[Sidney Lanier]

I am generally pretty skeptical about things like this, though I don't rule out the possibility of anything. I had a cousin (now deceased) whose best friend is a psychic whom we met several times. An unassuming woman, down to earth, good sense of humor, who has assisted the police not just in her local area but throughout the region where she lives with solving crimes successfully, and no matter what she does and for whom, she categorically refuses to accept any money or other reward for her work.

I remember one story where she assisted a family where a son in his 20s had committed suicide, leaving no visible explanation. The parents refused to accept that this could be the case, and this woman came in to help. All she was able to 'tune into' (if this is an accurate way to put it) was something to do with a 'penguin,' which made no sense to the parents or anyone else. They went back to seaching the young man's room and finally found a suicide note ... inside a Penguin Book (one of a series published by Random House). As Robert Ripley would say, 'Believe it--or not!'

She has no particular explanation for what she is able to do; she figures it is just that some people have 'alternative' senses that are more developed or sensitive or tuned in (or whatever...) than others.