Evermore (Emily Chambers Spirit Medium Trilogy #3)(41)

George held up his hand for silence. "How about the very beginning, Mrs. Stanley?"

She drew a breath and let it out slowly. "That Mrs. White is behind it all. Her real name is Seymour. Her son killed himself and she blames your spirit friend for his death."

"Which is absurd," I said. "It had nothing to do with Jacob."

She shrugged. "Blunt is in love with her and she knows it. She is pulling his strings like a puppeteer. She made him get as much information about Otherworld matters from Mr. Price that he could and pass it along to her."

"So it was they who released the demon and were behind the summoning of Mortlock?" I asked.

She lifted that strong witchy chin and pointed it at me. "Yes. And now they are cursing the Otherworld, trying to destroy it and your friend in particular."

"With a curse they got from Mr. Price. I see, but how did he come to know of the curse? Indeed, any of the curses?"

"Through me. My kind are the keepers of many supernatural secrets that your kind know nothing about."

"You're Romany!"

"Fascinating," George said, pushing his glasses up his nose and peering closer.

"But your name does not sound Romany," I said.

"Stanley is the adopted name of my late husband's family. We use it when we travel in your world." Another proud tilt of her chin. Now that I knew her heritage, I could see the dark eyes of the gypsy and although her hair was mostly gray, it could have been black in her youth.

"So Mrs. White, or rather Mrs. Seymour, killed Jacob Beaufort?" I asked. "Are you prepared to swear to that in court?"

"Court is not for the likes of us, not when we are treated little better than animals in this country. I have told you what I know. It is up to you to bring that curv? and her curist to justice." From the way she spat out the Romany words, I got the feeling they weren't complimentary. "I am glad you came to my house today," she went on. "I have been worried about him."

"About Price?" George asked. "Have they been threatening him?"

"They have been killing him!"

"You mean he was the one who delivered the curse to the Otherworld?"

"That explains why he looked so ill," said George.

Mrs. Stanley pressed her gloved fingers to her nose. Her eyes filled with tears. "I had the devil of a time trying to convince them he was not well enough to do it again. That is when Blunt decided to deliver the curse himself. There was no one else. I would not do it. They threatened me, tried to give me money, but I refused."

"That's very brave of you."

She glanced back to the door, then up at the ceiling, and finally at each of us. Her dark stare was bold, direct. "Not brave. I fear destroying the Otherworld more than I fear them. They may not care what happens to their souls after death, but I do. We Romany respect death and the spirit world. To destroy it is to destroy the life you will have beyond this one."

"Yes, I see." It made sense. I knew little about the gypsy culture, but if they were the guardians of such powerful paranormal curses, then it was logical that they would respect the supernatural. "Is that why you've come to us?"

"Yes. I do not want to be next to die. I do not want to be forced to help them. You have delayed the Otherworld's destruction, Miss Chambers, but not stopped it. You must deliver the counter curse before she finds another victim. The next time will be the third time the curse will be delivered."

"The third and final time," I murmured.

"Yes. This curse requires the power of three to work. How does it fare up there?"

"The Waiting Area is all but destroyed. Many spirits have been lost, the rest are fading away. I fear you're right, Mrs. Stanley. One more time will see the complete destruction of the Waiting Area and...and Jacob." I swallowed a sob. Now was not the time for hysterics or even melancholy. I needed to be strong and have my wits about me.

Mrs. Stanley pressed her hand over her mouth and uttered something in Romany. "That is very shocking to hear."

"We must have Mrs. White—Mrs. Seymour—arrested before she can find another victim to deliver the curse," I said. "She could easily pay a street urchin to do it."

"The curse is complicated, the language ancient and difficult for a non-Romany, particularly for an illiterate child. She tried a street boy once, but he could not get it right and died in the attempt."

"Oh my god! The poor boy."

"Terrible." George shook his head. "So what do you think she'll do next?"

"She will find someone else," Mrs. Stanley said. "A healthy adult who can be trained to speak the Romany words."

George lifted an eyebrow at me. "That could take time."

"That's not something I want to wager on," I said.

"Then we'll send the police to the Grosvenor Street house to arrest her for the murder of Beaufort."

"Not yet," Mrs. Stanley said quickly. "First she must send Miss Chambers to the Otherworld to deliver the counter curse."

"I say! I don't think Emily should do it."

Yet I had to. I knew it. Besides, I wanted to see what the Otherworld was like for myself. My entire life, I'd heard about it, thought about it, and curiosity had gnawed at me. "I'll do it," I said.