Three O'Clock Séance: An Inspector Rebecca Mayfield Mystery (The Rebecca Mayfield Mysteries Book 3) by Joanne Pence

automatically positioned themselves between the four newcomers.
    “Before we start,” Sandy said, “I want to explain a couple of things to our new people. First, forget everything you’ve ever heard or seen on TV or in the movies about séances. They’re all crap.”
    Everyone laughed.
    “Here, we rely on science. Okay, I can feel you newcomers laughing again.” Sandy’s dimples deepening as he smiled and went around the table, catching each woman’s eye and holding it a moment, causing a spate of more nervous laughter. “Let me put you at ease by letting you in on a secret. Beginning in the 1970’s, the CIA spent billions of dollars studying psychic phenomena, which led to its Stargate project on psychic remote viewing. In it, people used their brain power to psychically view what someone else—perhaps on the other side of the world—was seeing at that very moment. And, here’s the secret: it worked. It wasn’t stopped until the 1990’s, not because it wasn’t producing results—FOIA requests have shown some very real results—but because politicians grew tired of being mocked by their constituents for throwing money away on ‘charlatans.’ But I know, just as the CIA does, and now you also know, this is not trickery.”
    The Sandoristas nodded sagely. Donald Luff caught Rebecca’s eye and winked. She ignored the old fart. He really thought he was something.
    “So, you may be thinking, what is it? Those of us in what some call the ‘New Age’ understand that we all have a Spirit Self, and that self is aided through life by our Spirit Guide. When you die, that connection does not end, which means all of us have the ability to communicate psychically. We can contact each other through channeling, remote viewing and other such means, or with the dead through Spirit Guides.
    “The only danger,” he continued, “is for the medium. We mediums know that when we open ourselves up to The Other, we are open. Period. That means anything can enter— anything . And when you’ve experienced what I have, you know this is dangerous. That’s why anyone who is a serious psychic does not, I repeat, does not encourage a layman who hasn’t had a lot of training to try to do this on her own.”
    Of course not, Rebecca thought. If he or she succeeded, Sandy wouldn’t get paid. This was getting tiresome, and she was sure wasn’t any help in determining what might have happened to Neda Fourman and Betty Faroni.
    “Are you ready to begin?”
    Everyone murmured “yes.” He asked them to hold hands, and to rest their hands on the tabletop. “I will now ask my assistant to blow out all candles except the one on the table.”
    Rebecca was startled when a man, dressed all in black, stepped out from the shadows with a candle snuffer. It was his assistant, Lucian.
    Donald Luff squeezed her hand and then rubbed her knuckles with his thumb. She wasn’t amused, and simply tightened her hand on his. A lot. His eyes widened, and then his mouth opened. She pretty much figured how much pressure to put on before he’d let out a yelp, and she eased up before that point. He stared at her, red-faced, and with a little tear in the corner of one eye.
    She focused on Sandy.
    “For the newcomers,” Sandy said, “my friend, Lucian, will sit quietly in the corner and be ready to assist if any of you faints or feels as if a spirit is trying to take over your body or your mind. These things have happened, so it is always wise to have an observer who can step in. Sometimes you might be so completely overwhelmed by a spirit that you don’t even know you’re in trouble. Lucian will be watching for those circumstances as well.”
    Rebecca imagined the other newcomers would be frightened by such words, and she was right. It put into their heads the possibility they would do and say things they normally wouldn’t. The power of suggestion, she imagined, could create some interesting results.
    The room was now almost completely dark