Chapter 42

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Sheriff Duncan called his old friend Lily, who had helped him when he was desperate. She agreed to help contact the spirit of Angel Flint. As far as Gary could tell, she seemed to really believe in her own abilities. They spoke with Prudence Conner, Abby Flint's legal guardian. She was very against letting Abby participate in this seance, felt it would be too much for her after all that she'd already been through. But the other suspects, William Lambert, Jane Lambert, Jimmy Tinker, Mary Elizabeth Merchant, Frank Kovick, John Larabee, they all agreed to come and help. The other two suspects were Carmen Flint, who was already in prison, and Samantha Larabee, who was dead. The seance was to take place in the Flint house, and there were hidden cameras all over. Even if noone confessed, Gary planned to observe later to find out who reacted suspiciously to certain things. Gary did notice that Lillian seemed uneasy when Jimmy Tinker and Mary Elizabeth Merchant arrived. Dudley Duncan said this was just some personal stuff between the two of them, but he trusted Lillian to put this aside and perform her job well tonight. When they had all arrived Gary began explaining what he had called them here for.

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Gary: In my experience with the FBI I spoke with a number of people who claimed to be psychics. Most were frauds who told people what they wanted to hear and made a few bucks for the trouble. Those we prosecuted were greedy, they tricked people into mortgaging their houses in order to hear their loved ones words one more time. I became incredibly skeptical, but eventually, I came to believe that some legitimately had this gift. At times we even relied on help from these individuals to save lives and solve difficult cases. In my experience, Lillian here is a legitimate psychic, and we will accept her help in solving Angel Flint's murder.

Mary Elizabeth: I thought Angel was driven to suicide by her mother's abuse.

Gary: I cannot go into specifics of the investigation, but I believe that one of the people in this very room killed Angel.

William: Who? Who killed my daughter?

Gary: I do not yet know. That is why I asked you all to come here. We are going to try and contact her spirit, and ask Angel herself who her murderer is. Lillian has told me that Angel will want to come here, to confront the person who killed her. But, as an agent of the FBI, I must remind each of you that you have a 5th amendment right against any possible self-incrimination. Certainly I can't force any of you to stay and face the wrath of a ghost. Therefore each of you is free to leave at any time. But if you wish to leave I'd prefer you do it now, so as not to disturb Lillian when she needs to concentrate the most.

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Noone left. William, Jane, Mary Elizabeth, Jimmy, Frank, and John all agreed to stay and help. Either they were all innocent, or one of them was very good at keeping up their poker face. Gary felt he was now engaged in a battle of wills with one of these six people, he just didn't know which one.