Night Beat

Chapter Twelve: The Medium is Rare

"How do we get in?" an irritated Velma repeated. They had spent fifteen minutes looking over every inch of the wall with no success. "I wish Daphne were here, she would fall through a trap door or bump into something that would open that wall."

"Well...she's not here. It's time we got back anyway" Phillipe started walking toward the van.

Scooby had had enough of the dark and the van looked inviting; he trotted in front of Velma and Phillipe. Scooby had just reached the van when a noise made Velma and Phillipe turn around to see the wall separate; one section sliding behind the other.

"How did you do that?" Phillipe asked as he and Velma stared at a green pickup. The off side fender had been removed and set aside.

"I didn't do it...Scooby did" Velma's voice faltered then quickly recovered, "And I think I know how." She began to look closely at the area in front of the van. "Yes! Here it is...an electric eye. We stopped the van too soon; the truck passes through the eye, the door opens, the truck drives in. There must be a way to close the 'door' or maybe it has to be done manually from inside."

"Why didn't we trip the eye before?" Phillipe wondered.

"We walked to the side of the road...we walked around it" Velma explained. "Scooby, you deserve a Scooby Snack!"

"Ronly Rone?"

Velma laughed, "Okay, two Scooby Snacks."

"Can you close it? We need to get back as soon as possible before I'm missed."

Velma passed her hand through the eye and they heard the sound of the wall as it slid back into place.

-------Xxxxxx

Daphne had never intended to make Fred jealous of course but a little flirting with your husband wouldn't hurt. What Daphne was feeling was relief; she dared not show too much interest in Fred or Shaggy for fear of exposing their cover but she was glad they were here. Maybe Fred had been right about the gang splitting up; maybe she had underestimated the task of dealing with a ghost alone.

She realized what had been bothering her since coming into the ball room. No, make that since coming into White Haven. There was an apprehension you could feel that sucked the vitality out of any attempts at gaiety. As if a great weight was pressing down on everything. Even the purple, green and gold decorations seemed to lose their color under the pall.

What she needed to do now was focus on the task at hand. And staying away from Abigail and Bernard Willoughby. The task now was to wait. She checked her watch, 11:00, one more hour to go. If she was right, midnight would be the beginning of the end of this mystery.

"May I have this dance?" she looked into the face of a young men from earlier. Well, she did have an hour to kill. "I'd be delighted" she responded courteously.

----------Xxxxxx

The palm readings, the easiest of a medium's prestige was over.11:00. One more hour before the séance then the night would be over! Madam Sonia leaned back, relaxed and watched the last sheep leave, closing the door that gave Sonia (not Madam Sonia now that the door was closed) some privacy. As agreed upon she and her helpers would have one hour between the palm readings and the séance to "get in the right frame of mind". Actually, the hour would be spent setting the stage for the séance.

Time passed. At ten minutes to twelve Bernard stuck his head in to see if everything was in order. Sonia assured him everything was in readiness. At midnight the pocket door was slid back, creating one large room.

"As promised...ladies and gentlemen, Madam Sonia" Bernard announced.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Madam Sonia. I have the gift to call forth those who have passed through the curtain we call death. To do so I must insist on absolute quiet." She spoke over the rustle of expensive silks and the noise of many people crowding as close as possible to the seated medium. The noise abated until only a few whispers and twittering could be heard.

"There is nothing to be afraid of, I can assure you. Who would like to be first?"

Little did she know just how wrong she was.

Daphne had worked her way along the wall, toward the front of the crowd. Getting here was one thing; what would happen now was anybodies guess. Several women had taken their turn amid table knocking, flashing lights and the whole show put on by Madam Sonia and company.

"How about letting our newcomer have a turn. Ms. Jones, do you have a question for Madam Sonia?"

Daphne looked over the crowd in hopes of spotting the speaker, the answer to her prayers. She had been wondering when and how she would get a turn. George beamed back at her.

'George I might give you that second dance after all, along with a kiss' she thought. Smiling she made her way forward to stand in front of Madam Sonia's table."Yes, I have a question for my dear departed cousin" she stated simply.

"What is the name of your cousin that has passed on?" Madam Sonia asked in her best trance like voice. 'Let the fireworks begin' thought Daphne.

"Mary Louise LeBlake Willoughby."

Gasps ran through the crowd at the name. Mutterings that there hadn't been leBlakes around this part of the country in decades or maybe longer could be heard as the crowd took a collective step backwards.

This was bad enough but then the table began to shake, bounce and float into the air, spinning around in circles before it crashed to the floor in front of Madam Sonia with its legs sticking up in the air like a tortoise on its back.

"I AM HERE!" cried out a disembodied voice. Madam Sonia did what any good medium would do in similar circumstances...she fainted. Several couples that had seen the table come crashing down remembered a dental appointment (their dentist kept some weird hours) and began making their way toward the exit.

"AAAAAAEEEEEEEEEE!" screamed the voice; a head and body appeared and began to circle over the heads of the crowd. Pandemonium broke out and everyone except Daphne ran for the exit door.

Those in the back were pushed backwards, some lost their footing and were knocked off their feet, being nearly trampled in the process.

"I'll bet Daphne has something to do with this" Velma spoke, watching people pouring out of White Haven running to their cars.

"No bet" Phillipe cringed as several cars barely missed hitting the van sitting back in a darkened corner.

Meanwhile, Daphne stood firm as the apparition slowed then stopped its circling the room; it came to float in front of Daphne.

"What do you want?" it asked.

"I've heard about turning the tables but the question is: What do you want?" Daphne answered with a question of her own.

"I can't rest until I find justice for my beloved Alexander" it shrieked.

"I have a plan" Daphne quietly stated. She began to outline a plan.

"What happened?" Madam Sonia regained consciousness.

"Oh, nothing much" Daphne supplied an answer as she helped Sonia up and together they walked out of the empty room.