Razor Edge: Razor Trilogy Three (Razor Thriller Romance Novella Book 3) by Nadine Doolittle Page A

you’re telling us Joel has been leaving
the apartment every afternoon during his practicing of the cello to wander the
halls of the mansion.” Detective Lewis appeared interested.
    “I wouldn’t go that far. A lot would depend
on his desire to stay in the room at the time,” Dr. Wendell replied. “Please
remember, that in a hypnotic state, a person can not be manipulated to do
something that is not a subconscious desire.”
    “Did you ever see a violent side to Joel?”
    Everyone turned to look at me, except
Daniel.
    The doctor considered my question
carefully. “No, but I did see expressions of repressed rage toward his mother.
When I brought the subject up, the patient was unwilling to discuss it. In
fact, he denied having any such feelings at all. If we had more time, I believe
we would have got the source of his anger and given a safe environment to
express it, he might have made fast progress. It is possible that his anger was
simply due to the fact that she died. It’s not uncommon for young children to
be furious with parents who die and then suffer tremendous guilt. We’ll never
know because my treatment of Joel was terminated soon after.”
    “What?” Daniel raised his head.
    “Well, you must know. The order came from
you. My receptionist took the message; she has it in her file. Everything is
recorded now. She has a digital voice recording of the phone call. It came from
your office. I was told that Joel’s treatment was being discontinued. My
services were no longer needed.”
    Lewis broke in, impatient with us hijacking
his interview. “So we have a piece of music that acts as a trigger for Joel to
leave the apartment. Who besides yourself knew that by playing this music they
could have access to Joel, possibly even use it to control him?”
    “No one. My files are kept confidential.”
    I sat up. “They didn’t have to have access
to the file. They just had to be in the house to hear the music and see what
happened next. Who was in the house at the time the doctor was with Joel?” I
looked at Marshall.
    “Of the regular staff, there was myself,
Jackson, Joyce and Wilma. Of the four of us, Jackson has the least access. It
would be very difficult for him to move about the upper rooms without
attracting attention. So that would leave me, Joyce and Wilma. Joyce is
partially deaf; I doubt she would be able to hear music and furthermore her
work was the other side of the house. My work keeps me downstairs during the
day. Which leaves Wilma. ”
    Lewis nodded, satisfied. “I think we have a
winner.”
    “What was the name of the music?” I asked.
    “It was a mournful piece,” said the
psychiatrist. “I believe it was an adagio. Rather a sad composition. It seemed
to mean that a lot to Joel, though he would not say why. He was secretive. I
did my best to encourage his trust but it was difficult. It was difficult to
break through his barriers.”
    I knew the piece. Adagio for Strings, op 11. Wilma had manipulated him using the
music played after 9/11.

 
    *

 
    THE POLICE didn’t leave the mansion until
dusk. Daniel paced, answering half-a-dozen questions and generally looked
anxious to have them away from the house.
    I knew why.
    He was going to find Joel and try to get
him out of the country before Lewis figured out Wilma’s boyfriend wasn’t the
murderer. I thought the detective would pick up on the raincoat she was wearing
and her blonde hair and put two and two together. He didn’t.
    We wanted to believe Joel was innocent. In
a way, he was. Wilma had been tormenting him for weeks, posing as his dead
mother. He finally snapped. I tried to remember what he told me about the
proxy, but my brain was fogged from lack of sleep and stress. Daniel and I both
knew Wilma was working with Carsten . How it must have
scared the shit out of him to discover his accomplice was dead.
    It was over now. Daniel had Joel’s proxy;
the deal would be killed and Joel...?
    I couldn’t feel anything for