B. J. Harrison Reads Playing with Fire

A small group of friends decide to attend a seance at a local art studio. While some of them are very sceptical about the whole thing, others believe in the medium’s abilities. The group starts a discussion about a new painting of a mythical creature, when a Frenchman joins and claims that he sees a unicorn in it. Shortly after the seance begins, a strange light fills the room and the medium starts speaking in a different voice. The voice is that of a person no longer within the living. A short conversation arises between the group and the spirit that possesses the medium.

Why do the friends decide to attend this seance? What do they want to find out? Will the sceptical ones believe in the occult? What does the mysterious painting actually represent? What is the group going to learn from the spirit and will something else happen?

Find all the answers in Sir Conan Doyle’s short story "Playing with Fire", first published in 1900.