The old black eyes regarded me.
‘If I may say so, Mr. Fellows, your plot is not entirely original. The situation as you describe it actually happened in the eighteenth century to a French countess who was seduced under hypnotism by a pupil of Cagliostro, a famous hypnotist.’
I felt the blood leave my face.
‘So it really could happen?’
‘Yes, it could happen.’
This was something I couldn’t bear to accept.
‘But I understand Doctor, from what I have read that no one when under hypnotic influence can be made to do anything repugnant to them. If this is correct, then surely no woman can be raped under hypnotic influence?’
‘In most cases what you say is correct, Mr. Fellows, but not in every case. Much depends on the power of the hypnotist and on his subject. Some subjects have much stronger wills to resist than others. It has been said that Rasputin had the power to seduce. Cagliostro certainly had.’
I was now feeling so bad, I wanted to terminate this interview as quickly as I could.
‘One other question. If she left the town would it be possible for Dokes to retain his influence over her? Does distance matter?’
‘That would depend on his power. If it was considerable, then she could even leave the country and he could still keep hypnotic contact with her.’
‘Is that a scientific fact?’
He moved impatiently.
‘All the facts I am giving you, Mr. Fellows, are scientific facts. I have a number of patients who have moved from this district and now live quite some distance away. I still keep in contact with them. They will write or telephone and I can ease their troubles by my hypnotic influence.’
Everything he had told me so far confirmed what Val had said. A feeling of despair was laying hold on me.
‘How can Mary break away from Dokes’s influence? It is important for her to do so to tie up my plot.’
‘Realistically, Mr. Fellows, that is not possible. You have created a situation and you are stuck with it. Hypnotism in the hands of amateurs is extremely dangerous. Unless Dokes himself releases her or unless he dies, your heroine will remain in his power indefinitely.’
Grasping at straws, I asked, ‘Suppose she went to someone like you Doctor? Couldn’t this expert counteract Dokes’s influence?’
He shook his head.
‘I am afraid not, nor should he attempt to do so. I certainly wouldn’t. We have assumed, to make your plot realistic, that Dokes is no ordinary hypnotist. It then follows that a counter-influence from another hypnotist would create such a violent struggle in the subject’s mind that she would, without doubt, suffer very serious mental damage.’
I took out my handkerchief and wiped my sweating hands.
‘So the only solution would be for someone to persuade Dokes to release her?’
‘That or a timely heart attack. There is an old classic, Trilby...’
‘I know it. Svengali died of a heart attack and Trilby could no longer sing.’
‘Exactly Mr. Fellows!’
‘I wouldn’t want to use the same solution in my book.’
He lifted his old shoulders and again looked at his watch.
‘Well, if he couldn’t be persuaded to release her, then he would have to die. He could meet with an accident. I am sure you are inventive enough to dispose of Dokes, Mr. Fellows, without any suggestions from me.’ He smiled. ‘If it were a thriller you are writing, she could, of course, murder him couldn’t she?’
Seven
Well now, Dr. Rappach, let us imagine we are continuing our conversation although I have already paid you a fifty-dollar fee, shaken your hand and driven away from the curious eyes of your children. I am parked on a lonely stretch of beach with only the palm trees to listen to our conversation.
‘First, let me thank you for your valuable time Dr. Rappach. I hope you don’t feel that you could have been more usefully employed than listening to the plot of my novel. You told me you charge your patients a quarter. Well, at least, my fifty dollars represents quite a number of patients. I do assure you, you gave me value for money.
‘You have confirmed what I was reluctant to accept: that there is only one solution to save Val. You said it. Val said it herself.
‘She said: As long as my life lasts, as long as his life lasts, I shall be his slave.
‘You, Doctor, said the same thing only in different words: Unless Dokes himself releases her or unless he dies, your heroine will remain in his power indefinitely.
‘So I am now convinced that only Vidal’s death will release her. It is as simple and as complicated as that. Complicated because to look at him, you couldn’t imagine him dying for many years to come. He is a man in his prime, bursting with energy, a non-smoker, a non-drinker: a man who takes care of himself.
‘And yet his death is the only solution if Val is to be freed of his influence.
‘You said. Doctor, If it were a thriller you are writing, she could, of course, murder him, couldn’t she?’
The hot wind blew through the open car window and yet I felt cold.
‘It is a valuable suggestion. Doctor, but not the right one... nearly right, but not quite. It is valuable because I hadn’t thought of murder to solve this problem. To prove to you that your suggestion that Val should murder him is wrong, I have to tell you that she means more to me than life itself. This sounds dramatic, doesn’t it? But it is a fact. I have never ceased to love Val from the moment I met her, six years ago. Murder means risk. I would never allow Val to be exposed to any risk if I could help it. But all the same your suggestion is valuable. I would accept the risk. Now you ask if I feel capable of murdering Vidal. Before I can answer that question, let us first take a look at Vidal. I don’t believe in devils, but if devils do exist as Val says they do and she has more experience of that kind of thing than I have then Vidal could be a devil. A man who can rape a woman under the influence of hypnotic power, who will destroy her confidence in herself and who will reduce her to a despairing, frightened cipher such as she had become, must be devilish. You say there are many people like him and it is the business of the police and the courts of law to deal with them. Yes, but you haven’t suggested that I should go to the police. You know as well as I do the police would dismiss my story as the ravings of just another nutter, envious of a millionaire tycoon.
‘You say I haven’t yet answered your question: do I feel capable of murdering Vidal? Frankly, as I sit here in the dark of my car under the palm trees that are swaying and creaking In the rising wind, with the lights of Paradise City distant across the causeway, the thought of killing Vidal doesn’t make me flinch. It doesn’t make me flinch so long as the thought remains a thought. I am now convinced that Vidal’s death is not only the one possible solution, but the right one. By murdering him, Val and I could pick up the threads that he snapped six years ago. We could get married and live happily ever after. I am already married? Yes, but it is no real marriage. Even Rhoda would agree about that. If Rhoda would be willing to divorce me and Vidal dies, then the dream I have lived for over six years would finally come about. You think I would have Vidal’s death on my conscience for the rest of my days? I wonder. You could be right, of course, but maybe I could convince myself that the end does justify the means and it would not worry my conscience. You again press the question: am I capable of committing murder? There you have a point. There are some people who have no compunction about taking life. My father was like that. He was a small time farmer and not a day passed without him coming from the fields carrying some dead animaclass="underline" a rabbit, a hare, a badger or a fox. He was a remarkable shot. No pheasant, pigeon nor wild duck had a chance against his skill. He wanted to teach me to shoot but killing made me sick to my stomach. My father despised me for refusing to kill and I despised him for killing. So coming back to your question as to whether I feel capable of killing Vidal the answer is that I don’t know. I can kill him in my mind, I can try to make a plan to kill him so Val and I would never be suspected and if by killing him I could restore her to her old wonderful self of six years ago then I think I could even live with my conscience. But when the time comes, I admit it would be a toss-up whether I could do it. I do know I could never sneak up on him and kill him in cold blood. It would depend on the circumstances. I think I might do it if I were provoked.’