Delia's Shadow (20 page)

The curtain was still drawn back in the room Isadora had chosen. She sat with her back to the wall and directly in front of the door, taking deep drags on her cigarette and blowing clouds of smoke toward the ceiling. Rhinestones glittered on the bright blue cloche covering her blond bob. The matching blue dress she wore was simple and not near as flamboyant as the outfit I’d seen her in last, but fortune-telling called for a certain dramatic flair. Supper at the Stone Rose was a more sedate occasion.

Her eyes narrowed as we drew closer, no doubt watching Shadow trail behind me. The sense she was good at what she did and not a sham was stronger than the first time we’d met. Dora saw ghosts differently, but her world still teemed with spirits. We had that curse in common and I trusted her as a result. If anyone could help me pry secrets from my ghost, Isadora Bobet could.

“Dora! You look stunning in that outfit.” Sadie spread her arms wide, folding Isadora into a hug and kissing her cheek. The way Dora held the cigarette out of the way showed long practice with Sadie’s greetings. “You picked the perfect place for all of us to have supper. The boys should be here soon. Jack promised they’d arrive on time even if he had to drag Gabe out of his office. Is Daniel joining us?”

“No, he stayed home to lavish attention on the bird. Tom-Tom’s been languishing in his cage while we work the fair and Daniel feels guilty. He’s afraid the silly creature will start plucking his breast feathers again out of spite.” Dora turned to me with an apologetic smile. “We have a parrot. The wretched bird is nothing but trouble, but Daniel adores him.”

Sadie took the chair next to Dora. The two of them traded gossip about friends they held in common, none of whom I knew. I listened to distract myself, amused at the shocked tone in Dora’s voice as Sadie related some minor social scandal. The waiter circled the table, filling water goblets and laying menus out at each place. He kept his head down, but his eyes seldom left Sadie.

Dora exchanged looks with me, rolling her eyes as if to say “another one,” and picked up talking to Sadie without missing a word. I choked back a laugh. She really was Sadie’s friend.

The waiter left and I went back to silently rehearsing what I’d say. This supper meeting was my idea. Now I found myself growing nervous. Sadie didn’t know about Esther’s ghosts and recounting the last nightmare to Dora was necessary, but wouldn’t be pleasant. I wanted the hard parts over, including asking Isadora for help. That might prove to be the most difficult task of all.

My back was to the door, but the way Sadie’s face lit up let me know Jack had arrived. I took a sip of water and fiddled with the napkin spread over my lap, all so I wouldn’t turn too quickly to see if Gabe had accepted the invitation for supper.

How relieved I was to see him following Jack was complete foolishness. We’d spent every evening together for the last two weeks, but supper tonight was entirely different circumstances. I’d a right to be nervous.

Sadie stood to greet Jack, the embrace she gave him far different than how she’d hugged Isadora. Jack brushed fingers lightly over Sadie’s cheek before sitting next to her. They clung to each other more now then when I’d first come home, touched and held hands more often.

We’d talked after Gabe put guards on the house and I knew how frightened Sadie was something might happen to Jack. This wasn’t a normal case. The danger was always in the back of her mind, as it was in mine. Late at night, when the house was quiet and outside sounds were dulled by fog or distance, I thought of little else. The fear something might happen to Gabe stopped me from getting closer, I knew that. Knowing made me angry.

Gabe took off his coat for the waiter to hang up and smiled. “Good evening, Delia, Sadie. Jack says I have both of you to thank for inviting me.”

Sadie beamed and leaned forward. “Inviting everyone to supper tonight was Delia’s idea. She has something very mysterious she wants to discuss with all of us. I couldn’t pry the secret out of her.”

Dora extended a hand to Gabe and gave him a lascivious smile. “Lieutenant Ryan, how lovely to see you again. I’m so glad you could join us.”

She meant for him to kiss her hand, but Gabe barely touched her fingers. Even so, I saw a blue spark snap between them. Dora winced and Gabe drew his hand back sharply. “Good evening, Dora. I thought we’d established last time that shaking hands wasn’t a good idea.”

Isadora pouted, sticking out her bottom lip almost as prettily as Sadie. “I’d hoped that was a fluke, Gabe. I guess I’ll have to concede the field.”

Gabe ignored her and took his seat. He turned to me, smiling and openly curious. “Should we hear what you have to say or order first? This meeting was your idea and it only seems fair to let you decide.”

I knew Gabe well enough now to guess he meant to put me at ease. It didn’t work. Blushing wouldn’t kill me, but being the center of attention felt odd and slightly uncomfortable. “Ordering first might be best. And perhaps we should ask the kitchen to delay sending the food out. This isn’t a conversation I want to have while eating.”

Dora ground her cigarette into the pot of sand behind her. Her teasing manner dissipated with the last of the smoke curling around her head. “How much of this concerns the ghost? You call her Shadow if I recall.”

Shadow appeared behind Sadie and Jack, standing so that I was forced to look into her eyes. “Almost all of what I have to say concerns Shadow.”

“Do you want me to send her away, even temporarily? I can do that before you start if you find it easier.” Isadora reached across Gabe and pulled my chin around, forcing me to look at her and not the ghost. “Look at me when you answer, Delia. You still let her too far inside.”

“No, I don’t want her sent away. Shadow’s part of this.” Dora dropped her hand and sat back in her chair, arms crossed over her chest. I met Shadow’s stare again, certain I saw relief in her eyes. “I need your help to let her inside without losing myself in her memories. She knows who the killer is. I have to find a way that she can tell me.”

Sadie clutched Jack’s hand, worry for me stealing the light from her eyes and the color from her face. My guilt grew, knowing I had sadder things for her to hear. “Are you sure that’s wise, Dee? Dora seems to feel it’s dangerous.”

“It is dangerous. Once you let a ghost in getting them to leave again can be dicey.” Isadora pawed through her handbag, coming up with a tortoiseshell cigarette case and a box of matches. She lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply. “Ghosts aren’t known for being truthful, Delia, especially ghosts that manifest as strongly as Shadow. I agree she wants something, but I’m not sure that what she wants is to find a murderer. There’s more to it, I can feel it.”

“Shadow’s trying to protect someone. I’ve sensed that for a long while.” I broke away from Shadow and looked Dora in the eye. “Until Jack and Gabe find this killer, that person is in danger. So are we.”

Gabe reached for my hand and threaded his fingers with mine, earning a raised eyebrow from Dora. Then he took my side. “Give Delia a chance to tell you everything before you make up your mind. She’s already learned important information about this case from Shadow. I didn’t want any of this made public, but this isn’t an ordinary investigation. If she thinks telling you will help us catch this killer, I’m inclined to trust her judgment. All I ask is that this doesn’t go any further than the five of us.”

Jack kissed Sadie’s hand and let go to tug a notebook and chewed pencil out of his pocket. He flipped through to a blank page, wrote the date at the top and then my name. Witness notes. “Gabe’s right. Listen to her, Dora.”

“Well, well … two champions. I feel properly put in my place.” Dora laughed and sat back in her chair, cigarette hand out to the side and the other arm folded over her stomach. “Obviously I’ve missed things while shut up in that stuffy tent at the Pan Pacific. Summon the waiter, Jack. We’ll order and get on with this.”

Ordering only took a few moments. Dora asked the waiter to close the curtain over the entrance, giving us privacy. She leaned forward and squinted at me, seeing more than what was on the surface. “Go ahead, Delia. I’m listening.”

Some of the story I’d told that first night at the fair, but I started at the beginning, afraid I’d leave something out. Building my case and convincing Isadora to help me was important. I told her about all the dreams, starting with the first few in New York where all Shadow did was lead me down dark streets. Detailing the first nightmare was difficult, relating the second one had me struggling to stay calm enough to speak. Even with Gabe holding my hand, I felt the weight of Shadow’s underground prison pressing in, cold and dark.

Jack scribbled down everything, even what I was sure he already knew. Gabe explained about the hieroglyphics the killer used as a signature and how I’d helped him discover what they meant. Dora frowned, but didn’t interrupt.

Then it was time to tell about Esther’s ghosts, Teddy and Beryl, and what Teddy told her about Shadow. That was most difficult, worse than describing Shadow’s injuries. I tried not to see Jack wince or how Sadie leaned against him with her eyes closed. She’d heard her mother talking to herself as had Annie, but not known what it meant. I hoped Sadie would forgive me for keeping that from her until now.

I’d felt certain Isadora would believe me, she knew much more about spirits than I did. But I’d had doubts about the others. Their expressions reassured me I needn’t have worried.

Dora had worked through two cigarettes and had started a third by the time I’d finished. She slumped back in her chair, mouth pulled into a thin line. “I’ll concede that you’re probably right and Shadow has a connection to the killings. She was a victim and would want her killer brought to justice. But everything you’ve told me has been planted in your mind or in Esther’s mind by a ghost. I’m not convinced Shadow isn’t looking to live her life again through you. Even to extract revenge by using you if she can. That’s very dangerous, Delia.”

A stiff breeze swirled through the dining room, guttering candles and fluttering the brocade curtain across the entrance. Anger built in the room, a storm centered on Isadora. She sat up straight and snapped commands at Shadow, a note in her voice I’d never heard before. “No, not this time. Hear me now, spirit. Stop immediately or I will banish you. I’m not as kind-hearted as Delia nor as willing to believe.”

The wind died instantly. Shadow hovered behind Jack’s shoulder, green eyes staring into mine and imploring me for help. “Show her,” I whispered. “Dora isn’t the enemy. Show her and make her believe.”

Isadora watched warily as the ghost drifted closer. Pins worked loose from Shadow’s neat plaits, sending hair straggling into her face. All the punishment she’d taken at the murderer’s hands, the bruises, the split and swollen lip came into view. Dora flinched as Shadow held up her broken hand, flinched again at the festering animal bites that appeared on the ghost’s arms and neck. I’d seen what he’d done to her before, but I forced myself not to turn away. Anger at how she’d suffered gave me more resolve.

Shadow looked more solid, more real with each second. Sadie gasped and buried her face in Jack’s shoulder. Gabe scowled and swore under his breath, gripping my hand tighter. They saw the ghost now, too.

Jack held Sadie and watched the rest of us, perplexed and confused at our reactions. He couldn’t see Shadow, that was obvious, but I didn’t understand why. Dora noticed as well. She studied Jack’s face and frowned before turning her full attention to the ghost.

The small dining room grew cold, chilled to the point of being able to see my breath and shivers rippling through me. Gabe put an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. Other spirits shimmered into view behind Shadow: young men from the docks and older women who might be storekeeper’s wives, or housekeepers from well-to-do neighborhoods. All were dressed in old-style clothing, beaten or wounded in different ways. I knew them to be more lost souls, victims of the killer never found by the police or their families.

More than a dozen spirits filled the corner of the room when Shadow stepped forward. She changed again as we watched. Mud flaked off her blue skirt, bruises faded, and the filthy white blouse became clean again. Shadow put a hand over her heart and stared into Dora’s eyes.

A spot of blood showed under her fingers, small at first, but spread until the front of the white blouse was stained crimson. Blood seeped between the ghost’s fingers and fat drops wept onto the floor. Shadow pulled her hand away, staring at the blood smeared on her palm and dripping down her skirt as if surprised.

She stretched a bloody hand toward Isadora and whispered, “Help them … please help them.”

A gust of wind fluttered the heavy curtain over the entrance and blew out the candles on the wall. The ghosts vanished.

We sat in silence for a moment, wisps of smoke curling toward the ceiling from blown out candles. Sadie was pale and trembling, but she wouldn’t cry. Not here, not yet. Jack helped her to stand. “I’m taking her outside for air. I’ll send the waiter in to relight the candles.”

Isadora stared as they pushed through the curtain into the main room. “Well, well … I wonder.” She looked pensive, but I’d no way to know what she was thinking and Dora wouldn’t speak until she was ready. That was fine. Sorting my own thoughts and emotions was difficult enough.

“God Almighty.” Gabe squeezed my shoulders. “You told me, but I didn’t know, Delia. I couldn’t see before. I didn’t know and I’m sorry.”

Dora drummed long fingernails on the tabletop. “None of us knew, only Delia. The question now is what to do about this ghost.”

My hopes plummeted. “You’re not going to help.”

“Don’t be silly. I can’t leave you at the mercy of a spirit that strong and determined.” Isadora lit another cigarette, took one long drag, and let it dangle from her hand. “But I need to think. Once supper is over we can all adjourn to my house. Your ghost won’t be able to manifest and bring her friends along inside my walls.”

Gabe traded looks with me. He lifted his arm off my shoulders and took my hand again. “What do you have in mind?”