The million dollar hunt for the Psychic Tipster was flooding the press; I suppose as intended. Pretenders stepped forward but with even less credentials than the recently departed Rupert Youngblood. The hunt reached a higher level of journalism when Betsy showed us a magazine cover story on the subject. The article was penned by our old Boston nemesis, Ethel Reagan. The cover pictured a character looking like Carnac the Magnificent from the old Johnny Carson TV show.
"Hey, Howie," I called on seeing it. "You've made the big time!" I looked up with sinking heart to see a FedEx driver at the front door looking at me quizzically. Quick witted Betsy laughed, and told the man who was a frequent visitor, that it looked like a childhood picture of Howie in a Halloween costume. The episode proved how easy it was to say the wrong thing at the wrong time.
The article attempted objectivity, documenting several of the cases on which our tips proved fruitful. Ethel Reagan found none that fit her pattern being proved wrong. Most cases were earlier tips as lately, the authorities were far more cautious with our information; often even denying a tip was involved when an arrest occurred. Never-the-less, the word sometimes slipped out and authorities questioned but no conclusions were reached.
The scientific community was of one voice that to consider a paranormal solution or the existence of a psychic tipster was totally bogus. An Ivy League professor detailed the workings of the brain while another discussed time, with both concluding it was absolutely impossible. Only a few flying saucer advocates spoke from the fringes with a positive slant. In general, the learned consensus dubbed the whole business with indifference. Miss Reagan was steadfast, that in spite of the absence of answers, the tips continued to solve crimes and find children.
Police use of psychic tips was not unheard of, usually prompted by the begging of a frantic next of kin and not belief by the authorities in the reliability of the method. The article listed past instances of use, admitting on rare occasions the psychic proved helpful to police investigations. None came close to the successful track record of those tips identified as coming from the notorious Psychic Tipster.
Ethel Reagan ended the article with speculation about more widespread use of this psychic ability, if in fact it existed. She possessed little grasp of Howie's limitations, causing her to wonder about the choice of crimes where tips were received. She recognized tips came in all over the country; giving rise to her feeling there might be many different tipsters.
A sidebar quoted the vocal congressman who continued to push for an investigation while an accompanying article contained the ever increasing rants of the defense bar. Civil liberties people cried foul at what they dubbed psychic invasion of privacy. Poll results listed a mixed bag. The nays and yeas were evenly split while the vast majority either weren't aware of the so-called Psychic Tipster or couldn't care less.