House of Skin

THE FRIGHTENED MAN

Early the next morning, Fenn was over at San Francisco General in the psychiatric wing. Dr. Luce told him that Soames was no better or worse than on his last visit. Again, after some finagling, Fenn was allowed to see him.

“I want to know about Eddy Zero,” Fenn said.

“Then you want to know an awful lot, my friend.”

“Tell me.”

Soames’ eyes pinched closed. The lids were red and swollen as if he’d done a lot of crying. “I can’t.”

“Why?”

“You don’t understand. The Doctor—”

“Zero is long gone, Soames,” Fenn said. “He can’t harm you now.”

“Maybe not. But there are others.”

“Who?”

Soames said nothing. A tear was rolling down his cheek.

Fenn had to proceed cautiously. If he upset the man too much, Luce would send him away and never let him back in. And Soames was a wealth of information. Fenn didn’t know this to be fact, it was just a feeling that Soames was somehow important in all this. The only man who held the key to the mystery of Eddy Zero and Lisa Lochmere and the rest of this God-awful mess. But how to get said key. That was the question.

“I need answers, Soames. I need to know what you know. You found out things during your investigation, didn’t you? I need to know what.”

“I lost my mind during that investigation. I don’t know what held it together before, but that was the final straw.”

“Tell me about Eddy Zero. What did you learn?”

“Nothing.”

“Did you tell Dr. Lochmere everything you found out?”

Soames was silent for some time. Then: “I won’t tell you. I can’t tell you. I’m a coward. Can’t you see that? You’ll have to find out on your own.”

Fenn sighed. “All right. Where do I start?”

Soames grinned madly, his eyes wide and shining. “You start with Cherry Hill,” he said and began to laugh.

He never stopped.