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.processtext.com/abclit.htmlI smiled."If you mean am I in trouble with the law, the answer is no.My troubles actually involve another country,and I am going to have to go back there shortly."His face relaxed again, and there was a small glint behind his bifocals."Are you some sort of military adviser in that place?"I nodded."Can you tell me where?"I shook my head."Sorry.""That I can sort of understand," he said."Dr.Roth told me what you said had happened last night.Offthe record now, was it connected with whatever you have been doing?"I nodded again."That makes things a little clearer," he said."Not much, but enough.I won't even ask you which agency,or even if there is one.I have always known you to be a gentleman, and a rational one at that.That waswhy I grew curious at the time of your disappearance and did some investigating.I felt a bit officious andself-conscious about it.But your civil status was quite puzzling, and I wanted to know what hadhappened.Mainly, because I was concerned about you.I hope that doesn't disturb you.""Disturb me?" I said."There aren't that many people who care what happens to me.I'm grateful.Also,curious what you discovered.I never had the time to look into it, you know, to straighten things out.Howabout telling me what you learned?"He opened the briefcase and withdrew a manila folder.Spreading it across his knees, he shuffled outseveral sheets of yellow paper covered with neat handwriting.Raising the first of these, he regarded it amoment, then said, "After you escaped from the hospital in Albany and had your accident, Brandonapparently dropped out of the picture and-""Stop!" I said, raising my hand, trying to sit up."What?" he asked."You have the order wrong, also the place," I said."First came the accident, and Greenwood is not inAlbany.""I know," he said."I was referring to the Porter Sanitarium, where you spent two days and thenescaped.You had your accident that same day, and you were brought here as a result of it.Then yoursister Evelyn entered the picture.She had you transferred to Greenwood, where you spent a couple ofweeks before departing on your own motion once again.Right?""Partly," I said."Namely, the last part.As I was telling the doctor earlier, my memory is shot for acouple of days prior to the accident.This business about a place in Albany does sort of seem to ring abell, but only very faintly.Do you have more on it?" Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html"Oh yes," he said."It may even have something to do with the state of your memory.You werecommitted on a bum order-""By whom?" He shook the paper and peered."'Brother, Brandon Corey; attendant physician, Hillary B.Rand, psychiatrist," he read."Hear any morebells?""Quite possibly," I said."Go ahead.""Well, an order got signed on that basis," he said."You were duly certified, taken into custody, andtransported.Then, concerning your memory.""Yes?""I don't know that much about the practice and its effects on the memory, but you were subjected toelectroshock therapy while you were at Porter.Then, as I said, the record indicates that you escapedafter the second day.You apparently recovered your car from some unspecified locale and were headingback this way when you had the accident.""That seems right," I said."It does." For a moment, when he had begun talking, I had had a wild visionof having been returned to the wrong shadow-one where everything was similar, but not congruent.Now, though, I did not believe this to be the case.I was responding to this story on some level."Now, about that order," he said."It was based on false evidence, but there was no way of the court'sknowing it at the time.The real Dr.Rand was in England when everything happened, and when Icontacted him later he had never heard of you.His office had been broken into while he was away,though.Also, peculiarly, his middle initial is not B.He had never heard of Brandon Corey either.""What did become of Brandon?""He simply vanished.Several attempts were made to contact him at the time of your escape from Porter,but he could not be found.Then you had the accident, were brought here and treated.At that time, awoman named Evelyn Flaumel, who represented herself as your sister, contacted this place, told themyou had been probated and that the family wanted you transferred to Greenwood.In the absence ofBrandon, who had been appointed your guardian, her instructions were followed, as the only availablenext of kin.That was how it came about that you were sent to the other place.You escaped again, acouple of weeks later, and that is where my chronology ends.""Then what is my legal status right now?" I asked."Oh, you've been made whole," he said."Dr.Rand went down after I talked with him and gave the courtan affidavit reciting these facts.The order was vacated.""Then why is the doctor here acting as if I might be a psycho case?""Oh my! That is a thought.It hadn't occurred to me.All their records here would show is that one timeyou apparently were.I had better see him on the way out.I have a copy of the journal entry in here, too.I can show it to him.""How long was it after I left Greenwood that things were set right with the court?" Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html"The following month," he said."It was several weeks before I could bring myself to get nosy
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