When he had finished, Rona placed her hands together on her lap and looked up at them. ‘Now, who wants to go first?’
No one said anything.
‘Come on, don’t be shy. Noah, don’t you want to record this?’ she asked.
Noah shook his head. ‘Absolutely not. This is not ghost-hunting. I told you, there’s no science to it. I’d be laughed out of the podcaster forums.’
Midge thought there was probably quite a low bar for that.
Rona sighed and turned to Midge. ‘Shall we start with you?’
Midge stared at the four neat piles of cards in front of her.
‘Now,’ said Rona, ‘I want you to close your eyes, Midge, and connect with your soul.’ Midge thought she heard Noah say a rude word.
‘Tap the cards to spread your energy,’ breathed Rona, swaying slightly as she hovered her hands over the piles.
Midge took a deep breath and tapped the cards, thinking that Bridie would not believe it if she could see her now. ‘Excellent,’ murmured Rona. ‘Now select the ones that pull most at your inner eye.’
This was a problem for Midge. Did she have an inner eye? And, if so, how should she go about deciding what was pulling at it? She pointed to the pile on the far left, which for the purposes of politeness she was going to assume was an illustration of two men pushing a wheelbarrow.
‘You have taken from the love pile,’ said Rona, winking. ‘Shall we take a look?’
Midge turned the card over. There was a gasp from Harold and Rona as she laid bare a skeleton with the word ‘DEATH’ running along the side of the card.
‘Christ!’ said Harold, clapping his hands together. ‘And I thought my luck was up the shitter.’
‘What does that mean?’ said Midge, frowning.
‘See!’ snorted Noah. ‘A load of rubbish.’
‘Is Midge going to die?’ asked Gloria.
‘Don’t be so bloody ridiculous,’ said her husband.
‘No!’ said Rona. ‘It’s all about the interpretation. It could be the end of a relationship, or...’
‘Exactly,’ said Noah. ‘You’re just making stuff up. An elaborate game of make-believe. And what does all this have to do with Rendell, anyway?’
‘Shall we do something different?’ asked Rona. ‘I don’t want to upset anyone.’
Midge wasn’t upset in the least.
‘How about the doctor?’ suggested Harold. ‘Why don’t you give it a go and I’ll shuffle.’
Dr Mortimer opened his mouth but shut it again after catching his wife’s eye. He shrugged and held his hands out. ‘Go on, then.’
Harold re-dealt the cards into four piles as before. After clearing his throat, the doctor paused his hand over the top of the first pile and then selected the card.
‘The devil!’ exclaimed Rona, staring at a horned beast holding a pitchfork.
There was a silence. Noah moved in his seat. ‘Well?’ he asked. ‘What does that mean?’
‘Obsession.’
Rona was staring at the doctor, who had his eyes fixed on the card, his jaw clenched.
‘What about obsession?’ asked Harold. ‘He’s obsessed or someone is obsessed with him?’
