Along Came A Spider

CHAPTER 62

HE FOLLOWING MORNING two simple red-leather armchairs were brought in for the session between Gary and me. To help him get relaxed, more oblivious to his surroundings, the room's overhead lighting was dimmed. Both of us were miked. Those were the only extra touches allowed by Judge Kaplan.

An alternative to this would have been a videotape of our session, but Gary said he believed he could be hypnotized inside the courtroom. He wanted to try. His lawyer wanted him to try.

I had decided to conduct the hypnosis as if Soneji/ Murphy were in his cell. It was important to block out some of the obvious distractions inside the courtroom. I had no idea if this would work, or what the outcome might be. My stomach was in knots as I sat in one of the armchairs. I tried not to look out into the courtroom audience,. I didn't appreciate being on stage, but especially now. In the past, I'd used a simple verbally suggestive

336 technique with Gary. We began the courtroom hypnosis in that same way. Hypnosis isn't nearly as complex as most people think. “Gary,” I said, “I want you to sit back and try and relax and we'll see what happens.”

“I'll do the best I can,” he said, sounding as sincere as he looked. He was wearing a navy blue suit, crisp white shirt, striped rep tie. He looked more like a lawyer than his own lawyer.

"I'm going to hypnotize you again because your lawyer feels it may help your case. You've told me that you want that help. Is that correct. II

“Yes, it is,” Gary said. “I want to tell the truth... I want to know the truth myself.”

“All right, then, I'd like you to count backwards from one hundred. We've done this before. Feel yourself relaxing with each number. You can begin to count. ”

Gary Murphy began to count backwards.

“Your eyes are starting to close. You feel much more relaxed now... in a sleeping state... breathing deeply,” I said in a voice that got quieter and quieter, almost a monotone.

The courtroom was very nearly silent. The only sound was a thick, vibrating hum from the room's air conditioner. Gary finally stopped counting.

“Are you comfortable? Is everything okay?” I asked him.

His brown eyes were glassy and moist. He appeared to have slipped fairly easily into the trance. There was no way to be certain.

“Yes. I'm fine. I feel good.”

“If you want to stop the session, for any reason, you know the way back out of this.”

He nodded softly as he spoke. “ I do. I'm okay, though.” He seemed to be only half listening.

Under all the pressure and the circumstances of the trial, it didn't seem likely that he could be faking this.

I said, “At another time, in a past session, we talked about your waking up at the McDonald's. You told me that you 'woke as if you'd been dreaming.' Do you remember that?”

. “That's right. Sure I remember,” he said. “I woke up in a police car outside McDonald's. I came to, and the police were there. They were arresting me.”

“How did you feel when the police arrested you?”

“I felt like it couldn't be happening. No way. It had to be a bad dream. I told them I was a salesman, told them where I lived in Delaware. Anything I could think of to show they had the wrong person. Not a criminal. I don't have any record with the police.”

I said, “We talked about the time just before you were. arrested. That day. When you went into the fastfood restaurant.”

“I don't... I'm not sure if I can remember. Let me try and think about it.... ” Gary appeared to be struggling a little. Was it an act? Or was he uncomfortable with the truth as he remembered it now?

Originally, I'd been surprised that he had revealed the Soneji persona in our prison session. I wondered if he would do it again. Especially under these difficult circumstances.

“You stopped to go to the bathroom inside the McDonald's restaurant. You also wanted some coffee, to keep you alert on your drive.”

“I remember... I remember a little of that. I can see myself at the McDonald's for sure. I remember being there....”

“Take your time. We have plenty of time, Gary.”

“Very crowded with people. The restaurant area was crowded, I mean. I went up to the bathroom door. Then I didn't go inside for some reason. I don't know why not. That's funny, but I don't remember.”

“What were you feeling then? When you remained outside the rest room. Do you remember how you felt?”

“Agitated. Getting worse. I could feel the blood pumping inside my head. I didn't understand why. I was upset, and I didn't know why.”

Soneji/Murphy was staring straight ahead. He was looking to the left of where I sat. I was a little surprised at how easy it was for me to forget the courtroom audience that was watching both of us.

“Was Soneji there in the restaurant?” I asked him.

He tilted his head slightly. The gesture was oddly touching.

“Soneji's in there. Yes, he's in the McDonald's. He became excited. ”Pretending to get coffee, but he -looks angry. He's, I think he's really mad. Soneji's a nut case, a bad seed."

“Why is he mad? Do you know? What is it that gets Soneji angry?”

“I think it's because... things got ruined on him. The police were unbelievably lucky. His plan to be famous got screwed up. Totally messed up. Now he feels like Bruno Richard Hauptmann. Just another loser. ” This was news. He hadn't talked about the actual kidnapping before. I was oblivious to everything in the courtroom. My eyes stayed on Gary Soneji/Murphy.

I tried to sound as casual and nonthreatening as I could. Easy does it. Nice and slow. This was like walking on the edge of a chasm. I could help him, or we could both fall in. “What went wrong with Soneji's plan?”

“Everything that could go wrong,” he said. He was still Gary Murphy. I could see that. He had not transferred into the Soneji personality. But Gary Murphy knew about Gary Soneji's activities; under hypnosis, Gary Murphy knew Soneji's thoughts.

The courtroom remained silent and very still. There wasn't a flicker of motion anywhere in my peripheral vision.

More details about the kidnapping came from Gary“He checked on the Goldberg boy, and the boy was dead. His face was all blue. Must have been too much of the barbiturate.... Soneji couldn't believe that he'd made a mistake. He'd been so thorough and careful. He'd talked to anesthesiologists beforehand.”

I asked a key question: “How did the boy's body get so bruised and beaten? What exactly happened to the Goldberg boy?” “Soneji went a little crazy. He couldn't believe his bad luck. He hit the Goldberg boy's body over and over with a heavy shovel.”

The way he was talking about Soneji was extremely credible so far. It was possible that he was a multiplepersonality victim after all. That would change everything about the trial, and possibly the verdict.

“What shovel was that?” I asked.

He was talking faster and faster now. “The shovel he used to dig them up. They were buried in the barn. They had an air supply for a couple of days. It was like a fallout shelter, you see. The air system worked beautifully; everything did. Soneji invented it himself. lie built it himself.” My pulse was hammering. My throat was very, very dry. “What about the little girl? What about Maggie Rose?” I asked him.

“She was fine. Soneji gave her Valium the second time. To put her back to sleep. She was terrified, screaming-because it was so dark under the ground. Pitch-black. But it wasn't that bad. Soneji had seen worse himself. The basement.”

I proceeded very cautiously at this point. I didn't want to lose him here. What about the basement? I'd try to get back to the basement later.

“Where is Maggie Rose now?” I asked Gary Mur phy “Don't know,” he said without hesitation.

Not, she's dead. Not, she's alive.... Don't know. Why would he block that information? Because he knew I wanted it? Because everyone in that courtroom wanted to know the fate of Maggie Rose Dunne? “Soneji went back to get her,” he said next. “The FBI had agreed to the ten-million ransom. Everything all set. But she was gone! Maggie Rose wasn't when Soneji came back again. She was gone! Somebody else had taken the girl out of there!”

The spectators in the courtroom were no longer quiet. But I still kept my concentration on Gary.

Judge Kaplan was reluctant to bang her gavel and ask for order. She did stand up. She motioned for quiet, but it was a useless gesture. Somebody else had taken the girl out of there. Somebody else had the girl now.

I rushed in a few more questions before the room went completely out of control, and maybe Soneji/Murphy with it. My voice remained soft, surprisingly calm under the circumstances.

“Did you dig her up, Gary? Did you rescue the little girl from Soneii? Do you know where Maggie Rose is now?” I asked him.

He didn't like that line of questioning, He was perspiring heavily. His eyelids flickered. “Of course not. No, I had nothing to do with any of it. It was Soneji all the way. I can't control him. Nobody can. Don't you understand that?”

I leaned way forward in my chair. “Is Soneji here right now? Is he here with us this morning?”

Under any other circumstances, I wouldn't have tried to push him this far. “Can I ask Soneji what happened to Maggie Rose?”

Gary Murphy shook his head repeatedly from side to side. He knew something else was happening to him now.

“ It's too scary now,” he said. His face was dripping with perspiration and his hair was wet. "It's scary.

Soneji's real bad news! I can't talk about him anymore. I won't. Please, help me, Dr. Cross! Please, help me."

“All right, Gary, that's enough.” I brought Gary out of hypnosis immediately. It was the only humane thing to do under the circumstances. I had no choice.

Suddenly, Gary Murphy was back in the courtroom with me. His eyes focused on mine. I saw nothing but fear in them. The courtroom crowd was out of control. TV and print reporters rushed to make calls to their newsrooms. Judge Kaplan slammed her gavel over and over again.

Somebody else had Maggie Rose Dunne.... Was that possible?

“It's all right, Gary,” I said. “I understand why you were afraid. ”

He stared at me, then his eyes very slowly trailed around the loudly buzzing courtroom. “What happened?” he asked. “What just happened in here?”