Natasha Perry has an assistant, Ava Franklin, who likes to term herself an amanuensis. Whereas the probability is that "Madame Natasha" is a complete phony, Ava does have some real psychic abilities. Natasha Perry is actually an alias: the woman known as Natasha Perry was born Madelyn Pinchot. In the early 1950s, she was personal secretary to Katherine Barrington, the wife of a successful businessman. But Gordon Barrington was murdered by his business partner, Jeremy Stanton, who then tried to kill Katherine as well. Both Katherine and Madelyn were provided with false identities so that they could escape and be safe.