Collins Chillers. Агата Кристи

      

       THE LAST SÉANCE

      TALES OF THE SUPERNATURAL BY

      Agatha Christie

       Copyright

      HarperCollinsPublishers

      1 London Bridge Street

      London SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      Collins Chillers edition published 2019

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      Copyright © Agatha Christie Limited 2019. All rights reserved.

       www.agathachristie.com

      Agatha Christie asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

      Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2019

      Cover illustration © Matt Griffin

      A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

      This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

      Source ISBN: 9780008336738

      Ebook Edition © October 2019 ISBN: 9780008336745

      Version: 2019-08-20

      CONTENTS

       Cover

       Title Page

      Copyright

      The Last Séance

      In a Glass Darkly

      S.O.S.

      The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb

The Fourth Man

The Idol House of Astarte

       The Gipsy

       Philomel Cottage

       The Lamp

       The Dream

       Wireless

       The Wife of the Kenite

       The Mystery of the Blue Jar

       The Strange Case of Sir Arthur Carmichael

       The Blue Geranium

       The Call of Wings

       The Flock of Geryon

       The Red Signal

       The Dressmaker’s Doll

       The Hound of Death

       Bibliography

       Also in this series

       About the Publisher

       THE LAST SÉANCE

      Raoul Daubreuil crossed the Seine humming a little tune to himself. He was a good-looking young Frenchman of about thirty-two, with a fresh-coloured face and a little black moustache. By profession he was an engineer. In due course he reached the Cardonet and turned in at the door of No. 17. The concierge looked out from her lair and gave him a grudging ‘Good morning,’ to which he replied cheerfully. Then he mounted the stairs to the apartment on the third floor. As he stood there waiting for his ring at the bell to be answered he hummed once more his little tune. Raoul Daubreuil was feeling particularly cheerful this morning. The door was opened by an elderly Frenchwoman whose wrinkled face broke into smiles when she saw who the visitor was.

      ‘Good morning, Monsieur.’

      ‘Good morning, Elise,’ said Raoul.

      He passed into the vestibule, pulling off his gloves as he did so.

      ‘Madame expects me, does she not?’ he asked over his shoulder.

      ‘Ah, yes, indeed, Monsieur.’

      Elise shut the front door and turned towards him.

      ‘If Monsieur will pass into the little salon Madame will be with him in a few minutes. At the moment she reposes herself.’

      Raoul looked up sharply.

      ‘Is she not well?’

      ‘Well!’

      Elise gave a snort. She passed in front of Raoul and opened the door of the little salon for him. He went in and she followed him.

      ‘Well!’ she continued. ‘How could she be well, poor lamb? Séances, séances, and always séances! It is not right—not natural, not what the good God intended for us. For me, I say straight out, it is trafficking with the devil.’

      Raoul patted her on the shoulder reassuringly.

      ‘There, there, Elise,’ he said soothingly, ‘do not excite yourself, and do not be too ready to see the devil in everything you do not understand.’

      Elise shook her head doubtingly.

      ‘Ah, well,’ she grumbled under her breath, ‘Monsieur may say what he pleases, I don’t like it. Look at Madame, every day she gets whiter and thinner, and the headaches!’

      She held up her hands.

      ‘Ah, no, it is not good, all this spirit business. Spirits indeed! All the good spirits are in Paradise, and the others are in Purgatory.’

      ‘Your view of the life after death is refreshingly simple, Elise,’ said Raoul as he dropped into the chair.

      The old woman drew herself up.

      ‘I am a good Catholic, Monsieur.’

      She crossed herself, went towards the door, then paused, her hand on the handle.

      ‘Afterwards when you are married, Monsieur,’ she said pleadingly, ‘it will not continue—all this?’

      Raoul smiled at her affectionately.

      ‘You are a good faithful creature, Elise,’ he said, ‘and devoted to your mistress. Have no fear, once she is my wife, all this “spirit business” as you call it, will cease. For Madame Daubreuil there will be no more séances.’