The Vanishing Stair (Truly Devious #2)(11)

“I’ll go to Seattle for you and take a look at the scene,” he said. “And I will ask Ms. Lark for her assistance. You said you paid her bill. What did you do that makes you think she might not be willing to help the Foundation again?”

“Nothing,” Victor muttered. “What happened was not my fault.”

This is not going to be good, Slater thought.

“What exactly did happen?” he asked.

“There was some unfortunate publicity in the media. But that was after I left town.”

“Define unfortunate,” Slater said.

Victor cleared his throat. “A reporter somehow got hold of the fact that a psychic had been called to the scene of Ingram’s murder. What followed was a social media frenzy. It didn’t last long, but there were accusations hurled around. The press declared Ms. Lark a fraud.”

“And?”

Victor sighed. “The owner of a Seattle-based consulting firm that does sophisticated crime scene analysis was not helpful when he told a reporter that if Ms. Lark was not an outright fraud she was most likely delusional and should seek professional help. Ms. Lark lost her position as a career counselor. It was after that incident that she and her friend Olivia LeClair decided to open their own investigation business.”

“I see.”

Victor brightened. “I believe their firm is holding its own and may even succeed. But a start-up business always needs cash. It occurs to me that they might be very pleased to consult for the Foundation.”

“Or not.” Slater studied Victor for a moment. “Why do I get the feeling that you aren’t telling me every detail of the fallout from the Ingram case?”

Victor drummed his fingers on the top of his desk. “In addition to losing her job, I think Ms. Lark’s personal life may have been somewhat affected by the media storm.”

“In what way?”

Victor heaved yet another sigh. “Ms. Lark was apparently involved in a personal relationship with Roger Gossard at the time.”

“Who is Gossard?”

“The owner of that crime scene consulting company that I just told you about.”

“Gossard is the person who told a reporter that if Catalina Lark wasn’t a fraud she was delusional and should seek help?”

“Evidently.” Victor sat forward with a purposeful air. “To be absolutely clear, what happened between Lark and Gossard after I left town was not my fault, either. Relationships fall apart all the time.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

Victor slanted him a wary glance. Neither of them mentioned Roanna Powell. There was no need. Relationships did, indeed, fall apart—especially if one of the parties involved had to be locked up for a month due to instability of the paranormal senses.

“Moving right along,” Slater said. “I will contact Ms. Lark and request her help, but considering the fact that you left her in a situation that can only be described as the sum of all FUBAR, I don’t think we can expect her to welcome our business, even if we do pay our bills.”

“Well, she might turn us down,” Victor admitted. “But it’s worth asking her to consult. She’s good, Slater. I’ve never met anyone who could read a crime scene as clearly as she can. And we need all the help we can get on this. We’re not just chasing another Vortex lab rumor this time. Two collectors are dead and I am convinced that they were murdered by whoever is behind this project. We need to move fast.”

“Why send me?” Slater said. “Why not one of the other cleaners?”

“Because I know that while you are not convinced of my theories concerning Vortex, you’ll do a thorough job. I don’t trust the regular team to take this problem seriously. Besides, no one is better than you when it comes to tracing objects with a paranormal provenance. Also, for what it’s worth, I think you’ve got the best shot at convincing Ms. Lark to help us.”

“Why?”

“Because her talent is similar to yours. You hear voices. She sees visions.”

“Made for each other, huh?”

Victor glared. “I’m just saying that the two of you have something in common.”

“Is that right? Has she ever been locked up because she’s delusional?”

“No, and neither have you,” Victor shot back.

Slater smiled a cold, humorless smile. “Not officially. But the only reason I didn’t wind up in Halcyon Manor six months ago was because you and Lucas kept me locked in the attic until the hallucinations finally resolved.”

Victor snorted. “Don’t exaggerate. This penthouse does not even have an attic.”

“Details.”

“You were injured. Your parents were beside themselves with worry. You needed a quiet place to recover. Lucas and I provided it. That’s all there was to it. Now, try to forget what happened six months ago. It’s over. Morgan is dead. You’re alive and stable. That’s all that matters. You need to focus here. We’ve got a possible Vortex problem. We have to deal with it.”

Slater thought about that. He would never be able to forget the disaster that had happened six months earlier. There was still one burning question that had to be answered. But he could not continue to drift through the dusty storerooms of the Foundation archives pretending he was back at work.