Page 106 of When She Dreams

“I will,” Arthur vowed. “I will get you the help you need.”

Sam pulled Maggie close and tight against him.

“Don’t get me wrong,” he said into her hair, “I appreciate the dramatic touch. But you are very hard on the nerves.”

She pressed her face into his shoulder. “You were right about one thing. A small pistol can be just as scary as a big one at close quarters.”

Chapter 48

Scotch and soda?” Arthur asked.

“Sounds good,” Sam said. He crossed the living room of the villa and stopped at the windows. “Great view.”

“Dolores loves this house.” Arthur went to the drinks cabinet and got busy with the bottles and glassware. “Sadly, I don’t think she’ll ever see it again. The doctor told me she suffered a total breakdown. She’s delusional. The asylum attendants picked her up from the Burning Cove hospital this afternoon. She had to be heavily sedated.”

Sam glanced back over his shoulder. “You had her committed?”

“That’s what the doctor recommended. I’m assured everything will be handled with great discretion. This way she won’t have to stand trial.”

Sam turned away from the view. “Did you know she was becoming unstable?”

“I suspected as much.” Arthur picked up the two glasses and carried them across the room. He handed one of the glasses to Sam. “I didn’t want to believe it. We came so far together. It’s hard to imaginethe Guilfoyle Institute without her. She was a genius when it came to marketing. But somewhere along the line she became obsessed.”

Sam drank some of the scotch and soda and lowered the glass. “She told Maggie that four years ago she murdered a woman named Virginia Jennaway and that she also killed Beverly Nevins and one of the dream guides, Valerie Warren.”

“Yes, I know. Detective Brandon said she confessed to all three murders. She accused those women of trying to blackmail us.” Arthur swallowed some of his drink and shook his head. “Claimed she had to do it because they were threatening her dream.”

“I heard what she said in the theater. As I recall, she indicated it was a dream you both shared.”

“In her case it became an obsession. She is paranoid, Mr. Sage. Unstable.”

“She intended to kill Maggie last night and frame Gloria for the murder.”

“I know.” Arthur closed his eyes in sorrow. “I know.”

“But she didn’t admit to killing Emerson Oxlade.”

Arthur’s eyes snapped open. “She’s insane, Mr. Sage. There is no knowing what is going on in her disordered mind. I’m afraid she can no longer distinguish the difference between dreams and reality.”

“So we’re told.”

“You are showing a great deal of interest in the details of this case. You sound more like a detective than a research assistant.”

Sam took another swallow of his drink. “I’m concerned with the details because Miss Lodge was nearly murdered. If you were in my position, I think you would be equally interested.”

“I see,” Arthur said. “Your relationship with Miss Lodge is personal as well as professional, then?”

“Very personal,” Sam said. “I assume that answers your question?”

“My question?”

“You invited me here for drinks and a private conversation today because you want to know how things stand between Maggie and me.”

“I am curious, yes.”

“Because you’re attracted to her?”

“On many levels,” Arthur admitted. “Maggie is a very intriguing woman. Has she told you she and I share a talent for lucid dreaming?”

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