Master of the Game

When Eve returned to her apartment, she carefully cold-creamed away the red scar on her forehead.

The following morning at ten o’clock, Dr. Harley’s receptionist announced, "Mrs. George Mellis is here to see you, Doctor."

"Send her in."

She walked in slowly, unsure of herself. She was pale, and there were dark circles under her eyes.

John Harley took her hand and said, "It’s good to see you, Alexandra. Now what’s this I hear about your having problems?"

Her voice was low. "I feel foolish bothering you, John. I’m sure there’s nothing wrong with me. If Eve hadn’t insisted, I never would have come. I feel fine, physically."

"What about emotionally?"

She hesitated. "I don’t sleep very well."

"What else?"

"You’ll think I’m a hypochondriac…"

"I know you better than that, Alexandra."

She lowered her eyes. "I feel depressed all the time. Sort of anxious and…tired. George goes out of his way to make me happy and to think up things for us to do together and places for us to go. The problem is that I don’t feel like doing anything or going anywhere. Everything seems so – hopeless."

He was listening to every word, studying her. "Anything else?"

"I – I think about killing myself." Her voice was so soft he could barely hear her. She looked up at him and said, "Am I going crazy?"

He shook his head. "No. I don’t think you’re going crazy. Have you ever heard of anhedonia?"

She shook her head.

"It’s a biological disturbance that causes the symptoms you’ve described. It’s a fairly common condition, and there are some new drugs that make it easy to treat. These drugs have no side effects, and they’re effective. I’m going to examine you, but I’m sure we won’t find anything really wrong."

When the examination was completed and she had gotten dressed again, Dr. Harley said, "I’m going to give you a prescription for Wellbutrin. It’s part of a new generation of antidepressants – one of the new wonder drugs."

She watched listlessly as he wrote out a prescription.

"I want you to come back and see me a week from today. In the meantime, if you have any problems, call me, day or night." He handed her the prescription.

"Thank you, John," she said. "I just hope these will stop the dream."

"What dream?"

"Oh, I thought I told you. It’s the same one every night. I’m on a boat and it’s windy, and I hear the sea calling. I walk to the rail and I look down and I see myself in the water, drowning…"

She walked out of Dr. Harley’s office and onto the street. She leaned against the building, taking deep breaths. I did it, Eve thought exultantly. I got away with it. She threw the prescription away.

Chapter 32

Kate Blackwell was tired. The meeting had gone on too long. She looked around the conference table at the three men and three women on the executive board. They all seemed fresh and vital. So it’s not the meeting that has been going on too long, Kate thought. I’ve gone on too long. I’ll be eighty-two. I’m getting old. The thought depressed her, not because she had any fear of dying, but because she was not ready yet. She refused to die until Kruger-Brent, Ltd., had a member of the Blackwell family running it. After the bitter disappointment with Eve, Kate had tried to build her future plans around Alexandra.

"You know I would do anything for you, Gran, but I’m simply not interested in becoming involved with the company. George would be an excellent executive…"

"Do you agree, Kate?" Brad Rogers was addressing her.

The question shook Kate out of her reverie. She looked toward Brad guiltily. "I’m sorry. What was the question?"

"We were discussing the Deleco merger." His voice was patient. Brad Rogers was concerned about Kate Blackwell. In recent months she had started daydreaming during board meetings, and then just when Brad Rogers decided Kate was becoming senile and should retire from the board, she would come up with some stunning insight that would make everyone wonder why he had not thought of it. She was an amazing woman. He thought of their brief, long-ago affair and wondered again why it had ended so abruptly.

It was George Mellis’s second visit to Peter Templeton. "Has there been much violence in your past, Mr. Mellis?"

George shook his head. "No. I abhor violence." Make a note of that, you smug sonofabitch. The coroner is going to ask you about that.

"You told me your mother and father never physically punished you."

"That is correct."

"Would you say you were an obedient child?"

Careful. There are traps here. "About average, I suppose."

"The average child usually gets punished at some time or another for breaking the rules of the grown-up world."

George gave him a deprecating smile. "I guess I didn’t break any rules."

He’s lying, Peter Templeton thought. The question is why? What is he concealing? He recalled the conversation he had had with Dr. Harley after the first session with George Mellis.

"He said he hit his sister-in-law, John, and – "

"Hit her!" John Harley’s voice was filled with indignation. "It was butchery, Peter. He smashed her cheekbone, broke her nose and three ribs, and burned her buttocks and the soles of her feet with cigarettes."

Peter Templeton felt a wave of disgust wash over him. "He didn’t mention that to me."

"I’ll bet he didn’t," Dr. Harley snapped. "I told him if he didn’t go to you, I was going to report him to the police."

Peter remembered George’s words: I feel ashamed. That’s why I insisted on coming to see you. So he had lied about that, too.