Barclay, Linwood Novel 08 - Never saw it coming

“She brought up something I wanted to bounce off you.”
    “Sure,” Keisha said. “Did you want to talk privately?”
    “No, this is fine,” the detective said, smiling again at Kirk, who still had one hand rubbing the lump of cash in the back of his jeans. “This all comes back to the card.”
    “My business card,” Keisha said.
    “That’s right. She says . . .” Wedmore stopped herself and looked at Kirk. “I’m sorry, I’m probably being very rude here. Has Ms. Ceylon told you about what’s happened today?”
    “Uh, a little,” he said hesitantly. “Some dude got killed or something.”
    “That’s right. Wendell Garfield.”
    “That’s the guy was on TV asking for help to find his wife. Yeah, I know who you mean.”
    “When we found Mr. Garfield, he had Ms. Ceylon’s business card in his shirt pocket.”
    Kirk’s eyes went wide. “Wow, well, that’s something. Isn’t that something, Keisha?”
    Shut up, she thought. She should have said it out loud.
    Kirk said, “So maybe he was thinking of hiring Keisha to find out what happened to his wife. She does that, you know. She’s got this gift. She can see shit.” He smiled at her and put a hand on her shoulder. “And she likes to help people.”
    Shut up shut up shut up.
    Wedmore turned her attention back to Keisha. “You had a theory about how Mr. Garfield got your card. A theory that didn’t include you handing it to him yourself.”
    Keisha said, “I don’t know how he got my card, but yes, I do think maybe he could have gotten it from his sister, Gail. Since she’s already been coming to see me for some time for consultations.”
    “Right, that’s what you said. So I asked Mrs. Beaudry about that. Whether she had given her brother your card.”
    Keisha waited.
    “And she said it was possible. She didn’t actually remember doing it, but she said she could have given it to him, or to Mrs. Garfield.”
    “Well, there you are,” Keisha said, not feeling as relieved as she’d have liked.
    “So I asked her how many of your business cards she still has. And she said, so far as she knows, none. Which would seem to mean that the only card she might ever have gotten from you ended up with Mr. Garfield.”
    “Like she told you, she thinks it was possible.”
    “Yes. I asked her, if she only ever had the one card from you, when did you actually give it to her.”
    “Well,” Keisha said, “if you’re asking me, I have no idea. I hand out cards all the time. I could have had some on the table there and she took one on her way out.”
    Wedmore nodded, looking at the coffee table decorated with beer and half a Twinkie. “I can see how that might happen. But the thing is, she was able to tell me when it happened. When she got the card. She says you told her earlier today.”
    “I did?”
    “She says you brought it up. She told me that during a session some time ago—something to do with Amelia Earhart, I think she said?”
    “Gail believes she channels the spirits of some notable people throughout history.”
    “Nuttier than a fruitcake,” Kirk said, grinning. “I mean, I’m just sayin’.”
    Keisha shot him a look, then told Wedmore, “I take all of my clients’ beliefs very seriously, Detective, even if Kirk doesn’t. I don’t mock them.”
    “No, of course not. Anyway, Mrs. Beaudry was saying that while she was—do you say
channeling
?”
    “Yes.”
    “While she was channeling Amelia Earhart, she says that she asked you for one of your cards because she believed it could help someone. She says you reminded her of that this morning.”
    “I think—yes, I do believe I mentioned that earlier today.”
    “But Mrs. Beaudry doesn’t actually remember asking for it.”
    “Often she does not remember discussions she has with me when she’s channeling another person.”
    Wedmore nodded slowly and smiled. “So it was as Amelia Earhart that she asked for this card?”
    Keisha sighed. “It’s not quite like that. I mean, Gail is still always
Gail
, even when she’s channeling someone else. So I believe it was Gail asking for that card. But she may not recall the incident clearly because of the confluence of personalities at the time.”
    “Uh huh,” Wedmore said. “But don’t you find it interesting?”
    “It’s all very interesting. Helping people connect with past lives is fascinating work, Detective.”
    “No, not that, though I grant you, that is pretty interesting. No, what I find interesting,