"Well, the test was negative," he told her, and described the procedure, explaining that in clonus the alternate flexing and releasing of the foot would have triggered a run of clonic contractions.
As he sat at his desk, he still seemed worried, however, "Has she ever had a fall?"
"Like on the head?" Chris asked.
"Well, yes."
"No, not that I know of."
"Childhood diseases?"
"Just the usual. Measles and mumps and chicken pox."
"Sleepwalking history?"
"Not until now."
"What do you mean? She was walkng in her sleep at the party?"
"Well, yes. She still doesn't know what she did that night. And there's stuff, too, that she doesn't remember."
"Lately?"
Sunday. Regan still sleeping. An overseas telephone call from Howard.
"How's Rags?"
"Thanks a lot for the call on her birthday."
"I was stuck on a yacht. Now for chrissakes lay off me. I called her the minute I was back in the hotel."
"Oh, sure."
"She didn't tell you?"
"You talked to her?"
"Yes. That's why I thought I'd better call you. What the hell's going on with her?"
"What am you getting at?"
"She just called me a 'cocksucker' and hung up the phone."
Recounting the incident to Dr. Klein, Chris explained that when Regan had finally awakened, she had no memory whatever of either the telephone call or what had happened on the night of the dinner.
"Then perhaps she wasn't lying about the moving of the furniture," Klein hypothesized.
"I don't get you."
"Well, she moved it herself, no doubt, but perhaps while in one of those states where she didn't really know what she was doing. It's known as automatism. Like a trance state. The patient doesn't know or remember what he's doing."
"But something just occurred to me, doc, you know that? There's a great big heavy bureau in her room made out of teakwood. It must weigh half a ton. I mean, how could she have moved that?"
"Extraordinary strength is pretty common in pathology."
"Oh, really? How come?"
The doctor shrugged "No one knows.
"Now, besides what you've told me," he continued, "have you noticed any other bizarre behavior?"
"Well, she's gotten zeal sloppy." "Bizarre,"
he repeated.
"For her, that's bizarre. Oh, now wait! There's this! You remember that Ouija board she's been playing with? Captain Howdy?"
"The fantasy playmate."The internist nodded.
"Well, now she can hear him," Chris revealed.
The doctor leaned forward, folding his arms atop the desk. As Chris, continued, his eyes were alert and had narrowed to dart points of speculation.
"Yesterday morning," said Chris, "I could hear her talking to Howdy in her bedroom. I mean, she'd talk, and then seem to wait, as if she were playing with the Ouija board. When I peeked inside the room, though, there wasn't any Ouija board there; just Rags; and she was nodding her head, doc, just like she was agreeing with what he was saying."
"Did she see him?"
"I don't think so. She sort of had her head to the side, the way she does when she listens to records."
