Chris leaned forward, frowning intently.
'Now looking at these brain cells,' continued Karras, 'we see that they handle approximately a hundred million messages per second; that's the number of sensations bombarding your body. They not only integrate all of these messages, but they do it efficiently, they do it without ever stumbling or getting in each other's way. Now how could they do that, without some form of communication? Well, it seems as if they couldn't. So apparently each of these cells has a consciousness, maybe, of its own. Now imagine that the human body is a massive ocean liner, all right? and that all of your brain cells are the crew. Now one of these cells is up on the bridge. He's the captain. But he never knows precisely what the rest of the crew below decks is doing. All he knows is that the ship keeps running smoothly, that the job's getting done. Now the captain is you, it's your waking consciousness. And what hap-pens in dual personality---maybe---is that one of those crew cells down below decks comes up on the bridge and takes over command. In other words, mutiny. Now---does that help you understand it?'
She was staring in unblinking incredulity. 'Father, that's so far out of sight that I think its almost easier to believe in the devil!'
'Well---'
'Look, I don't know about all these theories and stuff,' she interrupted in a low, intense voice. 'But I'll tell you something, Father; you show me Regan's identical twin: same face, same voice, same smell, same everything down to the way she dots her i's, and still I'd know in a second that it wasn't really her! I'd know it! I'd know it in my gut and I'm telling you I know that thing upstairs is not my daughter! I know it! I know!'
She leaned back, drained. 'Now you tell me what to do,' she challenged. 'Go ahead: you tell me that you know for a fact there's nothing wrong with my daughter except in her head; that you know for a fact that she doesn't need an exorcism; that you know it wouldn't do her any good. Go ahead! You tell me! You tell me what to do!'
For long, troubled seconds, the priest was still. Then he answered softly, 'Well, there's little in this world that I know for a fact.'
He brooded, sunk back in his chair. Then he spoke again. 'Does Regan have a low-pitched, voice?' he asked. 'Normally?'
'No. In fact, I'd say it's very light.'
'Would you consider her precocious?'
'Not at all.'
'Do you know her IQ?'
'About average.'
'And her reading habits?'
'Nancy Drew and comic books, mostly.'
'And her style of speech, right now: how much different would you say it is from normal?'
'Completely. She's never used half of those words.'
'No, I don't mean the content of her speech; I mean the style.'
'Style?'
'The way she puts words together.'
'Gee, I'm really not sure I know what you mean.'
'Would you have any letters she's written? Compositions? A recording of her voice would be---'
'Yes, there's a tape of her talking to her father,' she interrupted. 'She was making it to send to him as a letter but she never got it finished. You want it?'
'Yes, I do, and I'll also need her medical records, especially the file from Barringer.'
'Look, Father, I've been that route and I---'
'Yes, yes, I know, but I'll have to see the records for myself.'
'So you're still against an exorcism.'
'I'm only against the chance of doing your daughter more harm than good.'
'But you're talking now strictly as a psychiatrist, right?'
'No, Im talking now also as a priest. If I go to the Chancery Office, or wherever it is I have to go, to get their permission to perform an exorcism, the first thing I'd have to have is a pretty substantial indication that your daughter's condition isn't a purely psychiatric problem. After that, I'd need evidence that the Church would accept as signs of possession.'
'like what?'
'I don't know. I'll have to go and look it up.'
'Are you kidding? I thought you were supposed to be an expert.'
'You probably know more about demonic possession right now than most priests. In the meantime, when can you get me the Barringer records?'
'I'll charter a plane if I have to!'
'And that tape?'
She stood up. 'I'll go see if I can find it.'
'And just one other thing,' he added. She paused beside his chair. 'That book you mentioned with the
