Chapter Sixty-Nine
That Friday morning, Theo was waiting at the Wilmington train station for Violet, his car parked in front.
“How was your Thanksgiving?” he asked after she sat down in the passenger seat beside him.
“Aside from being told that I’ve been temporarily put on leave from working at Widener, not too bad.”
“What? How did that happen?” Theo looked flabbergasted.
“Don’t get me started. I don’t want to ruin our afternoon, but let’s just say it’s probably a combination of the stress from the book slasher having struck again and also that one of my roommates thinks I’m a loony toon who talks to ghosts in my room.”
“Gosh, that stinks. I’m sure it’s just temporary though, until they find the person responsible.”
“Let’s hope so,” she said. “I’m really upset, but I don’t want it to spoil our plans for today.”
“Well, please know I never said anything to anybody. I swear.”
“I know that,” she said.
“We have tons of leftovers if you’re hungry,” Theo said as he tried to change the subject.
“Great,” Violet said. “I’m famished.”
Theo glanced at the clock in the car. “Well, it’s about a twenty-minute ride to Lux’s place from here, and our appointment isn’t until two o’clock. That leaves us about an hour to spare. Do you want to head back to my house, get some lunch, and then go from there?”
“Sure,” she said. “That sounds nice. And we can’t forget the tobacco.”
Theo reached across her to the glove compartment and pulled it open. “I already put it in there so I wouldn’t forget,” he said with a grin.
Violet turned the dial on the radio and music filled the air. “I can’t keep wondering whether this meeting with Lux is going to be incredible or a real disappointment. I’m afraid to get my hopes up.”
“Well, it can’t hurt,” Theo answered. “The worst thing that can happen is that you have to hang out with me for the afternoon.”
Once they arrived at Theo’s house, the two of them made sandwiches from the leftovers and ate them outside, taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather.
When she nestled into one of the same Adirondack chairs she had sat on when she’d visited there with Hugo, a bittersweet nostalgia came over her.
“It’s kind of strange to be here again,” she said as she breathed in the fresh air.
Theo took a bite of his sandwich and looked out at the bare trees. “That’s my fault. As we were driving, I realized maybe it wasn’t the best thing for you to come back here.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “You’ve been a really good friend to me, and I appreciate it.”
“I miss him too.”
“You don’t need to be a medium or anything to know that.”
“Speaking of which… we should probably head out.” He took her plate and they both headed toward the screen door near the kitchen. “We don’t want to keep Lux waiting.”
“No, we don’t.” She smiled. “She’d know we had no excuse.”
Theo knew the way to Lux’s, having driven his mother there a few times. When they pulled up to the home, Violet was surprised to find Theo parking in front of a split-level ranch house on a suburban street.
“Is this really the place?” she asked. “I was expecting a storefront or something.”
“Like with beads hanging from the threshold?” he said with a laugh.
“Yeah, kind of.”
“I was sort of surprised, too, the first time I took my mom here. But Lux just works out of her house.”
Violet shrugged. “Fine with me as long as she’s not a scam.”
Theo put the car key in his pocket and popped open the glove compartment. He handed her the bag of tobacco. “You should give it to her, since you’re the one connecting it to Harry.”
She took it from him and nodded. “Thanks,” she said. She never liked the smell of cigarettes or cigars. But pipe tobacco was different; it had a personal element to it, the way a perfume revealed something about the person who wore it. “I’m so curious what she’s going to say.”
Theo rang the doorbell and Lux greeted them at the door.
She didn’t wear a kaftan or turban, as Violet had imagined.
The middle-aged woman who now stood before them was simply dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt and had cropped silver hair.
“You look just like your mother,” she said, smiling at Theo. “You have her dimples.”
“Come.” She waved them inside and walked toward her living room. There was almost nothing inside her house that revealed anything personal about her. No photographs. No paintings. Just white walls and a beige couch, a coffee table, and some chairs.
“You’re the one here for the reading, right?” she asked Violet, as they all sat down.
“Yes,” Violet said.
“It’s been a difficult time for you lately, hasn’t it?” Lux said as her eyes bore into Violet’s.
“Yes,” Violet said softly. “It has.”
Lux brought her two index fingers up to her temples and began massaging them, her eyes closed. “You bring the sensation of water here with you,” she stated. “I’m picking up that the element of water is connected to a deeply personal death for you.”
Violet shuddered.
“Am I correct?” Lux asked.
Was this going to become a reading about Hugo? Violet had not prepared herself for that.
“Hold on a minute…” Lux lifted one hand into the air. “I’m feeling two deaths connected to water. Both terrible tragedies… One of them is recent. Someone you loved.”
Violet’s stomach flipped. She looked over at Theo, her expression looked almost frightened.
“That’s correct,” she finally answered.
Lux let out a small groan.
“This young man. His name starts with ‘H.’ Yes?”
Violet nodded.
“He is struggling to say something… but I can’t get a clear message from him. He hasn’t completely passed over yet.” Lux’s eyes squinted tighter. “I’m sorry. It can take several months to even a year for a soul to fully cross over.”
Violet looked at Theo. Hugo had not fully crossed over yet. That explained why she hadn’t received any signs from him.
Lux took another deep breath and placed her hands over her face. “But this other death.” She inhaled through her nostrils. “This person, however… his presence is very strong here.” She bit her lip. “His name also starts with an ‘H.’”
“Yes,” Violet said. Theo’s hand reached out and gripped hers.
“He says you brought me something.”
“We did,” Hugo answered. “We brought a blend of the tobacco we believe he used to smoke.”
Violet reached into her coat pocket and gave it to Lux, who brought it up to her nose and inhaled it.
“I’m going to put some of it in an ashtray and light it for a moment. It might help me get a better reading.”
Theo and Violet nodded.
Lux returned with an ashtray and lighter. She tapped some of the tobacco onto the dish, then lit it. Immediately, the air was filled with the same fragrance that Violet had smelled in Harry’s study and again outside the Widener reading room.
Lux cupped her hands over the plume of smoke and waved it closer to her face. Then she closed her eyes and remained quiet for several seconds.
“He… Harry. He’s saying he wants you to go home,” she said.
Violet was confused. “Wait, he wants me to go back home?”
Lux shook her head. “No. His message is coming through loud and clear. Harry wants you to go to his home.”
Violet looked at Theo. “Lynnewood Hall?” she mouthed.
“He’s also saying something about a key… you need to bring a specific key with you.”
“But what is the key for?” Violet blurted out. “A room? A safe? A box?” Her voice had escalated to a fever pitch. “Can he give us any more information?”
Lux clenched her fists to her lap and squinted again, straining to get more information from the other side. “I’m seeing the letter A,” she said. “Does that mean anything to you?”
“Ada?” Violet asked.
“No,” Lux said, shaking her head. “He’s saying the name ‘Amalie.’”