Mike Harper was a boy with a bright
mind, the kind that is sharp at the same time does not realize its calling. As
most of the bright minds, Mike learned things by doing it. He engaged himself
in almost all of the extra-curricular activities in high school and college
but, did not stay in one for long. Not that he was not good in those
activities, no; in fact, he was above average in all of them be it chess,
tennis, baseball, basketball etc. The club members rioted with each other to
get Mike into their respective clubs but in vain. He did have a comparatively
prolonged stint in the art and drama club; wherein his performance in plays won
him a quite a few accolades. The bottom line however, was that he just could
not bring himself to stick with any of it.
Mike Harper in short, was bored.
He seemed to have a metaphoric Midas touch, which enabled him to excel in
anything he took up. It was this same gift that cursed him to boredom.
Everything came too easy for him, be it studies or sports. He just needed to observe
something for a couple of times, after which his bright mind made certain
adjustments which enabled his body to perform the same trick/feat and sometimes
surpass his teacher. This unnerved a lot of athletes in the team. He was hungry
for a challenge, a hunger which remained unsated till after he left the
college. Writing helped him; helped him express himself, writing novels by
cleverly imitating and or combining other novels in one helped him get himself
known as a novelist. Once, when he was with Joyce, a statement triggered
something in Mike Harper’s bright mind. He thought to himself; why not take it to another level?
*
Craig liked his job very much. He
loved solving the mysteries of the mind; his love for anything brain made him a
very hard-working trainee psychiatrist. He did not care about designations or
ranks and was happy to help anyone who requested it. Sometimes he did it
without requests. On one such request, Craig was helping Dr. Saul in organizing
his patient directory, which not only meant arranging the files but also going
through the same, suggesting alternative methods of treatment, or just study
each patient’s file as a case study. Dr. Saul is a noteworthy psychiatrist with
several research papers under his belt. He also has a soft spot for celebrities
and often engaged in mundane rehabilitations for the same, just to get closer
to them. It also meant that in exchange for favours from celebrities, he also
kept his mouth glued shut.
It was a treasure trove of information for Craig
who, looked at how the doctor came about with the diagnosis by going through
his notes. And moreover how a mind of a celebrity thinks; what does fame and
fortune do to the working of the brain; how was it different from businessmen? These
questions raced around in Craigs head, which also had cost him his sleep many a
times. However, for the past couple of weeks, he is stuck with one patient Rob
Smith. A well-known ghost writer, which meant his name, is rarely used in the
same sentence as fame but, it is in the same sentence with fortune.
A person, in this case a genius,
who always manages to complete a half-finished novel exactly as their dead
authors would have finished it. This is astonishing given the fact that he has
very less information about the project to start with. His projects although
confidential, were disclosed to Dr. Saul, given his reputation of being
tight-lipped.
Craig was a fan of Alex Selwyn’s fantasy series, and was
disheartened to hear that said author had passed away. A few weeks after his
death, GC Publications announced that well-detailed plot notebooks were found
in Selwyn’s bank locker, which the wife handed over to the publisher. Armed by
the plot notebooks the publisher finished the series.
All of that however, was bollocks. They did
not have plot notebooks they had nothing; they had no chance of completing the
last book of the fantasy series, which due to Selwyn’s predilection of leaving
cliff-hangers along the way, was to tie in numerous loose ends together.
Craig was obsessed with this
person. He consulted numerous psychological publications, when he struck gold with one of them. The
paper by Dr. Carlos Salzedo helped Craig discover what was really happening
with Rob Smith. And it was bad; he quickly scanned through the patient file for
the contact details.
Rahul looked at his friend seated
next to him; they were heading towards the hospital Walter Crane works in. Rob
was lost in his notes and was mumbling to himself. He had lost a few pounds and
was now unshaven, with the moustache and the beard covering half his face in
darkness. This project was taking a toll on him. Rahul had witnessed this
before when they were working on Baroque’s memoirs. He remembered when-
‘You went past it.’ Rob said, which
snapped Rahul out of his reverie.
‘Oh Sorry’ Rahul said as he
looked for a u-turn spot on the road. ‘By the way-‘
‘You’re worried about me.’ Rob
interrupted. ‘Don’t. I’ll be fine once I get this project
completed’
‘You sure you’re ok?’ Rahul asked
as he made the u-turn. ‘You sure don’t look like it though. Do you have it
under control?’
‘Yes’ Rob answered, ’Stop it
here. That is fine’
‘So how are we doing this?’ Rahul
asked as he clicked the seatbelt free.
‘There is no “we” here Rahul. It’s
just me. You go back and book my tickets to Augusta.’
Rahul sighed, ‘Augusta?’
‘Yes.’ Rob replied ‘The one in
Montana, not the one in Maine’
Rob made his way to the hospital
as Rahul drove back home.
*
Rahul had just completed his
phone call with his travel agent when his wife called him over.
‘What happened?’
‘Nothing, It seems that Matt has
found a girl-friend’ Sneha answered
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well I was putting out his
clothes in the laundry, when I saw this in the side pocket of his duffel bag.’
Rahul had a look at it. It was a
visiting card, of a Ms. Olivia who was an air-hostess. Rahul flipped it over
to see a phone number and address. That’s
bold Rahul thought. Further to that she had written ‘I’ll take care of your nightmares’. She must be the boldest one
there is Rahul thought as he handed it back to his wife laughing.
‘Keep it safe.’ Rahul mentioned, ‘Although
I don’t think he has worked for that one’
‘My, that’s desperate’ Sneha said
laughing.
Rahul was scrounging around in
the fridge later that day for something to eat when the phone rang. After a third ring, he
deduced his wife to be busy and proceeded to answer it.
‘Hello, this is the Sen residence’
‘Ah. Am I speaking to Mr Sen?’ a
rather nervous voice asked.
‘Yes. Speaking’
‘Ah Mr. Rahul, this is Craig
from the rehab clinic; this is with regards to your friend mister Matt R Smith?’
‘Do you work with Dr. Saul?’
‘You can say that. The important
fact is that your friend is not well’ Craig sounded agitated
‘What do you mean not well?’
Rahul asked, ‘You were the ones that cleared him’
‘I understand that sir, but upon
further investigation we have found some anomalies’
‘What do you mean Anomalies?’
asked Rahul, ‘What are these anomalies?’
‘It’s better if we meet mister
Sen.’ Craig said, ‘Could you come down to the clinic or is there someplace you’d
prefer we meet?’
‘I can come down there in thirty
minutes’ Rahul hung up the phone and, kept staring at it for a while. ‘Honey’
Rahul called, ‘Have you noticed anything different about Rob?’
‘What do you mean?’ she looked
puzzled, ‘He is unshaven and lost quite a bit of weight?’
‘No. no. Not the appearance, the
way he acts and speaks?’ Rahul asked, ‘Does he seem Normal?’
‘Well it could be the fact that I
am not working with him, but define normal when it comes to Matt?’ Sneha asked
puzzled.
*
Rob sat in the corridor, waiting
to have an audience with Dr. Crane. The corridor smelt of medicines,
antiseptics and spirits; the patients next to him looked normal and healthy,
with only a few of them with bandages on their heads and some on their hands. That’s
the whole point wasn't it? A person with a mental illness looks normal from the
outside; no one would suspect looking at the person that he/she is mentally
ill. Rob could be sitting near a recovering cannibal or a serial killer or a
stalker looking for the next fix. However out of the bunch there were one or
two that Rob could point out, their illness given away by the way they sit,
their facial expression or the high-strung twitchiness.
A man stepped out of the office
and called out Rob’s name; Rob answered the call and went ahead to shake what
was Dr. Crane’s hand. Dr. Crane was a well-built man, the kind that never
missed the gym even once. It was ironic though that Dr. Crane somewhat
resembled a crane; well, a crane with a stubble and wearing spectacles that is.
Dr. Crane’s office was tastefully furnished, with the tell-tale lie-down sofa
with a chair next to it. It also had a portion of the room separated by a thick
curtain, which was at the moment open. He could see the portioned side to have
a small bed and wash basin next to it. The bed was however, not empty and,
there was a woman sleeping rigidly on it. The wall behind the Doctor’s chair
was a showcase, with all the awards, certificates nicely arranged in it.
Although the doctor looked a bit comical, the showcase meant business. Rob’s
view again drifted to the portioned room, with the woman sleeping on the bed.
‘She has just undergone a
hypnosis session; it will be some time till she wakes up.’ Crane commented
after he saw Rob looking at the woman. ‘If you want I can have her shifted to
the next room.’
‘That’s quite alright.’ Rob
mentioned, ‘I have not come here to discuss anything medical; rather help me
figure out something.’
‘Well you have booked me for an
hour Mr. Smith, ask away. How can I be of help?’
‘I need you to tell me if you
have seen someone who looks like the man in this picture.’ Rob handed Crane a
photograph of Mike Harper
Dr. Crane adjusted his glasses
before he took a look at the picture; ‘And who is this may I ask?’
‘That is Mike Harper. He died in
Montana recently and, he had enquired your former colleague Dr. Bray for a
psychiatrist and the good doctor had recommended you.’
‘Ah. Yes now I remember. However Mr.
Harper was a no show for his appointment.’ Said Dr. Crane and slid Mike’s
picture back to Rob.
‘Let me tell you something about
Mr. Harper, Dr. Crane; he is a person who has valued privacy highly and went to
the extremes to guard it. Which is why,’ Rob slid the picture back to Crane, ‘I
am not asking you if you have seen this man rather, someone who looks like this man.’
‘Ah’ said Crane, catching on; ‘you
think he might have disguised himself?’
Rob nodded, ‘That’s what I would
do.’ Rob went through his bag and pulled out more photographs of Mike from
college to his last available photograph. This was quite a lot and, would take
more than the hour Rob had booked him for.
‘He might have worn spectacles to
one of his old disguises to mix it up. Feel free to use markers; I have copies
of them.’ Rob said as he leaned back in the chair.
‘Doctor, would you mind if I have
a quick lay down would you?’ Rob asked, to which the doctor gestured towards
the sofa. ‘Let me know if you have anything.’
Rahul barged into Dr. Saul’s
office, saw him going through some notes and asked in an irritated tone, ‘Who
is Craig?’
‘Mr. Sen, Craig has been briefing
me about what he has found about Mr Smith.’ Saul gestured towards the chair
across the table, ‘Please, take a seat’
‘Craig here, found some facts
that only someone of his hobbies could find out. There are these coincidences
what we have found between Mr. Smith and his projects, which raises concern over
his mental health.’
At that juncture, Dr. Saul had a
call, which he attended. Rahul was afraid for his friend; how could he have
missed something that this Craig person found out? He looked at Craig who was
looking at Rahul with a ominous expression on his face.
‘Rahul,’ Dr Saul called, ‘Unfortunately
I have to be somewhere else. Craig here will brief you about what he has found
and, he also has some questions for you about your friend. Listen to him well
and answer truthfully; whatever information that you provide will help us in
helping your friend better.’
‘But Doctor,’ Rahul started
‘No ifs and buts Rahul; and don’t
worry I’ll be the one treating Mr Smith. Right now I want you to help Craig
here build the case, which will help me understand the problem better. Call me
tomorrow; I leave you with Craig here.’ Dr. Saul nodded at Craig and left the
office.
Rahul sighed; he looked at Craig,
‘Who are you anyway?’
‘I am a psychiatrist in training’
Craig answered and took a seat next to Rahul. He took out his pad and laid the
sharpened pencil on top.
‘I am a huge fan of Alex Selwyn,’
Craig said, ‘ which has helped me figure out one fact and that is, Mr. Smith was
not fond of liquor before he took up finishing Selwyn’s novel was he?’
‘No. No he wasn't’ Rahul said.
‘Can you tell me how he goes about
his work then?’
‘What makes Rob a highly successful
ghost writer is that he is able to portray the thoughts of the subject
untarnished on the paper. He does this by studying the subject, the author, his
way of writing, how he lives, what he does etc and imitates their way of
living, which to an extent allows him to think like the author he is ghost
writing for.’
‘Normally it is enough for the
ghost writers to interview and take notes doesn't it? It is only in some cases
that they live with the author they are ghost writing for.’
Rahul nodded, ‘But, you already
know the answer to that. The authors he normally ghost writes for are dead. The
family or the publishers then select and appoint a ghost writer to finish the
job.’
‘His drinking abuse is a result
of mimicking Alex Selwyn; was it not?’ Craig confirmed what he had already
deduced. ‘has there been any other occurrences of this sort?’
‘He always would shut himself in
the room for a couple of days and come out normal again’ Rahul mentioned.
‘Are you saying this was the only
time things got out of hand? Or was it the only time he had to enter the rehab
clinic?’
‘The only time he had to enter a
rehab clinic. There had been two incidents in the past not including this one. The
first was when-’ Rahul stopped himself from saying anything further.
Craig looked at Rahul as a pained
expression flickered across his face. ‘Mr Sen,’ Craig said, ‘withholding information
would only hurt us in preparing a proper solution to this problem’
Rahul looked at Craig; there was
genuine concern in his eyes.
‘Then maybe this is not a problem he wants solved.’
