Gwen moved through the doorway. She groped for the hall light switch and found it. But when she flipped it, nothing happened.
Judson appeared at the end of the hall. The gun was no longer in sight. He had a firm grip on Nicole’s arm.
“I just tried the switch at the other end of the hall,” Judson said. “The power is out. Looks like someone got to the electrical panel.”
“It wasn’t me,” Nicole whimpered.
“What’s going on?” Gwen said. But she knew.
“Where’s the body?” Judson asked Nicole.
“Downstairs in the basement,” Nicole said. She gave him a pleading look. “Someone killed Louise.”
“What makes you think she was murdered?” Gwen asked quietly. “Was there blood?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t go down there.”
“But you’re sure she’s dead?” Gwen asked.
“I think so. She died the way the others did.” Nicole looked at Gwen with an expression of veiled horror and then looked away very quickly. “Just like the others. Everyone will think it was a heart attack or that she tripped on the basement stairs. Or something. No one will be able to prove that it was murder.”
“Let’s go take a look,” Judson said.
“Please, I don’t want to go down there,” Nicole whispered.
“Where are the basement stairs?” Judson asked.
“That way,” Nicole muttered. She gestured toward a hall.
Judson steered her in the direction that she had indicated. Gwen followed. Max appeared at her feet, crowding close. His ears were flat and his tail was high.
“There you are,” Gwen said quietly. “I wondered where you went.”
They halted in front of an open door midway along the hall. Concrete steps descended into an inky darkness split by a sharp beam of bright light that angled across the concrete floor.
“A flashlight,” Judson said. “She took it with her when she went downstairs to check the electrical panel.”
Max wove a restless path between Gwen’s legs and muttered urgently in the mysterious language of felines. The sepulchral music of the sculptures that hung from the ceiling seemed to grow louder. Should have closed the front door, Gwen thought. The draft was getting stronger.
Nicole froze at the top of the steps. “I don’t want to go down.”
“We’re all going down together,” Judson said. “And remind me to ask you later what the hell you were doing here in the first place.”
Nicole started reluctantly down the steps. “I just wanted to talk to her.”
“Did you bring your father’s old hunting rifle along for the chat?” Judson asked.”
“No, I swear, I didn’t bring it.” Nicole stopped, gripped the railing and stared back at him. “I know what you’re thinking. Oxley came by the shop. He said you thought I took a shot at you out at the old lodge yesterday, but that wasn’t me. He asked me to show him Dad’s old rifle but I couldn’t find it. Someone stole it.”
“Yeah?” Judson made it clear he didn’t believe a word Nicole was saying. “When did that happen?”
“How should I know?” Nicole wailed. “I keep it in my grandmother’s cedar chest. I haven’t had any reason to open that chest in months.”
“You’re lying,” Judson said. “We can go over the details later.”
Halfway down the steps, another unsettling shiver of awareness stirred Gwen’s senses. She realized that Max was no longer talking to her. She glanced back and saw that the cat was not following her down into the basement. She could see him silhouetted in the doorway. He had gone very still, very alert, at the top of the steps. But he was not watching her and the others. His attention was fixed on something only he could see.
The dark music of the chimes was growing more intense, almost painful. The wind keened through the old house. The shadows in the hallway lengthened as the storm gathered outside.
The light shifted abruptly down below in the basement. Startled, Gwen turned quickly and saw that Judson had picked up the flashlight. She made herself take a deep, steadying breath.
Judson played the light beam across the body. Louise was sprawled faceup on the cold concrete. The ropes of her long gray braids were tumbled around her head. She had always been thin, but in death she appeared gaunt, almost skeletal. Her sharp features were so starkly etched that it was as if her skin had been drawn tight over her skull.
The violent energy pooling in the room left no doubt as to the cause of death. She knew from the way Judson was studying the body that he was picking up the same vibes and probably a lot more information than she could.
“Poor Louise,” Gwen whispered.
“This was murder,” Judson said.
Nicole cringed and turned away from the body. “You can’t blame this on me.”
Judson ignored her to sweep the beam of the flashlight around the small space. The light raked across crates and boxes filled with crystals, mirrors, and the metals that Louise used in her sculptures.
Judson shifted the light again, aiming in another direction. “The electrical panel is over there on that wall. But she was here, near this crate when she died. If she came downstairs to check the panel, why did she end up over here?”
The light danced across a handful of palm-sized crystals in the shape of teardrops that lay on the floor near the body. Gwen followed the ray of light and was not surprised when a ghost appeared in one of the crystals.
“I knew you would get here sooner or later,” the specter said. “Took you long enough.”
Judson moved the light past the crystal. The ghostly image disappeared.
“Wait,” Gwen said. “Move the light back to those crystals on the floor.”
Judson did not ask any questions. He swept the beam back to the stones.
“See a ghost?” he asked matter-of-factly.
“Yes.” Gwen went toward the crystals.
“Ghost?” Nicole yelped, beyond terrified now. “You two are crazier than the old witch was.”
Gwen did not bother to respond to that. Neither did Judson. He kept the beam of light aimed at the crystals
Gwen crouched down to take a closer look. The ghost snorted in disgust.
“So much for that psychic talent of yours,” the ghost said. “What good does it do you? You’re always too late. Now you’ll have to live with the knowledge that you couldn’t save me from the demon, just like you couldn’t save Evelyn.”
“Don’t start with me,” Gwen said. “You’re the one who claimed to be a witch. Shouldn’t you have seen this coming? You knew I was in town. You could have picked up the phone. Except you don’t have a phone, do you? Or anything else in the way of technology.”
“Oh, shit,” Nicole whispered. “Does she really think she’s talking to Louise’s ghost?”
“Something like that,” Judson said. He kept the flashlight aimed at the crystals. “Keep quiet.”
“You want me to shut up?” Nicole was incensed. “She’s the one talking to a dead woman’s ghost.”
“You think that makes her weird?” Judson said. “You’re the one who had an affair with a serial killer.”
“What?” Nicole gasped. “No, no, that’s not right. It can’t be right. Zander couldn’t have been the killer. Gwen’s the one who murdered those people two years ago and now Evelyn and Louise.”
“Quiet, both of you,” Gwen said. “I need to concentrate. What were you doing here, Louise?”
“I knew all about your little problem with seeing ghosts at crime scenes, remember,” the ghost said.
“I remember,” Gwen said.
“Obviously, I came down here to see what was wrong with the electrical panel, but then the demon appeared. I knew that he had come to kill me. I was about to be murdered. I did my best to leave you a message.”
“You managed to open this box of crystals before you died,” Gwen said, looking the scene over.
“The demon didn’t understand that I was trying to leave a message for you.”
“Just like Evelyn did with the photo.” Gwen studied the scene, thinking. “Very few people know about my thing with ghosts.”