“Why did you want The Key so badly?” Abby asked. “Do you remember that?”
They were sitting in the spare, utilitarian room the psychiatric hospital reserved for meetings between visitors and patients. An orderly stood some distance away, surreptitiously checking email on his cell phone. Or maybe playing a game, Abby thought. Whatever the case, it was obvious that he was not interested in the conversation. The woman who had led Abby and Sam to the visitors’ room a short time earlier had explained that they were the only people who had come to visit Grady since he had been admitted.
Abby and Sam were on one side of a wide table. Grady sat across from them. He was no longer radiating the wild, chaotic energy that had swirled around him on the day he had invaded the Vaughn home. He still gave off the vibes of an individual who marched to his own drummer, but he was not scary today. Abby found herself feeling sorry for him. He seemed very worried, very young and very lonely. He was dressed in hospital-issue garb, a loose-fitting shirt, trousers and slippers.
“I needed The Key to complete my experiment,” Grady said. His expression became animated for the first time. He straightened in his chair. “I was so close to the final step, you see, and the voice told me that the answer was in The Key.” His enthusiasm faded as quickly as it had materialized. He sagged back in defeat. “I can’t believe I thought I was hearing a voice in one of my crystals. I must have been crazy, just like everyone says. I screwed up, and now I’ll never know if I was on the right track or not.”
Sam looked at him. “What was the nature of the experiment?”
“I was trying to grow crystals that could be used as hearing aids. My mother was deaf. I used sign language from the cradle. When I was still a kid, I told her that one day I would find a way to help her hear. She believed in me. She died when I was fourteen, but she made me promise that I would never give up my goal of inventing a new kind of hearing technology. But they won’t let me have a lab in here. When I asked them for some of the crystals that I was working on at home, the doc said that the fact that I believed crystals had some kind of special powers was another indication that I needed more treatment.”
“Your doctor doesn’t think there is power in crystals?” Sam asked.
“Nah.” Grady grimaced. “He thinks it’s all woo-woo stuff.”
“Did you remind him that it’s crystal technology that makes it possible for him to have a personal computer and carry a phone that can access the Internet?” Sam asked. “Did you mention lasers? LCD screens?”
“Sure,” Grady said. “But I was working with crystals that have some paranormal properties, and the doctor can’t grasp the concept.”
“He’s not alone,” Abby said.
Sam folded his elbows on the table and fixed Grady with a deeply interested expression. “You were working with crystals to invent hearing devices?”
“Yeah.” Grady came alive again. “According to my theory, almost anyone could use them. You wouldn’t have to have a lot of talent. If I’m right, it will take very little psi to make my hearing devices work. Everyone produces some energy. But I was missing a critical element. I knew there was a problem, but I couldn’t get at it. Do you know that feeling?”
“Yes,” Sam said. “I know it well.”
“One day I started hearing this voice telling me that I needed The Key.” Grady rubbed his forehead. “It sounds freaky, I know. But I just got this feeling that if I could find that book and the woman who could crack the encryption, I could make the breakthrough that I needed.”
“You said the voice came from a crystal?” Sam asked. “One in your collection?”
“Yes.” Grady frowned, bewildered. “I think so. But I can’t remember which one. I don’t understand why I can’t remember that, either.”
“What color was the crystal?” Sam asked.
“I don’t…” Grady stopped. “Wait. It was green. I’m almost positive that it was one of my green stones.”
“The voice in the green crystal told you that The Key was in the Vaughn library?” Abby asked.
Grady gave her a plaintive look. “I guess so. I told you, I can’t remember exactly. But how else could I have known that?”
“You had never met Mrs. Vaughn before you went to her home to get The Key?” Sam asked.
“No.” Grady snorted. “Get real. How would a guy like me meet someone like that? I don’t know anyone who has that kind of money.”
“Where did you get the gun?” Sam asked.
“Huh?” Another troubled frown came over Grady’s face. “I’m not sure.”
“Did you buy it?” Abby asked.
“No.” Grady rubbed his forehead. “I think I found it somewhere. Maybe on the front seat of my car. Can’t remember.”
“Did the voice tell you where to find the gun, and that you had to use it when you went to get The Key?” Sam asked.
“Maybe.” Grady Hastings winced. “I’m sounding crazier by the minute, aren’t I?”
“No,” Sam said. “You’re sounding more and more like a man who was set up.”
Abby looked at him. “You think Grady was somehow hypnotized to go to the Vaughn house that day?”
“That’s what it feels like,” Sam said.
“But why? The Key is an interesting book, but the only thing that makes it really valuable is the psi-encryption.”
“The contents of the book weren’t important,” Sam said. “The idea was to test you to see if you really could break a psi-code.”
“Good grief,” Abby said. “This is starting to make some sense.”
“You and Grady were both unwitting participants in someone’s experiment,” Sam said. “The experiment was a success. Whoever conducted it is now after you.”
“The blackmail notes,” Abby said.
“Wait,” Grady blurted out. “I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I,” Sam said. “Not all of it. But I think I’m finally getting close.”
Abby looked at Grady. “Sam is an expert on paranormal crystals.”
Grady nodded. “I was starting to figure that out.” He looked at Sam. “You’re one of those Coppersmiths, aren’t you? You’re connected to the family that owns Coppersmith Inc.”
“That’s right,” Sam said.
“Your labs must be awesome,” Grady said wistfully. “State–of–the-art and then some.”
“And then some,” Sam agreed. “We do a little R–and–D work with hot rocks, too.”
“You mean paranormal crystals, right?”
“Yes.”
“Awesome. I’d give anything to have access to a lab like that.” Grady looked around the bare visitors’ room, his gloom deepening. “But I’ll be lucky to get out of here someday, and even if I do, there won’t be anything left of my lab. I’ll have to start over.”
“Why do you say that?” Abby asked.
“My equipment and my crystals are in the shed in back of the house I’m renting,” Grady said. “Lease is up next month. I don’t care about my furniture and clothes, but as soon as the rent comes due, the landlord will clean the place out. He’ll probably put my crystals and lab instruments into a yard sale. All my stuff will be gone.”
“I know exactly how it feels to have someone else mess with your stuff,” Abby said. She sat forward. “If you like, Sam and I can pack up your rocks and your lab equipment and store it for you.”