Whispers Beyond the Veil by Jessica Estevao Read Free Book Online Page A

began to grow.”
    â€œAnd your family took part in it?”
    â€œOur family, my dear.” Honoria gave my hand another firm squeeze. “We started taking in summer guests in the 1850s. Over the next decade we added small cottages around the edges of the property. Your grandparents built this hotel in 1874.”
    â€œAre your parents still here?” I watched as a crinkle developed between Honoria’s eyebrows. I wished I hadn’t asked the question.
    â€œThey both passed suddenly the year your mother left with your father.” Honoria let out a deep sigh and forced a smile back to her face. “I inherited the hotel as quite a young woman and had little in the way of guidance in its running. I muddled along year after year, despairing as I watched the competing hotels becoming larger and more elegant.”
    â€œIt seems very grand here to me.” What little I had seen so far had impressed me greatly. The furnishings appeared plush or gleaming. The carved woodwork was ornate and the windows and passageways generously proportioned. The unobstructed view of the beach and the bay beyond only added to its charms.
    â€œThe Old Orchard House is comprised of three hundred rooms and is planning an elevated walkway connecting it to the train station. The Fiske boasts a telegraph office and a bowlingalley on site. I determined if I could not add physical amenities, I could offer a unique experience instead.” Honoria rose to her feet and paced the room. “The Hotel Belden caters to Spiritualists and other seekers of enlightenment.”
    â€œYou’re courting psychics?” I thought of my father and how he would love just such a scheme. Something about the passion in Honoria’s voice and mannerisms suggested she was more of a true believer than a cagey businesswoman.
    â€œExactly. The plan is to offer immersion in a multitude of spiritual subjects. I have hired experts in a number of disciplines to lead discussions, share knowledge, and to provide divination services. Table tipping, scrying, dowsing, astrological predictions all have a place here at the Hotel Belden.”
    â€œHas the idea proved popular?” Perhaps such a thing was none of my business but I spoke without thinking. If Honoria was taken aback she did not show it.
    â€œRemarkably so. Which is a very good thing, since I’ve had to delay our opening for an extra two weeks in order for the staff to arrive.”
    â€œI wondered why there were so many people in town but it seemed so quiet here.”
    â€œIt was a difficult decision but one that had to be made. The delay was caused by the final member of our company, a medium named Flora Roberts, who couldn’t arrive until tomorrow.”
    â€œA medium must be important if her absence is enough to delay your opening.”
    â€œOffering a medium in residence is the reason we’re booked solid this season for the first time in years.” Honoria paused her pacing in front of one of the windows looking out over the beach.
    â€œI hope my own appearance won’t cause any disruption to your plans. You sound as though there is much to be done.”
    â€œYour timing is perfection itself. For years I’ve wished for someone to share the hotel with once more. Come, let me show you the rest of the property.”

C HAPTER F OUR

    T he wind had picked up and the tang of salt filled the air as Yancey hurried back to the police station. As diverting as a visit to the Hotel Belden had proven to be, his workload had become increasingly burdensome over the last few weeks. Not only had pickpockets flowed into town like a red tide, violent domestic incidents, carriage accidents, and liquor-fueled disturbances increased at a similar pace.
    Frank Nichols gave Yancey a raised russet eyebrow as soon as he stepped through the door of the police station.
    â€œChief’s been looking for you, and none too patiently, neither,” Frank said