Macandrew smiled at Karen going over the top but he appreciated it.
‘Karen’s right,’ said Jeff. ‘It’ll do you good to get away from KC for a while. The snow will be here any day and the cold isn’t going to help your hands any. Go get some sunshine.’
‘I’m beginning to think you guys are ganging up on me! Can I have some more coffee?’
Karen refilled his cup and said, ‘I don’t know if you’re still interested but I’ve been reading up on Multiple Personality Disorder.’
Macandrew felt a shiver run through him; he clattered down his cup a little too noisily in its saucer. He hoped Karen and Jeff hadn’t noticed this and put his napkin to his lips. The Francini case had been fading from his memory — or perhaps he had been successful in blotting it out — but now the mention of Multiple Personality Disorder brought it all back. Jane’s madness, her husband’s hatred, the hellish trauma of the car door incident. He had relived the nightmare a hundred times in the small hours of the morning. ‘Really?’ he said and swallowed hard.
‘It’s actually very interesting,’ continued Karen, apparently unaware of Macandrew’s unease. ‘And more than a little frightening.’
‘Why frightening?’
‘A lot of the stuff I came up with relates to criminal acts where the accused claims to have been another person at the time of the offence. This happens much more frequently than you’d imagine. In several instances, psychiatric reports commissioned by the court have actually concluded that two different people were inhabiting the same body.’
‘Something tells me that’s not going to help much with Jane Francini’s problem,’ said Macandrew.
‘No, but I’m convinced it’s all part of the same thing,’ said Karen. ‘And there’s more. I came across a report in the International Herald Tribune about a recent scandal in Israel. I made a copy of it because I felt sure you’d be interested.’ Karen looked about her, as if trying to remember where she had put it. ‘I’ll find it later,’ she said. ‘Anyway it was about a mental hospital in the Holy Land being run by the Church.’
Macandrew and Jeff exchanged glances that suggested they were at the mercy of some feminine logic that was denied to them.
‘It turned out the Church authorities didn’t know anything about it.’
‘I’m sorry but why should that be interesting?’ asked a puzzled Macandrew.
‘None of the patients’ relatives knew anything about it either. When the police stumbled on the place and started making enquiries, it transpired that the patients were actually listed on their files as missing persons. According to their relatives, all of them were perfectly sane and healthy at the time of their disappearance and none had ever suffered from any mental illness before.’
‘I’m sorry, I still don’t see what...’ said Macandrew.
‘It appears that it was something the “hospital” did to these people that damaged their minds,’ said Karen. ‘According to one guy, who managed to escape, the patients were offered money to undergo some kind of chemical hypnosis and it was this that damaged them.’
‘Bizarre.’
‘The guy responsible — a priest, would you believe — took off when the cops turned up and now the church authorities are disclaiming all knowledge of him. They say that the place isn’t a hospital at all; it’s a convent for Benedictine nuns — the Sisters of St Saviour. Now comes the really interesting bit,’ said Karen. ‘The patients were all taken to the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem,’ said Karen. ‘They were rambling and incoherent when admitted but... under sedation...’ Karen paused for effect and saw that she now had Macandrew’s undivided attention. ‘Under sedation they calmed down and started to make sense. The only problem was... they weren’t the same people any more.’
‘You mean like Jane Francini and Emma?’
‘Exactly,’ said Karen. ‘What’s more, when the sedation completely wore off, they started raving again.’
‘Good God,’ said Macandrew.
‘I thought you’d be interested,’ said Karen.
‘I’d certainly like to see the article,’ said Macandrew.
‘It’s around here somewhere,’ said Karen, starting to look. ‘It’s one hell of a coincidence, don’t you think?’
‘You said that this priest — the one running the place — made a run for it?’
‘Apparently he wasn’t really in charge,’ said Karen. ‘The convent is home to an enclosed order of Benedictine nuns who hadn’t had much contact with the outside world. When this guy turned up on their doorstep, saying that he’d been sent by the Church in Rome and carrying papers stating that the sisters were to help him in his work, they accepted it without question. According to the nuns he wasn’t alone. He had another guy, a doctor, working with him. But it gets weirder: when the pair of them took off they took one of the patients with them.’
‘Why?’
‘No one knows.’
‘Crazy,’ said Macandrew. ‘Absolutely crazy.’
Karen again insisted that the article must be somewhere around.
Macandrew glanced at his watch and saw it was late. He got to his feet and stretched his arms in the air. ‘I think I’m for home,’ he said. ‘But if you should come across it... Tell you what; I’m coming in to the Med Centre tomorrow to see Saul. If you find it, bring it with you and I’ll stop by your office.’
‘Sure thing.’
Macandrew kissed Karen lightly on the cheek and nodded to Jeff. ‘Thanks for everything, guys, I really appreciate it.’
Macandrew walked to the Med Centre in the morning despite the fact that it was bitterly cold and there was a strong wind blowing. The trees had now lost their leaves so any East coast allusions had gone for good. Kansas City was back to being Kansas City. The 39th Street bus passed a little too close to the kerb while he was waiting to cross at the junction of 39th and Rainbow and threw some dirt up into his face. He had to pause for a moment to remove some grit from his eye but, as he turned his back to the wind and brought out his handkerchief, he took comfort from the thought that, a couple of weeks ago, he wouldn’t have been able to do this. He could now use his fingers well enough to manipulate a handkerchief. His hands were getting better.
‘How are things?’ asked Saul Klinsman, getting up from his desk when Macandrew came in.
‘We’re shaking hands aren’t we?’ replied Macandrew with a smile.
Klinsman saw the joke and put his hand to his forehead. ‘I never thought,’ he confessed. ‘Does this mean we have an improvement?’
‘A big improvement,’ agreed Macandrew.
‘I’m really glad to hear that, Mac. The sooner you’re back the better.’
‘You wanted to see me?’ said Macandrew.
‘Yes I did,’ replied Klinsman. ‘I put it off for a couple of days but then I thought better of it and left a message for you with the Jacksons.’
‘Very mysterious,’ said Macandrew.
‘It’s rather delicate,’ said Klinsman.
‘What is?’
‘I have something for you. It was addressed to me but the contents are for you.’
‘What?’
Klinsman opened the top drawer of his desk and brought out an envelope. He pushed it towards Macandrew while he opened the deeper bottom drawer and brought out a bottle of good brandy.
Macandrew opened the envelope and withdrew a bundle of bank notes. ‘Good God, there must be at least...’
‘Twenty thousand dollars,’ said Klinsman.
‘But who...’
‘Anonymous,’ said Klinsman, ‘addressed to you, care of me.’
Macandrew suddenly realised who the source must be and felt a shiver run through him. ‘Francini,’ he murmured.