waiter he was looking for came hurrying over.
'Can I help you, sir?'
'I was hoping so. I very much enjoyed my meal this evening, thanks largely to you, and I was thinking of lunching here one day later this week. On my own this time. I wondered whether you could recommend a good day.'
'Now let me see, sir… Would Thursday suit you?'
'Yes, Thursday would do very well.'
'The chef does a very nice steak-and-kidney pie on Thursdays which I can thoroughly recommend, sir. There's just one point, though, and that is I'd advise your coming in comparatively early, because some of the staff go off at two-thirty that afternoon. Including myself as a matter of fact.'
'I see. Well, would twelve-forty-five be early enough, do you think?'
'Twelve-forty-five would be fine, sir.' The waiter turned through a booking register that lay on a nearby table. 'Stationed in the town, are you, sir?' he asked conversationally.
'Not exactly. I've got a flat just down the road from here.'
'Very convenient, sir. Oh, what name is it, please?'
'Lane. Captain Vincent Lane.'
'Thank you, Captain Lane. I'll look forward to seeing you on Thursday, then. Good night, sir.'
'Good night.'
'Ah, now here's an interesting case which will round off our tour in an appropriate fashion.'
Dr. Best took Leonard fraternally by the arm and led him down the steps in front of the main entrance of the mental hospital to where a man of about fifty was sitting in a slumped position on the mossy stone surround of the ornamental pond. Nearby stood a wheeled invalid-chair. The sunlight was very strong.
'This man is called Underwood,' said the doctor cheerfully. 'Insult him.'
'I beg your pardon?'
'You heard what I said. Insult him. Call him names. Abuse him. His hearing, by the way, is as good as yours or mine. Go on, Captain Leonard.'
Leonard swallowed and coughed. 'You swine,' he said indistinctly to the man.
'Oh, you can do better than that. Be offensive. Imagine that he's your lifelong enemy and you now have him helpless in your grasp without fear of retaliation. You hate him deeply. Try again.'
'You revolting… sod. You unpleasant idiot. I hate you. You're the most, uh…'
'No, no, no. Hopeless. Now listen to me.'
Dr. Best faced the seated figure, which had not so much as blinked since their arrival, and crouched forward slightly.
'Underwood?' His voice was soft and level. 'You can hear me. I know that and you know I know. Now, how would you like me to bring you a nice boy? A nice boy with beautiful fair hair and lovely pink cheeks? So that you could undress him and play with him and do all the things you've always wanted to do? You'd like that, wouldn't you? Yes. What would you do to him first? Perhaps you'd-'
'Stop that,' said Leonard. 'You've gone far enough. Leave him alone, poor devil.'
'Captain, you're reacting quite inappropriately. This is a scientific experiment. I'm asking for your co- operation. I was indicating to you the lines on which you should proceed. I want you to accuse this subject of what in your view is the most heinous and disgraceful crime in the world. By so doing you'll have the opportunity of adding to knowledge.'
Leonard calmed down and thought for a moment. Then he said in measured tones, 'You traitor. You renegade. You Communist spy.'
While Underwood still took no notice, psychiatrist and Security man looked each other over carefully. Dr. Best smiled. Leonard frowned. Each glanced away and back at the same instant. At last the doctor's manner grew professional again.
'Complete withdrawal. He's unreachable by any normal stimulus. Now let me show you a characteristic of this condition that may be new to you.'
Underwood's arms were hanging loosely by his sides. Dr. Best took one of them by the wrist and lifted it until it was nearly horizontal, then turned the hand palm upwards. When he released the arm it stayed in the same position, as if the man were begging or testing for rain. Then the doctor raised one of Underwood's legs so that its heel was about eighteen inches off the ground. It too stayed where it was when released.
'This characteristic is known as waxy flexibility, found in cases of total withdrawal. A notable feature is that the subject will sustain the postures in which he has been placed long after a normal person would be forced by intense physical pain to adopt a more restful posture.'
'What a terrible thing.'
'Not at all. It makes him portable. He can be brought down here and enjoy the sun. Or rather his skin can benefit from exposure to its rays. A more satisfactory state of affairs than lying permanently on his back.'
Dr. Best turned away and made as if to resume walking.
