Only after we arrived did Becky announce the subject of the seance. While we waited for Dr. Robson to set up his "electronic voice phenomena" equipment, Angelique sidled over to me.
"Isn't this exciting?" she said. "Lord knows, I was barely more than a tot when poor Gabrielle died, but I remember Daddy talking about it in church. He was certain the husband did it. A soccer player, wasn't he?"
"Baseball."
She nodded, processing.
"San Diego Padres," I added. "Star pitcher."
Her eyes narrowed as if suspecting me of feeding her false information. Then she lowered herself onto the bench beside a statue of a nymph that, apparently in keeping with Hollywood standards, had undergone a boob job. I glanced at the statue. Angelique followed my gaze, let out a squeak and vacated the bench, lest she be photographed under it. Not inconceivable--the cameraman was prowling the garden, getting his setup shots.
"Maybe you can give me some advice, Jaime. I know--Well, I get the impression you don't like me very much--"
"Then you're getting the wrong one, hon. I'm always thrilled to see a new star in the making. Plenty of room for all of us."
She lifted limpid eyes to mine. "Really? Lord, you don't know what that means to me. I've idolized you my whole life, waiting for this moment, hoping you'd still be around--"
"So you wanted to ask...?"
A quick glance toward the others. "Your advice. I just don't think it's fair, picking seances with these people that I've barely even heard of. It's...what's the word?
Ageist."
"Ageist?" I tried not to laugh. Tried even harder not to remind her she was supposed to be getting her stories from the dead, not from memories of past events. "I suppose it is."
"I think Becky has me scheduled to go first, and I was wondering whether there was any way you might..."
"Switch spots with you? Be happy to."
"Really? Oh, gosh, that's so sweet of you. So you'll go first and I'll take the last place, which is hard, but I think I can manage--"
Becky approached, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, Angelique, but the positions are set. Jaime goes last."
"I thought Mr. Grady had the last spot." Claudia hurried over. "What's this? Another change?"
I raised my hands. "I don't know what order we're supposed to go in, but I'll take whatever works for you two. First, second, last, your choice."
"No, Jaime, I'm afraid it isn't," Becky said. "You're scheduled last. I can't change that."
As she spoke, she shot nervous glances at me. Had I been the other two, I'd have interpreted those glances to mean Becky was indeed following orders: my orders. Protest, and I'd sound like a two-faced poseur. Take Becky aside and I'd confirm suspicions of collusion.
Damn it, I didn't need this. It was hard enough doing this silly seance, when all I could think about was those child ghosts. It took all I had not to say "screw it" and walk away from the whole thing. Screw the show. Screw my future in television. I had more important things to do--things I'd rather be doing.
I forced my attention back on task. As Claudia harassed Becky, and Angelique made pointed comments about special treatment, I noticed the cameraman, ten feet away, filming the spat.
"Becky," I murmured.
"I'm sorry, Claudia, but the positioning has been set--"
I coughed, and nudged Becky toward the cameraman.
She glanced his way, then continued. "If Mr. Grady has a problem with this shoot, then I'd suggest he go ahead and contact Mr. Simon because..."
I excused myself and walked away.
THE SEANCE did not go well. Suspecting that my information was false, Angelique called Gabrielle's husband a soccer player, then started talking about bullet holes, when the woman had been stabbed. Seeing her failure on Becky's face, she tried to salvage the seance with boring personal details--Gabrielle remembered her mother brushing her hair, Gabrielle liked to walk in bare feet, Gabrielle liked puppies--the sorts of things impossible to confirm or deny.
On to Grady, who probably vaguely remembered the case, but not well enough to chance it, so he found a Spanish conquistador who'd stumbled on an evil pagan cult and claimed this ghost was so strong he blocked Gabrielle.