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"Well?" Sarah asked the next ered into the small room on the first floor that the pub owner said would serve as our private dining room

"I&039;m still alive, my head is still attached to my body, and no other evil elderly people tried to beat the crap out of ratefully into a chair

"Did you talk to the police yet?"

"Just got off the phone with the, Darla Yes, thank you, coffee and toast And perhaps an egg, and that delicious-looking ood I&039;ll have sorapefruit, if you have one"

The baraveme the requested foodstuffs

"And?" Sarah asked around a rilled to at it

"It&039;s not polite to talk with your mouth full"

She est child

"I talked to the saeant who interviewed us yesterday, and he said they haven&039;t found Theo, nor the two deranged women who attacked me at the s¨¦ance They have an address for Theo, but it&039;s so on it hasn&039;t reported in yet They want us to go in later and look atshots, in case he has an arrest history"

"So basically there are no leads," Sarah said, blowing on her cup of tea

"Exactly Thanks, Darla" I sipped the coffee set before me with pleasure that approached bliss, and wondered if I couldn&039;t just have it ad," Sarah said as she set down her cup

"Good gravy, not that! Shall I alert the newspapers?"

"Oh, ha ha You should be a coaveinto ht"

"If you&039;re going to pick on me because I was beat up by an elderly woood part of o around attacking people"

I rubbed the buers found a particularly tender spot "Granted, but that doesn&039;t change the fact that one did While everyone stood around and let her, I rave "I told you that I couldn&039;tby what happened with the others at the s¨¦ance, I assu applied to them, only they had a mind wipe afterward"

"Mind wipe?" A horrible suspicion occurred toto tellparanormal, are you?"

"Let&039;s look at the facts," Sarah said, ticking iteers "First, to your name and that you are a virtue"

"I a for Darla to serve"A virtue is not a person, it&039;s a concept"

"Yes, but how did they know you would be at that exact spot at that exact time?" Sarah asked, triumph evident in her voice

"Easy" I smeared a little homemade berry jam on my toast and took a bite "They asked the pub owner Or Darla Or the shopkeeper down the road whom you told just about our entire schedule to Any one of those three people kneere going off to that s¨¦ance"

"Yes, but hoould someone knoho to ask, eh?"

I rolled my eyes and chewed my toast

"Second, the women were there to administer the first in who-kno-many trials I&039;m not sure what that&039;s all about, but I knoe&039;ll figure it out sooner or later"

I licked a sht, and since Theoabout trials earlier, it&039;s obvious they are working with him Honestly, Sarah, it&039;s as clear as the noses on both our faces - you&039;re a faazillions of readers all over the world So to be in the area, no doubt frolish publisher, and since youin every out-there theory floating around, he decided to set up an elaborate hoax to sucker you in"

"Suckermulish

I waved the ja to do with o to all the ti people to playact the parts of Hope, Tansy, and the big, horsey Daaret woman"

"You can&039;t tellparanorht!" Sarah&039;s face ht blue light? Or Mystic Bettina and the others having their memories wiped clean? Or the fact that I was held ihts in the ceiling, they were lying, and hypnosis," I said, wiping the cruo? We can swing by the police station first, before we head out to look for the Hound of the Baskervilles"

"It&039;s not the Hound of the Baskervilles, as you very well know The Black Shuck is a ghostly black dog according to local legend, and evidently it&039;s become quite active the last few yearsoh, never mind The Shuck can wait It&039;s not supposed to appear before dark anyway You&039;re being entirely unreasonable about this, Portia The bet aside, I don&039;t understand why you are so unwilling to adhly paranor paranormal has happened," I said with coht She lectured me for the next few hours while we drove out to view a circle of stones known as the Angry Stones We didn&039;t see or hear either the singing reputed to be audible or the h we did have a pleasantly relaxing drive through the country

"This has been a lovely day," I said five hours later as we drove past the area containing the faery circle and headed for the hu into our town "Beautiful countryside, shopping, lunch at a five-hundred-year-old pubit&039;s everything I iined this trip would be"

"It is pretty country, isn&039;t it?"

"Yes" I sighed, reality pressing down on ain "I suppose we should visit the police before dinner and do the h What a way to end such an idyllically norle event had your paranor"

"I never shriek," Sarah said as she rounded the corner before the bridge At the sight of a figure standing se, she slaod in heaven, where did he come from?"

The car skidded to a stop a few feet away froe I narrowed my eyes as theto think the local loony bin Don&039;t just sit there - drive!"

"What? Are you blind? That&039;s Theo!"

"My point exactly Drive!"

"But he obviously wants to say somethiiiii - Portia!"

"Whatever he wants to say, he can say it to a policele so I could keep my foot on the accelerator

"You could have killed him!" Sarah yelled "Get your foot out of the way! I can&039;t drive with your foot like that!"

We whipped past Theo at a faster-than-noreration, he wasn&039;t in any danger of being run over; he&039;d been in the process of walking around to my side of the car, and wasn&039;t anywhere near the front I ignored Sarah&039;s continued deh er position

"If you ever do that again - I swear to god, Portia, sole you! What will Theo think?" We came to an abrupt halt in front of a ss

I unhooked the seat belt and got out of the car, grabbing the replacement purse I&039;d purchased earlier "Sarah, he&039;s a conmore We don&039;t care what he thinks"

"I care" She had a faain, one that warned she was going to do so shots if you want" She put the car in gear and reversed so back and apologize to Theo for your rudeness"

"Sarah! It&039;s not safe for you to see him alone - oh, crapbeans!" I watched with frustration as h the toorried that she would put herself into Theo&039;s power and end up regretting her naive belief that he was not a badmy hands of her, but Sarah was my oldest friend, and I couldn&039;t leave her to the erous man as Theo ISarah despite herself

A short, balding man was at the reception counter, the only other person in the entryway Beyond hiht, and allowed the occupants to see as going on in other sections of the station Two police industriously on their keyboards

"Hello You ," the police around to shake my hand He had a pleasant s back despite my distress "I&039;eant Reading here? She&039;s the one we spoke with yesterday"

Terrin glanced behind him at the people in the other office "Looks like she&039;s stepped out for a bit Shall we get started? This shouldn&039;t take too much of your time"

"I&039;d be happy to, but I&039;ve just seen the one off to talk with him If you hurry, I&039;ht frorinkled his forehead "Who would that be?"

"Theo North You know, the man who assaulted hs, annoyed that he wasn&039;t springing to life to capture Theo "Are you at all faet paid to do So to speak Theo North H a bell, but I can&039;t put a face to it While I&039;et started?"

I stared at the policeoing to stay here and do nothing while er!"