and four ladder-backed chairs placed at the corners of the room.
Sitting stiffly in one of those chairs was a Mr. Hapgood, whom Frampton had pointed out to Annie as they entered the room. He had said, “Harold over there has been fortunate enough to contact his father and some of his brothers, who have been very helpful in offering suggestions in how to run the business. You may have heard of Hapgood and Sons, one of the first successful grocers in the city.”
Annie had
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