Three O'Clock Séance: An Inspector Rebecca Mayfield Mystery (The Rebecca Mayfield Mysteries Book 3) Read Online Free

picked up a pen.
    “Elisabetta Faroni.” He spelled out Betty and Geri’s full names for her. “After getting over the shock of her sister’s death, Geri started to think about Betty’s money. I don’t know if you’ve had much experience with Italian families and money, but believe me, Geri would have started to think about it by the next day, if not sooner. She wondered where Betty’s money and belongings had gone. She especially remembered an antique sewing machine from the old country that had been their mother’s. It was built into a fancy wooden cabinet, and used no electricity. The sewer worked a pedal under the machine.”
    “I’ve never seen such a thing,” Rebecca said.
    “If a person had one of those in good working order these days, it’d be worth something, so Geri started to look into it.”
    “Uh huh.”
    “And since Betty died intestate, you know, without a will, Geri couldn’t find anyone who had any idea of where the money went. The landlord said he gave her things to Goodwill after no one claimed them for several months, but who knows?”
    “So how is Sandor Geller involved?” Rebecca asked.
    “Because one minute, Betty had money and savings, and the next, she didn’t—or so it seemed to the family. One of Geri’s sons drove her down to Los Angeles where she talked to Betty’s neighbors to see what they knew.” He took a deep breath, and his next words were spoken with a conspiratorial edge. “Geri learned that Betty had been introduced to Geller by a friend of hers who had gone to his séances for years. And then, one day, that friend was found dead. Betty was inconsolable.
    “That, and family hints and silences, make me think she and her girlfriend were more than just friends, if you get my meaning. But my mother’s generation rarely talked about such things, especially about family. Still, my suspicion could explain Betty’s estrangement from them. Anyway, Geller calmed her down and let her talk to her friend during a séance. Betty claimed they spoke of things only the two of them knew about, but you’ve seen how clever Geller is suggesting something and letting his prey fill in the missing parts.”
    Rebecca was taken aback. “Prey?”
    “Damned right,” Richie said. “This guy took advantage of a lonely old lady, gained her trust, and took her money. Betty had become a confirmed believer in Geller’s abilities, and ended up broke.”
    “Or,” Rebecca said, “you can look at it from Geller’s viewpoint. People pay him money to take part in a séance. It’s not up to him to go into their finances to be sure they can afford his sessions.”
    “True. But that’s where this gets really weird. After Betty spent all her money on Geller’s séances, she told a neighbor he was helping her with expenses.”
    Rebecca was stunned. “Geller gave her money?”
    “Yes. And, she told the neighbor he’d done the same for her friend who’d died—the one who had introduced her to Geller in the first place.”
    “Could it be he’s a good man who felt bad that the woman went so far overboard? Maybe, once he found out, he simply wanted to help.”
    “Yeah, he’s a real prince among men.” Richie apparently couldn’t sit and stare at paperwork any longer. He got up and paced. “I’m telling you, something’s wrong. But that’s all background. It’s what’s going on now that worries me.”
    “Which is?”
    “A few months ago, Geri learned Geller’s now in San Francisco and she went to see his act. She kept going, and now she’s convinced Carmela to join her. They claim they’re going just to be entertained, but I don’t buy it.
    “Then, last week, Carmela and Geri went to a funeral of one of the women Geri would sometimes see at Geller’s séances. The woman supposedly had money, a nice house in the Marina, but she died alone, suddenly, and her funeral was practically that of a pauper. She had no family or anything, and her whole life revolved around her