“Just a moment.” Dr. Salem walked over to David. “I want you to stay.”
David stood there, frustrated. He regretted now that he had gone this far. I’m not going to get in any deeper, David resolved. This will be the end of it.
“All right,” David said reluctantly. He was eager to have it over with so he could get back to the office. The coming meeting with Kincaid loomed large in his mind.
Dr. Salem said to Ashley, “Why don’t you sit in this chair?”
Ashley sat down.
“Have you ever been hypnotized before, Ashley?”
She hesitated an instant, then shook her head. “No.”
“There’s nothing to it. All you have to do is relax and listen to the sound of my voice. You have nothing to worry about. No one’s going to hurt you. Feel your muscles relax. That’s it. Just relax and feel your eyes getting heavy. You’ve been through a lot. Your body is tired, very tired. All you want to do is to go to sleep. Just close your eyes and relax. You’re getting very sleepy…very sleepy.…”
It took ten minutes to put her under. Dr. Salem walked over to Ashley. “Ashley, do you know where you are?”
“Yes. I’m in jail.” Her voice sounded hollow, as though coming from a distance.
“Do you know why you’re in jail?”
“People think I did something bad.”
“And is it true? Did you do something bad?”
“No.”
“Ashley, did you ever kill anyone?”
“No.”
David looked at Dr. Salem in surprise. Weren’t people supposed to tell the truth under hypnosis?
“Do you have any idea who could have committed those murders?”
Suddenly, Ashley’s face contorted and she began breathing hard, in short, raspy breaths. The two men watched in astonishment as her persona started changing. Her lips tightened and her features seemed to shift. She sat up straight, and there was a sudden liveliness in her face. She opened her eyes, and they were sparkling. It was an amazing transformation. Unexpectedly, she began to sing, in a sultry voice with an English accent:
“Half a pound of tupenny rice,
Half a pound of treacle,
Mix it up and make it nice,
Pop! goes the weasel.”
David listened in astonishment. Who does she think she’s fooling? She’s pretending to be someone else.
“I want to ask you some more questions, Ashley.”
She tossed her head and said in an English accent, “I’m not Ashley.”
Dr. Salem exchanged a look with David, then turned back to Ashley. “If you’re not Ashley, who are you?”
“Toni. Toni Prescott.”
And Ashley is doing this with a straight face, David thought. How long is she going to go on with this stupid charade? She was wasting their time.
“Ashley,” said Dr. Salem.
“Toni.”
She’s determined to keep it up, David thought.
“All right, Toni. What I’d like is—”
“Let me tell you what I’d like. I’d like to get out of this bloody place. Can you get us out of here?”
“That depends,” Dr. Salem said. “What do you know about—?”
“—those murders that little Goody Two-shoes is in here for? I can tell you things that—”
Ashley’s expression suddenly started to change again. As David and Dr. Salem watched, Ashley seemed to shrink in her chair, and her face began to soften and go through an incredible metamorphosis until she seemed to become another distinct personality.
She said in a soft voice with an Italian accent, “Toni…don’t say any more, per piacere.”
David was watching in bewilderment.
“Toni?” Dr. Salem edged closer.
The soft voice said, “I apologize for the interruption, Dr. Salem.”
Dr. Salem asked, “Who are you?”
“I am Alette. Alette Peters.”
My God, it’s not an act, David thought. It’s real. He turned to Dr. Salem.
Dr. Salem said quietly, “They’re alters.”
David stared at him, totally confused. “They’re what?”
“I’ll explain later.”
Dr. Salem turned back to Ashley. “Ashley…I mean Alette…How—how many of you are in there?”
“Beside Ashley, only Toni and me,” Alette answered.
“You have an Italian accent.”
“Yes. I was born in Rome. Have you ever been to Rome?”
“No, I’ve never been to Rome.”
I can’t believe I’m hearing this conversation, David thought.