We had no trouble in getting in to see Mr. Vandam in his
seance-room. His face was familiar to me, for I had seen him in
public a number of times, but it looked strangely altered. He was
nervous, and showed his age very perceptibly.
It was as the coroner's physician had said. The house was
littered with reminders of the cult, books, papers, curious daubs
of paintings handsomely framed, and photographs; hazy
overexposures, I should have called them, but Mr. Vandam took
great pride in them, and Kennedy quite won him over by his
admiration for them.
They talked about the rappings, and the old man explained where
and when they occurred. They proceeded from a little cabinet or
closet at one end of the room. It was evident that he was a
thorough believer in them and in the messages they conveyed.
Craig carefully noted everything about the room and then fell to
admiring the spirit photographs, if such they might be called.
"The best of all I do not display, they are too precious," said
the old man. "Would you like to see them?"
Craig assented eagerly, and Vandam left us for a moment to get
them. In an instant Craig had entered the cabinet, and in a dark
corner on the floor he deposited the mechanism he had brought
from the laboratory. Then he resumed his seat, shutting the box
in which he had brought the mechanism, so that it would not
appear that he had left anything about the room.
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