Then she froze, an expression of total blankness on her beautiful features. She stood, unmoving, staring blindly into the middle distance.
Landry frowned. “What the hell did you do to her?”
“I put her into an instant trance by temporarily neutralizing her psi rhythms.”
“Huh.”
Landry walked slowly around the blonde. He paused behind her and clapped his hands very suddenly. The woman did not flinch. He continued walking until he was back in front of her. He waved one hand before her eyes. She did not blink. There was no sign that she was aware of him.
“Okay, so you can put her into a trance,” he said. “What good is that?”
“This is not just any trance,” Titus said, assuming a lecturing tone. “With the aid of this relic I have placed her in what is essentially a blank dreamscape.”
“She’s dreaming?”
“Not yet. She is prepared to dream, however.”
“Explain,” Landry ordered.
“As you may or may not know, scientific research has confirmed that the dreaming state is the only state in which our psychic senses interact freely with our other five senses without distinction. When we dream, our natural ability to distinguish between the normal and the paranormal disappears.”
“So?”
“Most people have had the experience of going to bed with a problem on their minds and awakening the next morning with a solution or at least a new way of approaching the problem. They will tell you that the answer came to them in their dreams. They are correct. During the dreaming state the mind is free to work on the problem with both psi and normal senses in a unique and extremely creative manner that cannot be duplicated in the waking state.”
“Skip the academic crap. Get to the point.”
Titus suppressed a sigh. It was extremely irritating to be forced to work with an individual of such limited intellect and education, but he had no choice.
“As I said,” he continued, striving for patience, “the dream state provides a very creative environment, but there is a downside.”
“What’s that?”
“There is a reason why, in the waking state, our normal and paranormal senses are distinct and separate, so much so that many people unknowingly suppress their psychic side altogether.” He hurried now. It was obvious that Landry was losing patience. “That is because the dream state is extremely hazardous from a pragmatic point of view.”
“Got it.” Landry snapped his fingers. “If we went around in a dream state all the time, we wouldn’t know if the car coming at us in the intersection was real or just a dream construct.”
“Exactly.”
Landry was smarter than he appeared, Titus thought. It would be a good idea to keep that in mind.
Landry surveyed the blonde. “All right, you’ve got her in a waking dream state. Now what?”
“As I said, in this condition she is not able to distinguish between dream and reality. With the aid of this relic I can ensure that when I bring her out of the trance she will believe that everything that has happened during the past few minutes was nothing but a dream.”
“You mean she won’t remember our conversation?”
“No more than she would any other dream.” Titus spread his hands wide. “And what she does recall she will dismiss as only a dream.”
“This is getting interesting,” Landry said. “But I’m not sure I’ve got a lot of use for that device.”
Titus cleared his throat. “Perhaps I should mention another application.”
“What’s that?”
“In the dream state many of her natural defenses are down.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning that if you ask her a question, she will give you a completely honest answer. This is all a dream to her. In the dream state one does not lie. Go ahead, ask her something you think she would likely conceal if she were awake.”
Landry laughed harshly. “How old are you?”
“Thirty-six,” Miss Stowe said. She spoke in a monotone.
Landry frowned. “She told me she was twenty-eight. She sure as hell looks twenty-eight. Must have had some work done.”
“Why don’t you try something a little more complicated?” Titus suggested dryly.
“She was Senator Rathmorten’s mistress for a while,” Landry said. “I wonder if she knows what really happened to his wife. There were rumors that he killed her, but they evaporated quickly. There was no proof, and he was a senator, so he would have been able to quash the investigation.”
“Why don’t you ask Miss Stowe what she knows?”
Landry looked at her. “Do you know how Elizabeth Rathmorten died?”
“Rath murdered her,” Miss Stowe said.
“Shit,” Landry whispered, fascinated. “How do you know that?”
“I was there that night,” Miss Stowe replied in the same uninflected voice. “His wife had gone out earlier. The senator and I had sex in his office. I left the mansion but returned a few minutes later through the side entrance because I had forgotten my earrings. When I got back upstairs to his office, I heard his wife’s voice. She had come home sooner than expected. There was an argument. I was afraid they would hear me, so I hid in a hall closet.”
Landry glanced back over his shoulder at Titus. “This is fucking amazing.”
“I’m glad you think so,” Titus murmured. Holding the focus with the ruby amber for this long a period of time was exhausting, but he dared not show any weakness to Landry.
Miss Stowe continued speaking. “I heard sounds of a struggle. And then there was nothing but silence. When Rath came out of his office he was carrying his wife in his arms. I could see that her head was covered in blood. He took her out of the house and drove off with her.”
Miss Stowe stopped.
“They found Elizabeth Rathmorten’s body in the alley behind an apartment building,” Landry said to Titus. “It looked like she had jumped. Shit, with information like this, I’ll have Rathmorten in the palm of my hand.”
“Have you seen enough?” Titus asked.
“Yeah, sure, let’s get out of here.”
“One more thing.” Titus focused on Miss Stowe. “You have had an unpleasant dream, but that is all it is, a dream. You do not want to remember it because every time you try, you will get a pounding headache. You are not feeling well. You want to go straight home and go to sleep.”
He stopped pulsing psi through the relic. Miss Stowe blinked several times, looking confused. Then she collected herself and turned to Landry.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her hand on her stomach, “but I’m feeling a little ill. I think I should go home.”
“Sure,” Landry said. “I’ll drive you back to your apartment myself.”
BENSON WATCHED KENNINGTON USE THE RELIC ONE LAST time just before the woman got out of the car, ensuring that the events of the past hour would be nothing but a dream to her.
He sat behind the wheel of the big Oscillator 600 and waited until she disappeared through the door of her apartment building. Then he looked in the rearview mirror.
Titus Kennington, sitting in the backseat, looked a little weary but smugly satisfied.
The son of a bitch thinks he’s playing me.
“I’m impressed,” Benson said. “You’ve got a deal.”
“Excellent.” Kennington smiled his patronizing smile. “I’m delighted to hear that, Mr. Landry. It will prove profitable for both of us.”
Once he got his hands on the other relic, Benson thought, he sure as hell wasn’t going to turn it over to Titus Kennington. Instead, he would get rid of the doctor and take possession of both relics.
Whatever Kennington’s form of psi talent was, it was a safe bet that it was not unique. There would be others who could control the relic, others who, in turn, he could control. With the resources of the Guild behind him, he could find the talent he required to take advantage of the ruby relics.
“I suggest we discuss the problem of Miss Ingram and her new bodyguard,” Kennington said.
Chapter 20