Gideon turned to her in amazement. “Mother, you really don’t need to worry about this.”

“But I am worried about this. Someone who is probably one of my oldest friends is being cheated and probably others whom I know as well, since I know almost everyone who is a client at your firm.”

That was true, although Gideon didn’t want to confirm it. Mrs. Darlington was certainly one of his mother’s oldest friends. He turned to Elizabeth. “What can we do, though? I’m guessing the police won’t be too interested.”

Elizabeth sighed and shook her head. “They might be, if we could convince the victims to file charges, but in cases like this, people usually refuse to even believe they’ve been cheated. Without that, the police are helpless, which is why my entire family isn’t locked up in prison.”

“So our only hope is to con the con artist,” his mother said.

“But Elizabeth said she didn’t have any idea how to do that,” Gideon protested.

“Not yet, but maybe . . . Well, we’ll just have to see if Cupid’s Arrow won today in the fifth at Belmont.”

—

Did you see?” Anna demanded when she barged into the Bateses’ parlor the next morning. Elizabeth and Mrs. Bates had been perusing the newspapers, reading accounts of the Paris Peace Conference being held in France to hammer out the terms of settlement between Germany and the Allies. “Cupid’s Arrow won the race!”

“We saw,” Mother Bates informed her happily. “Or rather Gideon saw it. He got the newspaper first this morning.”

“Now what do we do?” Anna asked, plopping down on the love seat beside Elizabeth.

“We?” Elizabeth asked with a teasing grin.

“Yes, we. You don’t think you can leave me out of this, do you? It’s my mother you’re trying to save.”

“And we’ll need her,” Mother Bates reminded Elizabeth, “since your family can’t be involved.”

Because Elizabeth had only the vaguest idea of what she might do, she had no idea if she needed either of them, but she certainly wasn’t going to say so at this point in time. “I think the best thing we can do right now is wait.”

“Wait for what?” Anna cried, obviously outraged at the very thought.

“Wait for Mr. Lindhurst to tell Madame Ophelia my tip was correct.”

“Oh, I see,” Mother Bates said. “That is your proof that you really can speak to the spirits.”

“I doubt Madame Ophelia will think so. She’ll probably think I’m another con artist trying to horn in on her scam, which is why I have to just wait for her to come to me.”

“Do you think she will?” Anna asked in amazement.

“I’m thinking Mr. Lindhurst will nag her until she does. She certainly never gives him racing tips.”

“Will you give him more?” Mother Bates asked.