Schuyler Square Day 92 A Clue

"I wish those two had stayed," Mindy remarked as soon as the door shut behind Tom and Veronica. "I have to think that the more people here, the better. Psychically speaking. Especially Veronica."

"Why especially Veronica?" Chelsea asked.

"Well," Mindy replied, her eyes glued to the Ouija board, "because of her connection to Ron Schuyler, of course. If Ron did have something to do with Mary's death then her presence would be a conduit to Mary Austin."

"How do you figure that?" Steve inquired.

"It makes sense, doesn't it? Veronica had a fling with Ron and supposedly Mary did too. Maybe she'd feel more comfortable telling Veronica who killed her."

Steve and DeeDee's caught each other's eyes and were clearly sharing the same thought: Mindy Cooper talked too much. "I don't think we should discuss Veronica's personal life," DeeDee told Mindy. "It's none of our business."

Mindy shrugged. "Whatever. Now let's all be quiet and try to concentrate again." She spoke so sternly that everyone else did as they were told and stopped talking. "Mary Austin? Are you there?"

Suddenly the flame on the candle in the middle of the table went out, plunging the room into darkness. "This is it," Mindy whispered. "Pay off time. Mary? Is that you?"

A faint hum seemed to fill the air. "What's that?" Chelsea asked nervously.

"Shhhh," Mindy ordered. "Mary? Are you here? Are you in this room?"

The room seemed colder than it had before. "I don't like this," DeeDee began but was interrupted by the sound of the back door opening.

"She's here," Mindy said.

"I never wanted to see her!" DeeDee protested. "I thought she'd give us an answer on the Ouija board!"

"DeeDee, I told you we shouldn't be messing with this," Steve said. "Now let's stop right now. I'm going to turn the lights on."

At that moment the planchette began spinning on the Ouija board, slipping out from underneath everyone's fingers. "Look at that!" Mindy breathed. "Quick! Somebody write down what it's spelling. S C H U Y L E R M A N O R!"

"We don't need to write it down," Steve said dryly. It spelled 'schuyler manor."

"That means whoever killed her lives at Schuyler Manor!" Chelsea said.

"Is that right, Mary? Is that what you're trying to tell us?"

But the planchette had stopped moving. For several long moments the room was silent as the chill left the air. "What should we do now?" DeeDee finally whispered.

"Have some dips and chip," Steve suggested. "I think the show's over for the night."