Rosenfield stopped. He was a tall, lean man with Abe Lincoln features. “You’re kiddin’.”
“Nope. Got the call from her daughter just moments before I got here. They piped it over my car radio. Apparently the girl’s got him trapped and tied up in the basement. ‘Least that’s what she told the dispatcher. Said her mother ran off in a panic.”
“Don’t blame her. You’ll have to take her to a hospital. She’s in some kind of shock. You’ll see. Think they’d leave people alone, seein’ the trouble they already have.”
“I know it. Like to string the bastard up.”
They stopped at the lounge chair. Bernice Rosenfield was wiping Dorothy’s face with a damp washrag. She looked up at the two men and shook her head.
“How’s she doin’?” Sidney asked.
“Just got her quiet.”
Patty looked down at Dorothy Wilson, who lay on her side in the fetal position. Her eyes were closed. He couldn’t believe it was Dorothy Wilson—her hair so disheveled, her face so bloated. She looked as though she had gained thirty pounds.
“I think the best thing is going to be the ambulance. Like Sid says, we’d better get her to the hospital.”
“Frightened the guests into the house,” Bernice said in a loud whisper. “She came out of the darkness screaming like a lunatic. Claims something or someone is after her, right behind her.”
“Patty says she surprised a burglar.”
“No! No wonder. And she ran all the way. Look how cut up her feet are. I haven’t seen her in a while. Looks terrible, terrible.”
“Sid, you go back inside and call the station. Melissa’s on duty. Tell her I said to dispatch an ambulance.”
Rosenfield nodded. They looked to the porch of the tourist house. A number of guests had gathered there and stood watching.
“You’ll be all right, Bernice, until they get here?”
“Sure, sure.”
“I’m anxious to get this guy,” Patty said.
“Don’t blame you.” Rosenfield headed toward the house to call for the ambulance as Patty walked back to the patrol car.
“How is she?” Sam asked.
“More or less out of it. Created quite a scene when she first appeared. Let’s go make an arrest,” he added and turned on his roof light.
Kevin McShane attempted to get to his feet a number of times before he found the wall and used it to guide himself and support himself into a standing position. When he finally did so, he couldn’t believe the pain in his left knee. He struggled and squirmed beneath the binding ropes, hoping to loosen them and free himself, but such movement amplified other aches and bruises. He cried out, whimpering like a beaten dog. He couldn’t believe how fast it had all happened. Now all he could do was stand there in the darkness, too terrified and too much in pain to move in any direction.
He had no idea how much time had passed before he heard the cellar door open and saw the inside of the pillowcase illuminate with light. When he heard the sound of other men’s voices, he felt great relief. In fact, he thought he might cry and wasn’t sure tears had not already formed and run down his face.
“I’ll be damned,” Sam Cohen said. “She was tellin’ the truth.”
“Of course I was telling the truth. Do you think I could make up such a story?” Kevin began to shout.
“Relax, buddy,” Patty said. Kevin felt the policeman’s hand on his shoulder. “You really tied this thing tight. It’s a wonder you didn’t strangle him.”
“I’d like to know how she did it,” Cohen said. Kevin felt the cord loosen around his neck. Then the pillowcase was lifted off and he confronted the hamlet’s policeman and another man. They both stared at him wide-eyed.
“You’re a helluva mess,” Patty said.
“Thank God you’re here.”
“Who the hell are you? What’d ya hope to get from these people?”
“Please untie me. I think my right wrist’s broken and I’m afraid of what might be wrong with my left knee.”
“Don’t try anything,” Patty said.
“I don’t think he’s in condition to do any more than listen hard,” Sam said.
As Patty untied him Kevin looked for Lois and saw her standing at the top of the stairs. Her arms were folded across her chest. She looked more formidable than ever.
“What, did her mother call you?” Kevin asked. “No, but you sure frightened the hell out of that woman.”
“I didn’t mean to frighten her any more than she was, but when I first saw her, I didn’t think there was much I was going to be able to do to calm her down.”
“Not under these circumstances,” Sam Cohen said.
“You should’ve thought of that before you came here.”
“I didn’t want to come here,” Kevin said. He rubbed his body with his left hand and then felt along his wrist bone. “It’s cracked at least.”
“We’ll have it looked at. You get just as many rights as anyone else.”
“More,” Sam said. “That’s the pity of it.”
“Huh?” Kevin looked from the man to the cop.
“What did Mrs. Wilson tell you anyway?”
“She didn’t tell us anything. She isn’t in any condition to talk.”
“Probably in shock,” Sam said.
Kevin looked up at Lois again. She was unmoving, like a statue.
“But … how did you know I was down here?”
“How do you think?” Patty said. “Lois told us. Let’s go. Upstairs.”
“Wait a minute,” Kevin said, pulling back. He grimaced in pain. “I don’t think I can walk on this leg.”
“Put your arm on my shoulders and lean on me.”
“Listen to me,” Kevin said again, but the policeman concentrated on moving him up the stairs. “You’ve got something wrong here.”
“That’s for sure.”
“No. You’re telling me Lois called you?”
“Of course.”
When they got to the top of the steps, Kevin leaned against the hallway wall.
“You sure do a good job on burglars, Lois,” Sam Cohen said.
“Burglar? Is that what she told you?” Kevin looked at Lois, who stood a little way farther down the hall. Billy was right beside her, holding her hand. “Lois, why’d you do this? Why’d you do it?”
“This is the man who came here before?” Patty asked Billy.
Billy nodded and then took a step forward. “Lois said he would come back to steal her ‘search.”
“Her what?”
“My research. It’s valuable,” she said.
“My God!” Kevin said. “Is that why you think I came here?”
“Wait a minute,” Patty said. “You know each other?”
The radiating pain and the confusion made Kevin belligerent. He clenched his teeth and straightened up as best he could.
“Of course, you idiots. I teach at the college. My name’s McShane, Professor Kevin McShane. She was one of my students.”
“That doesn’t justify anything,” Lois said. “He read my material; he knew what I was working on. He came here spying one day and then decided to return and steal what he could. I’ve made some remarkable progress in behavioral modification. My findings will be published everywhere. He realized it and came to steal what he could.”
Both Patty and Sam looked from Lois to Kevin and then back at Lois again.
“I don’t understand any of this,” Patty said. He came to attention. “Did you break into this house?”
“I didn’t break into it. I walked right through the door after Mrs. Wilson ran from it.”
“Ran from it?”
“When I drove up, she was already in some kind of shock. God knows what’s been done to her.”
“You’d like to know,” Lois said.
“This is a helluva situation,” Sam Cohen said. He squeezed his jaw with his right forefinger and thumb.
“If you think this is something,” Kevin said, “just walk upstairs and look
in on Mr. Wilson.”
“He’s just wasting your time,” Lois said. “Trying to distract you from the main point. He’s guilty of trespassing, unlawful entry, attempted robbery …”
“Just go upstairs,” Kevin said. “You’ll see a wire and a terminal box on the floor. I took it off Mr. Wilson’s toes. She was giving him shocks. She had him dependent on a gong and kept track of how many times he used it. I don’t even understand half of what she was doing, but …” He lowered his eyes as though he shared in the guilt. “It has to do with behavioral modification, conditioning responses, that sort of thing. Do you understand?” Kevin said.
“This is crazy,” Sam said.
“Just go up, go up. You’ll see the chart on the wall outside his bedroom.”
“We were already upstairs,” Patty said. “That’s the first thing we did when we came in here, just to make sure he was all right. We didn’t see any wires or charts. There’s a gong device hooked up, but Lois said they did that so he could call them when he needed them.”
“Come on,” Sam said. “Let’s settle this down at the station.” Patty seized Kevin’s left arm and Sam scooped in under his right arm so he could lean on him. They both began moving him toward the door.
“No, listen to me,” Kevin said. Lois opened the front door for them. He could see the patrol car outside, its roof light turning. He felt a great dizziness coming over him and imagined he had something of a concussion. “You can’t leave that man alone with her now. There’s no telling what she’ll do because of this.”
He tried holding back, but with his knee damaged and the two of them carrying him forward, he could offer little resistance. In fact, he found himself weakening rapidly. It took everything he had to battle the nausea and unconsciousness creeping over him.
“We’re gonna have to get him directly to the hospital too,” Sam said.
“The animals,” Kevin mumbled, “she has animals all over the house. There’s a worm farm in the living room.”
“That’s my brother’s,” Lois said, bringing Billy forward. “My mother let him do it. He’s been so disturbed because of my father.”
“I can imagine,” Patty said.
Kevin’s good leg gave out on him. They lifted him in the air and moved him quickly down the steps. He lost consciousness for a moment on the way to the car. Patty held him up as Sam opened the back door. Kevin felt himself being stuffed onto the back seat.
“Just … go up and … ask him if he’s all right,” he said. “He’ll blink twice.”
“We asked him that and he did blink twice. Lois explained that means yes.”
“It means no. She’s lying to you. She’s too clever. She’s a brilliant mind gone wild.” He spoke with his eyes closed, feeling himself continue to drift. “Call his doctor and confirm …”
“We gotta get you to a doctor,” Patty said. Kevin reached forward and grabbed his jacket sleeve.
“I’ll go to a doctor. I’ll live,” McShane said, his face becoming bloated and red with emotion. “But if we drive off now … he might very well be … be dead by the time you return. I know his life isn’t much as it is, but it’s a life and he’s suffering. Believe me … I know … I bear some blame.”
“All right, relax, buddy, relax,” Patty said, trying to work Kevin’s fingers loose from his jacket sleeve. “I’ll investigate; I’ll investigate.”
Kevin fought to hold his grip.
“Go back … you’ll see …”
“Uh-huh.” Patty broke free and began to close the door. Kevin reached forward.
“Listen to me,” he said, but the door slammed him into silence. He fell back against the seat, unable to resist the urge to sleep.
Patty walked back to the porch steps and looked up at Lois, who still watched from the doorway.
“We sent for an ambulance to take your mother to the hospital, Lois. If you want me to run you up there after I’m finished …”
“I’ll call,” she said. “I can’t leave my father.”
“Right.”
“Thank you.” She smiled and closed the door, little Billy just visible behind her.
18
There was a long moment of silence after the door was closed. Then Lois heard Billy’s sobs. She pushed him away roughly.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“I’m scared, Lois.”
“Everything’s all right. Don’t you see? Everything’s perfect. They won’t bother us now; no one will bother us.”
“But Mommy. Mommy’s sick bad.”
“She’ll be all right. If you behave yourself, we’ll go to see her in a day or two.”
He controlled his sniffling and wiped his eyes. Then he waited for orders. Lois was just standing there, looking up the stairway.
“Actually, we’re better off with her out of the house for a while. Too much to worry about between the both of them,” she said, but he could tell she said it mostly to herself. She took a deep breath and then looked at him again. “You’d better go wash your face.” He nodded. “I’ve got to go upstairs and fix things again. You did very well, though, Billy, very well.” She patted him on the head. “I’m proud of you, and when Daddy gets better and hears about all this, he’ll be proud of you, too.” Billy smiled and ran to the bathroom. “Get your hands good and clean, even under the fingernails.”
“Uh-huh.”
She heard him go in and then she started up the stairs. All this confusing activity was certainly detrimental to the subject, she thought. Why, an interruption like this could have the traumatic effect of throwing things back a week. Her father might have already begun to build up renewed opposition to her techniques. She’d have to show him that nothing had changed; she have to show him she was still in complete control.
When she opened his bedroom door and stepped in, the look of disappointment on his face was so great it nearly made her laugh. It was obvious he had been expecting the others.
“I’d think you’d be more happy to see me, Daddy, after all that commotion. Are you OK?” He blinked his no. “I didn’t think so, but I’ll fix that.”
She went to the bureau on the right and opened the top drawer to take out the electric wires and the terminal. Gregory blinked his no’s continually, but she wasn’t looking at him.
“Now,” she said, unraveling the wire, “I know that teacher was in here talking to you, but you’ve got to disregard anything he might have said. You see,” she said, pausing in her work and looking up at him, “Professor McShane had only one real reason for coming here—he wanted to steal my research. He has come to realize how important my work is and what it could mean to the whole field of behavioral science. I’m sure he wanted to do a paper using my data and build himself a reputation.
“You might not realize how important that can be to a teacher in college, Daddy,” she continued, working on the wire again, “but publications and significant findings can up their value to other colleges, better colleges. McShane probably wants a good seat at one of the better universities. Well, he’s not going to get it at our expense, is he, Daddy?”
She began winding the wire through his feet again, tying the bare copper against his naked toes. He willed with all his might to move his foot, and there was a barely perceptible movement. She caught the slight twinge and looked up quickly. “You moved a little tiny bit, didn’t you? I saw you do it. Do it again. Go on, try.” He didn’t. “You just don’t want to for me right now, is that it? I think I understand. You still see me from a negative viewpoint. But I did see you move that foot, Daddy. There has been some progress, and there’s going to be a lot more. I knew it; I knew it.” She worked faster and completed the electric-shock mechanism. “And to think those fools almost ruined things.” She stared at him. Tears were running out from the corners of his eyes, down the temples of his head and onto the pillow. “Crying is part of your condition, Daddy. Don’t worry about it. Well,” she said, slapping her hands together, “I’m going down to prepare your drink. Just
relax, and later on we’ll work on the therapy I’ve designed.”
He didn’t open his eyes until after she left. Then he stared up at the ceiling. If he could only will his own death, he thought, simply will himself into it …
Lois was in the midst of what she called a session with her father when she heard Billy’s scream. She went to the top of the stairs.
“Who is it?”
“He says he’s Patty. There’s someone else too.”
“Don’t open the door.” She looked back toward her father’s bedroom. The knocking below became more intense. They were shouting now. She was halfway down the stairs when their shoulders hit the heavy wood and their pressure plus the weight of the door tore out the chain lock from the doorway molding. Patty and a state policeman stepped into the house. Lois turned on the stairway.
“Don’t move!” Patty shouted, but Lois continued up the steps. “Damn, let’s go!” The two law officers lunged up the stairway, but Lois got to the bedroom and slammed the door shut, locking it quickly.
“Go away!” she shouted. “Leave us alone!”
“Open this door, Lois. We know what you’re doing in there now. Open up.”
“You don’t know. None of you know. You’re going to ruin my work. I’ve made progress. My father’s going to be cured. If you’ll just leave us alone.”
“If you don’t open up, we’re going to have to knock this door in also.”
She looked back at her father. He seemed more alert than ever.
“You’re happy, aren’t you? You’re so stupid. Don’t you know they’re ruining your best chance for a recovery? Isn’t that the most important thing?”
“Lois!”
Slowly she turned the lock on the doorknob and stepped back. Patty and the state policeman stepped in.
“Just wait outside, Lois,” Patty said. He saw the electric wires on Gregory Wilson’s foot. Both he and the state policeman continued in slowly.
“Holy shit,” the state policeman said. “What the hell is going on here?”
“Pull the plug quickly,” Patty said. As soon as the state policeman did so, he carefully took the wires off Gregory Wilson’s foot.
“I’ll go down and call for the ambulance.”
Brain Child Page 24