Then the pointer hurriedly spelled out four words. There was a collective gasp. GLAD YOU ARE HERE.
Benjamin did more than scoff. He started to get up to leave, but Jason waved him back down.
“She’ll only appear if we are all here,” he said and looked up directly at Casey again.
She could feel Finn watching her. She knew he was worried about where this was headed. He wasn’t the only one.
“Megan, we’re all here,” Jason said. “How do we know you’re here?”
Silence. It felt heavy against her chest. Maybe this foolishness would—
A cup that had been sitting at the edge of the table suddenly fell. The percussion of it striking the floor and shattering made them all jump. There was a smattering of nervous laughter.
“Megan’s here, all right,” Jason said. “She isn’t going to clean up the mess she made, either.” More laughter.
But Casey didn’t join in. “Casey, come on. Don’t you want to ask her something?” Jason said.
She felt the tension in the room. Her nerves stretched to breaking as she felt Jason waiting for her to say something. And Finn thought Jason had a crush on her? Was he mad?
Walk out. You don’t have to do this.
Only she didn’t move. A dead Megan didn’t scare her. Nor did a live Jason.
“Ask her what she broke of mine,” she said, surprised that her voice sounded normal to her ears. Jason looked startled.
He studied her for a moment and then shrugged. “Why not? I believe you just asked her.”
The planchette began to move. Casey watched it slowly slide around as if not knowing where to go next. She felt some of her tension release. She was pretty sure that only she and Megan knew the answer. She wanted to laugh since it meant Jason didn’t know.
But then the device landed on the B. She caught her breath as she watched it move more quickly now, going to the R, then A, C, E, L, E and T and stop dead.
She could feel all eyes on her, including Finn’s.
“Well?” Jason asked without looking at her.
“It was my bracelet,” she said, confirming that Megan had told Jason about her favorite bracelet and probably a lot more. Megan had admired the bracelet, then had wanted to take a closer look and then had jerked it, breaking the link. She’d said she was sorry, that it was an accident, but it was just another of her lies.
“I’m sure you can fix it,” Megan had said, knowing it wasn’t true. “Or maybe not. It looks cheap. I’m sure you can find another one at a thrift store.”
Megan had known that the bracelet had been given to her by her grandmother and that it wouldn’t have mattered if it had been cheap—which it wasn’t.
Casey had never worn it again. The bracelet was still hidden in the bottom of her jewelry box because she couldn’t part with it, and also, even if fixed, Megan had ruined it.
“It was a bracelet?” Jen asked and then shivered as she removed her fingertips for a moment before putting them back on the pointer.
“Come on,” Benjamin said. “If this isn’t just a toy, ask Megan what we all really want to know. Who killed her?”
Silence. Casey thought she could hear the beating of everyone’s heart in the room. “Who killed you?” Jason asked. The planchette didn’t move. Hardly anyone seemed to be breathing.
Nothing happened.
It was Finn who let out a laugh that startled everyone. The pointer jumped across the board. Jen had to wipe her damp hands on her jeans. Patience pulled back her fingers and took a drink of her beer as if she didn’t want any part of it anymore.
“Wasn’t Megan hit in the back of the head?” Finn asked, clearly aware that was the case. “What if she doesn’t know who killed her?”
Benjamin was staring at him. “You don’t really believe that she’s here, answering our questions, do you?”
He shrugged.
Jason piped up. “She knew about the bracelet. Apparently only she and Casey had known about that.”
“Apparently,” Casey said, meeting his gaze.
“Finn’s right,” Jason said. “Maybe she doesn’t know who killed her.”
“Well, then, that’s just sad,” Benjamin said. “If you’re the killer, wouldn’t you have wanted to look her in the eye when you killed her? I would have. I would have wanted her to know it was me.”
Jason had his fingertips back on the pointer. The second Jen put hers back on, it moved.
Casey watched it. F, then U, then B-E-N. Everyone laughed except Benjamin.
“There must be something else we can ask her,” Jason said.
“Ask her if she’s sorry for the way she treated us,” Shirley said.
Silence again. They waited. The planchette began to move. No.
“At least she’s honest,” Jen said.
“Does she know what a bitch she is?” Benjamin said.
Yes.
The group was growing restless. Jason seemed to sense it. “If you had to guess, who wanted you dead the most?”
Silence. Everyone stared at the board. Then, slowly, almost painfully, the planchette began to slide across the board. B-E-N.
Ben erupted, shooting to his feet in anger. “I’ve had enough.” He stormed out of the kitchen, shoving past Casey and Finn still in the doorway.
“Any more questions?” Jason asked.
“Tell her to show herself,” Patience said, refusing to put her fingers back on the pointer. “No more cup tricks. I want to see her.”
“We’ll give it a try,” Jason said with a shrug. “But since you don’t believe in this... Megan, show yourself.” Nothing happened.
“I’m with Ben,” Finn whispered to Casey. “You ready to go?”
Casey turned on the lights. “I think everyone’s had enough,” she said to Jason.
The atmosphere in the kitchen changed in an instant as the electricity went out, pitching the room into darkness.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
IT TOOK A MOMENT for the backup generator to come on. Finn found himself holding his breath. No one seemed to move. The lights flashed on and off for a few moments before they remained on.
Jason laughed. “Nice one, Megan.”
“Unless you believe that was the storm,”
