Sarah looked at Tucker, very conscious of his nearness. “What makes you think she was psychic?”
“The program I’ve set up cross-references missingperson and accident reports with available police reports. They had added her school records to their files, and in those records were comments from several teachers about the girl’s ‘unusual abilities.’ Also a few highlights from a psychological profile I shouldn’t have been able to access; her parents took her to a shrink just before she vanished because they were worried about her, and had been since she was small. She ‘knew things’ she wasn’t supposed to know. Sound familiar?”
“Very.”
“Yeah. Anyway, the shrink believed she was a genuine psychic, recommended the parents take her to be evaluated at Duke University or one of the other legitimate programs set up to study parapsychology. They never got the chance.”
“Are you supposed to be able to access police reports?”
He smiled. “No.”
She decided not to ask. “I see. So—you did find a missing psychic.”
“Not just one.” Tucker leaned forward, his shoulder brushing hers, and tapped a few keys, then leaned back again so that Sarah could see the screen. Another article appeared, this one dated September 12, 2009.
Thomas Kipp, 30, has been missing from his Miami home since last Thursday. A popular teacher at Eastside High School, Kipp had been recently reprimanded by the school board for unconventional teaching methods after parents complained that he was spending too much time on New Age topics as well as such controversial subjects as parapsychology.
His students claim that Kipp had a “knack” for predicting the future, though no evidence exists to support this.
Police have no leads in the disappearance.
Sarah nodded slowly. “Another missing psychic.”
“There’s more,” Tucker said, and reached past her to tap a few keys briskly. On the screen appeared another newspaper article, this one dated August 12, 2006.
A Nashville man was killed yesterday when his car went out of control and crashed into a concrete embankment. Due to the resulting fire, tentative identification was confirmed by dental records. The deceased was Simon Norville, 28, a part-time carpenter who claimed to be a psychic and frequently augmented his income by reading tarot cards for tourists.
Alcohol is suspected as the cause of the accident.
“But he was killed,” Sarah said. “He isn’t missing.”
Silently, Tucker leaned forward and tapped keys again. This time, the article was dated April 24, 2007.
Philip Landers, 34, was killed Saturday when a friend’s twin-engine Cessna he was piloting crashed moments after takeoff near Kansas City. Landers, a struggling artist, earned extra income in carnival work, proclaiming himself to be a mind reader.
Alcohol is suspected as the cause of the crash.
“They’re eerily similar,” Sarah admitted, “but—”
Still silent, Tucker keyed up yet another article, this one dated July 2, 2010.
Beverly Duffy, 40, was killed yesterday when her Los Angeles home caught fire and burned to the ground. Ms. Duffy, locally famous for reading tea leaves and selling “love potions,” had recently and correctly predicted the San Jose earthquake, which had garnered her considerable media attention.
Friends say the attention upset her.
Investigators suspect a careless cigarette for the fire.
“A house fire,” Sarah murmured, shivering as she thought of her own gutted home.
“One more body burned beyond recognition,” Tucker said.
She leaned a little away from him. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that either you psychics are peculiarly accident-prone, or else something very suspicious is going on. You’re dropping like flies.”
He reached out to the computer again, this time holding a key down so that Sarah could watch article after article scroll slowly past. She couldn’t read the individual articles, but words and phrases jumped out at her.
Car crash…accidental electrocution…lost while skiing…drowning…house fire…a fall from a ladder…robbery…plane crash…apparently struck by lightning…fell while mountain climbing…vanished while hiking…body burned beyond recognition…no body found…no body recovered…
The deaths and disappearances ranged back more than ten years and were spread over dozens of different cities in states from coast to coast. And there were so many of them.
“All psychic?” Sarah whispered.
“So they—or those closest to them—claimed.”
She looked at him mutely.
Tucker raised a hand as if he would have touched her, but let it fall and leaned back on the couch. “I wanted to see if it hit you the same way it did me. Obviously, it did.” His voice was dispassionate.
“All…accidents. Manufactured accidents?”
“I’d say it was a good bet.”