The Naked Face by Sidney Sheldon Page A

for you when you get back. Be careful, Doctor.' 'I will,' Judd said gratefully. And he hung up. Next he phoned Harrison Burke's employer and briefly explained Burke's situation. There was no choice but to have him committed as soon as possible. Judd then called Peter, explained that he had to go out of town for a week, and asked him to make the necessary arrangements for Burke. Peter agreed. The decks were clear. The thing that disturbed Judd the most was that he would be unable to see Anne on Friday. Perhaps he would never see her again. As he drove back towards his apartment, he thought about Norman Z. Moody. He had an idea what Moody was up to. By having Judd notify all his patients that he was going away, Moody was making sure that if one of Judd's patients was the killer - if there was a killer - a trap, using Judd as the bait, would be set for him. Moody had instructed him to leave his forwarding address with his telephone exchange and with the doorman at the apartment building. He was making certain that everyone would know where Judd was going. When Judd pulled up in front of the apartment house, Mike was there to greet him. 'I'm leaving on a trip in the morning, Mike,' Judd informed him. 'Will you make sure the garage services my car and fills the tank?' 'I'll have it taken care of, Dr. Stevens. What time will you be needing the car?' 'I'll be leaving at seven.' Judd sensed Mike watching him as he walked into the apartment building. When he entered his apartment, he locked the doors and carefully checked the windows. Everything seemed to be in order. He took two codeine pills, got undressed, and ran a hot bath, gingerly easing his aching body into it, feeling the tensions soaking out of his back and neck. He lay in the blessedly relaxing tub, thinking. Why had Moody warned him not to let the car break down on the road? Because that was the most likely place for him to be attacked, somewhere on a lonely road in the Catskills And what could Moody do about it if Judd were attacked? Moody had refused to tell him what his plan was - if there was a plan. The more Judd examined it, the more convinced he became that he was walking into a trap. Moody had said he was setting it up for Judd's pursuers. But no matter how many times he went over it, the answer always came out the same: the trap seemed designed to catch Judd. But why? What interest could Moody have in getting him killed? My God, thought Judd. I've picked a name at random out of the yellow pages of the Manhattan Telephone Directory and I believe he wants to have me murdered! I am paranoiac! He felt his eyes beginning to close. The pills and the hot bath had done their work well. Wearily he pulled himself out of the tub, carefully patted his bruised body dry with a fluffy towel, and put on a pair of pyjamas. He got into bed and set the electric alarm clock for six. The Catskills, he thought. It was an appropriate name. And he fell into a deep, exhausted sleep.
    At six am, when the alarm went off, Judd was instantly awake. As though there had been no time lapse at all, his first thought was, I don't believe in a series of coincidences and I don't believe that one of my patients is a mass murderer. Ergo, I am either a paranoiac, or am becoming one. What he needed was to consult another psychoanalyst without delay. He would phone Dr. Robbie. He knew that it would mean the end of his professional career, but there was no help for it. If he were suffering from paranoia, they would have to commit him. Did Moody suspect that he was dealing with a mental case? Was that why he suggested a vacation? Not because he believed anyone was after Judd's life, but because he could see the signs of a nervous breakdown? Perhaps the wisest course would be to follow Moody's advice and go to the Catskills for a few days. Alone, with all the pressures removed, he could calmly try to evaluate himself, try to reason out when Ms mind had started to trick him, when he had begun to lose touch