"I thought so until this gambling issue came up. But the gambling problem only came about after my daughter was mugged and suffered a head trauma. Her recovery was a long one. That's when she took up. . .gambling. Before then, in all the time she's lived here, she'd never once gone to a casino. She wins. All the time. Then she gives away the money. The casinos went after her, thinking she was cheating and beating the system, but they couldn't prove anything. They took her to one of their secret rooms, where they questioned her for hours and hours. They started following her, invading her privacy. Last year she was named Teacher of the Year by her school. Yet they managed to get her fired from her teaching job. These people are very powerful; they can do whatever they want. I'm talking about casino security when I say the 'people' are powerful. Marble Rose has been a victim several times. Someone hijacked her car. Another time someone broke into her house. The brakes on her car were tampered with, and yet those damn people never barred her from the casino. That's what doesn't make sense to me."

"Why didn't your daughter go to a lawyer?" Lizzie asked, as her agile brain sifted and collated what she was hearing.

"She did go to a lawyer. Actually she went to over a dozen lawyers, but as soon as they heard it was a casino problem, they either weren't taking on new clients or they flat-out refused to help her.

"She finally found one who asked for a twenty-five-thousand-dollar retainer, which she paid, and within a month he was gone. He put a sign on the door of his office and one on his house, saying that due to a family emergency he would be unavailable indefinitely. He took the time to assign all his other cases to other colleagues, with the exception of my daughter's case. She found out when she went to his office after her calls were not returned. The man prepaid his house bills and has not been seen since. It's over a month now that he's been AWOL. One would have to be a fool not to think the casinos' muscle got to him."

Ted leaned over and asked, "Can't you. . .tune in, or whatever you do, or however it works, to find out where he is?"

Beatrice Preston sighed. "It doesn't work that way. I wish it did. I had one. . .vision of her sitting in jail. That's how I know she's there."

"Why is your daughter in jail?" Lizzie asked.

Beatrice Preston looked at Lizzie like she had sprouted a second head. "I just told you, they say she isn't in jail. Therefore, she isn't charged with anything."

Lizzie waited a full minute before she answered. "I have to talk to your daughter first. I'll go to the county jail tomorrow to see what I can find out."

"Fair enough. What about. . .you know who?"