“That’s what Margaret’s father told her when she was only a toddler. He beat her with his belt because she’d told him she knew the dog next door was sick because he’d told her so. But their neighbors were glad when they managed to save their dog’s life.” She added, “And I’m sure that every time you come up with another one of those miracle inventions, a lot of people think you have to be a little crazy to create something no one else has even imagined.” She met his eyes. “So I’ll embrace that madness if it will keep any more of those girls from being killed by Masenak. I swear it’s true, Korgan.”

“What you think is true. I suppose next you’re going to tell me that you can communicate with animals, too?”

“No, I told you it was very rare.” She hesitated and then said recklessly, “But Sasha Nalano can do it. That was why I went to see that little girl at the circus in Naples. Margaret was always on the lookout for anyone who could do what she could. She knew how alone she’d felt all her life and wanted to reach out to them. She’d heard of a child there in Naples who was almost magical with horses, and she asked me to check her out if I had a chance. She said sometimes that strong affinity for one animal indicates that same rare ability Margaret possesses. The person just tries to protect themselves by hiding it in an acceptable format, as Sasha did with horse training.”

“And lo and behold, you found your Margaret was right.”

The sarcasm was beginning to hurt, and she had to end this conversation. “It doesn’t matter if you believe me or not. All you have to accept is that when Margaret comes back, she’ll have the info we need about Baldwin as I promised. You shouldn’t care how she got it.” She got to her feet. “And then I’ll go after him and turn him over to you. So that means you’d better be ready to find a way to save Sasha and the rest of those students.”

“But your Sasha obviously comes first,” he said harshly. “Isn’t that a bit selfish? Vogel shouldn’t have worried about you being too altruistic.”