“Evelyn designed the interior in the form of a simple maze,” Gwen said. “The idea was to maximize the mirrored surfaces inside. The result is that there are lots of twists and turns and short hallways and corridors that end in interesting passages.”
“I’ve never seen anything like this, and I doubt that Sam has, either,” Judson said. “He’s going to be a like a kid in a sandbox. Where did Evelyn get the idea for building this engine? From her own research?”
“She told me that years ago she found some notes describing the possibility of constructing a mirror engine in an old diary that she discovered in a library. Evidently a Victorian-era paranormal researcher named Welch tried to build a similar device back in the late eighteen hundreds, but there was a major flaw in the design.”
Gingerly, Judson reached out to touch the nearest mirrored panel. A shock of psi zapped across his senses. Hastily, he yanked back his finger.
“What was the flaw in Welch’s design?” he asked, shaking his fingers a little.
“Welch was a wack-job. He concluded that the most efficient way to trap strong energy in mirrors was to murder people. He planned to kill his victims in a chamber of mirrors that he had constructed in his mansion, hoping to infuse the energy given off at death into the glass.”
“What the hell?” Judson looked at her. “Are you serious?”
“Oh, yes,” Gwen said. “Evelyn showed me Welch’s notes. She said he had been onto something but that he was wrong in his conclusions about how to fuel a true mirror engine.”
“Good to know,” Judson said. He studied the mirrored hallway with a growing sense of unease. “What happened to the first engine?”
“Evelyn wasn’t sure, but from what she could find out, the mansion in which it had been constructed was destroyed in a huge explosion and fire. Her theory was that the engine got overheated and blew.”
“How many other people besides you and Ballinger knew about the history of the mirror engine and Welch’s theories of how to fuel it?”
“As far as I know, Evelyn didn’t tell anyone else except me,” Gwen said. “We discussed making the story of the first engine into an episode for Dead of Night. But Evelyn said she didn’t want to turn that snippet from paranormal history into a TV show, for fear that some modern-day crazy might take it seriously.”
“She was right. There’s always a nutcase out there in the audience. But Zander Taylor murdered two people here in this lab and tried to kill you. Are you certain he wasn’t aware of Welch’s work?”
“As certain as I can be,” Gwen said. “He did a lot of talking that day, boasting about all the psychics he had killed. But he never mentioned the mirror chamber or Welch’s work. As far as Evelyn or I could tell, he was not interested in the science or the history of the paranormal. He just liked to commit murder by paranormal means.”
“And he somehow came across an untraceable weapon that allowed him to fulfill his fantasy. Did he tell you when or how he found the camera?”
“No. All I can tell you is that Evelyn was certain it didn’t come from her lab. But maybe she did find out recently.” Gwen’s expression sharpened. “Maybe that’s the secret she hid inside the engine.”
“What about lights inside the maze?”
“There’s some more strip lighting in there,” Gwen said. “But in a weird way you don’t need lights inside. The mirrors give off so much energy that I think most people with a little talent could perceive the illumination. There is a lot of power in there, though. It can be disorienting.”
She moved through the entrance. He followed. He thought he was prepared, but the hot energy of the mirrors crashed and churned like storm-tossed waves on a beach, igniting his senses.
“Damn,” he said. “This is a real adrenaline rush, isn’t it?”
Gwen glanced back over her shoulder. “Are you sure you’re okay with being in here?”
“Oh, yeah.”
Understanding brightened her eyes. “It is kind of a thrill ride, isn’t it?”
“That’s one way to describe it.”
“The interesting thing is that it doesn’t affect everyone the same way,” she said. “The other members of Evelyn’s study found it very disturbing. They said it gave them the same creepy feeling you get when you go into a dark alley or down a mine shaft.”
She turned a corner and disappeared deeper into the chamber. He caught up with her. The energy in the mirror panels seemed to be getting stronger as they moved toward the heart of the engine.
Judson looked into the depths of a nearby mirror and saw his own image repeating endlessly into a dark infinity.
“You said Ballinger concluded that the energy given off at death was not the way to fuel a mirror engine,” he said. “What did she use?”
“Crystals.” Gwen went around another corner. “But the original stones had to be tuned frequently. Luckily, she found someone right here in town who could do that, Louise Fuller.”
“The woman who makes the wind chimes?”
“Yes.” Gwen glanced back over her shoulder. “Evelyn said that Louise has some kind of paranormal affinity for crystals.”
“Sam will want to meet her.”
“Good luck with that. Louise doesn’t like people very much. She’s a very odd character. Eccentric and reclusive. The locals call her the Witch of Wilby. But she does make amazing wind chimes. Even with Louise’s help, however, Evelyn had a hard time keeping the mirrors working for more than a couple of hours at a time at the start of the project.”
“These mirrors are plenty hot and going strong today,” Judson said. “Were they tuned recently?”
“It’s no longer necessary. A couple of years ago, Evelyn bought a geode online. When it arrived she cracked it open. The interior was packed with crystals that turned out to be strong enough to power the whole mirror engine. What’s more, the crystals don’t require tuning, either.”
A chill of certainty iced Judson’s senses.
“Where is that geode now?” he asked sharply.
“I assume it’s still in here.” Gwen went down another short hallway. “It was Evelyn’s most valuable possession. She stored it in a steel box in the heart of the engine. I’m hoping that she hid whatever she wanted me to find in that container along with the geode.”
“Weird hiding place.”
“You wouldn’t say that if you knew Evelyn. She was convinced that almost no one could get far enough into the engine to find the container. Here we go.”
Judson followed Gwen around another corner and into a small, square-shaped space paneled in more mirrors. There was a small steel box in the middle of the room. The lid was closed.
Gwen unlatched the lid and raised it. Hot psi wafted out like the ominous smoke of a smoldering forest fire.
“Damn,” Judson said. He walked to the box and looked down at the split halves of the geode inside. “I don’t believe it.”
There was something else inside the box, as well—a folded map.
He ignored the map, his whole attention riveted on the geode.
“That’s the rock that fuels the mirrors?” he asked.
“Yes. It’s very strange, isn’t it? The interior is quite beautiful, and you can sense the power in the crystals. Evelyn told me that she had never seen anything like it.”
“I have,” Judson said quietly.
There was nothing about the outside of the dull, gray geode that gave away the secrets inside. It looked like any other rock. But the glittering crystals in the heart of the stone glowed in a paranormal rainbow of colors, casting eerie shadows across the spectrum of visible and invisible light. Currents of energy rose in disturbing waves. The ring on his finger heated in response.
“That’s interesting.” Gwen reached down to pick up the map. “Where did you see another geode like this one?”
“In the vault in Sam’s lab on Legacy Island.” He held up his hand to show her the amber stone in his ring. “This crystal came from a geode like that one, and it’s a good bet that both rocks came from the same place, the Phoenix Mine.”