Weston folded his hands and sat back in his chair. He surveyed Cardona thoughtfully. He nodded slowly.
"Start with the beginning, Cardona," he requested. "I don't want to miss any portion of this case."
"The meeting was going on up at the Hotel Dalban," began Cardona. "That's where this Professor Raoul Jacques holds his seances, once a week, in a private room, off where they won't be disturbed.
"From what the witnesses say, most of the people were old customers. But they all didn't know everybody else the professor says he's glad to admit strangers. Claims he can get messages for any one.
"Well, last night, he was getting a contact for a new member of the ring. A Mrs. Henderson — she's in the list there, in the Daily Classic. Right in the middle of it, there was a lot of wild laughing. They got scared, and put on the lights. The professor claimed an evil spirit was jinxing the affair."
"Was that when the murder occurred?" questioned Weston.
"No," replied Cardona. "They started in again. The professor claims he called for a good influence to fight the bad. They saw a knife — a dagger— flashing in the air.
"Then came the laughs again. Someone yelled; they switched on the lights. There was Harvey, dead — and the laugh was still coming from somewhere. It stopped right after the lights went on."
"Is that where they evolved the ghost theory?"
"Yes. The professor says that two spirits were in conflict, the good and the bad. He claims that Harvey mixed in the mess, and got the worst of it."