Chapter 2: Attacked without honor

“Slow down William, what do you mean your hard drive has been stolen. I thought we had everything on your laptop, and its right here. OH! You kept a 10 terabyte back up hard drive in the safe in your downtown office and its gone now. How would you know it was gone, your a ghost, a immaterial spirit, damn it William. OH! You don’t need to open the safe to see in the safe. OK, I can buy that, that makes sense. After all if you can walk through walls what’s a mere steel safe door to you. What do you mean that 10 of your female patents are gone too. Who else knew the combination to your safe William. For that matter wasn’t the hard drive password protected. Just the Executor of your Will, and the law firm of Brown, Barns & Cohand.”

“I thought Beverly was the court appointed Executor of your estate William?” Well yes, she is, but the law firm was holding the Will, and other papers for Probate, and they needed the combination to your safe. They were managing the estates of the 10 women patients that are now missing too. All heiresses of large fortunes.” Mark seemed to be having a lively conversation with himself at the moment.

“Do you know your giving me and the other girls a headache Master.” Beverly finally told Mark with the other girls all nodding their heads vigorously in agreement.

“OK, it seems that your father Beverly had a back up copy of the laptop’s hard drive safely stashed away in his office safe when he died. He also had at least 10, maybe more, wealthy young heiresses as his patents that he used the “Program” on. Now it appears that somebody at the Firm, I say probably at the Firm because it isn’t proven yet, has managed to run off with the hard drive and these heiresses, because William has checked and they’re all gone.” Mark told the gathered group. I guess you would have to say harem.

“Ok. We gathered that he can float through steel safes, but how does he know the heiresses are gone?” Mary Gillis asked.

“Mary, most ghosts can and do wander around, physical things like, walls, buildings, fences have no effect on ghosts. Patty on the other hand can’t leave the boundary of this house for some reason I haven’t sorted it out yet. Most of the time ghosts are place oriented. Once a average ghost has visited a physical location he can go back to that location instantaneously by just thinking of it again. They are not where he left them. This would be so much simpler if ghosts were person oriented, rather than place oriented.

“I hate to be crass about this Master,” Joe Ann Wardly, a bff of Beverly’s, cut in, “but what about the money? I mean even if THEY, whoever THEY are, did managed to take control of the heiresses they will still need assess to the money. Well I assume that’s what this is mainly about, and it’s much harder to hide the money’s trail than the young women themselves, ha, ha. Women who, if I’m not sadly mistaken, ha, ha, are probably actively helping them hide, tee, he, he.” Joe Ann Wardly told everyone and giggled cutely.

The group of women now working with Mark, for lack of a better descriptive word, or definition, we’ll call his “harem”, consisted of, Joe Ann Wardly, and Sue Straton, Beverly’s two school friends, Mary Gillis, Paige Van Holt, and Eva Savagiou, were the three prettiest of Daddy’s patents, and Nicole Klineman was from Beverly’s yoga class, a so-called target of opportunity, ha, ha.

“I don’t feel good about this, but I guess we will have to allow you to posses Beverly again if we are going to get the full story out of you William.” Mark finally begrudgingly conceded. So shortly Beverly was once again possessed by William, and he was telling his story to the gathering.

“As I’ve told you I had spent 35 years of my life studying to be a Psychiatrist. I want you all to understand I thought Psychiatry was my great calling, I wasn’t in it for the money. That’s typically at least 30 or more years of hard work. High school graduation at age 18. 4 years of college means you are 22, 4 years of medical school means you are now 26. Average of 4 years of residency training means 30. College 4 years. Medical school 4 years. Residency another 3 to 7 years +/- fellowship. 29-35+ years old. So I was 35 when I started up my Psychiatric practice. As I found out fast I had no bed side manner. OH, I got plenty of referrals, but they didn’t come back. I was slowly going broke, until I had my great epiphany.” At that point Beverly/William paused and looked around at the group before going on.

“In my studying at the Harvard medical school library I stumbled across an old copy of a book that the German Doctor Franz Anton Mesmer, (1734-1815), had written, and had published in France in 1779, 10 years before the French Revolution started. It was in the back reference part of the old library that nobody visited anymore and more or less hidden behind a row of larger medical books on an upper shelf almost out of reach, plus it was written in German. It was a small 4.25” x 6.87” by maybe one half inch thick text book sized bound hard cover book.”

“Messier was a German physician with an interest in astronomy. He theorized the existence of a natural energy transference occurring between all animated and inanimate objects. He called this, “animal magnetism”. One of my high school teachers had encouraged me to learn German, and I was able to read it. The book detailed his research into his brand of hypnosis that he called Mesmerism. At first I thought he had an over inflated ego, an egomaniac even.”

“One other thing I learned after a little more research, was the book had a large red circle with a cross in the center and some by now unreadable Latin phrases around the circle in thick red paint, or maybe wax, on the front cover. On further study I found that it was the symbol of the Roman Catholic Church’s Holy Office of Inquisition in the 17th and 18th century, meaning the book was proscribed as heresy by the Church and ordered to be burned.”

“Anyway I was interested in the book and in fact I stole the book and took it home to read and study. Now with my private practice failing I got it back out and practiced what the book taught and before long I was a very successful and noted Hypnotherapist in California. So successful in fact that the “Firm” looked me up. My success was my eventual downfall, ha, ha.”

“It seems that there are degrees of rich Mark. There is the so called Nouveau riche, French for “new rich”, and old rich, “old money”, Mark. One can define social status in relation to wealth, and to the power that wealth grants the owner. It is even argued that the upper ruling classes have legitimized their standing in society ... their rule, with claims of status, honor, and moral superiority. Some in the ruling classes even make claims ascribing their superiority to wealth inherited through “blood” ... and the concept of “proper breeding”.”

“The nouveau riche on the other hand use their new wealth to allow upward social mobility and it provides them the means for “conspicuous consumption”, buying goods and services that signal their membership in upper class society. The “nouveau riche” describes the vulgarity and ostentation of the newly rich who lacks the worldly experience and the system of values of “old money”, inherited wealth, such as the nobility, and the gentry.”

“Anyway I was recruited ... no, I was blackmailed into becoming a tool of the “Firm”. I admit they had evidence that I had taken certain liberties with certain female patents under my care...” Mark broke in.

“Making sex slaves William?” Mark asked.

“No Mark at first it was just them having a better opinion of me ... to like me a little more ... to want to follow my orders a little more, but as you well know, “power corrupts absolute power corrupts absolutely”. At the time the “Firm” contacted me I hadn’t slipped that far, but it was bad enough. Have you ever heard of a “Spendthrift Trust”? Well it’s a trust that restrains the voluntary and involuntary transfer of the beneficiary’s interest in the trust. They are often established when the beneficiary is too young, or doesn’t have the mental capacity to manage their own money. Spendthrift trusts typically contain a provision prohibiting creditors from attaching the trust fund to satisfy the beneficiary’s debts. Of course the aim is also to prevent it from being used as security to obtain credit. They have become an “in thing” with the “old money” trans-generational families ... really Dynasty’s, and now the “nouveau riche”, that want to establish a Dynasty, ha, ha.” William was telling us all his story.

“Lets say your 5th or 6th generation “old money” and your 70 or 80 years old and you want to take care of your great-granddaughter, or even your great-great-granddaughter...” Eva Savagiou, one of William’s patents broke in.

“Why not just leave it to his son or daughter?” She asked.

“Well truthfully Eva, his son and daughter are well educated and financially well off, and their own sons and daughter are too, but the great-granddaughter is always in trouble. Drugs, gambling, the wrong crowd, a real disaster. He wants to be sure she’s taken care of so he establishes this trust for her. It sees that she can continue to enjoy the comforts of her class standing, food, cloths, dinning out, things like that, but she can’t just give it all to her drug pusher, or just gamble it away...” Eva butted in again.

“What’s this got to do with you?” Eva demanded.

“Well as you might imagine great-great-granddaddy’s trusted old law firm just happens to be related to Brown, Barns & Cohand LLC, and BBC has relationships with other old trusted law firms around the country, around the world really, and now they have formed the “Firm”. The “Firm” has now found it has another valuable asset to sell, mainly the great-great-granddaughter herself, ha, ha. Yes, she is a fine piece of “blooded Thoroughbred breeding stock” Eva...” Eva breaks in again.

“OH! Now your referring to us! Yes, I’m one of those great-great-granddaughters! Your referring to me ... us ... as ... as ... as brood mares ... breeding stock.” William cut Eva off.

“If the shoe fits wear it Eva. Why do you think Beverly had such an easy time hypnotizing you and your other two sisters to be in Mark’s harem? I had already completed my “Program” on you.” William told her.

“Blooded Thoroughbred stock?” Paige Van Holt, another one of Beverly’s father’s patents whined out loud.

“In a 1857 book, Horse and Horsemanship, English author Henry William Herbert describes “blood” as “descent, through the American, or English race-horse, from the oriental blood of the desert horse,” referring to the Arabian horses that were the ancestors of the Thoroughbred. In the same book, he contrasts the blood horse with the “cold-blooded cart horse”. An 1871 article in the former southern US agrarian journal, Southern Cultivator, also uses blood to point to pure breeding, using blood horse to refer specifically to Thoroughbreds. Indeed, the two ideas are related as hot-blooded can describe an Arabian or Thoroughbred horse. In this case we are referring to the great-granddaughter’s bloodline and her hot-blooded disposition.” William told everybody.

“Yes, why refer to us as “Blooded Thoroughbred stock”?” Mary Gillis asked.

“Online Auctions and inquires are held online on the Internet and in person Mary. The government ... all governments ... listen into the Internet ... even the so called “Dark Web”, all the time so this is their code.” William told Mary.

“Who would want to buy me?” Paige whined to everyone.

“Actually, Paige my dear you are in the Marquis American book of Who’s Who. Well your great-great-grandfather and great-grandfather were anyway. That is your bloodline my dear. These upstart nouveau riche billionaires that are popping up and then disappearing all the time, set great stock in owning someone of your bloodline. They put great stock in owning the fastest race horse, the most luxurious car, so they can go on social media and brag that their wife ... or mistress ... what have you ... comes from ... well you get the picture my dear.” William chuckled out loud evilly.

“Their, the “Firm’s”, only problem was you were all really unsaleable the way you were. Take you for instance Paige. At 11 you had a drug abuse and sex abuse problem, face it you was a common slut. You were in and out of rehab every other week. You sought emancipation from your whole family at 14, had an abortion at 16. Honestly Paige you were close to an early grave.” William told the group Paige’s history.

“I was misunderstood, nobody really loved me, I was just acting out to get attention.” Paige started telling the group.

“OH, you paid attention during your group counseling sessions, you had all the excuses down pat Paige. Anyway that’s why I got called in by the “Firm”, and “Made An Offer I Couldn’t Refuse”, ha, ha, ha. It appeared that I had a, “Too Successful Psychiatrist/Hypnotherapist Practice”, who knew that was even possible? The other Psychiatrists in my area it turned out were jealous of my success and went behind my back and reported me to the American Medical Association, and American Psychiatric Association. They even went to the state Attorney General and local District Attorney, when I wouldn’t share my technique with them.”

“Understand Mark that they had no real proof of any wrong doing on my part. My nursing assistant, Loris Smith, who was in college at the time and expected to become a psychiatrist herself in the future was the first woman I practiced the technique on. She actually volunteered to help me, and allowed me to practice on her after I explained the practice was going under and we needed this to save the business. She was happily married, but I was already having a wild affair with her in the office before all this, ha, ha. The affair had nothing to do with the new hypnotic technique I was trying to develop believe it or not, but when the technique proved so successful on her I did the rest of the staff who were all women ... well female anyway. In fact, Mesmer’s technique only seems to work on females, for some odd reason males seem to be immune to it.”

“Higher education, the ivory towers of academia, live under the harsh Rule of “Publish or Perish” Mark. “Publish or Perish” is an aphorism describing the pressure to publish academic work in order to succeed in an academic career. Such institutional pressure is generally strongest at research universities. Some researchers have identified the publish or perish environment as a contributing factor to the replication crisis in the field of Psychiatry now. No really new research is being done because of the need to continually publish. Successful publications bring attention to scholars and their sponsoring institutions.”

“Since I was in private practice I had no need, or even desire, to publish the findings of my research for my lessor colleagues to copy, and make use of. Also my staff were all very personally loyal to me now, so I wasn’t afraid one of them was going to give anything away. Also by this time I had developed a reputation in the general community as the go to Psychiatrist when you had a tough patient to deal with, and all my patents gave me glowing reviews after their initial treatment. I guess I should have expected it, but it sort of caught me flat footed when my back stabbing colleagues tried to slip in a ringer.”

“Janet Pilgrim was refereed to me by Doctor Onslow, one of my former medical school professors. She had just turned 18 and was a senior in the 12th grade. Of course she didn’t attend public school she attended a very fancy expensive private college preparatory academy. She had been arrested in the department store for stealing a $42.99, 3.4 oz bottle, of Obsession for women eau de parfum spray from Loveman’s downtown department store. She was the youngest of three daughters from a very wealthy affluent family. There were a number of lawyers, judges, a state supreme court judge, even a sitting US senator, in the family tree. Her father was a federal judge and her mother was on the board of several well known charities. There was no apparent reason for Janet to have stolen the parfum.”

“I was given all this information by Doctor Onslow before I visited her in her holding cell before she was released on bail. I was only doing this as a personal favor for an old friend I thought at the time. After my short interview there didn’t appear anything wrong with her. No dilated pupils, no disorganized speech, no sweating, no shaking hands, no obvious sign that anything was wrong with her. All of which I reported back to Doctor Onslow and her family. A preliminary hearing was set for the next morning in the judge’s private chambers.”

“Loveman’s it seemed had just undergone a management change, and had hired a new company to handle their security. The new company and Loveman’s upper management wanted to make poor Janet an example to other shoplifters. The multi-million dollar losses Loveman’s had suffered in the past two years was the main reason they had changed their security. The District Attorney was newly elected, and had run on a law and order platform, and he was all in for prosecuting her to the full extent of the law. Me you ask? I was her new Psychiatrist.”

“The “Firm”, well Brown, Barns & Cohand LLC anyway, was called in to make it all go away. The first thing the “Firm’s” lawyer, Earskin Matson, brought up at the arraignment hearing, after reviewing the VHS security tapes that Loveman’s security team was so proud of, was to point out that Janet was arrested before she left the store.

“Gentlemen we all know its a myth that the person, in this case Miss Pilgrim, has to actually leave the store to prove the necessary element of intent to deprive you the retailer of your profit. My client at the time of her false arrest and imprisonment was clearly still shopping with no intent to leave your fine store when your agents rudely arrested, patted her down, and handcuffed her hands behind her back, in full public view humiliating her before her peers. A presumption of intent might be established when the person is observed concealing merchandise on, or within, the belongings of her person, and subsequently passes the last point of sale without making any attempt to pay for the concealed merchandise.”

“But the camera clearly shows her dropping the box of parfum into her purse...” The store manager almost shouted before the “Firm’s” lawyer cut him off.

“Miss Pilgrim has never denied the box of parfum was in her purse, I think its called a Jet Set shoulder bag by the way Mister Greg, but was it concealed? My client says no, it was just a convenient way to carry it around while she continued shopping. Was there an intent to steal? Once again my client points out that she had not passed the last point of sale, meaning the vulgar cash register. When a retailer, such as yourself Mister Greg, is unsure as to whether the suspected shoplifter has the intent to commit theft, it is generally a safer more prudent course of action to consider all of the facts and circumstances surrounding the particular incident.” The “Firm’s” lawyer schooled the store manager.

“While simply concealing merchandise may, but not always, give rise to a presumption of intent, it will at least give a retailer reasonable grounds to detain the suspected shoplifter in a reasonable manner, and for a reasonable length of time, for the express purpose of investigating whether, or not, a theft has in fact occur. It is not prudent, or reasonable, to just willy-nilly rush in and lay hands on my innocent client causing her untold traumatic psychological damage. Damage she may continue to suffer for years to come Mister Greg. We have already had to bring in her new Psychiatrist because of that trauma.” The “Firm’s” lawyer pointed at me and paused to allow all this to sink in.

“I understand our Governor Newsom has recently signed a new law into effect which makes shoplifting a felony, even if it is below the $950 limit threshold, if ... and this is a big...”if” ... if the theft is part of an organized ring, or gang, with the expressed intent to sell the stolen goods. Sadly, I fear, this may have little effect on shoplifting, given that most of these petty thefts are by individuals, rather than organized groups. Even if arrested, they are far more likely to be given a citation for shoplifting by police officers, they will only typically receive a “civil demand letter” saying you must pay the retailer restitution, or you will be sued in court. Stealing merchandise worth $950, or less, is just a misdemeanor, which means that law enforcement probably won’t even bother to investigate, and if they do, prosecutors more than likely will let it go.” The “Firm’s” lawyer finished up for his more or less captive audience.

“But it was a good arrest...” Mister Greg was still mumbling when the store’s lawyer, and ADA, cut him off.

“Or, we can elect to pursue this matter further in criminal court gentlemen where my client will suffer even more traumatic psychological damage in addition to the original false arrest and false imprisonment? Treating my client as a common criminal putting her very life in danger by locking her up with common riffraff. Mister Greg are you even aware that my client has an unlimited charge account with your store? That the family and friends spends thousands of dollars at your store annually?” The “Firm’s” lawyer asked with a straight face.

“What do you want damn it?” The store’s lawyer, and ADA, asked together at the same time admitting defeat.

“My client is not a spiteful vindictive person gentlemen, she even somewhat understands and even sympathizes somewhat with the predicament you now find yourselves in. Petty theft, shoplifting, costs retail stores such as yourselves millions of dollars, and drives up the costs of goods. My client, against my better professional judgment, and against my recommendation I might add, is willing to settle for her release, and a written apology from the store and the state for her abominable treatment.” The “Firm’s” lawyer, Earskin Matson, informed them all. In hours, paper work is never instantaneous, she was once again free, and I had a new client for counseling ... not a patient for treatment.”

“Before leaving the courthouse Earskin made Miss Pilgrim set up an appointment with me for counseling the next week Mark.”

“Maybe a little history is in order here Mark. German Doctor Franz Anton Mesmer, (1734-1815), did not teach openly in France. His students, really aristocratic highborn, were devoted disciples. They paid huge sums of money to join his “Society of Harmony”, one of many “Secret Societies”, and “Exclusive Social Clubs”, in Paris, France at that time. They paid handsomely to learn his secrets.”