Mind Over Matter

years. After ten minutes in hercompany, his admiration grew. She spoke to each member of the crew, from the director down to the assistant lighting technician. When she’d finished, she turned herself over to Sam for instructions.
    At her suggestion, they moved to the terrace. Patient, she waited while technicians set up reflectors and umbrellas to exploit the best effect from available light. Her maid set a table of cold drinks and snacks out of camera range. Though she didn’t touch a thing, she indicated to the crew that they should enjoy. She sat easily through sound tests and blocking. When Sam was satisfied, she turned to Alex and began.
    “Mrs. Van Camp, for twenty years you’ve been known as one of the most talented and best-loved actresses in the country.”
    “Thank you, Alex. My career has always been one of the most important parts of my life.”
    “One of the most. We’re here now to discuss another part of your life. Your family, most specifically your son. A decade ago, you nearly faced tragedy.”
    “Yes, I did.” She folded her hands. Though the sun shone down in her face, she never blinked. “A tragedy that I sincerely doubt I would have recovered from.”
    “This is the first interview you’ve given on this subject. Can I ask you why you agreed now?”
    She smiled a little, leaning back in her weathered rattan chair. “Timing, in life and in business, is crucial. For several years after my son’s abduction I simply couldn’t speak of it. After a time, it seemed unnecessary to bring it up again. Now, if I watch the news or look in a store window and see posters of missing children, I ache for the parents.”
    “Do you consider that this interview might help those parents?”
    “Help them find their children, no.” Emotion flickered inher eyes, very real and very brief. “But perhaps it can ease some of the misery. I’d never considered sharing my feelings about my own experience. And I doubt very much if I would have agreed if it hadn’t been for Clarissa DeBasse.”
    “Clarissa DeBasse asked you to give this interview?”
    After a soft laugh, Alice shook her head. “Clarissa never asks anything. But when I spoke with her and I realized she had faith in this project, I agreed.”
    “You have a great deal of faith in her.”
    “She gave me back my son.”
    She said it with such simplicity, with such utter sincerity, that Alex let the sentence hang. From somewhere in the garden at her back, a bird began to trill.
    “That’s what we’d like to talk about here. Will you tell us how you came to know Clarissa DeBasse?”
    Behind the cameras, behind the crew, David stood with his hands in his pockets and listened to the story. He remembered how A.J. had once told him of her mother’s gradual association with celebrities. Alice Van Camp had come to her with a friend on a whim. After an hour, she’d gone away impressed with Clarissa’s gentle style and straightforward manner. On impulse, she’d commissioned Clarissa to do her husband’s chart as a gift for their anniversary. When it was done, even the pragmatic and business-oriented Peter Van Camp had been intrigued.
    “She told me things about myself,” Alice went on. “Not about tomorrow, you understand, but about my feelings, things about my background that had influenced me, or still worried me. I can’t say I always liked what she had to say. There are things about ourselves we don’t like to admit. But I kept going back because she was so intriguing, and gradually we became friends.”
    “You believed in clairvoyance?”
    Alice’s brows drew together as she considered. “I would say I first began to see her because it was fun, it was different. I’d chosen to lead a secluded life after the birth of my son, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t appreciate, even need, little touches of flash. Of the unique.” The frown smoothed as she smiled. “Clarissa was undoubtedly unique.”
    “So you went to her for entertainment.”
    “Oh, yes, that was definitely the motivation in the beginning. You see, at first I thought she was simply very clever. Then, as I began to know her, I discovered she was not simply clever, she was special. That certainly doesn’t mean I endorse every palmist on Sunset Boulevard. I certainly can’t claim to understand the testing and research that’s done on the subject. I do believe, however, that there are some of us who are more sensitive, or whose senses are more finely