"Please, you must save Clay!"
The moment Arthur finished speaking, Mrs. Bernice pleaded with him again and again.
No one knew a son better than his mother.
Mrs. Bernice certainly did not consider her son a brave man or a hero who would "dare to face the thunder's might." Clay's so-called "Storm-Chasing" was merely something he bragged about to his friends at salons.
And that fit "foolish and blind, yet unaware" perfectly!
But what worried Mrs. Bernice most were the words "darkness, solitude, blood, shattered."
She feared that something terrible had happened to Clay.
Worry clouded judgment. It always did.
That was precisely why Old Charlie had devised patter like this. Simply put, most situations could be made to fit those words.
Who had never been arrogant?
Who could guarantee they were always right?
There would inevitably be times when people were foolish and blind, yet unaware!
And darkness, solitude, blood, shattered?
Any disaster could be explained with those words.
Only the line "there will always be creatures upon the earth who dare to face the thunder's might" was different.
Because Arthur had added that himself.
According to Old Charlie's procedure, this was the point to collect the money.
But Arthur would not.
He had bigger plans.
So, when he saw Mrs. Bernice take a check from her purse, the young "Medium" frowned slightly and refused outright-
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Bernice, but I cannot accept your payment."
Mrs. Bernice froze at Arthur's words.
In fact, Mr. Bernice, standing beside her, froze as well.
When Arthur had uttered those vague, baffling words, Mr. Bernice had all but put him in the same category as those swindlers.
Over the decades of his life, Mr. Bernice had seen far too much, including frauds of this kind.
Before they were exposed, every one of