The Spirit Murder Mystery by Robin Forsythe Page A

an air of resolution about her whole bearing. That fortitude was shaken considerably by the rector’s words of sympathy and condolence, and tears rose to her eyes in spite of her determined effort to suppress them. She soon recovered her composure, however, and, treating the rector as a trusted friend, she briefly narrated everything that had occurred at Old Hall Farm, pertinent to the disaster which had overtaken her relative.
    Vereker had been introduced to her as the well- known artist and amateur detective, and during her narration, she almost unconsciously addressed herself to him, as if desirous of helping him in every way in his task of investigating the case. On mentioning the subject of the spirit manifestation which she believed to have occurred on the night previous to her uncle’s disappearance, she was particularly pleased at Vereker’s very patient hearing and sympathetic questions about the details of that singular experiment; the more so, because the Rev. Sturgeon clearly showed his strong disapproval.
    â€œI warned you, Eileen, to have nothing to do with this cult of spiritualism. It’s a very dangerous cult in my opinion,” he had interrupted.
    A little later, she departed for Cobbler’s Corner, escorted by the Rev. Sturgeon, after giving Vereker a very cordial invitation to call on her at Old Hall Farm at any time, should he wish to consult her about any-thing connected with the mysterious tragedy. Thanking her sincerely, and congratulating himself on his ability to attain access to Old Hall Farm and probe further into Miss Thurlow’s strange story of the spirit manifestation, Vereker took his departure and returned to his rooms at “The Walnut Tree.”
    To say that he was beginning to be interested in the new case that had so unexpectedly thrust itself upon him, would be to understate the effect that it had on his restlessly inquisitive mind. He was filled with an excitement which manifested itself in the rapid and preoccupied manner in which he paced up and down his sitting-room in the inn, when alone and surveying the various details already known to him.
    His thoughts reverted to Miss Eileen Thurlow. Susceptible, as an artist, to feminine beauty, he admitted to himself that she was a very attractive young woman. Apart from her physical charms, there was something very engaging in the distinction and frankness of her mind. From fear of the general ridicule which any reference to the supernatural arouses in matter-of-fact, ordinary people, she might have been excused if she had omitted to mention the subject of the experiment in spiritualism which had prefaced the unaccountable disappearance of her uncle. She had described it very clearly and courageously in her determination to be explicit and comprehensive. On this controversial topic Vereker was very much in sympathy with her. He had always been interested in occult phenomena, and had gradually passed from a state of obstinate scepticism thereof to an admission of agnosticism. Lack of conversion, his spiritualistic friends had often assured him, was due to his habit of weighing evidence from a purely material point of view and to his almost hostile inquisitiveness. These characteristics had rendered him an unfavourable participant in any séance, and had led him eventually to drop his investigations into the phenomena altogether. The sudden resurgence of the subject of spirit manifestation in connection with a case of murder at once revived all his interest, and he felt that he was on the fringe of one of the most exciting experiences of his career.
    He recalled to his mind the appearance of many of the mediums whose stances he had attended, and at once recognized the peculiar mystical aspect of Eileen Thurlow’s eyes. They were to him a distinctive feature of the genuine psychic. However ordinary the general appearance and deportment of the mediums he had encountered, they had invariably possessed that