Just as he was ready to attempt the leap further back into Jack’s past, there arose a commotion at the front door.
“Landry! Landry, I need your help,” the clerk yelled as the security guard blocked the way of two individuals for a moment, then stepped aside to let them pass. As the men walked down the hallway, Landry went to see what was happening. Dr. Little instructed his subject to remain asleep as an irate Shawn Leary and a police officer stepped into the courtyard. Detective Young came forward and took the cop aside.
“Mr. Drake,” the furious attorney exclaimed, “I demand to know what you think you’re doing. I specifically denied you permission to use this building, and I installed cameras in the corridor because I felt certain you’d defy that order. This officer’s going to arrest all of you for breaking and entering.”
A voice from across the patio said, “Mr. Leary, I’m afraid your issues are with me, not Mr. Drake.”
The lawyer looked around and saw the nattily dressed individual approaching. He looked as if he’d seen a ghost.
Landry said, “Mr. Leary, this is the man I told you about. He says he’s Empyrion Richard.” He expected that revelation to come as a complete shock to the attorney, given the man’s assurance earlier that Richard was long-since dead and gone. But it didn’t happen that way.
“He knows who I am, don’t you, Mr. Leary?”
“No, sir. Uh, no, sir. I don’t know who you are.”
Empyrion said, “It’s all right. He knows who I am.”
“No, I don’t!”
“I give you permission —"
The lawyer was flushed and agitated. “I signed the...uh, well, you know what I mean. This is highly irregular, Mr....uh, sir.”
Aghast, Landry said, “You do know him! You lied to me. You told me —"
Empyrion held up a hand. “Mr. Leary was merely following instructions. He has never met me, so he was not lying.”
To the lawyer he said, “Thank you for coming, and I apologize for the inconvenience. You too, officer. You both may take your leave now. There is important work going on here.”
And to Landry’s astonishment, they left without another word.
Landry turned to Empyrion Richard and snapped, “You and I are going to have a talk when this is over. Don’t disappear on me like last time. I want some answers.” He gave a wave of his hand toward Dr. Little, Empyrion took his seat, and the session resumed.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
Once things were quiet in the courtyard, Dr. Little regressed Jack to the moment of his birth. Like Tiffany, he assumed the fetal position. The hypnotist took him further and Jack stretched his body and laid his arms by his side. Relaxed, he appeared to be asleep.
Without a flicker of response from the subject, they traversed the second half of the nineteenth century. Dr. Little took him to February 2, 1832. He knew from Tiffany’s case that Lucas and Elberta went to his bedroom around ten, just after Lucas’s wife Prosperine went to the Place d’Armes. She would kill them an hour later.
He started with seven a.m. “Who are you?” he asked, and in a haughty tone Jack answered, “Lucas LaPiere. You know who I am. Everyone knows.”
“Where are you?”
“In my bedroom, opening the doors onto the balcony to allow in the morning breeze.”
After a few more questions that established beyond doubt they were in this very building, Dr. Little moved him to ten thirty and asked what was going on around him. The response should have surprised no one — they knew from before that Madam left the house and the lovers rushed to the bedroom for a quickie — but it amused those observing the hypnosis.
There was heavy breathing and panting as Jack’s body writhed on the recliner. He wrapped his arms around his invisible lover, smooching and caressing just as if he were in the throes of lovemaking. Like before, it was humorous, but everyone knew the risk of taking Jack too close to the time he would die.
The next stop was eleven a.m. and the dangerous part of the session. Landry crossed his fingers in hopes the scene from last time would appear, and he got his wish. The same filmy mist enveloped the courtyard, and a balcony emerged above the guests. The tall doors stood open, but the bedroom was dark. There came the clanking sounds of shoes on metal. Lucas’s wife was on her way upstairs.
Landry glanced behind him and jumped in surprise. His cameraman Phil looked back too and turned a camera on the windows of the servant quarters. A terrified black girl stood in the window, watching the scene unfold upstairs. Caprice was there, just as Tiffany had described her.
“What do you see now, Lucas?”
Jack whispered, “Hush, Elberta, she’s coming! Get over there in the corner!” He sat up and looked straight ahead. “Prosperine, you’re home early.” A pause, and then, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. My clothes? I was just — Prosperine! Leave her alone. It’s not her fault. Stop it! Stop hitting her, I tell you!”
The same beautiful woman in a white camisole emerged onto the balcony, and everything happened as before. Prosperine shouted, “Die, you hellion!” and pushed the girl over the railing.
Landry and the group tensed because they knew what would happen next. Dr. Little had less than sixty seconds to move Jack from this time and place into a safe place. This part required surgical precision.
While Jack remained in the recliner, the person he was playing — Lucas LaPiere — appeared on the balcony and screamed, “Prosperine, you killed Elberta, you crazy bitch! You’ll hang for this!”
Just then a deep, commanding voice boomed, “How dare you call
