Special Talents (22 page)

Shepherd looked around. She was getting more nervous by the minute. Jeremy had seen it before in some of his patients. When he had confronted them with something they were desperately trying to keep hidden.

"Look, Ms. Shepherd," said Scarborough. "You seem like a decent person. But counterfeiting is a very serious crime. Unless you can offer some explanation for this I'll have no choice but to take you in. Then where will your sister and her son be?"

Shepherd looked at the two, hope showing in her eyes.

"Let's go back to my place," she said. "I'll try to explain it all there."

"Just don't try to run," said Scarborough. "I can have a BOLO out on you in thirty seconds."

"I won't," she promised. "But I can't go to prison. I assume since you all ready know who I am you also know where I live."

"Yes, I do."

"Okay. I'll meet you there. It's only about ten minutes from here."

Jeremy and Scarborough went back to his car and followed Shepherd out of the parking lot. Scarborough had kept the "fake" ten-dollar bill.

"That's was pretty understanding of you," Jeremy said as they followed Shepherd. "You would have made a fair psychiatrist?"

"Fair?" questioned Scarborough. "Anyway, like you said, there's something going on here. And you said she was using an ability. It looks like she's able to Xerox money onto normal paper and then can somehow transform it into the real thing."

"With the exception of the serial number," interjected Jeremy.

"That was her only mistake. Any idea how she's able to do it?"

"I would imagine something like molecular alteration. Somehow she's able to alter the molecular structure of an item into a different material. That's an amazing ability. Depending on what she can alter and what she can alter it into, the possibilities are staggering."

"How do you come up with these names?" questioned Scarborough. "Molecular alteration. Psycho-mechanical manipulation. You really sound like a doctor. You can't give a simple name to something?"

"Force of habit," said Jeremy. "Just like you used the term 'Xerox'. That's actually a trade name for a specific company. The proper term would have been copy."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. At any rate, I'm thinking Ms. Shepherd might be a good candidate for the team. I've never even heard of someone who can do what she can do."

"Neither have I," said Jeremy. "But she's obviously very nervous about it. I think it's best to go easy on this one, Richard. Let's keep the threats down to a minimum. I think in this case we'll get a lot further if we treat more along the lines of a patient and less like a perp."

"I always keep the threats to a minimum," protested Scarborough.

"All I'm saying is I don't think she's your typical criminal type. She indicated there was a problem with her sister and nephew. Whatever she's using her ability for I don't think greed is a motivation. Otherwise she'd be passing a lot more than twenty-dollar bills."

"Well, the best way to pass phony money is to pass a bill or two at a time at different locations. So that it's less likely to be detected. But I agree with you. I don't think she's a criminal. At least not in the traditional sense of the word. Okay, why don't you take lead on this one? You know a lot more about people's motivation than I do. At least in a situation like this. And I promise. No threats. Let's just find out what she's up to and what she can do."

"A very wise decision," said Jeremy.

Shepherd lived in a modest small frame house in Silver Spring. It wasn't fancy but it was very homey. She made some coffee as she waited for the interrogation she knew was coming. Jeremy felt it best for her to get comfortable. He knew she would be easier to deal with once she was comfortable and didn't view the two men as a threat.

"Okay," she said, sitting cups of coffee on the table. "I suppose this had to happen eventually. I'm usually very careful. But I was in kind of a rush today."

"Ms. Shepherd," began Jeremy.

"Mariah, please."

"Okay, Mariah. My name is Dr. Jeremy Sloan. This is Richard Scarborough. I'm a psychiatrist. Please believe me when I say we have no desire to cause you any more problems than you may all ready have. It's just that you seem to be able to do something that should be impossible. We don't believe your intents are malicious. But we are understandably curious about this ability you seem to have."

"I don't do it often," she replied. "But with my sister and her son, sometimes there's just not enough money. My nephew is very sick and my sister doesn't have any medical insurance. Her husband left her just after my nephew got sick. I guess he just couldn't deal with a sick child. My nephew is only 8. He was diagnosed 4 years ago. My sister can barely make it as it is and with the added expense of medication and all, she just can't afford it.

"So I help out when I can. I'm not rich but I do what I can. But as I said, sometimes there's just not enough money. And Bobby – he's my nephew – he can't go without his medication. So I use my ability, as you call it, to get him what he needs. Please, I'm not a criminal. I'm not getting rich doing this. But I can't just sit back when there's something I can do about it. I won't do it anymore, I promise. But you can't send me to prison. Without me, Bobby could die."

"What's wrong with your nephew?" Jeremy asked.

"It's called neuroblastoma," said Mariah. "The doctors say my nephew is classified as an intermediate risk and with the proper treatment the prognosis for his recovery are very good. But as I said, my sister doesn't have any medical insurance and she just can't afford the treatment he needs. The medication helps but she can't afford it. So I get it when I can."

"Is the condition serious?" Scarborough asked Jeremy.

"It's very serious. Left untreated it's fatal. If he's on the proper medication that will help for a while. But he really needs the treatment. And the longer he goes without the treatment the worse he's going to get."

"Please," pleaded Mariah, "I can't go to prison. It's not like I'm a real counterfeiter. I'm not printing money up in my basement or anything."

"You're producing fake bills," said Scarborough. "That's counterfeiting. But I do understand why you do it. Sometimes it can be hard to make ends meet these days. Especially if you have a sick family member."

"Mariah, just how are you able to do it?" Jeremy asked.

"You still have that copied bill you took?" she asked.

Scarborough took the bill out of his pocket. As he did, she walked over to a cabinet and removed a bill from a small box sitting on it. She sat the bill on the table and it looked genuine. And it was exactly like the copied bill right down to the serial number.

"This one is genuine," she said. "I keep it handy so I can make copies when I need to, like that one. The reproduction is perfect except for the paper."

"So we've noticed," said Scarborough.

"Well," she said, "all I have to do is make the reproduction. I cut them by hand to make sure they're the right size. I can't explain how I can do it. All I know is I can somehow change the paper into the real thing. I've been lucky so far. No one has caught on. I don't use more than one bill at any location at the same time so no one notices the serial numbers. And like I said, I don't do it all the time. Usually only when my nephew needs his medication or my sister needs something. I don't do it for myself."

"Can you demonstrate it?" Jeremy asked.

Mariah picked up the copied bill and placed it between her hands. Once again Jeremy saw the soft yellow glow coming from her hands. When she opened her hands the copied bill had been transformed into what looked like a genuine bill. Scarborough took the bill and looked it over.

"Well," he said, "aside from the serial number it looks real. Even the paper is real. You could save the Treasury Department a lot of money. Paper for money is rather expensive. They could just print it on regular paper and you could transform it into the real thing. No one would be able to tell the difference."

"Why an old bill?" Jeremy asked. "Why not just use any bill that's handy?"

"That plastic strip they put in the newer bills," said Mariah. "I can't seem to duplicate plastic. Or any manmade material."

"Plastic is a petroleum product," said Jeremy. "It's not a naturally occurring material. There must be something about artificial materials that your ability can't affect."

"All I know is the one time I tried the bill came out perfect. Except for that plastic strip. And I always heard that's one way you can tell if a bill is counterfeit."

"Well, that's true," said Scarborough. "It was put in as a countermeasure to counterfeiting. But I doubt the people who came up with the idea thought it would prevent what you can do."

"So you can affect any natural material?" questioned Jeremy. "And you permanently change one material into another."

"Not always. I one tried to change some costume jewelry I had into the real thing. A gold bracelet with diamond, ruby, and emerald chips in it. It looked real enough. But it didn't last. After a few minutes it reverted back to its original form.

"But most everything else is permanent. Wood, paper, steel, even iron. In fact, that's how I make my living. I work for a company that restores old things. Cars, stoves, what have you. I work freelance so they don't know exactly how I do it. But it's really quite simple. I work in balsa wood a lot. It's real easy to carve into whatever shape I need. Then I just change the wood into whatever material the finished product needs to be. It's really quite simple, but it can be very taxing. After a while I can't do it anymore and have to rest up before I can do it again."

"That's incredible," said Scarborough. "That would be very handy in all kinds of situations. What about changing, say, water into gasoline?"

"That's simple. The closer the two materials are the easier it is to change them. Water and gas are both liquids so it's not a problem. In fact, that's how I power my car. I just fill the tank with water and as I'm putting the last bit in I just change it all into gasoline. I save a fortune not having to buy gas especially with how high the prices are now."

"Can you imagine her on an aircraft carrier? They wouldn't need to carry any fuel. All they would need to do is fill the tanks with sea water and then she changes it into the fuel they would need."

"Oh, I couldn't do that. I've never even seen the fuel they use for those ships. Or the aviation fuel they use in the jets. I've found if I haven't touched a material in at least the last six months, I can't convert it."

"I would guess it's something like a genetic memory," said Jeremy. "After six months that memory is gone and your body no longer knows how to affect that material. But I assume all you have to do is touch a material and you can convert it then."

"Sure. As long as I can touch it. I can't change its shape or size and if it's etched or engraved with anything, that remains unchanged. Only the material itself is changed."

"And you've been using it to change reproduced twenty-dollar bills into the real thing when you need a little extra cash," said Scarborough. "Well, Mariah, you've convinced me of one thing. You're no criminal mastermind. Any real criminal would have been producing as much money as fast as they can and then passing them all over the place. That never even occurred to you, did it?"

"No," said Mariah, a note of confusion in her voice. "I told you, I only do it to get Bobby the medicine he needs. Or maybe some milk or bread or something else that my sister needs to feed Bobby or something like that. I told you, I'm not a criminal. I know it wasn't right doing what I did but I didn't see any other way. Please, I won't do it again. I'll figure some other way to get Bobby his medicine. But I can't go to prison. I just can't."

"Richard, considering all the real criminals that get off every day for serious crimes on technicalities, is it so bad to overlook this? I think she's just stuck in a hard place and doing her best to survive. And her nephew is seriously ill. I can't see how putting her in prison is going to do anyone any good."

"Please," pleaded Mariah, "I'll do anything. I make full restitution on the money I've all ready spent. And I won't do it again. Only please don't send me to prison. Bobby wouldn't last long without me."

"I've seen criminals in court every day get off because some slick defense attorney is able to twist the law to their advantage," said Richard. "I've seen murderers, rapists, all sorts of scum walk away scot free because of some loophole that their attorney's were able to manipulate to their advantage.

"I've also seen relatively innocent people sent to prison because they happened to make a mistake and couldn't afford those high priced attorneys. People who otherwise wouldn't have been a risk to anyone else but they simply made a bad judgment call.

"Mariah, I can't say I agree with what you did. But I can certainly understand why you did it. If I were in your place I'm not sure I wouldn't have done the same thing. And Jeremy is right. Sending you to prison isn't going to do anyone any good. And I can't see how justice would be served by it."