Mr. Ratburn stared glumly at the dark gray wall and tried not to dwell on how uncomfortable the chains cuff that stranded him in the dark room were. He had been in the interrogation room for what he felt must have been at least two hours. Or maybe it was only several minutes. Who knew? Time was irrelevant at this point. There was no way that he would see much outside this building again.
"Nigel Ratburn?" The officer who had arrested him earlier walked in. "Are you ready to talk?"
"Yes, I'll admit all my crimes" Mr. Ratburn answered quickly.
"What crimes have you committed?" The officer asked eagerly, as he turned on a machine that Mr. Ratburn assumed was recording the conversation.
"I stole the identity of old Ms. Tibble for the purpose of using her credit card. I used it to buy a luxury yacht."
"That tip we got didn't mention all yacht," The officer muttered distractedly.
"Tip?" Mr. Ratburn asked in confusion.
"Some woman anonymously called in."
Mr. Ratburn's face turned red as anger shone through his eyes. "So she betrayed me. Of course she did."
"Who betrayed you?"
"I was only going to confess to the identity theft," Mr. Ratburn said harshly, "but since she sold me down the river I'll have nothing to hide. I also successfully embezzled money from eight different banks and two credit unions in town with my business partner. I used the money to buy false identities, illegal firearms, and an offshore account in the Cayman Islands."
The officers eyebrows rose in shock. "What?"
"And I'm guilty of attempted murder," Mr. Ratburn finished.
"Muder? Who were you attempting to murder?"
"Ed Crosswire."
The officer' head was spinning. "Why would you murder him?"
"Because my business partner begged me."
"And who is your business partner?"
Mr. Ratburn smiled darkly. "My lover. Millicent Crosswire."
Dr. Paula was supposed to but reviewing her notes on DW Read but instead she was dwelling on her life choices. This Read girl was making her wonder if she had made a mistake in career choice. She worried about her old clients and wondered if the counselors she referred them to were giving them proper care. She missed going to bed without nightmares of asylums and inmates in her head. But most of all she missed the idea that anyone could be cured with the proper care.
Could this Read girl truly be cured?
"Do you still want to attempt group therapy for D.W. Read?"
She had almost forgotten that Mr. Larsen was in the room.
"It's our best chance of curing her narcissism," Dr. Paula said. "I've found a specialist who has dealt extensively with group narcissism and she'll be coming by tomorrow."
"Hopefully D.W. will be cooperative," Mr. Larsen said.
"I suspect she'll be very uncooperative initially," Dr. Paula responded, "but after a few sessions that may change."
"Hmm." Mr. Larsen's tone was drenched in skepticism.
"I simply can't accept otherwise," Dr. Paula insisted. "I vow to cure all my patients as best I can and I can't make exceptions for hard cases."
"I admire your commitment, Dr. Paula. I just hope it isn't for naught."
The Crazy Bus theme had played... how many times now? Arthur had lost count at eighty-five and that was hours ago.
"D.W. quit it!" Arthur said.
"NO!"
Arthur growled. "That's it."
Arthur grabbed the CD out of DW's boom box and ran. "Try and get it back, D.W.!"
"ARTHUR TIMOTHY READ GET BACK HEAR RIGHT NOW!" D.W. roared as she chased him into the kitchen. As Arthur ran toward the back door, D.W. grabbed a wine glass from the table and threw it at Arthur; but it missed and smashed against the cabinet.
"You've gone crazy," Arthur called back as he exited the house.
"THINK YOU'VE SEEN CRAZY? THINK AGAIN!" D.W. roared back.
Arthur ran across the street.
"THINK I WON'T CROSS THE STREET?"
"D.W., you can't without an adult nearby," Nadine reminded her. "Just go inside and tell your parents what happened when they get back."
"He'll pay," DW muttered, "he'll pay."
DW stood outside and waited for Arthur return nearly an hour until David noticed her. "DW? What are you doing outside?"
"I'm waiting for Arthur," she responded disdainfully.
"Arthur? He's inside."
"WHAT?" DW ran inside and saw Arthur on the couch watching television.
"Where's my CD?" DW asked fiercely.
"Wherever you usually leave it," Arthur responded calmly.
"Oh yeah?" DW said as she opened the boom box, "we'll see about -"
DW was astonished to find the CD where it had been before. "Dad, Arthur ran across the street with it! I waited for him"
"I don't know what your talking about," Arthur said.
"Enough of this. Anyway, do either of you know why I found a broken wine glass on the floor?"
"No," DW lied, "not a clue."
"Well, I need to go make desert for night- Parmesan strawberry pie. Will you behave while I'm gone?"
Both Arthur and DW nodded.
David went into the kitchen. DW turned to Arthur. "When did you get back?"
"A while ago," Arthur smiled.
"Let me guess, you came in the front door because you knew I'd wait for you?"
"I considered the scenario plausible."
"Real clever, Artie," DW tried to sound calm but the anger on her face was evident. "I'll bet your proud of yourself."
"You bet," Arthur admitted bluntly, "You always get away with everything, so it's nice to turn the tables."
"Today was an exception, Artie," DW sneered. "You won't get away with this again."