"That's it," Potter declared. "We had a case like that in Jung's
clinic--a baker named Hermann Schultz, who insisted that he was the
Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa. We were baffled for a while, since
Schultz was married and had three children. Then we learned that his
wife was the girl-friend of one of the Habsburg Archdukes and that
poor Schultz was not the father of little Franz, Irma and Ernst. We
solved it for him with his wife's help. She agreed to have another
child. Of course, it was the Archduke's but Schultz never guessed.
He ceased to believe that he was the Barbarossa and became a highly
successful baker. What you ought to do, Mr. Tompkins, is to father a
child and then you will forget all this nonsense about battleships and
Presidents. Not so?"
I grinned at him knowingly. "There's much in what you say, Dr. Potter,"
I complimented him, "but what the hell can I do about it bottled up
here in the Sanctuary? Just give me a clean mental bill of health--in
case any of my partners try to pull a fast one--and I'll go home to my
wife and give earnest consideration to your suggestion. After all, if
that fails, I can always take up wood-carving. Or try another girl."
"There are one or two around here--" he began, then checked himself.
"Well," he continued, "I can't say that I see anything really abnormal
about you. Sitting here, talking with you, I would have noticed any
psychopathic tendencies. We psychiatrists develop a sort of sixth sense
for the abnormal. I couldn't prove it scientifically, but I am sure as
Adam ate little green apples that there's nothing wrong with you that
can't be cured by a drink, a kiss and a baby."
There was a brisk knock on the door and the nurse appeared.
"Sorry to disturb you, doctor," she said, "but there's a man named Vail
downstairs with a writ of habeas corpus for Mr. Tompkins."
Potter looked at me accusingly, as though Jung had never for-seen this
kind of complication.
"Merry Vail," I agreed. "Yes, he's my lawyer. I told him to come here
but never dreamed--just send him up, nurse. In the meanwhile, doctor,
if you could get that certificate ready--"
Potter again gave the effect of heel-clicking, and withdrew.
Three minutes later Merriwether Vail and Arthurjean Briggs came
bursting into my room.
"Glory be, you're still safe, old man," my lawyer announced. "When Miss
Briggs phoned me your curious message, we put two and two together."
"And made it twenty-two?" I suggested.
"No, we made it four. We weren't going to stand for any nonsense from
the F.B.I. and I owe them something for pulling me in for questioning.
And when you spoke of fifteen thousand dollars and a doctor, I had a
brain-storm. So I flew up here and swore out a writ from the Federal
Court. I got a deputy to help me serve it--cost me all of twenty
bucks--and here we are."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account