Quicksilver by Amanda Quick

truth?” he asked.
    “I did not name Hollister as the killer. After all, I had no proof to offer. A woman in my position must be very careful with her words in a situation like that. The thing is, I do not see the afterimages of the murderers, only those of the dead. The visions tell me a great deal, but they do not provide all of the answers. It was possible that another close family member was the killer, an uncle or a grandfather, perhaps.”
    “But you did tell Lady Hollister that the person who had murdered her daughter was someone the girl knew and feared.”
    “Yes.”
    “How did she respond?”
    Virginia’s brows came together in a troubled frown. “I’m not entirely certain. That is where my memory of the night starts to blur. I think she may have left the room without speaking, but I cannot be positive. After that, everything is a blank until I woke up in that mirrored chamber.”
    “You were drugged.”
    “That is the only explanation,” Virginia agreed. “But by whom? Lady Hollister? Why would she do that?”
    “You told her a truth she did not want to hear. You said yourself she was clearly unbalanced.”
    “We know Hollister used chloroform on Becky so it may have been on the premises, but I’m sure I would have recalled the smell or at least a struggle.”
    “I’m told one does not always remember the odor, but I think in this case, it’s more likely that the drug was in the tea.”
    “In which case Lady Hollister intended to drug me even before she knew what I would see in the looking glass,” Virginia said. “But again, why?”
    “We do not yet have the answers, but we will get them.”
    Virginia turned away from the window. “ ‘We,’ Mr. Sweetwater?”
    “I cannot conduct this hunt—” He stopped and cleared his throat. “I mean this investigation, without your assistance.”
    She went back to her desk and sat down. “You seem very eager to help me, Mr. Sweetwater. I suspect that is because you believe that I am the key to solving the case for your client.”
    “You are a very suspicious woman, Miss Dean. Is it not barely possible that my client wishes to protect you and other potential victims of the glass-reader killer?”
    “It is highly unlikely that Arcane has any interest in protecting practitioners like myself.”
    “Well, as it happens, I am the one requesting your assistance, not J & J. You will be dealing with me, not Arcane.”
    “Is there a difference?”
    “Oh, yes,” he said very softly. “A vast difference. I am no more a member of Arcane than you are. As I told you, J & J is a client.”
    “No offense, sir, but I trust you will understand that I know less about you than I know about Arcane or J & J.”
    He smiled. “By the time this affair is concluded, we will know each other very well, Miss Dean. Meanwhile, I give you my word that I am not going to ruin your career, nor will I allow J & J to do so.”
    “Hmm.”
    “You do not believe me?”
    “I’m not sure what to believe,” she said. “There is the matter of your reputation. Only last week you exposed another medium in the press.”
    “I admit that I did expose a couple of mediums in order to establish my credentials as a legitimate researcher,” he said. “I can see that it was not the wisest course of action, because now you do not trust me. If it matters, I can tell you that I chose the two mediums because practitioners who claim to speak to the dead annoy me far more than those who pretend to levitate or read minds.”
    “Why is that?”
    “The levitators and mind readers are harmless entertainers, for the most part. They are guilty only of parlor tricks. But the mediums practice a cruel deception.”
    She drummed the fingers of one hand on the desk. “As it happens, I agree with you. Nevertheless, that does not give you the right to interfere in the business affairs of others who are merely trying to make an honest living. Well, mostly honest.”
    “Believe me, exposing