“What are you doing?” Claudia sighed, thinking this was a stalling tactic.
“I’m trying to break it”, he said in frustration as he struck it on the table repeatedly.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.”
Claudia shot a withering look at the big, beefy man. She took his beer bottle by the neck and smashed the bottom against the amethyst, breaking it into several pieces. In the middle of the crystal was a shiny piece of metal.
Her eyes grew wide.
“What’s that?”
“It’s some kind of microchip.”
“How does it work?”
“These pendants are from Gil’s line of jewelry,” said Ted. “He sells these things like hot cakes and the microchips somehow pick up information from the people who wear them. I don’t know how they work exactly.”
“Bullshit,” said Claudia impatiently. “I’m going to call your wife right now.”
She grabbed her phone and started to dial.
“No, don’t!” he pleaded as he placed his hand over hers in an attempt to stop her. “I’m telling you the truth. I don’t know how it works. I don’t know anything about technology,” he confessed. “I’m a dumbass. I didn’t even finish high school. Please don’t tell my wife about everything! I can’t lose her, or my kids…”
Claudia pulled her hand away. She thought she saw tears in Ted’s eyes. They reminded her of the tears she’d seen in the eyes of Gil’s clients over the years.
Claudia snatched the microchip and pieces of crystal from among the bits of broken bottle and put them in a safe place in her handbag. She still couldn’t discount the possibility that this was another one of Gil’s setups, but if Ted was telling the truth then she had a little information, and she knew where to go to find out more.
“I’ve told you what you want to know. You won’t tell my wife, will you?” Ted begged.
Claudia looked at him with a deadpan expression.
“That depends on how smoothly this plays out,” she said as she took a final swig of her Long Island Iced Tea. “I’ll be in touch.”
She left the pub.
The server watched Claudia leave. Then she walked over to Ted’s table and picked up their empty glasses.
“She didn’t stay long! But I knew that one was going to leave,” she taunted. “She was too good for you.”
She waited for his usual wisecrack response although one wasn’t forthcoming. Ted only stared vacantly into the distance. She took pity on him.
“You look like you could do with another drink, Ted.”
“Thanks,” he said, for the first time ever. “Bring me a whiskey, neat, and keep ‘em coming.”
Then she saw the shards of broken glass and crystal on the table and floor.
“Hey! What happened here?”
“Not much,” said Ted with a resigned shrug of his shoulders. “I just lost my job, my wife, and my kids.”
Chapter 29
Claudia turned up to work in a good mood the next morning, despite feeling a little nauseous. It must have been the Long Island Iced Tea she’d had to drink the night before. She was elated. She had the smoking gun! Well, she had the unfired bullet. Now she needed the help of her computer expert, Ana Stanich. Claudia knew that Gil had won over Ana with his smooth talking and tricks, she even suspected that Ana had a crush on him, but she was certain she could bring her around with this new information.
Gil had a show in Oakland that night and Claudia wanted to be there, with Ana in tow. She called Ana into her office. She had just returned from a trip to Florida to visit her father.
“Hi Boss. You wanted to see me?”
“Yes. I want to talk with you about Gil Godsend.”
Ana groaned
“Not this again,” she said.
“Please… hear me out.”
Ana closed her eyes and sighed.
“You need to get over this obsession you have with Gil Godsend so you can move on with your life!”
“I had moved on,” Claudia said in her own defense. “I know it seems like I’m crying wolf, but some new information has since come to light. It could prove that Gil is a fraud, or it’s a chance for you to prove to me that Gil really is psychic.”
“Will any proof ever be good enough for you?”
“Absolutely. If I’m wrong then I’ll give up.”
“That’s what you said last time.”
“Last time I didn’t have this…”
Claudia opened the drawer of her desk and took out the fragmented pendant. She placed the pieces on the palm of Ana’s hand. Ana’s eyes widened. Finally, her curiosity was piqued.
“This amethyst pendant is from Gil’s line of Celestial Jewelry,” said Claudia.
“Hmm…I think my mom has one of these pendants,” Ana said, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.
That would explain a lot, thought Claudia.
“This chip was inside of it. What is it?” she asked.
“Let me take a look at it. I think I have my jeweler’s loop with me,” Ana said as she pulled a small magnifying glass out of her pocket and turned the object around slowly with her fingers like she was a jeweler appraising a diamond ring. “This is a tiny printed circuit board,” she said in fascination. “I just came back from a hacker’s convention in Vegas and they had this kind of technology there. It’s cutting edge stuff. This looks like a skimmer but I’ve never seen one this small. With the right kind of software these can strip credit card information off a smart phone within three feet.”
Claudia’s jaw dropped. Just what other kinds of information could it access?
“I had no idea,” she said. “Ana, I need your help. Come with me to his show tonight in Oakland. Help me find out the truth.”
Ana thought about it. If Gil really was psychic then his innocence needed to be shown, but if it was all just a scam, he needed to be exposed. Gil brought her father back to her, and she was deeply grateful for that, but if her mother did have one of those amethyst pendants, it would explain a lot. Also, she wouldn’t admit it to Claudia, but she was a little offended that Gil never called her back when she gave her phone number to him. She suspected that he was still interested in Claudia.
“Okay, I’ll do it,” she said reluctantly.
“You won’t regret it,” Claudia promised.
“Famous last words…”
It was another day, another Gil Godsend show.
Claudia and Ana arrived at the theater in Oakland and joined the long line of people waiting to get inside. Claudia suddenly noticed how many people were wearing amethyst pendants, signaling their allegiance to Gil like football fans wearing their team’s t-shirt. Claudia was weirded out by these pendants. Did Gil design his amethyst pendants based on the one he gave to her all those years ago?
Claudia and Ana overheard a group of women talking excitedly about the magical powers of their amethyst pendants.
I’ve started to sleep better since wearing my pendant.
In the first hour of wearing my pendant I found out I’m getting that raise I’ve been waiting for!
I was wearing my pendant when I bought a lotto ticket and won $20!
I had sinus congestion but when I put on my pendant my nose cleared right up!
Ever since I started wearing my pendant I’ve been able to vibrate to my soul map in a much clearer way.
After waiting for an hour, the women finally reached the front of the line. When the usher asked for their tickets, Ted appeared out of nowhere.
“I’ll take care of these two. They’re VIPs,” he said. “This way, ladies.”
He led Claudia and Ana up a flight of stairs to a cozy box seat. These were perfect seats for the two of them to have the privacy to talk and use their surveillance equipment.
“I hope you’ll find these seats to your satisfaction,” Ted said politely, and without a trace of sarcasm.
“Thank you,” said Claudia.
“You’re welcome, Ma’am,” he replied with a gallant wave
of his hand.
This gentleman was a far cry from the walking penis she had a drink with last night. But she still didn’t trust him. For all Claudia knew, Gil might know she was there. Ted could have blabbed to Gil to save his own neck. This might be just another set up, but these were risks she had to take because it could also be her big breakthrough.
Ana was overwhelmed by the event.
“I can’t believe how many people attend these shows! It’s like a rock concert.”
“Yeah, and I could’ve bought tickets to see the Rolling Stones for the amount these would’ve cost,” said Claudia.
On stage a large bouquet of fresh flowers sat on a table covered with a white silk cloth. Meditation music pumped through the theater while psychedelic imagery played on a video screen in the background. Excitement built up in the room when a five-minute countdown clock appeared on the screen. When the clock reached ten seconds until the start of the show the audience screamed out the countdown, and then Gil ran out onto the stage, wearing a three-piece hunter green suit with a blue and white polka dot shirt and a navy blue tie.
Claudia thought she heard Ana sigh a little.
Gil leaned against the table like a crooner leaning against a piano.
“A skeptic said to me the other day, ‘If you’re so goddamn psychic, then what’s my name?’
‘Asshole’, I said. ‘By the way, your name is Mitch’.”
The audience laughed.
While Gil held court over the theater, Ana used her tablet to scan for wireless signals. Claudia held her breath. She didn’t know what they were looking for, but she hoped Ana would find it.
“Whoa!” exclaimed Ana. “This theater is a spider web of signals that are crisscrossing everywhere!” she said as she flailed her arms about. “That’s weird… half of these signals are NFC and the other half are Bluetooth.”
“Yeah, that’s weird,” agreed Claudia.
She wasn’t sure what Ana meant, but it sounded damning.
“The Bluetooth signals are a class 1 which is kind of rare. The range is as big as a football field,” she added. “Wait a minute. The NFC signals are used for extracting information from smart phones while the Bluetooth signal coming from the amethyst pendants is sending that information to a single computer.” An evil smile crept across her face. “I’m going to hack into it…”
“Let’s start the show!” Gil announced to cheers and applause.
Claudia felt her heart rate speeding up as Ana typed away madly, a manic look in her eyes as she stared at the screen.
“Hmm…that’s interesting,” Ana said.
“What?” asked Claudia.
“Brandy...”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m being pulled to this section here,” said Gil as he motioned to the front row. “I’m sensing a “B” name, like Brenda or Brandy,” said Gil. “I want to go to the woman in the green sweater.”
Gil raced over to her with his microphone.
“My name is Brandy!” the woman cried.
“Holy shit!” Claudia whispered.
“Max,” said Ana.
“Who is Max?” asked Gil.
“He’s my father,” said Brandy.
“He’s here with us now,” said Gil.
“He was a firefighter,” said Ana.
“Why am I seeing fire?” asked Gil.
“My father was a firefighter.”
“He died fighting a house fire,” said Ana.
Gil closed his eyes and grimaced.
“The room I’m in is getting very hot… I want to get out of here but I’m trapped… I feel like my skin is being burned… I’m engulfed in flames…” He started coughing. “I can barely breath…I’m choking…” He opened his eyes and looked at Brandy. “I feel that your father died in the line of duty…”
“That’s right,” Brandy mumbled before she began sobbing into her hands.
“He was a hero,” said Gil as he placed his hand gently on her shoulder. “He says he loves you and that he wants you to know he is okay.”
Claudia smiled.
This was the beginning of the end for Gil Godsend.
“How are you getting this information?” she asked Ana.
“The circuit board in the pendants is taking information from wearer’s smart phones and routing it into a search algorithm that does an instant background check on them and analyzes their social media,” explained Ana. “This program extracts this data, categorizes it, and then drops it into a spreadsheet. This lets Gil know where the person is sitting in the room and reveals all different kinds of personal information about them; names, ages, family tree, police records, medical history, obituaries, browser history, purchases, and hobbies.” Ana pointed to the spreadsheet on her screen. “See, it says here that Brandy just bought pottery supplies and she has an online store where she sells her handmade items.”
“I see bowls, plates and cups… They’re handmade…” said Gil. “I see a lump of clay…a pottery wheel…and a kiln…who makes pottery?”
“I do!” Brandy replied excitedly.
“How is Gil getting this information?” asked Claudia.
Ana narrowed her eyes.
“I’m not sure…yet.”
Surely he wasn’t wearing an earpiece. Claudia had gone down that road before. She zoomed in on Gil with a pair of high-powered mini binoculars.
“I can’t see that he’s wearing an earpiece, smart watch, glasses, or anything else that would allow him to receive this information,” Claudia observed. “He’s walking among the crowd so he’s not using a teleprompter.”
“I bet he’s using some sort of new technology,” said Ana.
Claudia remembered Gil’s comment about the in-ear receiver being outdated. She could hear his voice in her head saying…that trick is so… 1980s.
“I think you’re right,” she said to Ana.
Claudia watched Gil carefully. He was staring off into the distance.
“My spirit guides tell me that someone in this part of the room just had a burglary in their home,” he said as he pointed to the right side of the audience. “They’re giving me the name Rick.”
A man in that part of the room put up his hand.
“My name is Rick and my home was just broken into.”
“Then this message is for you.” Gil said. He paused and looked up again. “They’re telling me that the thieves stole a television and a laptop… They also took some items that had sentimental value to you… I see war memorabilia… and a World War II bayonet that belonged to your grandfather.”
“That’s right, Gil. Those things meant a lot to me,” he said sadly.
Every time Gil received a message from his “spirit guides”, he was looking up at the same location on the back wall. Claudia always thought that when he did this he was thinking about what he was going to say; now she wondered if he was looking at what he needed to say.
“Whenever Gil talks with his spirit guides he looks up at the left side of the back wall,” she told Ana. “Is there something there?”
Ana pulled a gadget out of her handbag.
“I got this from a technology conference,” she said. “I’ve been looking for a reason to use it. It looks like a lens but it’s a mini camera and display that I can attach to a camera phone to give it night vision. Cool, huh?”
“Um, yeah…” said Claudia.
Ana attached the lens to her phone and panned around the room. They viewed the audience through the sickly green hue of night vision that they were familiar with from watching ghost hunting shows on television. Then Ana directed the camera towards the area on the wall where Gil kept looking.
“Bingo!” she cried. “The information from the spreadsheet is being projected right onto the wall!”
“But how can he see it with the naked eye?” Claudia asked.
“He can’t, unless he’s a superhero or something,” said Ana. “Gil must have some kind of night vision.”
Claudia looked at
Gil. How was he seeing infrared without using a lens like Ana’s or wearing a massive pair of night vision binoculars? She laughed to herself as she imagined the suave Mr. Gil Godsend wearing a stylish suit and a pair of clunky night vision goggles.
She snapped out of it and watched him at work. Now he was doing a reading for a little old lady.
“My spirit guides tell me that you’re recovering from hip surgery, but they must be wrong. You’re far too young for that,” he said with a grin.
The woman was charmed. She stared deep into his eyes through her thick glasses.
“Gil, your eyes are even more vibrantly blue in person!” she flirted.
A memory slid into place suddenly in Claudia’s mind. She remembered when she was standing on the beach with Gil in Australia.
She looked into Gil’s piercing blue eyes, which seemed to have become more vibrantly blue over time.
Gil’s eyes had always been blue, but now they looked even more vibrant than the days when they were together. Had his eyes changed color with age? Had they changed because of sickness? Was he wearing eye make-up? Was he wearing contact lenses?
Maybe that was it…
“I think he’s wearing contacts,” Claudia said.
“Hmm… You know, there’s a research team that’s developing contact lenses with night vision,” said Ana. “I know it sounds like science fiction, but such a device would enable Gil to see in the dark with his own eyes. But he’d only want to wear one lens at a time so he could still see true color with his other eye. I’d imagine wearing them would cause some eye strain.”
This recalled another memory for Claudia. She and Gil walked on the beach together when he began rubbing his forehead. She joked that he’d gotten sand in his third eye and he replied;
'"I’ve just been getting headaches. My third eye is fine."
Maybe he was getting headaches from wearing the night vision contact lenses?
Claudia was so excited that she felt she was about to faint. She breathed slowly and tried to regain her composure. It was like she was piecing together a massive puzzle, and the picture was forming slowly. It was all starting to make sense. It was still possible that this was a set up, but if it was, it was an elaborate one. That was Gil’s style, but it was also Gil’s style to have the latest gadgets and technology at his fingertips. It was a far-fetched theory, but as always, it made more sense to Claudia than Gil talking to the dead.
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