Glass Eye: Confessions of a Fake Psychic Detective

Chapter 52

Zandra calls it "massaging the audience," although it goes by many names. Maybe Charlie read about it in the same books Zandra did. It's nothing new. It involves a question and two identical answers. The first answer is inserted into the question. The second answer comes from the answerer.

Charlie's turn at masseuse stands out to Zandra like baby shit on a white wall. She "massaged" Fred by saying Zandra dumped Elle at Soma Falls. This covers Charlie's ass just in case Zandra actually does draw Soma Falls during the remote viewing.

Big mistake. Why would Charlie pull that pre-emptive maneuver unless Elle really was at Soma Falls?

As Zandra suspected, Charlie aborted the ransom scheme once she realized something was wrong at the cabin. That meant disposing of Elle in a way damning to Zandra.

Was Elle is the car with Charlie as Zandra hid in the cabin? Or did Charlie go back for the girl and then make the kill? A wave of guilt threatens to swallow Zandra's progress. If she hadn't manipulated Seth and Abby with that I Ching nonsense, they might still be alive. And that might've meant Charlie stopping by for food instead of killing Elle.

Or, subconsciously, maybe Zandra knew these details all along and simply let the tragedy unfold. It's a perfect revenge on the Carey family, free of any blood on her hands. After all, her mind somehow put all the pieces together about Charlie. If it could do that, what else could it determine without Zandra really knowing?

Or, as Herman might put it, maybe the extreme stress of Zandra's past 48 hours allowed her to peel back a layer of reality and have a sneak peek "upstream."

Reality is in the eye of the beholder. Zandra knows the truth now, and that's all that matters.

"If this is how you want to tell us what happened, then you do it your way, Zandra," Fred says. "Go ahead."

Zandra lets out a deep sigh, squeezes her eyes shut and starts to draw. She can almost feel Charlie's anticipation bouncing off the walls of the small room. It guides her pencil as she scratches out a tiny circle. She traces it over and over until the point nearly wears a hole in the paper.

Charlie leans over for a closer look, but Herman raises a hand to steer her away.

"Let her work," Herman says. "It takes time to tap into the vibration. First she has to find it among all the others. Then she needs to follow it to the end of the spiral."

Always best to plant a sap in the audience.

Zandra's circles grow wider. Her brow furrows until it hurts. She holds her breath and grunts until the circles morph into wheels attached to a car. It's a crudely drawn vehicle, barely distinguishable from generic squares save for the way they're attached to the semi-circles.

The pencil stops as Zandra catches her breath. She feels the blood tense against the skin in her face. Fred leans over her shoulder to inspect the drawing. He seems pleased, although Zandra can't figure why he should. From across the table, Charlie squints as she tries to make out the car.

Zandra squeezes her eyes even tighter, wrenching down until she sees spots from under her eyelids. With another grunt, she draws out a basic waterfall spilling out over a ledge. She's careful to sketch in the initials SF into the waves for Soma Falls. Then, with a dramatic pause, she presses the tip of the pencil against the paper until it snaps off. The paper jerks across the table toward Charlie's chest.

"Watch it," Charlie says.

Zandra opens one eye at a time and acts like the drawing in front of her is a surprise. Fred picks up the paper before she can say anything.

"A car and a bunch of hair," Fred says, holding the drawing up to the light in the ceiling. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I think it's a car and a waterfall," Herman says. He passes the drawing to Charlie. "Isn't that what you see?"

Zandra wipes the sweat from her forehead and hacks into her sleeve. It's all she can do to cover up a sudden flash of anxiety while Charlie looks at the picture.

"Well? What do you see?" Fred says.

Charlie's taking too long. She's stalling. Thinking.

"I, uh, see...," Charlie says. She places the paper down on the table.

Should've made the drawing more clear. Wasn't expecting this to be a fucking committee vote.

"Yes?" Fred says.

"I see a car and a waterfall," Charlie says at last. "Not sure what that's supposed to mean."

Herman hunches his nostrils down to the drawing, oblivious to how ridiculous he looks. "I see something else," he says. "There are two letters in the waves of that waterfall. Looks like SF."

Zandra tries hard not to smile. Hides it in her sleeve with another hack. Were Charlie paying better attention she might've noticed.

"SF? San Francisco?" Fred says.

"I don't think so. Try Soma Falls," Charlie says. "I'd bet my pension that's where Zandra dumped Elle's body."

Bingo. It was massaging the audience after all.

"It's what came through. Only you can tell me what it means," Zandra says. "Remote viewing isn't an exact science, but it still works when it's close enough. It's like a grenade."

"Like a grenade," Charlie says, repeating the words while she stares at Zandra.

Herman shoots to his feet as Fred produces a pair of handcuffs. He's in full lawyer mode, complete with a scolding finger pointed at the ceiling. "That's not a confession. Where are you taking her?" he says.

Good boy, Herman.

"I'm not taking her anywhere she doesn't want to go already," Fred says. He places a hand on Zandra's shoulder. "Get up. We're going to Soma Falls."