Renie slipped something onto her tongue. She picked up the glass and swallowed. “Ahh!”
Judith, leaning on the bar, smiled at the lad. “Now she’ll be able to use her good eye on a limited basis. Thanks. What’s your name?”
“Ian,” he replied, still looking nervous.
“What kind of party? A wedding? A birthday?” Judith asked.
Ian shook his head.
Judith clasped her hands in front of her and gazed up into the beamed ceiling. “Most mysterious. How about a seance?”
Ian’s jaw dropped. “How’d you know?”
Judith did her best to hide her surprise, while Renie broke out into a choking fit. “I have my ways,” Judith said blithely, whacking Renie on the back several times. “Actually, I’m a medium.”
“Actually, she’s a large,” Renie gasped. “Stop hitting me!”
Ian looked justifiably confused. “You’re here for the seance?”
“Only as an observer,” Judith said, reluctantly taking fifty pounds from her wallet and placing it in front of Ian. “Where should I be?”
“Uh…I’m not sure,” Ian replied, timorously accepting the bribe. “I’ll check.” He disappeared through a hallway at the end of the bar.
Renie had stopped coughing. “You ever try to swallow a breath mint whole?” she demanded of Judith. “That’s why I choked. I wasn’t going to waste a real pill on your latest nutty masquerade. And how did you make that wild guess about a seance?”
“Hypocrite,” Judith chided. “Who played a witch, then claimed to be a seer? As for the seance…” She shrugged. “It just popped into my head. I figured it’s a gathering of Blackwell’s bigwigs. Chuckie’s death may have triggered a reaction, which is why Seumas rushed off after he got that call at Patrick’s. Maybe they use a seance as a cover. I bet Jocko and Seumas and Will are here. Jimmy Blackwell, too.”
“Then Jimmy didn’t leave the country,” Renie remarked.
“Probably not,” Judith said. “The Inverness cops had time to stop him. Remember the animals Seumas mentioned on the phone? The Eagle has flown—Patrick? The Jackal is trapped—Jimmy, stuck in Scotland? I’m not sure who the Leopard is, though.”
Ian reappeared from the back of the pub. “They’re in the office,” he said. “There’s a peephole in the storage room next door. I’ll show you.”
The cousins followed Ian down the hall to the first door on the right. A single bulb dangled from the ceiling. There was just enough room to move single-file between the supplies that lined the walls.
“Here,” Ian whispered, pointing to a small space between cartons of crisps, paper napkins, and glassware. “Sort of a bird’s-eye view.”
“That’ll do,” Judith said. “They mustn’t know I’m observing. It could break the spell.”
“Got it. I’ll leave now.” Ian squeezed past Judith and Renie.
Judith leaned into the peephole area. “Darn. I can’t see much.”
“Who can?” Renie said with a martyred air.
Judith focused on the back of a man’s head. “Seumas, but not Jocko,” she murmured. “No Jimmy, either.” The third man turned slightly. “Will Fleming.”
“Will?” Renie frowned. “Who else?”
Judith wished she had a wider view of the darkened room. “They’re at a table…four of them…Kate and another woman.”
“Who’s the medium?”
“Nobody’s talking. They’re just sitting, holding hands.”
A moment later a woman’s high voice spoke in a slow, drifting sort of tone: “What to do? What was Harry going to do? Answer, Eanruig.”
“Earwig?” said Renie, trying to lean closer to the peephole.
Judith shook her head. “Kate’s late husband.”
“I must know how to act,” Kate begged. “Please, Eanruig, speak!”
A long pause followed, broken by Seumas’s impatient voice. “This isn’t working. May I suggest common sense?”
“No!” Kate snapped. “Eanruig will tell us. He never rushed into business decisions. I insist on more time to reach him!”
“Nonsense!” Seumas snarled.
“Oooh…” The woman whose face Judith couldn’t see was groaning.
Renie stared at Judith. “What? It sounds Italian.”
Judith nodded. “It’s the woman with her head down.”
“No!” Kate cried. “We want no intruder! Eanruig, speak to me!”
