Chapter 20 Summary

Cropper gives a lecture on the "Art of the Biographer" and calls scholars, the press, and even the US Ambassador to attend. Cropper's lectures are very well-orchestrated to the point of seeming like a magic show. In his lecture, Cropper reveals that letters between Christabel LaMotte and Randolph Henry Ash have been discovered, and they may change that field of study dramatically. He asks very publicly that the letters be made available for all to read.

After the lecture, Cropper follows a connection between his own ancestor and Christabel LaMotte. It leads him to Ash's work called The Great Ventriloquist. He rereads Ash's account of a trip to Mrs. Hella Lees for a séance. Cropper wonders if LaMotte was at that same séance and starts to look for evidence to back up his hunch.

Blackadder is doing his own research. He...