Daniel was halfway across the room when the sphere of light began to glow brighter. He stopped and stiffened, thrusting both arms straight out into the air in Rivera’s direction. No word was spoken, and Daniel was still at least ten feet away from the door. Still, Doctor Rivera slumped against the wall, then fell to the floor unconscious.
The light skittered across the ceiling, stopped directly above the white-coated figure. Daniel leaped the rest of the distance, at the same time digging in his robe. He came up with another container. He ripped it open and began to spray a blue powder over Rivera.
There was a sharp hissing sound and the light shot from the ceiling to Daniel’s head and shoulders. Daniel stiffened, then arched backward and fell hard against the floor where he writhed in pain, his head now glowing brightly.
“Jesus!” I murmured, stepping out of the circle and starting toward him. “Oh, Jesus!”
“Stay back!”
Instinctively I made a cross with my forearms, holding them out in front of me like some talisman. “Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!”
And then I was beside him. I grabbed hold of the material of his sleeve and dragged him back across the floor, inside the circle. Again there was a hissing sound and the light shot to the ceiling. I continued to whisper: “Jesus!”
Daniel’s voice, tortured and twisted out of shape now, came up under my own, like some strange, vocal counterpoint.
“Go in peace, Baliel. Let there be peace between thee and me. Enter the phial!”
There was an almost blinding flash, and the light expanded, then contracted, shooting in a needle shaft over our heads and into the egg. The egg seemed to explode silently in slow motion, its pieces smoking, then dissolving in the air.
Kathy Marsten suddenly sat bolt upright in bed. Her eyes widened, and for a moment I thought she was going to speak. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out. Then she collapsed over on her side. I tasted terror.
“It’s over,” Daniel said. I could barely hear him.
It was a long time before Garth could bring himself to say anything. “You claim you saw all this?!”
“Yes.”
There was another long pause, then: “One of three things has to be true. For openers, either you’ve really fallen out of your tree, or you were hypnotized. I like the hypnosis theory best. Like I said before, it would also explain the girl’s reaction.”
“Really? How?” I found I wasn’t much interested in “logical” explanations.
“I’m willing to buy the notion that this Bannon-or ‘Daniel’ — had something on the ball mentally. He hypnotized the girl, probably with her parents’ help, and put her into a deep coma. It can be done, you know. Then he got you up into that room and ran the same number on you. Remember, you said the girl seemed to be coming out of it anyway.”
“Why?”
“Huh?”
“Why? What was Daniel’s motive? What you’re saying simply doesn’t make any sense. And don’t try to tell me it does.”
“How the hell should I know what his motive was?” Garth said impatiently. It was the cop in him coming out: he was having a hard time making his case. He went on: “Daniel was obviously crazy. Crazy people don’t need motives for doing crazy things.”
“What about Rivera?”
“What about him?”
“He doesn’t remember a thing. He called me the next day to tell me Kathy had made what he called a miraculous recovery. I pumped him a little, gently. Nothing. I don’t think he even knows he passed out.”
“Which brings us to the third possibility.”
“I can’t wait to hear this one.”
Garth paused for emphasis. “You were never up in that room, Mongo.”
“No kidding?”
“Goddam it, you listen to me and listen to me good! It never happened! That business in the room never happened!” He paused and came up for breath. He continued a little more calmly. “You didn’t hear yourself on that phone: I did. I’d say you were damn near hysterical. When I got there I found you unconscious next to the phone booth.”
“Back to square one: I fell out of my tree.”
“Why not? It happens to the best of us from time to time. You were under a lot of pressure. You’d seen two neighbors burn to death, saved a little girl only to feel that she was in danger of dying. That, along with the witchcraft business, pushed you over the brink for just a few moments.”
“Who pushed Daniel?” I said as calmly as I could. Garth was beginning to get to me. I was beginning to feel he had a specific purpose in mind, and I was hoping he’d get to it.
“Nobody pushed Daniel. Daniel fell. It’s as simple as that. It blew your circuits. I think you dreamed the rest when you passed out after calling me.”
“But you must admit that Daniel was real.”
Garth gave a wry smile. “Of course Daniel was real. The coroner’s office can testify to that. No, what I personally think may have happened is that he committed suicide. The death of his sister, his niece’s illness, unhinged him. Unfortunately, you happened to see him fall and the shock… upset your nerves. Made you imagine the whole thing.”
Suddenly I knew the point of the conversation. “You didn’t include me in your report, did you?”
He shook his head. “Only as the caller… a passerby.” He looked up. “You start telling people you tried to break into — or did break into-that hospital and you’ll end up with charges filed against you. There goes your license. Second, I don’t want to see my brother locked up in the Bellevue loony bin.”
“You’re not so sure, are you, Garth?”
He avoided my eyes. “It doesn’t make any difference, Mongo. You said the materials Daniel used are gone.”
I glanced at my watch and was amazed to find that only twelve minutes had passed since I’d climbed through the window. Daniel had gotten slowly to his feet and laid Kathy back on her pillow. He still wore the robe, and no part of his flesh was visible.’
“We… must bring everything out with us,” he whispered in a strained voice. “Clean… everything.”
There was no time to think, just do. I quickly checked Doctor Rivera. He was still unconscious, but breathing regularly. I heard footsteps outside in the hall. They paused by the door and I tensed. After a few seconds the footsteps moved on.
I used Daniel’s towels to erase all traces of the blue powder he had used. When I finished I found him waiting for me by the window. He had replaced the objects in the knapsack and held that in one hand, the book of shadows in the others. I still could not see any part of his face or hands.
He handed me the knapsack, then motioned for me to go through the window first. I climbed through, balanced on the ledge outside, then swung over onto the fire escape. Then I turned back and offered my hand. He shook his head.
I frowned. “Don’t you want to take that robe off?”
He shook his head again. “Go ahead,” he mumbled. “I’ll be right behind you.” There was something in his voice that frightened me, but I turned and started down the fire escape.
“Frederickson!”
The texture of the voice — the despair and terror — spun me around like a physical force. He was suspended in space, one hand gripping the fire escape railing, the other holding the book of shadows out to me. Both hands were covered with blood.