The Ambitious Card (An Eli Marks Mystery) Read Online Free PDF

.”
    Grey again put his hand to his forehead for a moment, and then he spoke. “Bernice, through either choice or chance, you have picked one of my favorite passages from that great play. At the top of that page, Macduff speaks, does he not? Say the words with me, Bernice.”
    They began to read together, he onstage and she in the audience. “O, horror, horror, horror. Confusion now hath made his masterpiece! Most sacrilegious murder hath broke open the Lord’s anointed temple, and stole thence the life o’ the building.”
    Bernice closed the book and looked up at Grey with open-mouthed awe, her eyes tearing up slightly as Grey continued to speak the verse. “Approach the chamber, and destroy your sight with a new Gorgon: do not bid me speak; See, and then speak yourselves. Shake off this downy sleep, death’s counterfeit, and look on death itself!”
    His final words echoed through the chamber. Bernice slowly sat back in her chair as the audience applauded enthusiastically. Even Pete and Clive, on either side of me, broke into spontaneous applause. I didn’t join in, but I had to admit, even though Grey was as dishonest as the day is long, he was a hell of a performer.

Chapter 3

      
    The act continued in this manner for several minutes. Nova picked audience members and Grey read their minds as they concentrated on the books and magazines in front of them. The routine went smoothly—more smoothly than the previous exercise, that’s for sure—with only one noticeable hiccup.
    Nova had approached an audience member who had received a copy of Business Week magazine. She spoke with him briefly.
    “Grey,” she said as she turned back toward the stage, “I’m standing here with Chad. He’s looking at page sixteen of Business Week magazine.”
    “Page sixteen of Business Week magazine,” Grey repeated. “Let me see.” He put a hand to his forehead and leaned forward in concentration. “I’m seeing an article about employee compensation, am I right?”
    Chad nodded to Grey and then, realizing that the man was blindfolded, he leaned over to the microphone Nova was holding.
    “Yes,” he said. “Employee compensation.”
    “And the headline, the headline reads, ‘More Employees Willing to Walk to Get Higher Wages,’ is that correct?”
    “Yes it is,” Chad confirmed, shaking his head in amazement.
    “I also see,” Grey started to say and then stopped. He put a hand up to his forehead and then shook his head.
    “I also see,” he repeated, this sentence getting no further than the earlier attempt. “In addition to the headline...”
    His voice trailed off as he pushed his hand harder into his forehead.
    I turned from the stage back to the TV monitor, which was on a tight close-up of Grey. It looked as if he was beginning to sweat.
    There was a long, awkward pause, as Grey shook his head from side to side. “No,” he said in a raspy whisper. “No, absolutely not. No. No. I said no!” With a ferocious almost violent move, Grey stood up suddenly and ripped his blindfold off, throwing it down onto the stage. He looked out at the audience, his eyes squinting in reaction to the sudden exposure to light after having been covered for so long.
    “I’m sorry, ladies and gentlemen,” he said, quickly regaining his composure. “On rare occasions, while in the midst of the spiritual flow such as I was just immersed within, an unwelcome spirit will intrude upon the proceedings. A most unwelcome spirit. At times like that, it is best to simply break the connection with that particular entity. Permanently.”
    He ran a hand through his hair to ensure that each strand was still properly in place, and then stepped to the edge of the stage. “I think it’s time to begin the portion of the program that most of you have come here tonight to experience. I will connect to the other side, connect with your loved ones, and answer questions that are near and dear to your hearts. Nova, are the questions