by Àìàíäà Êâèê
"This corridor looks just like all the others," she said. "How did you find me the other night?"
"The place reeks of violent energy. That room is the focal point." Owen studied the closed door. "The other night when I came down here I feared that I would be too late."
She knew from the flat, cold way he spoke that if he had found her body in the mirrored chamber, her name would have been added to his personal list of those he had failed.
"But you weren't too late," she said gently.
He did not respond to that. He went toward the door, flattened his back against the ancient wall next to it and motioned for her to do the same.
"In the event we encounter another clockwork guard," he explained. "The stone is our best protection."
He reached out with one gloved hand and opened the door. It was not locked. The heavy iron-and-wood door swung inward slowly. The interior of the room was drenched in darkness. Virginia listened closely. She knew that Owen was doing the same. There was no clank and thump of mechanical claws.
Owen pushed the door wider and moved into the opening. He held the lantern aloft.
"Empty," he said. "No clockwork devices. But someone has recently redecorated."
Virginia looked past him. The bed still stood in the center of the chamber, but it was neatly made up with pristine, crisply ironed linens and a pretty quilt patterned with pink roses. There was no sign of the bloodstained sheets.
"I can understand that the person who removed the body would have taken the bloody sheets," she said. "The killer did not want to leave any evidence of the crime. But why take the time to remake the bed?"
"If whoever stabbed Hollister had no practical means of getting the bed out of this room," Owen said, "he or she might have remade it in an attempt to conceal the bloodstained mattress in the event that someone else discovered this chamber."
Virginia studied the bed. "No, I don't think that was the motivation. That bed was made up with great care and the highest-quality linens. The quilt is beautiful and expensive."
"Hollister was a wealthy man," Owen reminded her. "All the linens in the household are no doubt costly."
"No, not all," she said. "The servants would have had separate, much less expensive bedding. Whoever changed the sheets on this bed used the finest available, the ones that would have been reserved for the master and mistress of the household. In fact, that quilt looks feminine. I suspect it was intended for Lady Hollister's bed."
"An interesting observation," Owen said. He looked intrigued. "It fits with my suspicion that Hollister was murdered by his wife."
"But she is at least half mad," Virginia said.
"Only a madwoman would kill her monstrous husband and then use her own fine linens to make up the deathbed."
Virginia shuddered. "Yes."
Owen walked into the center of the room. Virginia followed, her talent still lowered in an effort to suppress her intuitive reaction to the terrible energy in the chamber. All of her senses were shrieking at her to run. She knew that Owen was aware of the same ghastly currents.
She looked around uneasily. The flaring light of the lantern reflected endlessly off the mirrors, creating walls of cold flames that extended into an infinite darkness.
"It's as if we were standing in some anteroom of hell," she said.
"Yes." Owen turned his attention away from the bed long enough to survey the walls of mirrors. "Which raises the obvious question: Why did Hollister create a room like this? If he was a glasslight-talent, surely he would have found the effects of the reflections disorienting and disturbing."
She met his eyes in the mirrors. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but I'm afraid that there are some talents with an affinity for mirrors who would find this room thrilling to the senses. I suspect Hollister was one of them."
He raised his brows. "Something to do with the stimulating effects of the mirrors, do you mean?"
"Yes." She walked slowly around the room, heightening her senses very cautiously. "Mirrors reflect energy from across the spectrum. Those of us who work glasslight are especially sensitive to that reflected energy. Indeed, one of the difficulties in reading the afterimages in looking glasses is dealing with the reflections. When mirrors are arranged as they are in this chamber, to create an infinity of reflections, the effects can be quite... dramatic."
"When it comes to the laws of para-physics, glass is always unpredictable."
"Trust me, there is no need to remind me of that fact. I have been dealing with glasslight since I turned thirteen."
"Yes, of course. My apologies for the lecture. What do you mean when you say that the effects are dramatic?"
She looked at the endlessly repeating scene in the mirrors. "Some glasslight-talents might find that their powers were enhanced by the reflected energy in this chamber."
The dangerous heat in Owen's eyes burned hotter. "Permanently enhanced?"
"No," she said. "The effects would last only while one was inside the mirrored space. But the sensation could be quite exhilarating, I suppose, at least for some talents. The effects would act like a powerful drug on the senses. And if one were inclined toward some dark obsession, as Hollister obviously was..." She let the sentence fade.
Owen looked thoughtful. "In other words, this chamber would have acted like an intoxicating elixir on Hollister's senses while he committed murder."
"Yes. Once the afterimages were burned into the mirrors, he could come down here to experience them again and again before they began to fade. You told me that some killers return to the scenes of their crimes to savor the energy that is left in the vicinity of the murders. I think the effects of the mirrors in this room would be similar for a murderer who was also a glasslight-talent."
"And when the images did start to dim?"
She swallowed hard. "He was no doubt driven to kill again. Like any drug, he would crave more and more of the stimulation he got from the mirrors."
"Each time he killed, he would have burned yet more layers of afterimages into the looking glasses."
"Yes."
She did not say anything else. There was no need. When she met Owen's eyes again in one of the mirrors, she knew that he understood.
"Raising your talent in this chamber will be like walking into hell," he said.
She sighed. "It is never easy looking into mirrors that have witnessed death. I have seen some terrible things in looking glasses. But this chamber is different."
"Because more than one woman died here?"
"In part, yes." She thought about the first wildly disorienting sensations that had struck her elevated senses like shocks of lightning when she had awakened in the bed next to Hollister's body. "But there is something else involved here, something I do not understand. Perhaps when I start to read the glasslight it will become clear."
Owen came up to stand behind her. He put one powerful hand on her shoulder. "You need not do this, Virginia. I can learn a great deal here on my own."
"Of course I must read these mirrors. We need all the information we can get from this place. But before I begin, tell me what you see in this chamber."
Energy flared when Owen elevated his talent. He looked around slowly, taking in the bed and the table with a measuring expression.
"I didn't have time to take a good look the other night," he said. "But now I see that murder was done in this room, not once but on several occasions." He walked to the bed. "The victims all died here."
"What of the killer?" she asked.
"His energy is all over this chamber, but the darkest currents are concentrated near the bed." Owen frowned. "The majority of the murders were done the old-fashioned way. Hollister strangled his victims. But the three most recent murders were committed by paranormal means."
"He started using the curiosities to kill his victims."
"Yes, I think so." Owen prowled the small space. "There is other strong energy in here besides Hollister's. It is difficult to distinguish from his, but I can see traces of
it clearly, now that I am looking closely. It is the same energy I detected in Mrs. Ratford's house."
"A second killer?"
"Yes. But why does the energy blur with Hollister's?" Owen crouched on the floor, removed one glove and touched the stone. A visible frisson of awareness went through him, and his eyes got a little hotter. "Ah, yes. I understand now."
"What is it?" Virginia asked.
Owen rose to his feet. The energy in the atmosphere around him raised the hairs on the nape of Virginia's neck.
"My aunt assured me Hollister had no close relatives, but I am certain that the second man in this chamber is related by blood to him," Owen said.
"Hollister left no surviving children."
"None that we know of. It does not necessarily follow that he did not leave any offspring."
"Illegitimate offspring," Virginia said quietly. "Yes, that is always a possibility, isn't it?"
Owen glanced at her, curiosity in his eyes. "What are you thinking?"
She forced herself to concentrate. "I am thinking about Lady Hollister."
"What of her?"
"She is a very small woman. In a fever of insane rage she might have been able to kill her husband, but how did she manage to lift him onto the bed? For that matter, how did she get me out of the dead daughter's bedroom and into this chamber?"
"Obviously she had help."
Virginia thought about it. "The companion, perhaps. Or one of the servants." She composed herself and prepared to raise her talent. "Now it is my turn to see if I can add anything more to the evidence that you have discovered."
She summoned her inner control and raised her senses cautiously.
Shadows began to shift in the mirrors. Her pulse beat faster.
"What do you see?" Owen asked.
She took a firm grip on her nerves and rode the waves of energy higher, opening her talent more fully. The dreadful afterimages appeared like dim, moving photographs deep within the glass.
"I see the victims," she whispered. "So many of them. They are all about Becky's age. Some of the afterimages are quite faded. Hollister started murdering in here years ago."
Owen watched her in the looking glass.
"Virginia," he said. "Are you all right?"
She could not answer him. The ghastly afterimages shifted and seethed in the mirrors. The visions transformed the room into a chamber of horrors. The ghostly figures screamed silently and reached out to her as if to pull her into their dark universe behind the looking glasses.
Owen's voice came to her out of the storm.
"Virginia, if you can't handle this, tell me."
Rage spiked through her. She would not allow the monster who had created this chamber to win. She pulled mightily on her control.
And found it.
The afterimages in the mirrors sank back into the glass. She could still see them, but they were no longer inundating her senses.
"I'm all right," she managed. "It was just the initial shock. I thought I was prepared, but I did not realize how many afterimages had been captured in these mirrors. Hollister was truly one of the monsters."
"I regret that he did not come to the attention of my family early on in his career," Owen said. He sounded grim. "That is the problem with monsters. They find it easy to conceal themselves, especially in a large city like London. In the future perhaps Jones Jones will be able to assist us in the hunt."
"Perhaps."
"You do not have a lot of faith in J J, do you?"
"No."
"I would remind you that it was Caleb Jones who sensed that there was a strong possibility that Ratford and Hackett had been murdered by paranormal means. Furthermore, he commissioned me to hunt for the killer even though neither of the victims were members of the Arcane Society."
She made a face. "Very well, I will concede that this new J J appears to be taking an interest in investigating psychical murders outside the Society. But there is no getting around the fact that those in Arcane do not approve of people like me and likely never will. That is not important now, though. There is something else in these mirrors."
"Besides the afterimages, do you mean?"
"Yes. There are faint flames burning deep in these looking glasses, just as there were in the mirror on Mrs. Ratford's dressing table."
"Are you certain?"
"Yes. The fire in these mirrors is weak, but it is perceptible. I think that when the curiosities are used to commit murder they somehow lock energy, not just afterimages, into the glass."
"You said the fire trapped in Mrs. Ratford's mirror was stronger. Why would that be? More people died in this chamber."
"Yes, but those who died here were not glasslight-talents. Mrs. Ratford was. I think that may make all the difference."
"Son of a bitch," Owen said softly. "That's why he is now focusing on victims who are glass-readers."
"Yes, I think so. They provide more of the kind of energy he wants to trap in the mirrors."
"But why does he seek to lock the fire in the glass?" Owen asked.
"I don't know."
"Is there any way to release the flames?"
"The energy seems to be in stasis. I'm not sure if I can ignite it. But even if it is possible, I don't think it would be a good idea. What I see is pure, raw energy. There isn't a lot of it, to be sure. Nevertheless, there is no telling what would happen if I tried to pull it out of the mirrors."
"Enough." He urged her toward the door. "We have our answers. I think we have spent enough time in this miniature hell."
Chapter 18
The hunter in him sensed that he was closing in on his prey. He ought to be feeling the icy-cold rush of energy that always hit toward the end of the hunt, Owen thought. But for some reason he was consumed with an edgy, restless sensation that told him he had left at least one door unopened.
"Owen?" Virginia said. "Is there something wrong?"
He realized he was hurrying her so swiftly along the stone passage that she was obliged to hold her skirts up almost to her knees and trot briskly to keep up with him.
"Sorry," he muttered. He forced himself to slow to a rapid walk. "I am eager to get you out of here."
"I appreciate that. I assure you I have no desire to linger. But I have the impression that you are not satisfied with what we learned in that chamber. At least we have some clue to the identity of the man who murdered Mrs. Ratford and Mrs. Hackett. We know that he is a blood relative of Hollister's."
"That information is useful," he agreed. "I will ask my aunt to pursue her genealogical research."
"You are concerned about the fire that is trapped in the mirrors, aren't you?"
"Yes. Hollister was an out-and-out killer. He raped his victims, and then he murdered them. That was all he cared about. But there is something different about the second man. He does not assault his victims physically before he kills them."
"I see what you mean." Virginia sounded thoughtful.
"It is almost as if he has been conducting experiments."
"To what purpose?"
"To trap fire in mirrors, or so it appears. There is much more to this affair than meets the eye, Virginia."
"Lady Hollister might be able to tell us something useful, but she really is quite insane, Owen."
He turned another corner and saw an ancient wood-and-iron door set into the wall of the tunnel. He stopped abruptly. So did Virginia.
"Lady Hollister," he said softly.
"Surely you are not going to pursue her? Speaking personally, I am grateful that she murdered her husband."
"She certainly did the world a favor." He contemplated the door. "But I am curious about how she came and went from the scene of the murder."
Virginia looked at the door. "Do you think that leads to the mansion?"
"Yes. The lock on it is new."
He took the pick out of his pocket and set to work. "The house is empty. We may as well search the premises while we are here."
"That could tak
e hours, even days. It is a very big house, Owen. What do you hope to find?"
"I don't know. I never do until I see it."
When he got the door open they found themselves in an empty basement room. A well-worn trail of footprints cut through the decades of dust and grime that covered the stone floor.
"Someone came this way often over the years," Virginia said.
He angled the lantern and crouched to view the footprints. "It is impossible to make out individual tracks because there are so many of them, but most appear to have been left by a man."
"Hollister."
"No doubt. I see the prints of a woman's shoes, as well. More than one woman, to be precise. Whoever they were, they came through here recently."
"Lady Hollister and the servant who helped her carry me down here, perhaps."
"No doubt." He straightened and aimed the lantern at the flight of steps at the far end of the room. "Let us see where that leads."
They climbed the steps. The door at the top opened onto a darkened library. When they emerged into the room Owen saw that the opening they had come through was concealed as a section of bookshelves.
"A house of secrets," Virginia said. "But obviously Lady Hollister knew at least some of those secrets."
Owen set the lantern on the desk and began opening and closing drawers. "Others may have known them as well. Lady Hollister's companion, for example. Or some of the servants."
"I do not recall seeing any servants other than the housekeeper when I arrived. There must have been a couple of daily maids and a gardener, at the very least. One simply cannot run a household this size without staff. But I can't believe that they would have remained silent if they had suspected what was going on down in that chamber."
"By all accounts this was a rather eccentric household." He closed one drawer and opened another. "If most of the staff came in daily and did not live on the premises, it's possible that they never knew about their employer's unpleasant hobby down in the basement."
Virginia came toward him. Her shoes made no sound on the expensive carpet. "Are you searching for anything in particular?"
