The Spook Lights Affair (26 page)

By the time a hovering and still-beaming Callie announced that dinner was served, Sabina had permitted him to call her by her given name and had agreed to the same privilege. And when the evening ended and he asked if he could see her again, for luncheon or dinner, cocktails or a buggy ride in the park, she agreed to that, too. With enthusiasm and a stirring of excitement. He was the first man she had responded to this way since Stephen’s death. Not even John had succeeded in turning her head in quite the same fashion.

John. He would be hurt when he found out, she thought on the cab ride to her flat, as he surely would if she continued to keep company with Carson. But, really, it was none of his business, was it? Her private life was her own; she had made it clear to him all along that she had no intention of mixing business with pleasure.

Then why, for heaven’s sake, in spite of her attraction to Carson Montgomery, did she feel as if she were being disloyal to John?

Authors’ Note

The historical background in these pages is genuine. Adolph Sutro was mayor of San Francisco in 1895, resided on the clifftop estate called Sutro Heights, and had financed the construction of Cliff House and Sutro Baths; Carville-by-the-Sea was a budding oceanside enclave, though destined to be short-lived; the Barbary Coast and Uptown Tenderloin districts flourished as the city’s lower- and upper-class seats of sin; Theo Durrant, “the Demon of the Belfry,” did in fact murder and mutilate two young women whose bodies were found in the Emanuel Baptist Church in the spring of 1895, for which crimes he was hanged three years later.

It should be noted, however, that for story purposes, small but necessary liberties were taken with certain geographical and descriptive details and time elements. The world of fiction is like those that might be found in parallel or alternate universes: people, places, and events past and present are almost but not quite identical to those in the world we inhabit.

M.M. / B.P.

B
Y
M
ARCIA
M
ULLER AND
B
ILL
P
RONZINI

NOVELS

Double

Beyond the Grave

The Lighthouse

The Bughouse Affair

SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS

Duo

Crucifixion River

NONFICTION

1001 Midnights

About the Authors

Marcia Muller is the creator of Sharon McCone and one of the key figures in the development of the contemporary female private investigator. The author of more than thirty-five novels, three in collaboration with her husband, Bill Pronzini, Marcia received the Mystery Writers of America’s Grand Master Award in 2005.

Bill Pronzini, creator of the Nameless Detective, is a highly praised novelist, short-story writer, and anthologist. He received the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America in 2008, making Marcia and Bill the only living couple to share the award (the other couple being Margaret Millar and Ross Macdonald).

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously.

THE SPOOK LIGHTS AFFAIR

Copyright © 2013 by the Pronzini-Muller Family Trust

All rights reserved.

Cover art by Gordon Crabb

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Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

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The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

ISBN 978-0-7653-3175-5 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-4299-9722-5 (e-book)

e-ISBN 9781429997225

First Edition: December 2013