Dance Of Death

THIRTY-FIVE

Smithback SAT glumly in the same chair he had occupied the day before, feeling an unpleasant sense of déjà vu. The same fire seemed to be flickering in the ornate marble fireplace, lending a faint perfume of burning birchwood to the air; the same sporting prints decorated the walls; and the same snowy landscape presented itself through the bow windows.

Worse, the same director sat behind his gigantic desk with the same pitying, condescending smile on his well-shaven face. He was giving Smithback the reproachful-stare treatment. Smithback's head still throbbed painfully from running full tilt into a cement wall in the dark, and he felt deeply humiliated for panicking at the footsteps of a mere orderly. And he also felt like a real jerk for thinking he could beat the security system in such a ham-handed way. All he had accomplished was to confirm the director's opinion that he was a nutcase.

"Well, well, Edward," said Dr. Tisander, clasping his veined hands together. "That was quite an escapade you had last night. I do apologize if orderly Montaney gave you a start. I trust you found the medical care at our infirmary satisfactory?"

Smithback ignored the patronizing question. "What I want to know is, why was he sneaking around after me like that in the first place? I could've been killed!"

"Running into a wall? I hardly think so." Another genial smile. "Although you were lucky to avoid a concussion."

Smithback didn't respond. The dressing on the side of his head" tightened uncomfortably whenever he moved his jaw.

"I am surprised at you, Edward. I thought I'd already explained it to you: just because we don't appear to have security doesn't mean we don't have security. That's the whole purpose of our facility. The security is unobtrusive, so that our guests don't feel uncomfortable."

Smithback felt irritated by the word guest. They were inmates, pure and simple.

"We followed your nocturnal perambulations via the infrared beams you interrupted and the motion sensors you moved past. It wasn't until you actually penetrated the basement that orderly Montaney was dispatched to tail you unobtrusively. He followed protocol to the letter. I imagine you thought you'd escape on one of the food service trucks; that's usually what they try first."

Smithback felt like leaping up and wrapping his hands around the good doctor's neck. They? I'm not crazy, you idiot! But he didn't. He realized now what an exquisite catch-22 he was in: the more he insisted he was sane, the more excited he became, the more he validated the doctor's opinion to the contrary.

"I just want to know how much longer I'm going to be here," he said.

"That remains to be seen. I must say, this escape attempt does not lead me to think your departure will be any time soon. It shows resistance on your part to being helped. We can't help you until we have your cooperation, Mr. Jones. And we can't release you until we've helped you. As I am fond of saying, you are the most important person in your cure."

Smithback balled his fists, making a supreme effort not to respond.

"I have to tell you, Edward, that another escape attempt will result in certain changes to your domestic arrangements that might not be to your liking. My advice is, accept your situation and work with us.

Right from the beginning, I have sensed an unusual amount of passive-aggressive resistance on your part."

That's because I'm as sane as you are. Smithback swallowed, tried to muster an obsequious smile. He needed to be a lot more clever if he was going to escape, that much was clear.

"Yes, Dr. Tisander. I understand."

"Good, good! Now we're making progress."

There had to be a way out. If the Count of Monte Cristo could escape the Château d'If, William Smithback could escape from River Oaks.

"Dr. Tisander, what do I have to do to get out of here?"

"Cooperate. Let us help you. Go to your sessions, devote all your energies to getting better, make a personal commitment to cooperate with the staff and orderlies. The only way anyone leaves here is carrying a document with my signature release on it."

"The only way?"

"That's correct. I make the final decision-based, of course, on expert medical and, if necessary, legal advice."

Smithback looked at him. "Legal?"

"Psychiatry has two masters: medicine and law."

"I don't understand."

Tisander was clearly getting into his favorite subject. His voice took on a pontifical ring. "Yes, Edward, we must deal with legal as well as medical issues. Take yourself, for instance. Your family, who love you and are concerned for your welfare, have committed you here. That's a legal as well as a medical process. It is a grave step to deprive a person of his freedom, and due process must be followed with utter scrupulousness."

"I'm sorry… did you say my family?"

"That's right. Who else would commit you, Edward?"

"You know my family?"

"I've met your father, Jack Jones. A fine man indeed. We all want to do what's right for you, Edward."

"What'd he look like?"

A puzzled expression crossed Tisander's face, and Smithback cursed himself for asking such an obviously crazy question. "I mean, when did you see him?"

"When you were brought here. He signed all the requisite papers."

Pendergast, Smithback thought. Damn him.

Tisander rose, held out his hand. "And now, Edward, is there anything else?"

Smithback took it. The germ of an idea had seeded itself in his mind. "Yes, one thing."

Tisander raised his eyebrows, the same condescending smile on his face.

"There's a library here, isn't there?"

"Of course. Beyond the billiard room."

"Thank you."

As he exited, Smithback caught a glimpse of Tisander settling back down at his enormous claw-footed desk, smoothing his tie, his face still wearing a self-satisfied smile.