Wait Until Midnight Read Free

the wingback chair in front of the hearth. "I see I have interrupted your morning correspondence. Again, my apologies."
    "Think nothing of it, sir." She gave him her most reassuring smile. "I am merely making a few notes to remind myself of some small details that must be attended to later"
    "I see"
    Grove's hair was just right for Edmund Drake, too, she thought. It was of a hue that was very nearly black with the merest smattering of silver at the temples. It was cut short and brushed close to his head. He had not succumbed to the current rage for mustaches and short beards, but she could see the hint of a dark shadow on the hard planes and angles of his face. She realized that he had not shaved that morning. How odd.
    Edmund Drake's clothing and hairstyle were not the only things that would have to be changed in order to make the character more ominous. She saw at once that she had erred when she had decided to portray him as handsome. It was quite clear to her now that his features should have the same chillingly ascetic lines that marked Adam Grove's face. Indeed, Drake must become a man who had been shaped by the hot, refining fires of a harsh and murky past.
    She jotted down the words Fierce features.
    From where he sat Adam Grove could not possibly see across the ornately carved back of the rococo-style desktop to discern what she had written but she sensed that he was observing her. She paused and looked up with a bright smile.
    And immediately froze when she saw that impatience and cold intelligence had made dark green mirrors of his eyes.
    Very carefully and again without looking down she scrawled the words Eyes like emeralds. Glow in dark?
    "More notes to yourself, Mrs. Fordyce?" The slight twist of his mouth lacked all traces of politesse.
    "Yes. My apologies." Hastily she put down the pen.
    Now that he was sitting in stronger light, she could see the lines of a grim weariness that bracketed his mouth and etched the corners of his eyes. The day was still quite young. What could account for that subtle air of exhaustion?
    "Would you care for a cup of tea?" she asked gently.
    He looked somewhat surprised by the offer. "No, thank you. I do not intend to stay long"
    "I see. Perhaps you should tell me precisely why you are here, sir."
    "Very well." He paused, ensuring that he had her full attention. "I believe you were acquainted with a woman named Elizabeth Delmont?"
    For an instant her mind went blank. Then the name registered.
    "The medium in Hamsey Street ?" she asked.
    "Yes."
    She sat back in her chair. Of all the subjects he might have raised, this was the last one she would have expected. Although it seemed that the entire country was caught up in a tremendous fascination with séances, mediums and the study of psychical powers, she simply could not imagine a gentleman of Adam Grove's temperament taking a serious interest in such matters.
    "I have met her, yes," she said slowly. "As it happens, I attended a séance at Mrs. Delmont ' s house last night together with my aunts" She hesitated. "Why do you ask?"
    "Elizabeth Delmont is dead."
    Stunned, she merely stared at him for a few seconds. "I beg your pardon?"
    "Murdered sometime after the séance ended last night," he added, much too calmly.
    "Murdered." She swallowed hard. "Are you quite certain?"
    "I found the body myself shortly after two this morning"
    "You found the body?" It took her an instant to recover from that unnerving announcement. "I don't understand"
    "Someone used a poker to crush her skull"
    Ice formed in her stomach. It occurred to her that the decision to entertain a mysterious gentleman who claimed to have discovered a murdered woman might not prove to be one of her sounder notions. She glanced at the bellpull that hung beside the desk. Perhaps she should summon Mrs. Plummer.
    But even as she started to reach surreptitiously for the rope to alert the housekeeper, she found herself succumbing to her greatest vice, curiosity.
    "May I ask why