Glass Eye: Confessions of a Fake Psychic Detective

Chapter 53

The four of them travel together. Zandra, 'cuffed, in the back with Herman. Fred in the driver's seat. Charlie next to him watching the back seat in the mirror.

The ride in the squad car gives Zandra time to think. The weight of the evidence is still stacked against her, even if Elle's body really is at Soma Falls. Charlie's no idiot, either. She'd know how to pull something like this off without a stitch of self-incrimination. She might've even planted something as a fail-safe.

Everyone fucks up, though. There are no straight lines, no perfect circles. The trick is to get in close to spot the imperfections. Don't fall for the big picture.

Which is why Zandra focuses on the sketch from her remote viewing session. Fred let her take it along, although the 'cuffs had to stay on.

The ride doesn't take long. Zandra folds the paper into a square and hands it to Fred. "For safe keeping," she says in the parking lot.

The car Zandra stole from her landlord, Steve, is gone. Probably hauled off as evidence. Explaining that little joyride away will be harder even if this Elle thing shakes out in her favor.

But Elle isn't on Zandra's mind as she shuffles down the two-person-wide path leading to Soma Falls with the others. It's David. And their child, the one who never saw the light of day. Never had a chance.

Zandra soaks in the mist of Soma Falls hanging in the air as they approach the landmark. The mist smells like fall and tastes like earthy decay, perfect for a walk back in time. She sees David in her mind's eye. He waits at the railing separating visitors from the rocks. Turns to her and smiles. Then he drifts away downstream, as helpless in this moment as the dead leaves in the water. Not for this time. Not for this place. Not anymore.

For a long time after David died, Zandra wondered why he didn't just come back. Why didn't he swim back upstream to her? Paddle against the current of time. It doesn't make any sense, but it did at the time. Why couldn't he fight? Couldn't he see she was fighting for him? Waiting, plotting, planning, swearing she would make him whole again at any cost, no matter the pain to the Carey family.

That pain materializes on the shore a moment later. It doesn't bring David back. He doesn't swim up to the shore. He's as dead as Elle is now.

Zandra thinks she should feel some relief. Elle's limp body lies on the rocky shore of Soma Falls just beyond the railing. The face-down position seems like it wanted to be found. One pink shoe rests halfway on her foot. The other sits next to a filthy teddy bear missing an eye on the rocks, the words "Daddy Loves Me" stitched into its muddy tummy.

"My god," Fred says for the four of them.

Zandra stares at the heap that used to be Elle. Between the quiet of the park and the gentle rush of Soma Falls, there's a certain allure to the peace on display in front of her. It's almost enough to be envious of the dead. Almost.

Herman can't stand the sight. He looks at his crusty feet instead. Mutters something to himself over and over.

Charlie feigns disgust and says, "I hope you're happy now, Zandra. It's over for you."

"I had nothing to do with this. I, I...," Zandra says. She loses the rhythm in her thinking.

"...looked upstream. There's a reality that precedes this one. Most of the time, it only flows one way. But people like Zandra, they can see upstream. That remote viewing, that's what it is. It's real," Herman says, looking up to the sky.

"Wait, what? You helped Zandra put Elle in this stream?" Charlie says.

"No, I mean the stream of reality," Herman says.

Fred fights to keep control of the situation. Slips into the stoniest version of himself he can muster. He unfolds Zandra's drawing.

"I understand the waterfall, but what about the car? What does that mean?" Fred says.

Zandra isn't sure, either. She stuck the car in there to round out the drawing. But now, standing at Soma Falls, knowing despite Elle's discovery that she's still screwed, it takes on a different meaning. It's an almost supernatural coincidence, one that makes Zandra question her own skepticism.

Without a doubt, she knows now how to prove Charlie killed Elle.