“Now, what kind of a plan did you come up with, Lizzie?” Jake asked.

“A very clever one,” Anna said. “She’s going to pretend she can really talk to the spirits.”

The look Jake gave her was insultingly skeptical.

“It won’t be that hard. I already started.”

“Yes, she predicted that Cupid’s Arrow would win his horse race yesterday,” Mother Bates said.

“She did, did she?” Jake said, mystified. “Just because Mill Due scratched?” Jake was apparently using his spare time to follow the horses.

“I heard some of the boys discussing it when I went to see the Old Man the other day. I didn’t really predict Cupid’s Arrow would win, just that Mill Due would scratch so he’d have a better chance.”

Jake was impressed, although she knew he’d die before admitting it. “Are you going to keep on predicting horse races?”

“Of course not. I need to make accurate predictions.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“I’ll need some help.”

“I figured. Have you thought about who can help you?”

“I’ve thought about a lot of people, but they’re all con men, so they won’t.”

Jake nodded sagely. “I guess that just leaves Cybil.”

“Cybil?” Mother Bates echoed in amazement. “Your aunt, Cybil?”

“The very same,” Jake said.

“But she’s a college professor,” Anna said.

“She is now,” Jake said.

“Did she used to be a . . . a . . .” Plainly, Mother Bates couldn’t bring herself to say it.

“Not willingly,” Elizabeth said. “She grew up in that family, so she learned a lot, but she was determined not to do what they did. She convinced her father to send her to college instead so she could make her way in the world.”

“What a wonderful story,” Mother Bates said.

Elizabeth supposed it was. For the first time she realized she should have done what Cybil had, except then she would probably never have met Gideon Bates. Maybe things worked out the way they should sometimes.

“Do you think Miss Miles would help?” Anna asked. Cybil Miles was a professor at Hunter College, where Anna was a student.

“If we explain everything to her, she might,” Elizabeth said, having not had time to really decide if this was a good idea or not.

“And if Cybil says yes, Zelda would help, too,” Jake said.

“I can’t imagine Miss Goodnight participating in a con,” Anna said.

Elizabeth couldn’t either, but she also knew Zelda would support Cybil in anything. “Well, it won’t hurt to ask them.”

“They’ll be thrilled,” Jake predicted.

—

They were not thrilled.

“I can’t believe you’d ask me to do something like that,” Cybil said.