"Do you promise to never do that again? Well, we'll make sure." She picked up the broken glass and reached for his groin."

Dr. Keller let a moment of silence pass. "What did you do after that, Toni?"

"I decided I'd better get out of there before the police came. I have to admit I was pretty excited. I wanted to get away from Ashley's boring life for a while, and I had a friend in Chicago, so I decided to go there. It turned out he wasn't home, so I did a little shopping, hit some of the bars and bad a good time."

"And what happened next?"

"I checked into a hotel and fell asleep." She shrugged. "From then on it was Ashley's party."

She awakened slowly, knowing something was wrong, terribly wrong. She felt as though she had been drugged. Ashley looked around the room and began to panic. She was tying in bed, naked, in some cheap hotel room. She had no idea where she was or how she had gotten there. She managed to sit up, and her head started to pound.

She got out of bed, walked into the tiny bathroom and stepped into the shower. She let the stream of hot water pound against her body, trying to wash away whatever terrible, dirty things had happened to her. What if he had gotten her pregnant? The thought of having his child was sickening. Ashley got out of the shower, dried herself and walked over to the closet. Her clothes were missing. The only things inside the closet were a black leather miniskirt, a cheap-looking tube top and a pair of spiked high-heeled shoes. She was repelled by the thought of putting the clothes on, but she had no choice. She dressed quickly and glanced in the mirror. She looked like a prostitute.

"Father. I—"

"What's wrong?"

"I'm in Chicago and—"

"What are you doing in Chicago?"

"I can't go into it now. I need on airline ticket to San Jose. I don't have any money with me. Can you help me?"

"Of course. Hold on.... There's an American Airlines plane leaving 0'Hare at ten-forty AM.. Flight 407. There will be a ticket waiting for you at the check-in counter."

"Alette, can you hear me? Alette."

"I'm here. Dr. Keller."

"I want us to talk about Richard Melton. He was a friend of yours, wasn't he?"

"Yes. He was very... simp'atico. I was in love with him."

"Was he in love with you?"

"I think so, yes. He was an artist. We would go to museums together and look at all of the wonderful paintings. When I was with Richard I felt... alive. I think if someone had not killed him, then one day we would have been married."

"Tell me about the last time you were together."

"When we were walking out of a museum, Richard said, 'My roommate is at a party tonight. Why don't we stop at my place? I have some paintings I'd like to show you.' "

" 'Not yet, Richard.' "

" 'Whatever you say. I'll see you next weekend?' "

" 'Yes' "

"I drove away," Alette said. "And that was the last time I— "

Dr. Keller watched her face begin to take on Toni's animation.

"That's what she wants to think," Toni said. "That's not what happened."

"What did happen?" Dr. Keller asked.

She went to his apartment on Fell Street. It was small, but Richard's paintings made it look beautiful.

"It makes the room come alive, Richard."

"Thank you, Alette. "He took her in his arms. "I want to make love to you. You're beautiful."

"You're beautiful," her father said. And she froze. Because she knew the terrible thing that was going to happen. She was tying on the bed, naked, feeling the familiar pain of him entering her, tearing her apart.

And she was screaming, "No! Stop it, Father! Stop it!" And then the manic-depressive frenzy took over. She had no recollection of where she got the knife, but she was stabbing his body over and over, yelling at him, "I told you to stop it! Stop it!"

Ashley was writhing in her chair, screaming.

"It's all right, Ashley," Dr. Keller said. "You're safe. You're going to wake up now, at the count of five."

Ashley awoke, trembling. "Is everything all right?"

"Toni told me about Richard Melton. He made love to you. You thought it was your father, so you—"

She put her hands over her ears. "I don't want to hear any more!"

* * *

Dr. Keller went to see Otto Lewison.

"I think we're finally making the breakthrough. It's very traumatic for Ashley, but we're nearing the end. We still have two murders to retrieve."

"And then?"

"I'm going to bring Ashley, Toni and Alette together."

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

Toni? Toni, can you hear me?" Dr. Keller watched Ashley's expression change.

"I hear you, Dockie."

"Let's talk about Jean Claude Parent."

"I should have known he was too good to be true."

"What do you mean?"

"In the beginning, he seemed like a real gentleman. He took me out every day, and we really had a good time. I thought he was different, but he was like all the others. All he wanted was sex."

"I see."

"He gave me a beautiful ring, and I guess he thought that he owned me. I went with him to his house."

The house was a beautiful two-story, redbrick house filled with antiques.

"It's lovely."

"There's something special I want to show you upstairs in the bedroom." And he was taking her upstairs, and she was powerless to stop him. They were in the bedroom, and he took her in his arms and whispered, "Get undressed."

"I don't want to—"

"Yes, you do. We both want it." He undressed her quickly, then laid her down on the bed and got on top of her. She was moaning, "Don't. Please don't. Father!"

But he paid no attention. He kept plunging into her until suddenly he said, "Ah," and then stopped. "You 're wonderful, " he said.

And the malevolent explosion shook her. She grabbed the sharp letter opener from the desk and plunged it into his chest, up and down and up and down.

"You won't do that to anyone again." She reached for his groin.

Afterward, she took a leisurely shower, dressed and went back to the hotel.

"Ashley..." Ashley's face began to change. "Wake up now."

Ashley slowly came awake. She looked at Dr. Keller and said, "Toni again?"

"Yes. She met Jean Claude on the Internet. Ashley, when you were in Quebec, were there periods when you seemed to lose time? When suddenly it was hours later or a day later, and you didn't know where the time had gone?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes. It—it happened a lot."

"That's when Toni took over."

"And that's when... when she—?"

"Yes."

The next few months were uneventful. In the afternoons, Dr. Keller would listen to Toni play the piano and sing, and he would watch Alette painting in the garden. There was one more murder to discuss, but he wanted Ashley to be relaxed before he started talking about it.

It had been five years now since she had come to the hospital. She's almost cured. Dr. Keller thought.

On a Monday morning, he sent for Ashley and watched her walk into the office. She was pale, as though she knew what she was facing.

"Good morning, Ashley."

"Good morning, Gilbert."

"How are you feeling?"

"Nervous. This is the last one, isn't it?"

"Yes. Let's talk about deputy Sam Blake. What was he doing in your apartment?"

"I asked him to come. Someone had written on my bathroom mirror, 'You Will Die.' I didn't know what to do. I thought someone was trying to kill me. I called the police, and deputy Blake came over. He was very sympathetic."

"Did you ask him to stay with you?"

"Yes. I was afraid to be alone. He said that he would spend the night, and then in the morning, he would arrange for twenty-four-hour protection for me. I offered to sleep on the couch and let him sleep in the bedroom, but he said he would sleep on the couch. I remember he checked the windows to make sure they were locked, and then he double-bolted the door. His gun was on the table next to the couch. I said good night and went into the bedroom and closed the door."