roceed north along Mint Canyon Road.” Hamlin Garland twiddled the steering wheel of his Pontiac so that he was heading due north along the main road through the town of San Fernando. “Five miles from the town the road turns to the right. Take that road.” As Garland drove, his daughter Constance and hired medium Sophia Williams sat in anticipatory silence. They barreled down Mint Canyon Road for another five miles, kicking up a thick cloud of dust that coated the car. A few minutes later, Garland turned right and continued, listening expectantly for more of the instructions that seemed to emanate from the medium’s chest as if disembodied. “A half-mile farther on, you will see an overhanging bank on the right-hand side and a hill with large trees on it. On top of this hill is a pointed rock.” After that half a mile, the dusty Pontiac drew to a stop on the side of the highway, within sight of Mission San Fernando Rey de España. Garland, Constance, and Williams stepped out of the car, squinting in the hot glare of the sun at the pointed rock on the hill as cars whizzed by behind them. “Is this the spot?” Williams asked nobody in particular. “Yes,” came the faint, hushed reply, floating from the medium’s chest. Upon hearing this confirmation, Garland locked the car, and the three climbed the steep hillside toward the pointed rock. They came
