Page 42 of Butterfly

“It’s nothing to do with Teddy.”

“Okay.” Captain nodded.

“Did you know there’s only two killers on this wing?”

“I…I didn’t know that. How could you—”

“I heard Seinfeld talking about it. Sebastian’s gone, Pauly’s been transferred, so that leaves just me and Teddy. Teddy…he regrets what he did. I saw the pain in his eyes, the guilt. But I don’t feel guilty. I don’t regret what I did. That must make a monster, right? To kill someone and only wish I’d done it sooner.”

“You’re not a monster, Ollie.”

“Sometimes I feel like one.”

“Well, you shouldn’t.” Captain rubbed the back of his neck. “And you’re wrong about there being only two killers on this wing.”

Ollie frowned. “Who?”

“Me.” Captain smirked. “You think I haven’t killed anyone?”

“That’s different. That was your job.”

“Maybe so, but it doesn’t take away all the fucked-up emotions that come with it. Why do you think I sometimes wake up in the night screaming?”

Ollie lowered his head.

“You should talk to Jarvis about it,” Captain suggested. “He’ll help.”

“I don’t need to see a shrink.”

“I never said you needed to, but he’s there, and he’s… He’s not like that…not unless you want him to be. He’s helped me a lot.” Captain shrugged. “You can see him once; he won’t push you to talk, and if you’re lucky, he’ll have sweets in a bowl on his desk.”

Ollie cocked his head. “What kind of sweets?”

Captain laughed, knocking his shoulder into Ollie’s.

The first time Ollie met Doctor Jarvis, he froze in the doorway of his office. He hadn’t known what to expect, but the man sat at his desk, admiring what looked like an orc figurine, wasn’t it. He wore a grey cardigan over a white shirt, had round glasses, a moustache he’d curled at the ends, and a mop of brown curls on top of his head.

“What are you doing?” Ollie asked.

Jarvis looked up at him with a sigh. “An inmate just told me I’d painted his claws blue when they’re supposed to be purple, and he’s right.”

Ollie glanced back over his shoulder to the officer behind him. He didn’t need to ask; the officer’s face said it all, ‘yes, this is Doctor Jarvis, and yes, he’s fucking weird.’

“Take a seat,” Jarvis said, gesturing to the one in front of the desk.

His desk had a few papers, a pot of pens, a bowl of sweets and a picture of Jarvis and a pretty woman with a cute bob and ocean-blue eyes. From the way her arms were draped over him, Ollie guessed she was Jarvis’s girlfriend.

As Ollie sat down, Jarvis stood up to place the figurine on the bookcase behind him.

Where Ollie expected to see psychology books, he saw sci-fi novels, planets, models of horses and fantasy characters and more of the same green orc.

“Have I…Have I come to the right place?”

Jarvis smiled, then shot a glance at the officer. The door behind Ollie closed, and when he glanced back, he saw the officer through the glass, sat on a chair outside.

Jarvis took his seat. “Yes, you’ve come to the right place. Hard boiled?”

“What?”

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