There were thirteen people gathered around the table in Madam Mimi's front parlour. A true Devil's Dozen. They sat next to each other in the gloom. Heavy velvet curtains had been drawn to keep out the afternoon light, leaving only flickering candles for illumination.
"Now," Madame Mimi said, with more than a touch of theatricality, "let us join hands and begin the seance."
She held out her hands - bony, and weighed down with silver bracelets and jewelled rings - for those on either either side of her to take hold. the others around the table did the same, except for the Major. He folded his arms and waggled his moustache. "Why should I? It's all a load of bally nonsense."
The woman sitting to his right snatched at his hand. "We paid for this, Edward. Now stop embarrassing us." The Major obeyed reluctantly.
Madame Mimi beamed a smile at the rest of the group. "Now we shall begin." She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and loudly exhaled. "Oh spirits!" the medium called out in a sing-song voice. "Heed me! We seek your wisdom!"
Nothing happened.
"See!" the Major declared. "It's all a load of tosh."
Madame Mimi ignored him. "Oh spirits!" she repeated. The chandelier dangling from the ceiling rattled and the candles on the table flickered, as if disturbed by a breeze. The Major uttered a quiet 'ow' as his wife kicked him in the shin. "Oh spirits, share with us your - Oooh!"
"What is it?" one of the seance-goers asked.
"The spirits are angry," Madame Mimi announced. "They sense a hostile being among us."
"What rot!" the Major snarled. "This is just complete and utter - !" He stopped and sniffed the air. His forehead wrinkled in disgust. "What is that?" The others at the table muttered in agreement.
"It is the stench of death!" Madame Mimi moaned. She pointed a long finger at the Major. "You have been marked!"
"Poppycock!"
There was a loud yowling from beneath the table, and the Major leapt from his seat, crying out in pain. A ginger tomcat - Madame Mimi's pet - dropped from the man's leg, hissing and spitting in the way that only a furious feline could.
Madame Mimi raised her arms to the heavens. "The circle is broken! You must leave now, if you value your souls!"
When the last guest had gone, Madame Mimi picked up her cat. "Good boy. You played your part perfectly, so here's the reward I promised you."
She fumbled under the table and opened a concealed drawer. Inside the drawer was a piece of fish, its pale flesh glistening in the candlelight. "There you go, puss. Old and ripe. Just how you like it."
