Split Second

'The fact is, I'm investigating Bruno's disappearance, and at this juncture I can't assume anyone is above suspicion, including your lady friend Michelle.'

'Great, and she's not my ‘lady friend.' '

'Okay, what exactly is she?'

'I'm just following up some stuff, and she's helping me.'

'Wonderful. I'm glad you've teamed up with someone, since it appears you've blown me off completely. Is Maxwell also offering a million-dollar payday if you crack the case, or just a kick-ass adventure between the sheets?'

He eyed her closely. 'Don't tell me you're jealous.'

'Maybe I am, Sean. But regardless, I think I at least deserve an answer to my offer.'

King glanced in the direction of Michelle's room but turned back when Joan put a hand on his arm.

'I need to get going on this. And you never know, we might just find out thereal truth about Clyde Ritter.'

He stared defiantly at her. 'Yeah, we just might,' he shot back.

'So you're in? I need to know. Right now.'

After a moment he nodded. 'I'm in.'

38

They flew via private plane to Dayton, Ohio, and then drove to a state mental facility that was about thirty minutes north. Joan had called ahead and gotten the necessary approvals to visit Sidney Morse.

'It wasn't as difficult as I would have thought,' she told King on the drive there. 'Although when I told the woman whom I wanted to see, she laughed. Said we could come if we wanted, but it wouldn't do us much good.'

'How long has Morse been there?' King asked.

'About a year or so. He was committed by his family. Or rather his brother, Peter Morse. I guess that's all the family he had left.'

'I thought Peter Morse was in trouble with the police. And wasn't he a druggie?'

' ‘Was' being the operative word. He never went to prison, probably due to his brother's influence. He apparently cleaned up his act and when his older brother went nuts, put him in the state mental hospital.'

'Why in Ohio?'

'It seems that prior to being committed, Sidney was living with his brother here. I guess he was so far gone he couldn't live by himself.'

King shook his head. 'Talk about your reversal of fortune. In less than ten years the guy goes from king of the hill to permanent residence in a nuthouse.'

Alittle while later King and Joan were sitting in a small room at the bleak institution. The sounds of wails and cries and sobbing filtered down the hallways. People whose minds had long since left them were hunched over in wheelchairs in the corridors. In a recreation room off the main reception area a small group of patients watched a show on TV. Nurses, doctors and attendants slowly moved up and down the halls in their scrubs, their energy seemingly sapped by the depressing surroundings.

King and Joan both stood as the man was wheeled into the room by one of the attendants. The young man nodded to them. 'Okay, here's Sid.'

The young man knelt down in front of Morse and patted him on the shoulder. 'Okay, Sid, these people want to talk to you, okay, you hear me? It's cool, just talk.' The attendant grinned when he said this.

He stood and Joan said, 'Um, is there anything we should know, anything to avoid?'

The man smiled, showing a row of crooked teeth. 'Not with Sid. It really doesn't matter.'

King hadn't been able to take his gaze off the wreck of a man who eight years ago had nearly pulled off one of the most impressive feats in American politics. Morse had lost some weight but was still chubby. His hair had been shaved off, although he had a short beard shot with gray. King had remembered his eyes being laser sharp, missing nothing. Now those eyes were clearly lifeless. It was Sidney Morse, but just barely, only the shell really.

He said, 'So what's the diagnosis?'

'That he ain't never leaving here, that's what,' said the attendant, who introduced himself as Carl. 'His mind's totally gone. Cracked out and ain't coming back. Look, I'll be down the hall. You can just come get me when you're done.' Carl walked off.

Joan glanced at King. 'I can't believe it's him,' she said. 'I know his rep and career took a big hit after Ritter was killed, but you'd think it wouldn't come to this.'

'Maybe it happened in stages. And I guess a lot can happen in eight years. I mean look at me. He was shattered after the Ritter debacle. Nobody wanted him. He grew depressed. And maybe his younger brother introduced a very vulnerable Sidney to some heavy drugs while they were living together. I recall during the campaign that Sidney said his brother's drug habit had gotten him into a lot of trouble. He said his brother was pretty creative in coming up with ways to get the cash to support his habit. Quite the con man.'

King knelt in front of Morse. 'Sidney, Sidney, do you remember me? I'm Sean King. Agent Sean King,' he added.

There was no reaction. A bit of spittle oozed out of the man's mouth and clung to his lip. King glanced at Joan. 'His father was a well-known lawyer,' he said, 'and his mother was some kind of heiress. I wonder where all that money went?'

'Maybe it's used to support him here.'

'No, this is a state institution. It's not some fancy private place.'

'Well, maybe his brother has control of it. I guess they each inherited and now he has both shares. And who cares about the Morse brothers? I'm here to find John Bruno.'

King turned to look back at Morse. The man hadn't moved. 'God, look at those knife marks on his face.'

'Self-mutilation. Sometimes that goes with being unbalanced.'

King rose, shaking his head.

'Hey, have you played the game with him?' said a high-pitched voice.

They both turned and looked at the short, skinny man standing behind them holding a ragged stuffed rabbit. His features were so tiny he looked like a leprechaun. He wore a ratty bathrobe and apparently little else. Joan averted her gaze.

'The game,' said the man, who looked at them with a childlike expression. 'Have you played it yet?'

'What, with him?' asked King, pointing to Morse.

'I'm Buddy,' said the man, 'and this is Buddy too,' he said, holding up the ragged rabbit.

'Nice to meet you, Buddy,' said King. He looked at the rabbit. 'And you too, Buddy. So you know Sid?'

Buddy nodded vigorously. 'Play the game.'

'The game, right, why don't you show me? Can you do that?'

Again Buddy nodded his head, and smiled. He ran to the corner of the room where there was a box of stuff. He pulled out a tennis ball and came back to them.

He stood in front of Morse and held up the ball. 'Okay, I'm pitching the…'

Buddy's focus seemed to wander, and he just stood there holding the ball and his rabbit with his mouth wide open and his eyes expressionless.

King prompted, 'The ball. You're pitching the ball, Buddy.'

Buddy came back to life. 'Okay, I'm pitching the ball.' He made a great show of a major league windup that exposed far more of his anatomy than either King or Joan cared to see. As he let the ball go, however, it was in a slow, underhand style.

It was heading right for Morse's head. A second before it hit him, Morse's right hand shot up and caught the