This New Year's Eve, parapsychology student Roxy Silverstein has signed up for a ghostwatch in an old gothic church. It's supposed to be haunted by the restless spirit of Veronica Parker, a young socialite who died in mysterious circumstances at a millennium party sixteen years earlier.
But soon after she arrives, Roxy is swept off her feet by a leather-clad adventuress named Eris King, a psychic detective who's convinced Veronica's death was murder, not the accident everyone believes it to be. There's a problem, though. Eris only has psychic visions when she's in the throes of orgasm, and she needs an assistant to help her with that.
Scarcely believing her luck, Roxy jumps at the job. The pair make a great team, and soon discover the sinister truth behind Veronica's death. Will they live to tell anyone about it ... or end up victims of the same cold-hearted killer?
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“My name’s Roxy Silverstein. I’m a student of, ah, psychology.” She mumbled the last word.
“A student of what? Psychology, did you say?”
“Well, parapsychology, if you must know. Telepathy and that sort of thing. But it’s all very scientific.”
“I’m sure it is.” Eris nodded vigorously. “I’m a psychic detective, you know. But I can’t do it without an assistant, and my last assistant just did a runner. She left me a note this morning saying she had to go back to Europe.”
Roxy looked puzzled. “An assistant? I thought psychic detectives always worked alone. Like you have to tune in and pick up the etheric vibrations, or something.”
“Yes, that’s right. But I’m what they call an ecstatic visionary. The only time I can pick up etheric vibrations is at the height of orgasm. That’s why I need an assistant, you see -- I can’t concentrate on two things at once.”
“I see.” Roxy did see, too. She saw that Eris King was as nutty as a fruitcake. Nevertheless, it sounded like fun. “Okay, you’ve got yourself an assistant.”
But Eris wasn’t listening. Her eyes were darting around the chapel again. “Shhh ... we need privacy. I haven’t told you the whole story yet.”
The leather-clad brunette grabbed Roxy and ushered her over to a confessional. Before she knew what was happening, Roxy found herself sitting in the sinner’s seat. A second later the screen opened and she saw Eris on the other side of the grille, sitting in the priest’s place.
“I’ve been reading all about the Veronica Parker case,” Eris whispered. “It’s a lot more suspicious than Drake made out. When he said about footprints in the snow, he didn’t mention that there weren’t any footprints at all -- not even Veronica’s.”
“So?” Roxy shrugged. “They must have been covered with fresh snow before the body was found.”
“No -- I checked the weather records. There was no snowfall here the whole of New Year’s Eve and the following day. Something was covered up all right, but it wasn’t footprints -- it was the truth. I think Drake’s behind the cover-up, with all that money of his. He may even be responsible for the murder!”
“Murder?” Roxy felt a thrill of excitement.
“Of course! Why else would a perfectly healthy teenager be found dead in a graveyard, without a stitch of clothing on? There’s no other logical explanation.”
“Okay, you’ve got me there,” Roxy conceded. “So where do we start, Nancy Drew?”
“I need to pick up some vibrations,” Eris said eagerly. “This place must be full of them. That’s why people keep thinking they see the ghost.”
“Vibrations, right.” Roxy could see where this was leading. “For which you need to ... I mean I need to ... that is, you need me to, um ...”
“Yes, exactly! But it might get noisy. It usually does. So we can’t do it in here – we need to find somewhere we won’t be overheard. That’s one of the hazards of my profession.”
