The naked face - Sidney Sheldon

Chapter 1

Ten minutes before eleven in the morning, the sky exploded into a carnival of white confetti that instantly blanketed the city. The soft snow turned the already frozen streets of Manhattan to grey slush and the icy December wind herded the Christmas shoppers towards the comfort of their apartments and homes.

On Lexington Avenue the tall, thin man in the yellow rain slicker moved along with the rushing Christmas crowd to a rhythm of his own. He was walking rapidly, but it was not with the frantic pace of the other pedestrians who were trying to escape the cold. His head was lifted and he seemed oblivious to the passer-by who bumped against him. He was free after a lifetime of purgatory, and he was on his way home to tell Mary that it was finished. The past was going to bury its dead and the future was bright and golden. He was thinking how her face would glow when he told her the news. As he reached the corner of Fifty-nine Street, the traffic light ambered its way to red and he stopped with the impatient crowd. A few feet away, a Salvation Army Santa Claus stood over a large kettle. The man reached in his pocked for some coins, an offering to the gods of fortune. At that instant some people clapped him on the back, a sudden stinging blow that rocked his whole body. Some overhearty Christmas drunk trying to be friendly.

Or Bruce Boyd. Bruce, who had never known his own strength and had a childish habit of hurting him physically. But he had not seen Bruce in more than a year. The man started to turn his head to see who had hit him, and to his surprise, his knee began to buckle. In slow motion, watching himself from a distance, he could see his body hit the sidewalk. There was a dull pain in his back and it began to spread. It became hard to breathe. He was aware of a parade out of shoes moving past his face as though animated with a life of their own. His check began to feel numb from freezing sidewalk. He knew he must not lie here. He opened his mouth to ask someone to help him, and a warm, red river began to gush out and flow into the melting snow. He watched in dazed fascination as it moved across the sidewalk and ran down into the gutter. The pain was worse now, but he didn?Tt mind it so much because he had suddenly remembered his good news. He was free. He was going to tell Mary that he was free. He closed his eyes to rest them from the blinding whiteness of the sky. The snow began to turn to icy sleet, but he no longer felt anything.

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Chapter 2
Carol Roberts heard the sounds of the reception door opening and closing and the men walking in, and before she even looked up, she could smell what they were. There were two of them. One was in his middle forties. He was a big mother, about ix foot three, and all muscle. He had a massive head with deep-set steely blue eyes and a weary, humourless mouth. The second man was younger. His feature is clean-cut, sensitive. His eyes were brown and alert. The two men looked completely different and yet, as far as Carol concerned, they could have been identical twins.
They were fuzz. That what she had smelled. As they moved toward her desk she could feel the drop of perspiration begin to trickle down her armpits through the shield of anti-perspirant. Frantically her mind darted over all the treacherous areas of vulnerability. Chick? Christ, he had kept out of trouble for over six months. Since that nigh tin his apartment when he asked her to marry him and had promised to quit the gang.
Sammy? He was overseas in the Air Force, and if anything had happened to her brother, they would not have sent her these two mothers to break the news. No, they were here to bust her. She was carrying grass in her purse, and some loud-mouthed prick had rapped about it. But why two of them? Carol tried to tell herself that they could not touch her. She was no longer some dumb black hooker from Harlem that they could push around. Not any more. She was the receptionist for one of the biggest psychoanalysts in the country. But as two men moved towards her, Carol?Ts panic increased. There was the feral memory of too many years of hiding in stinking, overcrowded tenement apartments while the white Law broke down doors and hauled away a father, or a sister, or a cousin.
But nothing in the turmoil in her mind showed on her face. At first glance the two detectives saw only a young and nubile woman, tawny-skinned Negress in a smartly tailored beige dress. Her voice was cool and impersonal.
Then Lt Andrew McGreavy, the older detective, spotted the spreading perspiration stain under the armpit of her dress. He automatcally filed it away as an intersting piece of information for future use. The doctor?Ts receptionist was up-tight. McGeavy pulled out a wallet with a worn badge pinned onto the cracked imitation leather. ?~ Lieutenant McGreavy, Nineteenth Precinct.?T He indicated his partner. ?~Detective Angeli. Wê?Tre from the homicide Division.?T
Homicide? A muscle in Carol?Ts arm twitched involuntarily. Chick! He had killed someone. He had broken his promise to her and gone back to the gang. He had pulled a robbery and had shot someone, or-was he shot?Dead?Is that what they had come to tell her? She felt the perspiration stain begin to widen. Carol suddenly became conscious of it. McGreavy was looking at her face, but she knew that he had noticed it. She and the McGreavys of the world needed no word. They recognized each other on sight. They had known each other for hundreds of years.
?~Wê?Td like to see Dr Judd Stevens,?T said the younger detective. His voice was gentle and polite, and went with his appearance. She noticed for the first time that he carried a small parcel wrapped in brown paper and held together with a string.
It took an instant for his words to sink in. So it wasn?Tt Chick. Or Sammy. Or the grass.
?~I?Tm sorry,?T She said, barely hiding her relief ?~Dr Stevens is with a patient.?T
?~This will only take a few minute,?T McGeavy said. ?~We want to ask him some question.?T He paused. ?oWe can either do it here, or at Police Headquarters.?T
She looked at the two for a moment, puzzled. What the hell could two Homicide detectives want with Dr Stevens? Whatever the police might think, the docter had not done anything wrong. She knew him too well. How long had it been? Four years. It had started in night court?
(Chapter 2 to be continued)
Tomorrow never end.

Chapter 2 (continued)
It was three AM and the overhead lights in the courtroom bathed everyone in the unhealthy pallor. The room was old and tired and uncaring, saturated with the stale smell of fear that had accumulated over years like layers of flaked paint.
It was Carol?Ts lousy luck that Judge Murphy was sitting on the bench again. She had been up before him only two weeks before and had got off with probation. First offence. Meaning it was the first time the bastard had caught her. This time she know the judge was going to throw the book at her.
The case on the docket ahead of hers was almost over. A tall, quiet-looking man standing before the judge was saying something about his client, a fat man in handcuffs who trembled all over. She figured the quiet-looking man must be a mouthpiece. There was a look about him, an air of easy confidence, that made her feel the fat man was lucky to have him. She didn?Tt have anyone.
The men moved away from the bench and Carol heard her name called. She stood up, pressing her knees together to keep them from trembling. The bailiff gave her a gentle push towards the bench, The court clerk handed the charge sheet to the judge.
Judge Murphy looked at carol, then at the sheet of paper in front of him.
?~ ?oCarol Robert. Soliciting on the street, vagrancy, possession of marijuana, and resisting arrest.? ?T
The last was a lot of ****. The policemen had shoved her and she had kicked him at the balls. After all, she was an American citizen.
?oYou were in here a few day ago, weren?Tt you, Carol??T
She made her voice sound uncertain. ?oI believed I was, Your Honour,?T
?~And I gave you a probation.?T
?~Yes, sir.?T
?~How old are you??T
She should have known they would ask. ?~Sixteen. Today?Ts my sixteen birthday. Happy birthday to me,?T she said. And she burst into tears, huge sobs that wracked her body.
The tall, quiet man had been standing at a table at the side gathering up some papers and putting them in a leather attache case. As carol stood there sobbing, he looked up and watched her for a moment. The he spoke to Judge Murphy.
The judge called a recess and two men disappeared into the judgê?Ts chamber. Fifteen minutes later. The bailiff escorted Carol into the judgê?Ts chamber, where the quiet man was earnestly talking to the judge.
?~You are a lucky girl, Carol,?T Judge Murphy said. ?~You?Tre going to get anther chance. the Court is remanding you the personal custody of Dr Stevens.?T
So the tall man wasn?Tt a mouthpiece - he was a quack. She wouldn?Tt have cared if he was Jack the Ripper. All she wanted was to get out of that stinking courtroom before they found out it wasn?Tt her birthday.
The doctor drove her to it apartment, making a small talk that did not require any answers, and giving Carol a chance to pull herself together and think things out. he stopped the car in front of a modern building on Seventy-first street overlooking the East River. The building had a doorman and an elevator operator, and from the calm way they greeted him, you would think he came home every morning at three AM with a sixteen-year-old black hooker. Carol had never seen an apartment like the doctor?Ts. The living-room was done in white with two long, low couches covered in oatmeal tweed. Between the couches was an enormous square coffee table with a thick glass top. On it was a large chessboard with carved Venetian figures. Modern paintings hang on the wall. In the foyer was a closed-circuit television monitor that showed the entrance to the lobby. In the corner of the living-room was a smoked glass bar with selves of crystal glasses and decanters. Looking out the window, Carol could see tiny boats, far below, tossing their way along the East River.
?~Courts always make me hungry,? Judd said. Why don?Tt I whip up a little birthday supper??T And he took her into the kitchen where she watched him skillfully put together a Mexican omelette, French-fried potatoes, toasted English muffins, a salad, and coffee. ?oThat?Ts one of the advantages of being a bachelor,? he said. ?oI can cook when I feel like it.?T
So he was a bachelor without any home *****. If she played her cards right , this could turn out to be a bonanza. When she had finished devouring the meal, he had taken her into the guest bedroom. The bedroom was done in blue, dominated by a large double bed with a blue checked bedspread. There was a low Spanish dresser of dark wood with brass fitting.
?oYou can spend the night here,? he said. ?~I?Tll rustle up a pair of pyjamas for you.?T

As Carol looked around the tastefully decorated room, she thought, Carol, baby! You?Tve hit the jackpot! This mother?Ts looking just for a piece of jailbait black ass. And you?Tre the baby who is gonna give it to him.
She undressed and spent the next half of hour in the shower. When she came out, a towel wrapped around her shining, voluptuous body, she saw that the mother****ing ofay had placed a pair of his pyjamas on the bed. She laughed knowingly and left them there. She threw the towel down and strolled into the living-room. He was not there. She looked through the door leading into a den. He was sitting at a large, comfortable desk with and old-fashioned desk lamp hanging over it. The den was crammed with books from floor to the ceiling. She walked up behind him and kissed him on the neck. ?~Let?Ts get started, baby,?T she whispered. ?~You got me so horny I can?Tt stand it.?T She pressed close to him.
?~What are you waiting for, big daddy? If you don?Tt ball me quick, I?Tll go out of my cotton-pickin?T mind.?T
He regarded her for a second with thoughtful dark grey eyes. ?~Haven?Tt you got enough trouble??T asked he mildly.?T You can?Tt help being born a Negro, but who told you you had to be a black dropout pot-smoking sixteen-year-old whore??T
She stared at him, baffled, wondering what she had said wrong. Maybe he get himself worked up and whip her first to get his kicks. Or maybe it was the reverend Davidson bit. He was going to pry over her black ass, reform her, and then lay her. She tried again. She reached between his legs and stroked him, whispering, ?~Go, baby. Sock t to me.?T
He gently disengaged himself and sat her in an armchair. She had never been so puzzled. He didn?Tt look like a fag, but these days you never knew. ?~What?Ts your bag, baby? Tell me how you like to freak out and I?Tll give it to you.?T
?~All right,?T he said. ?~Let?Ts rap.?T
?~You mean - talk??T
?~That?Ts right.?T
And they talked. All night long. It was the strangest night that Carol had ever spent. Dr Stevens kept leaping from one subject to another, exploring, testing her. He asked her opinion about Vietnam, ghettos, and college riots. Every time Carol thought she had figured out what he really after, he switched to another subject. They talked of things she had never heard of, and about subjects in which she considered herself the world?Ts greatest living expert. Months afterward she used to lie awake, trying to recall the word, the idea, the magic phrase that had changed her. She had never been able to because she finally realized that there had been no magic word. What Dr Stevens had done was simple. He had talked to her. Really talked to her. No one had ever done that before. He head treated her like a human being, an equal, whose opinions and feelings he cared about.
Somewhere during the course of the night she suddenly became aware of her nakedness and went in and put on his pyjamas. He came in and sat on the edge of the bed and they talked some more. They talked about Mao Tse-tung and hula hoops and the Pill. And having a mother and father who had never been married. Carol told him things she had never told anybody in her life. Things had been long buried deep in her subconscious. And when she finally fallen asleep, she had felt totally empty. It was as though she had had a major operation, and a river of poison had been drained out of her.
In the morning, after breakfast, he handed her a hundred dollars.
She hesitated, then finally said, ?~I lied. It?Ts not my birthday.?T
?~I know.?T He grinned. ?~But we won?Tt tell the judge.?T His tone changed. ?~You can take the money and walk out of here and no one will bother you until the next time you get caught by the police.?T He paused. ?~I need a receptionist. I think you?Td be marvellous at the job.?T
She looked at him unbelievingly. ?~You are putting me on. I can?Tt take shorthand or type.?T
?~You could if you went back to school.?T
Carol looked at him a moment and then said enthusiastically, ?~I never though of that. That sound groovy.?T She couldn?Tt wait to get the hell out of the apartment with his hundred dollars and flash it at the boys and girls at Fishman?Ts Drug Store in Harlem, where the gang hung out. She could buy enough kicks with this money to last a week.
When she walked into Fishman?Ts Drug Store. It was as though she had never bee away. She saw the same bitter faces and heard the same hip, defeated chatter. She was home. She kept thinking of the doctor?Ts apartment. It wasn?Tt the furniture that made the big difference. I was so- clean. And quiet. It was like a little island somewhere in another world. And he had offered her a passport to it. What was there to lose? She could try it for laughs, to show the doctor that he was wrong, that she couldn?Tt me it.
To her own surprise, Carol enrolled in night school. She left her furnished room with the rust-stained washbasin and broken toilet and the torn green window shade and the lumpy iron cot where she could turn tricks and act out plays. She was a beautiful heiress in Paris or London or Rome, and the man pumping away on top of her was a wealthy, handsome prince, dying to marry her. And as each man has his orgasm and crawled off her, her dream died. Until the next time.
She left the room and all her princes without a backward glance and moved back it her parent. Dr Stevens gave her an allowance while she as studying. Se finished high school with top grades. The doctor was there on her graduation day, his grey eyes bright with pride. Someone believed in her. She was somebody. She took a day job at Nedick?Ts and took a secretarial course at night. The day after she finished, she went to work for Dr Stevens and could afford her on apartment.
In the four years that had passed Dr Stevens had always treated her with the same grave courtesy he had shown her the first night. At first she had waited form him t make some references to what she had been, and hat she had become. But she had finally come to the realization that he had always seen her as what she was now. All he had done was to help her fulfill herself. Whenever she had a problem, he always found time to discuss with her. Recently she had been meaning to tell him about what happened with her and Chick and ask him whether she should tell Chick, but she kept turning it off. She anted her Dr Stevens to be proud of her. She would have done anything for him. She would have slept with him, killed for him?
( Chapter 2 to be continued)
Tomorrow never end.

Chapter 2 (continued)
And now here were these two mothers from the Homicide Squad wanting to see him.
McGreavy was getting impatient. ?~How about it, miss??T he asked.
?~I have orders never to disturb when hê?Ts with a patient,?T said Carol. She saw the expression that came into McGreav?Ts eyes. ?~I?Tll ring him.?T She picked up the phone and pressed the intercom buzzer. After thirty seconds of silence, Dr Stevens?Ts voice came over the phone. ?~Yes??T
?~There are to detectives here to see you, Doctor. They?Tre from the Homicide Division.?T
She listened for a change in his voicê?nervousness?fear. There was nothing. ?~They have to wait,?T he said. He went off the line.
A surge of pride flared through her. Maybe they could panic her, but they could never get her doctor to lose his cool. She looked up defiantly. ?~You?Tve heard him,?T she said.
?~How long will this patient be in there??T asked Angeli, the younger man.
She glanced at the clock on the desk. ?~Another twenty-five minutes. It?Ts his last patient for the day.?T
The two men exchanged a look.
?~Wê?Tll wait,?T sighed McGreavy.
They took chairs. McGreavy was studying her. ?~You look familiar,?T he said.
She wasn?Tt deceived. The mother was on a fishing expe***ion. ?~You know what they say,?T replied Carol. ?~We all look alike.?T
Exactly twenty-five minutes later, Carol heard the click of the side door that led from the doctor?Ts private office directly to the corridor. A few minute later, the door of the doctor?Ts office opened and Dr Judd Stevens stepped out. He hesitated as he saw McGreavy. ?~Wê?Tve met before,?T he said. He could nt remember where.
McGreavy nodded impassively. ?~Yeah? Lieutenant McGreavy.?T He indicated Angeli. ?~Detective Frank Angeli.?T
Judd and Angeli shoo hands. ?~Come in.?T
The men walked into Judd?Ts private office and the door closed. Carol looked after them, trying to piece it together. The big detective had seemed antagonistic toward Dr Stevens. But maybe that was just his natural charm. Carol was sure of only one thing. Her dress would have t go to the cleaner?Ts.
Judd?Ts office was furnished like a French country living-room. There was no working desk. Instead, comfortable easy chairs and end tables with authentic antique lamps were scattred about the room. At the far end of the office a private door led out to the corridor. On the floor was an exquisitively patterned Edward Fields area rug, and in a corner was a comfortable damask-covered contour couch. McGreavy noted that there no diplomas on the walls. But he hed checked before coming here. If Dr Stevens had wanted to, he could have covered his wall wit his diplomas and certificates.
?~This is the first psychiatrist?Ts office I?Tve ever been in,?T Angeli said, openly impressed. ?~I wish my house look like this.?T
?oIt relaxes my patents,?T Judd sad easily. ?~And by the way, I?Tm a psychoanalyst.?T
?~Sorry,?T Angeli said. ?~What?Ts the difference??T
?~About fifty dollars an hour,?T McGreavy said. ?~My partner doesn?Tt get around much.?T
Partner. And Judd suddenly remembered. McGreavy?Ts partner had been shot and killed and McGreavy had been wounded during the holdup of a liquor store four ?" or it was five?- years ago. A petty hoodlum named Amos Ziffren had been arrested for the crime. Ziffren?Ts attorney had pleaded his client not guilty by the reason of his insanity. Judd had been called in as an expert for the defence and ask to examine Ziffren. He had found that he was hopelessly insane with advanced paresis. On Judd?Ts testimony, Ziffren had been sent to a mental institution.
?~I remember you now,?T Judd said. ?~The Ziffren case. You had three bullets in you; your partner was killed.?T
?~And I remember you,?T McGreavy said. ?~You got the killer off.?T
?~What can I do for you??T
?~We need some information, Doctor,?T McGreavy said. He nodded to Angeli. Angeli began to fumbling at the string on the package he carried.
?~Wê?Td like you to identify something for us,?T McGreavy said. His voice was careful, giving nothing away.
Angeli had the package open. He held up the yellow oilskin rain slicker. ?~Have you ever seen this before??T
?~It looks like mine,?T Judd said in surprise.
?~It is your. At least your name is stenciled inside.?T
?~Where did you find it??T
?~Where do you think we found it??T The two men were no longer casual. A subtle change had taken place in their faces.
Judd studied McGreavy for a moment, then picked up a pipe from a rack on a long, low table and began to fill it with tobacco from a jar. ?~I thnk you?Td better tell me what this is all about,?T he said quietly.
?~It?Ts about your raincoat, Dr Stevens,?T said McGreavy. ?~If it?Ts your, we want to know how it got out of your possession??T
?~Therê?Ts no mystery about it. It was drizzling when I came in this morning. My raincoat was at the cleaners, so I wore the yellow slicker. I kept it for fishing trips. One of my patients hadn?Tt brought a raincoat, so I let him borrow the slicker.?T He stopped suddenly worried. ?~What?Ts happened to him??T
?~Happened to who??T McGreavy asked.
?~My patient ?"John Hanson.?T
?~Check,?T Angeli said gently. ?~You hit the bul?Ts eyes. The reason Mr Hanson couldn?Tt return the coat himself is that hê?Ts dead.?T
Judd felt a small shock go through him. ?~Dead??T
?~Someone stuck a knife in his back,?T McGreavy said.
Judd stared at him incredulously. McGreavy took the coat from Angeli and turned it around so that Judd could see the large, ugly slash in the material. The back of the coat was covered with dull, henna-coloured stains. A feeling of nausea swept over Judd.
?~Who could want to kill him??T
?~We were hoping that you could tell us, Dr Steven,?T said Angeli. ?~Whô?Td know better than his psychoanalyst??T
Judd shook his head helplessly. ?~When did it happen??T
McGreavy answered. ?~Eleven ô?Tclock this morning. On Lexington Avenue, about a block from your office. A few dozen people must have seen him fall but they were busy going home to get ready to celebrate the birth of Christ, so they let him lie there bleeding to death in the snow.?T
Judd squeezed the edge of the table, his knuckles white.
?~What time was Hanson here this morning??T asked Angeli.
?~Ten ô?Tclock.?T
?~How long does your session last, Doctor??T
?~Fifty minute.?T
?~Did he leave as soon as it over??T
?~Yes. I had another patient waiting.?T
?~Did Hanson go out through the reception office??T
?~No. My patients come in through the reception office and leave by that door.?T He indicated the private door leading to the outside corridor. ?~In that way they don?Tt meet each other.?T
McGreavy nodded. ?~So Hanson was killed within a few minutes of the time he left her. Why was he coming to see you??T
Judd hesitated. ?~I?Tm sorry. I can?Tt discuss a doctor-patient relationship.?T
?~Someone murdered him, McGreavy said. ?~ You might be able to help us find his killer.?T
Judd?Ts pipe had gone out. He took his time lighting it again.
?oHow long had he been coming to you??T This time was Angeli. Police teamwork.
?~Three years.?T
?~What was his problem??T
Judd hesitated. He saw John Hanson as he had looked that morning; excited, smiling, eager to enjoy his new freedom. ?~He was a homo***ual.?T
?~This is going to be another of those beauties,?T McGreavy said bitterly.
?oWas a homo***ual,?T Judd said. ?~Hanson was ccured. I told him this morning that he didn?Tt have to see me anymore. He was ready to move back to his family. He has ?" had- a wife and two children.?T
?~A fag with a family??T asked Angeli.
?~It happens often.?T
?~Maybe one of his homo playmates didn?Tt want to cut him loose. They got in a fight. He lost his temper and slipped a knife in his boyfriend?Ts back.?T
Judd considered. ?~It?Ts possible,?T he said thoughtfully, ?~but I dô?Tt believe it.?T
?~Why not, Dr Steven??T asked Angeli.
?~Because Hanson hadn?Tt had any homo***ual contacts in more than a year. Think it?Ts much more likely that someone tried to mug him. Hanson was the kind of man who coud have put up a fight.?T
?~A brave married fag,?T McGreavy said heavily. He took out a cigar and lit it. ?~Therê?Ts only one thing wrong with the mugger theory His wallet hadn?Tt been touched. There was over a hundred dollars in it.?T He watched Judd?Ts reaction.
Angeli said. ?~if wê?Tre looking fir a nut. It might take it easier.?T
?~Not necessary,?T Judd objected. He walked over to the window. ?~Take a look at that crowd down there. One out of twenty is, has been, or will be in a mental hospital.?T
?~But if a man?Ts crazy???T
?~He doesn?Tt have to necessarily appear crazy,?T Judd explained. ?~For every obvious case of insanity there are at least ten cases undiagnosed.?T
McGreavy studied Judd with open interest. ?~You know a lot about human nature, don?Tt you, Doctor??T
?oThere is no such thing as human nature,?T Juddsaid. ?~Any more than there such a thing as animal nature. Try to average out arabbit and a tiger. Or a squirell and an elephant.?T
?~How long you been practising psychoanalyst??T asked McGreavy.
?~Twelve years? Why??T
McGreavy shrugged. ?~You?Tre a good-looking guy. I?Tll bet a lot of your patients fall in love with you, huh??T
Judd?Ts eyes chilled ?~I don?Tt understand the point of the question??T
?~Oh, come on, Doc. Sure you do. Wê?Tre both men of the world. A fag walks in here ad find himself a handsome young doctor to tell his troubles to.?T His tone grew confidential. ?~Now do you mean to say that in three yers on your couch Hanson didn?Tt get a little hard-on for you??T
Judd looked at him without expression. ?~Is that your idea of being a man of the world, Lieutenant??T
McGreavy was unperturbed. ?~it could have happened. And I?~ll tell you what else could have been happen. You said you told Hanson you didn?Tt want to see him again. Maybe he didn?Tt lie that. Hê?Td grown dependent on you in three years. The two og you ad a fight.?T
Judd?Ts darkened with anger.
Angeli broke the tension. ?~Can you think of anyone who had reason to ate him, Doctor? Or someone he might have hated??T
?~If there were such a person,?T Judd said, ?~I would tell you. I think I knew everything there was to know about John Hanson. He was a happy man. He didn?Tt hate anyone and I don?Tt know of anyone who hated him.?T
?~Good for him. You must be one helluva doctor,?T McGreavy said. ?~Wê?Tll take his file along with us.?T
?~No.?T
?~We can get a court order.?T
?~Get it. Therê?Ts nothing in that file can help you.?T
?~Then what harm could it do if you gave it to us??T asked Angeli.
?~It could hurt Hanson?Ts wife and children. You?Tre on the wrong track. You?Tll id that Hanson was killed by a strange.?T
?~I don?Tt believe it,?T snapped McGreavy.
Angeli rewrapped the raincoat ad tied the string around the bundle. ?~Wê?Tll get this back to you when we run some more test on it.?T
?~Keep it,?T Judd said.
McGreavy opened the private door leading t the corridor. ?~Wê?Tll be in touch with you, Doctor.?T He walked out. Angeli nodded to Judd and followed McGreavy out.
Judd was standing there, his mind churning, when Carol walked in. ?~Is everything all right??T She asked hesitantly.
?~Some one killed John Hanson.?T
?~Killed him??T
?~He was stabbed,?T Judd said.
?~Oh my God! But why??T
?~The police don?Tt know.?T
?~How terrible!?T She saw his eyes and the pain in them. ?~Is there anything I can do, Doctor??T
?~Would you close up the office, Carol? I?Tm going over to see Mrs. Hanson. I?Td like to break the news to her myself.?T
?~Don?Tt worry. I?Tll take care of everything,?T said Carol.
And Judd left.
Thirty minutes later Carol had finished putting the flies away and was locking her desk when the corridor opened. It was after six ô?Tclock and the building was closed. Carol looked up as the man smiled and moved toward her.
Tomorrow never end.

Chapter 3
Mary Hanson was a doll of a woman; smart, beautiful, exquisitely made. On the outside, she was soft, Southern-helpless-feminine, and on the inside, granite bitch. Judd had met her a week after beginning her husband?Ts therapy. She had found hysterically against it and Judd had asked her to have a talk with him. ?~Why are you so opposed to your husband going through analysis??T
?~I won?Tt have my friend saying I married a crazy man,?T she had told Judd. ?~Tell him to gime me a divorce; then he can do any damn thing he pleases.?T
Judd had explained that a divorce at that point could destroy Jonh completely.
?~There is nothing left to destroy,?T Mary had screamed. ?~If I?Td known he was a fairly, do you think I would have married him? Hê?Ts a woman.?T
?~Therê?Ts some woman in everyman,?T Judd had said. ?~Just as therê?Ts some man in every woman. And in you husband?Ts case, there are some difficult psychological problems to overcome. But hê?Ts trying, Mrs. Hanson. I think you owe it to him and his children to help him.?T
He had reasoned with her for more than three hours and in the end she had reluctantly agreed to hold off on the divorce. In the months that followed, she had become interested and then involved in the battle that Jonh was waging. Jonh made it a rule never to treat married couples. But Mary had asked him to let her become a patient, and he had found it helpful. As she had begun to understand herself and where she had failed as a wife, Jonh?Ts progress had become dramatically rapid.
And now Judd was here to tell her that her husband had been senselessly murdered. She looked up at him, unable to believe what he had just said, sure that it was some kind of macabre joke. And then realization set in. ?~hê?Ts never coming back to me!?T She screamed. ?~Hê?Ts never coming back to me.?T She stated tearing at her clothes in anguish, like a wounded animal. The six-year-old twins walked in. And from that moment on, there was a bedlam. Judd managed to calm the children down and take them to a neighbor?Ts house. He gave Mrs. Hanson a sedative and called the family?Ts doctor. When he was sure there was nothing more he could do, he left. He got into his car and drove aimlessly, lostn thought. Hanson had found his way through a hell, and at the moment of his victory?It was such a pointless death. Could it have been some homo***ual who had attacked him? I was possible, of course, but Judd did not believe it. Lieutenant McGreavy had said that Hanson was killed a block away from the office. If the murder had been a homo***ual, full of hatred, he would have made a rendezvous with Hanson at some private place, either to try to persuade Hanson to come back to him or to pour out his recriminations before he killed him. He would not have plunged a knife into him on a crowded street and then fled.
On the corner ahead he saw a phone booth and suddenly remembered that he had promised to have dinner with Dr Peter Hadley and his wife, Norah. They were his closest friends, but he was in no mood to see anyone. He stopped the car at the kerb, went into the phone booth and dialed the Hadley?Ts number. Norah answered the phone. ?~You?Tre late! Where are you??T

?~Norah,?T Judd said, ?~I?Tm afraid I?Tm going to have to beg off tonight.?T ?~You can?Tt?T she wailed. ?~I have a ***y blonde sitting dying to meet you.?T
?~Wê?Tll do it another night.?T Judd said. ?~I?Tm really not to it. Please apologize for me.?T
?~Doctors!?T snorted Norah. ?~Just a minute and I?Tll put you chum on.?T
Peter got on the phone. ?~Anything wrong, Judd??T
Judd hesitated. ?~just a hard day. Pete. I?Tll tell you about tomorrow.?T
?~You are missing some delicious Scandinavian smorgasbon. I mean beautiful.?T
?~I?Tll meet her another time.?T Promised Judd. He heard a hurried whisper, and then Norah got on the phone again.
?~Shê?Tll be here for Christmas dinner, Judd. Will you come??T
He hesitated. ?~Wê?Tll talk about it later, Norah. I?Tm sorry about tonight.?T He hung up. He wished he knew of some tactful way to stop Norah?Ts matchmaking.
Judd had got married in his senior year in college. Elizabeth had been a social science major, warm and bright and gay, and they had both been young and very much in love and full of wonderful plans to remake the world for all the children they were going to have. And on the first Christmas of their marriage, Elizabeth and their unborn child had been killed in a head-on automobile collision. Judd had plunged himself totally into his work, and in time had become one of the outstanding psychoanalysts in the country. But he was still not able to bear being with other people celebrating Christmas Day. Somehow, even though he told himself was wrong, that belonged to Elizabeth and their child.
He pushed open the door of the phone booth. He was aware of a girl standing outside the booth waiting to use phone. She was young and pretty, dressed in a tight-fitting sweater and a miniskirt, with a bright-coloured raincoat. He steeped out of the booth. ?~Sorry,?T he apologized.
She gave him a warm smile. ?~That?Ts all right.?T There was a wistful look on her face. He had seen that look before. Loneliness seeking to break through the barrier that he had unconsciously set up.
If Judd knew that he had a quantity that was attractive to women, it was deep in his subconscious. He had never analysed why. It was more of a handicap than an asset to have his female patients falling in love with him. It sometimes made life very difficult.
He moved past the girl with a friendly nod. He sensed her standing there in the rain, watching as he got into his car and drove away.
He turned the car onto the east River and headed for the Merritt Parkway. An hour and a half later he was on the Connecticut turnpike. The snow in New York was dirty and slushy, but the same storm had magically transformed the Connecticut landscape into a Currier and Ives pictures postcard.
He drove past Westport and Danbury, deliberately forcing his mind to concentrate on the ribbon of road that flashed beneath his wheels and the wintry wonderland that surrounded him. Each time his thoughts reached out to john Hanson, he made himself think of other things. He drove on through the darkness of the Connecticut countryside and hours later, emotionally worn out, finally turned the car around and headed for home.
Mike, the red-face doorman who usually greeted him with a smile, was preoccupied and distant. Family difficulties, Judd supported. Usually Judd would chat with him about Mikê?Ts teenage son and married daughter, but Judd did not feel like talking this evening. He asked Mike to have the car sent down to the garage.
?~Right, Dr Stevens.?T Mike seemed about to add something, then thought better of it.
Judd walked into the building. Ben Katz, the manager was crossing the lobby. He saw Judd, gave the nervous wave, and hurriedly disappeared into his apartment.
What?Ts the matter with everyone tonight? Thought Judd. Or is it just my nerves? He steeped into the elevator.
Eddie, the elevator operator, nodded. ?~Evening, Dr Stevens.?T
?~God evening, Eddie.?T
Eddie swallowed and looked away self-consciously.
?~Is anything wrong??T Judd asked.
Eddie quickly shook his head and kept his eyes averted.
My God, thought Judd. Another candidate for my couch. The building was suddenly full of them.
Eddie opened the elevator door and Judd got out. He didn?Tt hear the elevator door close, so heturned around. Eddie was staring at him. As Judd started to speak, Eddie quickly closed the elevator door. Judd went to his apartment, unlocked the door, and entered.
(Chater 3 to be continued)
Fly when we still have wings.

Chapter 3 (continued)
Every light in the apartment was on. Lieutenant McGreavy was opening a drawer in the living-room. Angeli was coming out of the bedroom. Judd felt anger flare in him. ?~What are you doing in my apartment??T
?~Waitin?T for you, Dr Stevens,?T McGreavy said.
Judd walked over and slammed the drawer shut, narrowly missing McGreavy?T fingers. ?~How did you get in here??T
?~We have a search warrant,?T said Angeli.
Judd stared at him incredulously. ?~A search warrant? For my apartment??T
?~Suppose we ask question, Doctor,?T McGravy said.
?~You don?Tt have to answer them,?T interjected Angeli, ?~without benefit of legal counsel. Also, you should know that anything you say ca be used as evidence against you.?T
?~Do you want to call a lawyer??T McGreavy asked?
?~I don?Tt need a lawyer. I told you that I loaned the raincoat to John Hanson this morning and I didn?Tt see it again until you brought it to my office this afternoon. I couldn?Tt have killed him. I was with patient all day. Miss Robert can verify that.?T
McGreavy and Angeli exchanged a silent signal.
?~Where did you go after you left your office this afternoon??T Angeli asked.
?~To see Mrs Hanson.?T
?~We know that.?T McGreavy said. ?~Afterward??T
Judd hesitated. ?~I drove around.?T
?~Where??T
?~I drove up to Connecticut.?T
?~Where did you stop for dinner??T McGreavy asked.
?~I didn?Tt. I wasn?Tt hungry.?T
?~ So no one saw you??T
Judd thought for a moment. ?~I suppose not.?T
?~Perhaps you stopped for gas somewhere??T suggested Angeli.
?oNo,?T Judd said. ?~I didn?Tt. What difference does it make where I went tonight? Hanson was killed this morning.?T
?~Did you go back to your office any time after you left it this afternoon??T McGeavy?Ts voice was casual.
?~No,?T judd said. ?~Why??T
?o It was broken into.?T
?~What? By whom??T
?~We don?Tt know,?T said McGreavy. ?~I want you to come down and take a look around. You can tell us if anything is missing.?T
?~Of course,?T Judd replied. ?~Who reported it??T
the night watchman,?T said Angeli. ?~Do you keep anything of value in the office, Doctor? Cash? Drugs? Anything like that??T
?~Petty cash,?T juss said. ?~No addictive drugs. There was nothing there to steal. It doesn?Tt make sense.?T
?~Right,?T McGreavy said. ?~Let?Ts go.?T
In the elevator Eddie gave Judd an apologetic look Judd met his eyes and nodded that he understood.
Surely, Judd thought, the police couldn?Tt suspect him of breaking into his own office. It was as though McGreavy was determined to pin something on him because of his dead partner. But that had been five years ago. Could mcgreavy have been brooding all these years, blaming it on the doctor? Waiting for a chance to get him?
There was an unmarked police car a few feet from the entrance. They got in and rode to the office in silence.
When they reached the office building, Judd signed the lobby resister. Bigelow, the guard, looked at him strangely. Or did he image it?
They took the elevator to the fifteenth floor and walked down the corridor to Judd?Ts office. A unformed policeman was standing in front of the door he nodded to McGreavy and stepped aside. Judd reached for his key.
?~The door unlocked,?T Angeli said. He pushed the door open and they went in, Judd leading the way.
The recetion office was in chaos. All the drawers had been pulled out of the desk and pappers were strewn about the floor. Judd stared unbelievingly, feeling a shock of personal violation.
?~What do you suppose they were looking for, Doctor??T asked McGreavy.
?~I have no idea,?T Judd said. He walked to inner door and opened it, McGreavy closed behind him.
In his office two end tables had been overturned, a smashed lamp lay on the floor, and blood soaked the Fields rug.
In the far corner of the room, grotesquely spread out, was the body of Carol Robert. She was nude. Her hands were tied behind her back with piano wire, and acid had been splashed on her face and breasts and between her thighs. The fingers of her right hand were broken. Her face was battered and swollen. A wadded handkerchief was stuffed in her mouth.
The two detectives watched Judd as he stared at the body.
?~You look pale,?T Angeli said. ?~Sit down.?T
Judd shook his head and took several deep breaths.When he spoke, his voice was shaking with rage. ?~Who - who could have done this??T
?~That?Ts what you?Tre going to tell us, dr Stevens,?T said McGreavy.
Judd looked at him. ?~No one could have wanted to do this to Carol. She never hurt anyone in her life.?T
?~I think it?Ts about time you started singing another tune,?T McGreavy said. ?~no one wanted to hurt Hanson, but they stuck a knife in his back. No one wanted to hurt Carol, but they poured acid all over her and tortured her to death.?T
His voice became had. ?~And you stand there and tell me no one would want to hurt them. What the hell are you- deaf, dump, and blind? The girl worked for you four years. You?Tre a psychoanalyst. Are you trying to tell me you didn?Tt know or care about her personal life??T
?~Of course I cared,?T Judd said tightly. ?~She had a boyfriend she was going to marry-?~
?~Chick. Wê?Tve talked to him.?T
?~But he could never have done this. Hê?Ts a decent boy and he loved Carol.?T
?~When was the last time you saw Carol alive??T asked Angeli.
?~I told you. When I left here to go to see Mrs. Hanson. I asked Carol to close up the office.?T His voice broke and he swallowed and took a deep breath.
?~Were you scheduled to see anymore patients today??T
?~no.?T
?~Do you think this could have been done by a maniac??T Angeli asked.
?~ It nust have been a maniac, but ?" even a maniac has to have some motivation.?T
?~That?Ts what I think,?T McGreavy said.
Judd looked over to where Carol?Ts body lay. It had the sad appearance of a disfigured rag doll, useless and discarded. ?~How long are you going to leave her like this??T Judd asked angrily.
?~They?Tll take her away now,?T said Angeli. ?~The coroner and the Homicide boys have already finished.?T
Judd turned to McGreavy. ?~You left her like this for me??T
?~Yeah,?T McGeavy said. ?~I?Tm going to ask you again. Is there anything in this office that someone could badly enough to,- he indicated tCarol- ?~do that??T
?ono.?T
?~What about the record of your patinets?T
Judd shook his head. ?~Nothing.?T
?~ You?Tre not being very cooperative, Doctor, are you??T asked McGreavy.
?oDon?Tt you think I want to see you find whoevr did this??T Judd snapped. ?~If there was anything in my flies that would help, I would tell you. I know my patients. There isn?Tt any one among them who could have killed her. This was done by an outsider.?T
?~How do you know it wasn?Tt someone after your flies??T
?~My flies weren?Tt touched.?T
McGearvy looked at him with quickened interest. ?~How do you know that??T he asked. ?~You haven?Tt even looked.?T
Judd walked over to the far wall. As two men watched, he press the slower section of the paneling and the wall slid open, revealing the racks of build-in shelves. They were filled with tapes. ?~I record ever session with my patient,?T Judd said. ?~I keep the tapes here.?T ?~Couldn?Tt they have tortured Carol to try to force her to tell wher those tapes were??T
?~There is nothing in any of these tapes worth anything to anyone. There was some other motivation for her murder.?T
Judd looked at Carol?Ts scared body again, and he was filled with helpless, blind rage. ?~You?Tve got to find whoever did this!?T
?~I intend to,?T McGreavy said. He was looking at Judd.
(Chapter 3 to be continued)




Fly when we still have wings.

Chapter 3 (continued)
On the windy, deserted street in front of Judd?Ts office building, McGreavy told Angeli to drive Judd home. ?~I?Tve got an errand to do,?T McGreavy said. He turned to Judd. ?~Goodnight, Doctor.?T
Judd watched the huge, lumbering figure move down the street.
?~Let?Ts go,?T Angeli said. ?~I?Tm freezing.?T
Judd slid into the front seat beside Angeli, and the car pulled away from the kerb.
?~I?Tve got to go to tell Carol?Ts family,?T Judd sad.
?~Wê?Tve already been over there.?T
Judd nodded wearily. He still wanted to see hem himself, but it could wait.
There was a silence. Judd wondered what errand Lieutenant McGreavy could have at this hour of the morning.
As thought reading his thought, Angeli said, ?~McGreavy?Ts a good cop. He thought Ziffren should have got the electric chair for killing his partner.?T
?~Ziffren was insane.?T
Angeli shrugged. ?~I?Tll take your word for it, Doctor.?T
But McGreavy hadn?Tt, Judd thought. He turned his mind to Carol and remembered her brightness and her affection and her deep pride in what she was doing, and Angeli was speaking to him and he saw that they had arrived at his apartment building.
Five minutes later Judd was in his apartment. There was no question of sleep. He fixed himself a brandy and carried it into the den. He remembered the night Carol had strolled in here, naked and beautiful, rubbing her warm, lit the body against his. He had acted cool and aloof because he had known that that was the only chance he had of helping her. But she had never known what will power it had taken for him to keep from making love to her. Or had she? He raised his brandy glass and drained it.
The city morgue looked like all cities morgues at three ô?Tclock in the morning, except that someone had placed a wreath of mistletoe over the door. Someone, thought McGreavy, who had either an overabundance of holiday spirit or a macabre sense of humor.
McGreavy had waited impatiently in the corridor until the autopsy was completed. When the coroner waved to him, he walked into the sickly-white autopsy room. The coroner was scrubbing his hands at the large white sink. He was a small, birdlike man with a high, chirping voice and quick, nervous movements. He answered all McGreavy?Ts questions in a rapid, staccato manner, then fled. McGreavy remained there a few minutes, absorbed in what he had just learned. Then he walked out into the freezing night air to find a taxi. There was no sigh of one. The sons of bitches were all vacationing in Bermuda. He could stand out here until his ass froze off. He spotted a police cruise, flagged it down, showed his identification to the young rookie behind the wheel, and ordered him to drive him to the Nineteenth Precinct. It was against regulations, but what the hell. It was going to be a long night.
When McGreavy walked into the precinct, Angeli was waiting for him. ?~They just finished the autopsy on Carol Roberts,?T McGreavy said.
?~And??T
?~She was pregnant.?T
Angeli looked at him with surprise.
?~She has three months gone. A little late to have a safe abortion, and a little early to show.?T
?~Do you think that had anything to do with her murder??T
?~That?Ts a good question,?T said McGreavy. ?~If Carol?Ts boyfriend had knocked her up and they were going to get married anyway-what?Ts the big deal? So they get married and have the kid a few months later. It happens everyday of the week. On the other hand, if he knocked her up and he didn?Tt want to marry her, that?Ts no big deal either. So she has he baby and no husband. That happens twice everyday of the week.?T
?~W talked to Chick, he wanted to marry her.?T
?~I know,?T replied McGreavy. ?~So we have to ourselves where that leave us. It leaves us with a coloured girl whô?Ts pregnant. She goes to the father to tell him about it, and he murdered her.?T
?~Hê?Td had to be insane.?T
?~Or very foxy. I vote for foxy. Look at it this way: supposing Carol went to the father and broke the bad news and told hi she wasn?Tt going to have an abortion; she was going to have his baby. Maybe she used t to try to blackmail his marrying her. But supposing he couldn?Tt marry her because he was married already. Or maybe he was a white man. Let?Ts say a well-known doctor with a fancy practice. If the thing like this ever got out, it would ruin him. Who the hell would go to a headshrinker who knocked up hi coloured receptionist and had to marry her??T
?~Stevens is a doctor,?T said Angeli. ?~There are a dozen ways he coud hace killed her without arousing suspicion.?T
?~Maybe,?T McGreavy said. ?~Maybe not. If there was any suspicion and t could be traced back to him, hê?Td have a hard time getting out of it. He buy poison-someone has a record of it. He buys a rope or a knife- they can be traced. But look at this cue little setup. Some maniac comes in for no reason and murders his receptionist and hê?Ts the grief-stricken employer demanding that police find the killer.?T
?~It sounds like a pretty flimsy case.?T
?~I?Tm not finish. Let?Ts take his patient, John Hanson. Another senseless killing by this unknown maniac. I?Tll tell you something, Angeli. I don?Tt believe in coincidences. And two coincidences like that in one day make me nervous. So I asked myself what connection there could be between the death of John Hanson and Carol Roberts, and suddenly it didn?Tt seem so coincidental, after all. Supposed Carol walk into his office and broke the bad news that he was going to be a daddy. They had a big fight and she tried to blackmail him. She said he had to marry her, give her the money-whatever. John Hanson was waiting in the outer office, listening. Maybe Stevens wasn?Tt sure he had heard anything until he got on the couch. Then Hanson threatened him with exposure. Or tried to get him to sleep with him.?T
?~That?Ts a lot of guess work.?T
?~But it fits. When Hanson left, the doctor slipped out and fixed him so he couldn?Tt talk. Then he had to come back and get rid of Carol. He made it look like some maniac did the job, then he stopped by to see Mrs. Hanson, and took a ride to Connecticut. Now his problems are solved. Hê?Ts sitting pretty and the police are running their asses off searching for some unknown nut.?T
?~I can?Tt buy it,?T Angeli said. ?oYou are trying to build a murder case without a shred of concrete evidence.?T
?~What do you call ?oconcretê???T McGreavy asked. ?~Wê?Tve got two corpses. One of them is a pregnant lady who worked for Stevens. The other is one of his patients, murdered a block from hi office. Hê?Ts coming to him for treatment because hê?Ts a homo***ual. When I asked to listen to his tapes, he wouldn?Tt let me. Why? Who is Dr Stevens protecting? I asked him could anyone could have broke into his office looking for something. Then maybe we could have cooked up a nice theory that Carol caught them and they tortured her to try to find out where is this mysterious something was. But guess what? There is no mysterious something. His tapes aren?Tt worth a tnker?Ts damn to anybody. He had no drugs in his office. No money. So wê?Tre looking for some goddamn maniac. Right? Except that I won?Tt buy it. I think wê?Tre looking for Dr Judd Stevens.?T
?~I think you?Tre out to nail him,?T said Angeli quietly.
McGreavy?Ts face flushed with anger. ?~Because hê?Ts as guilty as hell.?T
?~Are you going to arrest him??T
?~I?Tm going to give Dr Stevens some rope,?T McGreavy said. ?~And while he is hanging himself, I?Tm going to be digging into every little skeleton in his closest. When I nail him, hê?Ts going to stay nailed.?T McGreavy turned and walked out.
Angeli look after him thoughtfully. If he did nothing, there was a good chance that McGreavy would try to railroad Dr Stevens. He could not let that happen. He made a mental note to speak to Captain Bertelli in the morning.

Fly when we still have wings.

Chapter 4
The morning newspapers headlined the sensational torture murder of Carol Roberts. Judd was tempted to have this telephone exchange call his patients and cancel his appointments for the day. He has not gone to bed, and his eyes felt heavy and gritty. But when he reviewed the list of patients, he decided that two of them would be desperate if he cancelled; three of them would be badly upset; the others could be handle. He decided it was better to continue with his normal routine, partly for his patients?T sake, and partly because it was too therapy for him to try to keep his mind off what had happened.
Judd arrived at his office early, but already the corridor was crowded with newspaper and television reporters and photographers. He refused to let them in r to make a statement, and finally managed to get rid of them. He opened the door to his inner office slowly, filled with trepidation. But the blood-stained rug had been removed and everything else had been put back in place. The office looked normal. Except that Carol would never walk in here again, smiling and full of live.
Judd heard the outer door open. His first patient had arrived.
Harrison Burke was a distinguished-looking silver-haired man who looked like the prototype of a big business executive, which he was: a vice-president of the International Steel Corporation. When Judd had first seen Burke, he had wondered whether the executive had created his stereotyped image, or whether thee image had created the executive. Someday he would write a book on face values: a doctor?Ts bedside manner, a lawyer?Ts flamboyance in a courtroom, an actress?Ts face and figure ?" these were the universal currencies of acceptance: the surface image rather than the basic value.
Burke lay down on the couch, and Judd turned his attention to him. Burke had been seen to Judd byDr Peter Handley two months ago. It had taken Judd ten minutes to ascertain that Harrison Burke was a paranoiac with tendencies of a murder that had taken place in this office the night before, but Burke never mentioned it. That was typical of his con***ion. He was totally immersed in himself.
?oYou didn?Tt believe me before,?T Burke said, ?~but now I?Tve got proof that they?Tre after me.?T
?~I thought we had decided to keep an open mind about that, Harrison,?T Judd replied carefully. ?~Remember yesterday we agreed that the imagination could play-?~
?~It isn?Tt imagination,?T shouted Burke. He sat up, his fists clenched. ?~They?Tre trying to kill me.?T
?~Why don?Tt you lay down and try to relax??T Judd suggested soothingly.
Burke got to his feet. ?~Is that all you?Tve got to say? You don?Tt even want to hear my proof!?T His eyes narrowed. ?~How do I know you?Tre not one of them??T
?~You know I?Tm not one of them,?T Judd said. ?~I?Tm your friend. I?Tm trying to help you.?T He felt a tab of disappointment. The progress he had thought they were making over the past month had completely eroded away. He was looking now at the same terrified paranoiac who had first walked into his office two months ago.
Burke had started with International Steel as a mail boy. In twenty-five years his distinguished good looks and his affable personality had taken him almost to the top of the corporate ladder. He had been next in line for the presidency. Then, four years ago, his wife and three children had perished in a fire at their summer home in Southampton. Burke had been in the Bahamas with his mistress. He had taken the tragedy harder than anyone realized. Reared as devout Catholic, he was unable to shake off his burden of guilt. He began to brood, and he saw less of his friend. He stayed at home evenings. Reliving the agonies of his wife and children burning to death while, in another part of his mind, he lay in bed with his mistress. It was like a motion picture that he ran over and over in his mind. He blamed himself completely for the death of his family. If only he had been there, he could save them. Then thought became an obsession. He was a monster. He knew it and God knew it. Surely others could see it! They must hate him as he hated himself. People smiled at him and pretended sympathy, but all the while they were waiting for him to expose himself, waiting to trap him. But he was too cunning for them. He stopped going to the executive dining-room and began to have lunch in the privacy of his office. He avoided everyone as much as possible.
Two years ago, when the company had needed a new president, they had passed over Harrison Burke and had hired an outsider. A year later the post of executive vice-president had opened up, and a man was given the job over Burkê?Ts head. Now he had all the proof he needed that there ws a conspiracy against him. He began to spy on the people around him. At night he hid tape recorders in the offices of other executives. Six months ago he had been caught. It was only because of his long seniority and position that he was not fired.
Trying to help him and relieve some of the pressure on him, the president of the company began to cut down on Brukê?Ts responsibilities. Instead of helping it convinced Burke more than ever that they were out to get him. They were afraid of him because he was smarter than they were. If he became president, they would all lose their jobs because they were stupid fools. He began to make more and more mistakes. When theses errors were called to his attention, he indignantly denied having mede them. Someone was deliberately changing his reports, altering the figures and statistics, trying to discre*** him. Soon he realized that it was not only the people in the company who were after him. There were spies outside. He was constantly followed in the streets. They taped his telephone line, read his mail. He was afraid to eat, lest they poison his food. His weight began to drop alarmingly. The worried president of the company arranged an appointment for him with Dr Peter Hadley and insisted that Burke keep it. After spending a half an hour with him, Dr Hadley had phoned Judd. Judd?Ts appointment book was full, but when Peter had told him how urgent it was, Judd reluctantly agreed to take him on.
(Chapter 4 to be continued)




Fly when we still have wings.

Now Harrison Burke lay supine on the damask-covered contour couch, his fists clenched tightly at his sides.
?~Tell me about your proof.?T
?~They broke into my house last night. They came to kill me. But I was too clever for them. I sleep in my den now and I have extra locks on all the doors so they can?Tt get to me.?T
?oDid you report the brake-in to the police??T Judd asked.
?~Of course not. The police are with them. They have orders to shoot me. But they wouldn?Tt dare to do it while there are people around, so I stay in crowd.?T
?~I?Tm glad you gave me this information,?T Judd said.
?~What are you going to do with it??T Burke asked eagerly.
?~I?Tm listening very carefully to everything you say,?T Judd said. He indicated the tape recorder. ?~I?Tve got it all down on tape so if they do kill you, wê?Tll have a record of the conspiracy.?T
Burke face lit up. ?~By God, that?Ts good! Tape! That?Tll really fix them.?T
?~Why don?Tt you lie down again??T Judd suggested.
Burke nodded and slid into the couch. He closed his eyes. ?~I?Tm tirted. You don?Tt know what it?Ts like, having everybody after you.?T
Don?Tt I? He thought of McGreavy.
?~Didn?Tt your houseboy hear anyone brake in??T Judd asked.
?~Didn?Tt I tell you??T Burke replied. ?~I fired him two weeks ago.
Judd quickly went over in his mind his recent session with Harrison Burke. Only three days ago Burke had described a fight he had had that day with houseboy. So his sense of time had become disoriented. ?oI don?Tt believe you mentioned it,?T Judd said casually. ?~Are you sure it was two weeks ago that you let him go??T
?~I don?Tt make mistake,?T Judd snapped. ?~How the hell do you think I got to be a vice-president of one of the biggest corporation in the world? Because I?Tve got a brilliant mind, Doctor, and don?Tt forget it.?T
?~Why did you fire him??T
?~He tried to poison me.?T
?~How??T
?~With a plate of ham and eggs. Loaded with arsenic.?T
?~Did you taste it??T Judd asked.
?~Of course not,?T Burke snorted.
?~How did you know it was poison??T
?~I could smell the poison.?T
?~What did you say to him??T
A look of satisfaction came over Burkê?Ts face. ?~I didn?Tt say anything. I beat the **** out of him.?T
A feeling of frustration swept over Judd. Given time, he was sure he could have helped Harrison Burke. But time had run out. There was always the danger in psychoanalysis that under the venting of free-flow association, the thin veneer of the id could blow wide open, letting escape all the primitive passions and emotion that huddled together in the mind like terrified wild beast in the night. The free verbalizing was the first step I treatment. In Burkê?Ts case, it had boomeranged. These sessions had released all the latent hostilities that had been locked in his mind. Burke had seemed to improve each sessions, agreeing with Judd that there was no conspiracy, that he was only overworked and emotionally exhauted. Judd had felt that he was guiding Burke to a point where they could begin deep analysis and start to attack the root of the problem. But Burke had been cunningly lying all along. He had been testing Judd. Leading him on to try to trap him and find out whether he was one of them. Harrison Burke was a walking bomb that could explode at any second. There was no next to kin to notify. Should Judd call the president of the company and teel him what he felt? If he did. It would instantly destroy Burkê?Ts future. He would have to be out away in an institution. Was he right in his diagnosis that Burke was a potentially homicidal paranoiac? He would like to get another opinion before he called, but Burke would never consent. Judd knew he would have to make the decision alone.
?~ Harrison, I want you to make me a promise,?T Judd said.
?~What kind of promise??T Burke asked warily.
?~If they are trying to trick you, then they want you to do something violent so they can have you locked up? But you?Tre too smart for that. No matter how they provoke you, I want you to promise me that you won?Tt do anything to them. That way, they can?Tt touch you.?T
Burkê?Ts eyes lit up. ?~By God, you?Tre right.?T He said. ?~ So that their plan! Well, wê?Tre too clever for them, aren?Tt we??T
Outside, Judd heard the sound of the reception room door open and close. He looked at his watch. His next patient was here.
Judd quietly snapped up the tape recorder. ?~I think it?Ts enough for today,?T he said.
?~You got all of this down on the tape recorder??T
?~Every word,?T Judd said. ?~No onê?Ts going to hurt you.?T He hesitated. ?~I don?Tt think you should go to the office today. Why don?Tt you go home and get some rest??T
?~I can?Tt,?T Burke whispered, his voice filled with despair. ?oIf I?Tm not in my office, they?Tll take my name off the door and put someone elsê?Ts name on it.?T He leaned toward Judd. ?~Be careful. If they know you?Tre my friend, they?Tll try to get you, too.?T Burke walked over to the door leading to the corridor. Then he swiftly sidled out.
Judd looked after him, his mid filled with the pain of what he would have to do to Harrison Burkê?Ts life. Perhaps if Burke had come to him six months earlier?And then a sudden thought sent a chill through him. Was Harrison Burke already a murderer? Was it possible that he had been involved in the deaths of John Hanson and Carol Robert? Both Burke and Hanson were patents. And they could have easily met. Several times in the past few months, Burkê?Ts appointments have followed Hanson?Ts. And Burke had been late more than once. He could have run into Hanson in the corridor. And seeing him several time could easily triggered his paranoia, made him feel that Hanson was following him, threatening him. As for Carol, Burke had seen her every time he came to the office. Had his sick mind conceived some menace from her that could only be removed by her death? How long had Burke really been mentally ill? His wife and three children had died in an accidental fire? Accidental? Somehow, he had to find out.

He went to the door leading to the reception office and opened it. ?~Come in,?T he said.
Anne Black rose gracefully to her feet and moved towards him, a warm smile lighting her face. Judd felt again the same heart-turning feeling that had hit him hen he had first seen her. It was the first time that he had felt any deep emotional response towards any woman since Elizabeth.
In no way did they look alike. Elizabeth had been blonde and small and blue-eyed. Anne Black had black hair and unbelievable violet frame by long, dark lashes. Sher was tall with a lovely full-curved figure. She had an air of lively intelligence and a classic, patrician beauty that would made her seem inaccessible, except for the warmth in her eyes. Her voice was low and soft, with a fant, husky quality.
Anne was in her middle of twenties. She was, without questions, the most beautiful woman Judd had ever seen. But it was something beyond her beauty that caught at Judd. There was an almost palpable force that pulled him to her, some unexplainable reaction that made him feel as thought long since dead had suddenly surfaced again, surprising him by their intensity.
She had appeared in Judd?Ts office three weeks earlier, without an appointment. Carol had explained that his schedule was full and he could not possibly take on any new patients. But Anne had quietly asked if she could wait. She had sat in the outer office for two hours, and Carol had finally taken pity on her and brought her in to Judd.
He ad felt such an instant powerful emotional reaction to Anne that he had no idea what she said during the first ne minutes. He remembered he had asked her to sit down and she had told him her name, Anne Blake. She was a housewife. Judd had asked her what her problem was. She had hesitated and said that she was not certain. She was not even sure she had a problem. A doctor friend of hers had mentioned that Judd was one of the most brilliant analysts in the country, but when Judd had asked who the doctor was, Anne had demurred. For all Judd knew, she could have got his name out of the telephone directory.
He had tried to explain to her how impossible his schedule was, that he simply was unable to take on any new patients. He offered to recommend half a dozen good analysts. But Anne had quietly insisted that she wanted him to treat her. In the end, Judd had agreed. Outwardly, except for the fact that she appeared to be under some stress, she seemed perfectly normal, and he was certain that her problem would be a relative simple one, easily solved. He broke his rule about not to taking any patient without another doctor?Ts recommendation, and he gave up his lunch hour in order to treat Anne. She had appeared twice a week for the past three weeks, and Judd knew very little more about her than he had known when she first came in. He know something more about himself he ws in love- for the first time since Elizabeth.
At their first session, Judd had asked her if she loves her husband, and hated himself for wanting her say that she did not. But she had said, ?~Yes. He is a kind man, and very strong.?T
?~Do you think he presents a father figure??T Judd had asked.
Anne had turned her incredible violet eyes on him. ?~No. I wasn?Tt looking for a father figure. I had a very happy home life as a child.?T
?~Where were you born??T
?~In revere, a small town near Boston.?T
?~Are both your parents still alive??T
?~Father is alive. Mother died of a stroke when I was twelve.?T
?oDid your father and mother have a good relationship??T
?~Yes. They were very much in love.?T
It shows in you, Judd thought happily. With all the sickness and aberration and misery that he had seen, having Anne here was like a breath of April freshness.
?~Any brother or sister??T
?~No. I was a only child. A spoiled brat.?T She smiled up at him. It was an open, friendly smile without guile or affectation.
She told him that she had lived aboard with her father, who was serving in the State Department, and when he had remarried and moved to California, she had gone to work at the UN as an interpreter. She spoke fluent French, Italian, and Spanish. She had met her future husband in the Bahamas when she was on vacation. He owned a construction firm. Anne had not been attracted to him at first, but he had been a persistent and persuasive suitor. Two months after they met, Anne had married him. She now been married for six months. They lived on an estate in New Jersey.
And that was all Judd had been able to find out about her in a half of dozen visits. He still not the slightest clue as to what her problem was. She had an emotional block about discussing it. He remembered some of the questions he had asked her during their first session.
?~Does your problem involve your husband, Mrs Blake??T
No answer.
?~Are you and your husband compatible, physically??T
?~Yes.?T Embarrassment.
?~Do you suspect him of having an affair with another woman??T
?~No.?T Amused.
?~Are you having an affair with another man??T
?~No.?T Angry.
He hesitated, trying to figure out the best approach to take to brake down the barrier. He decided on a buckshot technique: he would touch on every major category until he struck a nerve.
?~Do you quarrel about money??T
?~No. Hê?Ts very generous.?T
?oAny in-law problem??T
?~Hê?Ts an orphan. My father lives in California.?T
?~Were you and your husband ever addicted to drugs??T
?~No.?T
?~Do you suspect your husband of being homo***ual??T
A low warm laugh. ?~No.?
He pressed on, because he had to. ?~Have you ever had a ***ual relationship with a woman??T
?~No.?T Reproachful.
He had touched on alcoholism, frigi***y, a pregnancy she was afraid to face- everything he could think of. And each time she had looked at him with her thoughtful, intelligent eyes and merely shaken her head. Whenever he tried to pin her down, she would head him off with. ?~Please be patient with me. Let me do it my own way?T
With anyone else, he might give up. But he knew that he had to help her. And h had to keep seeing her.
He had let her to talk about any subject she chose. She had traveled to a dozen countries with her father and had met fascinating people. She had a quick mind and an unexpected humor. He found that they like the same books, the same music, the same playwrights. She was warm and friendly, but Judd could never detect the slightest sign that she reacted to him as anything other than a doctor. It was biter irony. He had been subconsciously searching for someone like Anne for years, and now she had walked into his life, his job was to help her solve whatever her problem was and send her back to her husband.
Now, as Anne walked into the office, Judd moved to the chair next to the couch and waited for her to lie down.
?~Not today,?T she said quietly. ?~I just came to see if I could help.?T
He stared at her, speechless for a moment. His emotions had been stretched so tight in the past two days that her unexpected sympathy unnerved him. As he looked at her, he had a wild impulse to pour out everything that was happening to him. To tell her about the nightmare that was gulfing him, about McGreavy and his idiotic suspicions. But he knew he could not. He was a doctor and she was his patient. Worse than that. He was in love with her and she was an untouchable wife of a man he did not even know.
She was standing there, watching him. He nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
?~I like Carol so much,?T said Anne ?~Why would anyone kill her??T
?~I don?Tt know,?T said Judd.
?~Don?Tt the police have any idea who did it??T
Do they? Judd thought bitterly. If only she knew.
Anne was looking at him curiously.
?~The police have some theories,?T Judd said.
?~I know how terrible you must fell. I just wanted to come to tell how very sorry am I.I wasn?Tt even sure you?Tre in the office today.?T
?~I wasn?Tt going to come in,?T Judd said. ?~But ?" well, here I am. As long as we both here, why don?Tt we talk a little about you??T
Anne hesitated. ?~I am not sure that therê?Ts anything to talk about any more.?T
Judd felt his heart jump. Please. God, don?Tt let her say that I?Tm not going to see her anymore.
?~I?Tm going to Europe with my husband next week.?T
?~That?Ts wonderful?T he made himself say.
?~I?Tm afraid I wasted your time and I apologize.?T
?~Please don?Tt.?T Judd said. He found that his voice was husky. She was walking out on him. But of course she couldn?Tt know that. He was being infantile. His mind told him this clinically while his stomach ached with the physical hurt of her going away. For ever.
She opened her purse and took out some money. She was in the habit of paying in cash after each visit, unlike his other patient, who sent him cheques.
?~No.?T Judd said quickly. ?~You came here as a friend. I?Tm grateful.?T
Judd did something he had never done before with a patient. ?~I would like you to come back once more,?T he said.
She looked up at him quietly. ?~Why??T
Because I can?Tt bear to let you go so soon, he thought. Because I?Tll never meet anyone like you again. Because I wish I had met you first. Because I love you. Aloud he said, ?~I thoughtwe might-round thing out. Talk a little to make sure that you really over your problem.?T
She smiled mischievously. ?~You mean you want me to come back for my graduation??T
?~Something like that,?T he said. ?~Will you do it??T
?~If you want me to - of course.?T She rose. ?~I haven?Tt given you a chance with me. But I know you are a wonderful doctor. If I should ever need help, I?Td come to you.?T
She held out her hand and he took it. She had a warm, firm handclasp. He felt again that compelling current that ran between them and marveled that she felt nothing.
?~I?Tll see you on Friday,?T she said.
?~Friday.?T
He watched her walk out of the private door leading to the corridor, then sank into a chair. He had never felt so completely alone in his life. But he couldn?Tt sit here and do nothing. There had to be an answer, and if McGreavy wasn?Tt going to find it, he had to discover it before McGreavy destroyed him. On the dark side, Lieutenant McGreavy suspected him of two murders that he couldn?Tt prove he did not commit. He might be arrested at any moment, which would mean that his professional life would be destroyed. He was in love with a woman he would only see once more. He forced himself to turn to bright side. He couldn?Tt think of a single bloody thing.