All eyes turned toward the painter’s canvas. As the medium focused a flashlight upon it, the face of an elderly man slowly materialized on the blank surface, the picture appearing in red, blue and finally black oil paint.
“It is Cousin David!” whispered Mrs. Weems, gripping Penny’s hand so tightly that it hurt. “He looks exactly as he did when last I saw him!”
The medium extinguished his light and again the room was dark. Mrs. Weems’ chair creaked as she stirred restlessly. Mr. Hodges’ heavy breathing could be plainly heard. There was no other sound. Everyone waited in tense expectancy, sensing that the climax of the séance was at hand.
Suddenly, behind Al Gepper’s chair a spot of ethereal light appeared. As Penny watched, it grew in size until the figure had assumed the proportions of a man. Then, to her further amazement, it slowly rose toward the ceiling, hovering above Mrs. Weems’ chair.
Throughout the séance Penny had remained firm in her conviction that the medium had resorted to trickery to produce his startling effects. Although she could not be sure, she thought that several times he had slipped from his chair to enter the conveniently placed cabinet. She also believed that the only way he could have materialized the ghost was by donning luminous robes.
“I’ll end his little game once and for all,” she thought.
Deliberately she waited until the ghostly figure floated close to her own chair. Then with a sudden upward spring, she snatched at it.
Greatly to her chagrin, her hand encountered nothing solid. With the speed of lightning, the figure streaked toward the cabinet behind Al Gepper’s chair and was seen no more.
Arising, the medium switched on the room lights. His face was white with anger.
“I warned you to make no move,” he said harshly to Penny. “You deliberately disobeyed me.”