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“Yeah, try harder, Vesta,” said Scarlett, and produced a tinkling little laugh that clearly had the effect of making Gran’s blood boil.

“You know what?!” she said. “You can keep your table and your stupid inner circle! I quit!”

And with this surprising announcement, she stalked off, a white-haired volcano.

“Vesta!” said Jaqlyn, but Omar placed a hand on the doctor’s arm and shook his head.

“What just happened?” asked Dad.

“I think Omar just lost his second-best top recruiter,” said Uncle Alec with a grin.

The meeting pretty much was over after that mortifying scene, and as people got up and started chatting amongst themselves, Odelia grabbed Chase by the elbow and muscled her way through the crowd in an effort to reach Omar and ask him a couple of questions.

Unfortunately by the time she reached the table, the man was gone.

“Have you seen Omar?” she asked Jaqlyn, who was talking to Scarlett, his eyes thoroughly examining the woman’s vertigo-inducing cleavage.

“Master Omar has retreated into his private chambers,” said Jaqlyn dismissively. “He won’t be coming out again tonight.”

“But I need to talk to him,” she said. “It’s a matter of, um…”

“It’s a soul emergency,” said Chase, always a quick thinker.

“It will just have to wait,” said Jaqlyn.

“Can’t I have a private… audience?” asked Odelia.

Jaqlyn stuck his nose in the air.“Master Omar doesn’t do private audiences. Master Omar only answers questions in his daily meetings with assembled worshippers. Why didn’t you ask your question earlier when you had the chance?”

“It’s… something I don’t want to talk about in front of all these people,” she said.

Jaqlyn scrutinized her for a moment, as if sizing her up, then finally said,“I’ll see what I can do.” And then he abruptly turned away again, to resume his perusal of Scarlett Canyon’s assets.

“Nice try,” said Chase as they walked away. “But no dice, I guess.”

“Yeah, Omar is well protected. His lieutenant’s main task seems to be to make sure he’s not approached by his followers.”

“What were you going to ask him?”

“Oh, this and that, you know. When he decided to start Soul Science. Where he got the idea from. That sort of thing.”

“He probably got it from the back of a cereal box, like all good ideas,” said Chase.

They’d joined Odelia’s mom and dad and Alec again, and she noticed Dad couldn’t stop glaring in the direction of his nemesis.

“Maybe you should just go over there and talk to the guy, Dad,” she now suggested. “Clear the air, you know.”

“I talk to him all the time,” said Dad moodily. “He tells me what patients of mine he’s been treating, and how happy they are that they finally found a doctor who knows his stuff, and I tell him ‘Is that right?’ and the next day we start all over again. The man never stops talking to me, or my patients.”

“Maybe you should simply tell him how you feel,” said Mom. “Tell him it’s not right for him to steal your patients.”

“You don’t understand,” said Dad, dragging a hand through his shock of white hair. “The man is as slippery as they come. Whatever you tell him, he always has some glib response ready to fire back at you. No, I’m starting to think the only course of action is to be advised of my rights.”

“You mean legal action?” asked Uncle Alec.

Dad nodded.“There must be some law to stop a man from poaching a fellow doctor’s patients, right? Something that can be done?”

“So weird,” said Uncle Alec. “You’re the second person today who’s threatening legal action against Jaqlyn Jones. The first was Barney Sowman, for slashing the tires of his car, and now you. The guy really knows how to rub people the wrong way.”

“His wife dropped by the house today,” said Dad, and Marge looked up at this.

“Francine Jones dropped by?”

“Yeah, she wasn’t satisfied with the diagnosis her husband offered for the stomach pains she’s been having. She was right. She probably has an ulcer and he simply dismissed her symptoms out of hand. The man isn’t just a poacher of patients, he’s a hack.”

“Now, now, Tex,” said Uncle Alec.

“No, he is. And I’m going to prove it.” And with these words, he stomped off.

People stomping off was starting to become a recurring thing at Omar’s event.

“Tex has been under a lot of pressure lately,” said Mom apologetically.

“Has he lost a lot of patients?” asked Chase.

“I’d say he’s lost about half of them, and more are canceling their appointments every day. They all seem to want Jaqlyn, and I don’t understand why. Tex is such a wonderful doctor, and such a wonderful human being.”

“With a wonderful soul,” quipped Uncle Alec, earning him a reproachful look from his sister.

“It’s causing him sleepless nights. But what can you do? People seem to love Jaqlyn, so he must be doing something right.”

“Isn’t this something for you, Odelia?” asked Uncle Alec. “Dig into Jaqlyn Jones and find out what’s going on with the guy?”

“You think he’s bad news?”

“Oh, I know he’s bad news. But, like Tex said, he’s as slippery as they come.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” she said, inadvertently infringing Jaqlyn’s copyright.