Chapter 5: Chris Beaker

Chris laid back on the mattress in the cell and relaxed, what he was doing was using his library to find out what other spells he could use, he realised that his bicycle rusting spell could be invoked to keep on going and he smiled to himself, in many ways it would be an improvement on his karma as many people knew it was illegal to ride their cycles on the pavements and in pedestrianised areas but still did it regardless.

He found the book that held the spell and then it pointed to another spell to increase the longevity of the spell and its location, he saw that he only had to visualise the area in his mind and that would set the boundaries of the spell.

He felt his arm being touched and opened his eyes; a police officer was standing over him with another man watching. "Mr. Beaker? Are you alright or is there a problem?" The officer asked.

Chris smiled, "I'm fine officer, just a by-product of the drug that Dr. Wilkinson injected me with just before I was able to escape her clutches." He said.

The man with the officer looked interested, "Did you have many sessions with Dr. Wilkinson where you had to be sedated?" He asked.

Chris shook his head, "No, the only time she did that was when I said I was stopping my appointments, she was watching a meal ticket getting away I suppose." Chris said.

The man shook his head, "I need to examine you, you see I'm the local doctor and have to check if you are fit to be interviewed, I have to say that at first glance you appear to be alright..." He left the last bit unsaid.

Chris laughed, "But you should never judge on first glances, I could be a raving maniac, except that wouldn't be what I wanted you to see."

The doctor nodded and then stood back as the police officer walked in front of Chris showing him to an office with an eyesight chart and some locked cupboards. With the police officer staying in the room the doctor took a stethoscope from the bag he was holding and asked Chris to remove his jacket and shirt.

The doctor listened to Chris' heart and lungs and then checked his eyes with an Ophthalmoscope checking on the pupil dilations. Then he put down his instruments, placing them into his bag which he closed and locked before turning back to Chris.

"So Mr. Beaker or can I call you Chris?" The doctor asked in a friendly manner.

Chris smiled, "Chris is fine doctor, and I take it this is the psychiatric part of the examination?" He asked.

The doctor nodded, "I'm afraid so, does that cause you any problems?"

Chris sighed, "Not really, I know that with the officer present there is a witness to what is asked, whereas with Doctor Wilkinson there was nobody else there so the main source of her information is whatever she creates."

The doctor blinked, "What do you mean about whatever she creates? Surely you don't expect her to alter any information?"

Chris laughed, "Of course I do doctor, take this morning. I gave an interview to an ITV person, when they played it back they had altered the sequence of words, luckily the story was the same, but I'm sure if they wanted they could have made me say anything, given enough time and equipment. As a computer programmer I do know about altering digital data." He added.

The doctor didn't comment on that, "Alright then Chris, may I ask why you saw Doctor Wilkinson in the first place?"

Chris looked around, "Are you recording this doctor, if you are then I suggest you pass a copy onto whoever's going to be questioning me later."

The doctor shook his head. "I'm sorry Chris but I'm not allowed to make any recordings just notes, so I'll ask again why did you see Doctor Wilkinson?"

Chris nodded and leaned back in his chair. "I'd been working hard on a program for the company I work for, taking too much time at the computer and not enough sleeping, then I found I couldn't sleep because of the dreams I was having, the company suggested I saw Doctor Wilkinson to see if she could help me."

"And did she?" The doctor asked.

"At first she seemed to be helping, but then I realized that the tablets she was giving me weren't doing anything. I asked her for some stronger ones but then decided not to take them."

"And why was that?" The doctor asked.

Chris smiled, "I finally realised that the reason why I wasn't sleeping correctly was that I was concentrating too much on the work, once I realised that I changed my working pattern and everything went back to normal, I even finished the project ahead of time. It was due to that I was able to take time off. I tried to cancel my appointment with Doctor Wilkinson but she told me I had to attend, so I went to her office and explained why I was finishing and then she tried to attack me with a syringe, I managed to escape from her office and stumble to the train station, I woke up as the train was travelling though Swindon."

"How did you get onto the train?" The doctor asked.

Chris shook his head, "I've no idea ... I must have a guardian angel watching over me. But that is my story Doctor, what do you think?"

"You appear to be cognitive of your location, you are lucid in your responses, I can find no effects of drugs now in your system, but a blood test might be needed to resolve that anyway. I judge that you are in full command of your reactions. In short I can't find anything wrong with you in the short term." The doctor said with a smile.

Chris snorted with laughter, "But you can't comment about the long term isn't that right?" He said with a smile.

The doctor laughed, "Nobody can comment on the long term, there are too many variables involved. But I can't find anything dangerous about you. By the way who is Sar'ha?" He dropped the name in as an afterthought.

Chris was expecting this at some stage, "That was the name of an avatar in the programme, I was using that one mainly and so it was more on my mind, sort of association while I was having problems. But that is all it was." Chris said and gave a silent apology to Sar'ha as he said it, feeling warmth coming back in return.

Chris was escorted back to his cell and the door closed, Chris realised that he needed to find out what was happening outside so he sat on the bench/bed and reviewed a spell, "Hermes." He said after muttering the spell and a white light, visible only to Chris appeared, "you know what to do." He said and the light flew towards the door and passed through it.

Hermes flew around the station, learning what doors went where — quickly backing out of the ladies toilet — and then found the doctor who was talking with another man, he listened into the conversation.

"So you're saying that there is no evidence that this Chris Beaker is dangerous?" the man behind the desk was saying, Hermes recognised him as Detective Inspector O'Neil.

"That is correct; from the purely informal interview I gave he was completely stable and showed no signs of any abnormality. I would have said that there was nothing wrong with him at all. His assertation that it was due to overwork is plausible and has been documented in several cases. I would say that he was safe to be released into the public." The doctor said.

O'Neil looked at a sheet of paper in his hand; it was a faxed report from Doctor Wilkinson saying that Chris Beaker was suffering from depression and anxiety attacks which suddenly causes him to lash out at other people when pressed. She recommended that Chris was sedated as soon as he was detained and sent to such and such hospital in Essex which was able to deal with such people.

"You've seen a copy of this?" O'Neil said holding up the sheet.

"Of course, but I disagree with her assessment of Mr. Beaker, I mentioned the Sar'ha name to him and he told me it was part of the programme he was working on, there was no hesitation in his voice, no threat in his body posture, I trust him." The doctor said

"So what am I to do? So far we've kept his arrest from the papers and television, but we have to do something soon. With this information I'm obliged to have him sectioned for tests, but from your examination I should release him." O'Neil looked at the doctor.

"I'm sorry but that isn't in my remit, I can only give you his state of mind at the moment, any major decisions are up to you." The doctor picked up his bag and bade O'Neil goodbye before leaving. Hermes invisibly stayed in the office watching.

O'Neil looked at the Wilkinson fax and then at the papers the doctor had handed over, he got up and walked to the window with his hands behind his back. "What to do? What to do." He muttered and started to pace, stopping before a map of Bath. Finally making up his mind he went back to his desk and picked up a phone, he dialled a number.

"O'Neil here, I've got the Beaker guy, but I'm getting a lot of flak from upstairs. What does the guy know about us? ... Then why the hell am I involved? ... Okay, keep your hair on, look all I can do is to get him section, then he's out of circulation for a couple of months at least ... No, I can't do that ... I'm certain! ... Just let me deal with this my way." He said and then hung up.

Going to a directory he picked up the phone again and dialled a number, "Hello, can I have the psychiatric admissions please, DI O'Neil, Bath Police here." There was a slight pause, "Hello Doctor White, O'Neil here, I have a Chris Beaker in custody here, yes that person. I also have two conflicting reports about his state of mind, is it possible that he can be admitted for tests to check his mental state? ... What? 4 Hours? Why that long? I see ... well I suppose we can keep him on ice for that length of time ... okay Doctor we'll have him ready for transport in 4 hours time." O'Neil said and put the phone down; he then picked up an internal phone and dialled a number. "Custody suite, O'Neil here, prisoner Beaker is going to be sectioned in 4 hours time, can you ensure that nobody sees him until then ... I don't care about the duty solicitor ... well tell him Beaker's changed his mind. I don't want him seen by anybody got it?" O'Neil put the phone down sharply.

Hermes seemed to glow brighter and then he zipped through O'Neil's computer which gave a few sparks and the screen exploded, Hermes gave a small, unheard, giggle and then returned to Chris giving him a report of what had happened.

Back in Cell 9 Chris listened to Hermes story and gave a smile that was almost feral, "I don't think I want that to happen." He said and then rang the bell to attract attention. After a few minutes a constable looked in through the hatch in the door.

"Yeah? What do you want?" The constable asked.

"I need to see the duty solicitor, why hasn't he arrived yet?" Chris asked.

"We're trying to locate one for you, just taking time that's all." The constable said and was going to close the hatch when Chris stopped him

"I'm sorry officer but you've gone against the rules as laid out, I should have seen the solicitor before I was questioned by the doctor, you have gone against PACE and I want to make an official complaint. I've been cautioned but that was to put me into custody for my own safety, at the moment I find that I'm at risk here, and if I don't see anyone I will leave and take legal advice outside," Chris said and added, "please make a note of what I've said."

The constable gave a grin, "You, get out of here? Don't make me laugh." He said and closed the hatch.

"Well, I did tell you." Chris said and then concentrated speaking a few words, in the air a cell phone appeared, Chris noted it was fully charged and had a good signal, he dialled 118 212 to get a directory enquiry company and asked for a solicitor's firm in Bath.

"Proctor and Smythe, can I help you?" The young woman's voice spoke into Chris' ear.

"Yes please, I need a writ of Habeas Corpus to get me out of custody, can you pass me onto a senior partner please, my name is Chris Beaker." He said into the phone.

"One moment please Mr. Beaker." The woman's voice said and there was a few seconds of silence.

"Mr. Beaker, My name is William Proctor; I understand that you are in custody? How did you manage to get a phone?" William Proctor sounded confused.

Chris smiled, "Mr. Proctor you wouldn't believe me if I told you, but I believe that the Police here will not admit that I'm in custody, They have told me they are having problems finding a duty solicitor to help me and that I'm going to be moved to a hospital in a few hours. I want to stop that and to leave here, legally that is." Chris said.

"May I ask why you are currently in custody?" Proctor said slowly while writing a note for his secretary.

"I have been placed in protective custody because a psychiatrist in London has told them I'm a dangerous person needing medical attention." Chris said briefly.

"I see, and are you a dangerous person?" Proctor asked while his secretary was busy on the other line.

"I don't think I am - I think I'm in more trouble from the current establishment than normal people." Chris said.

"Hmm, Well Mr. Beaker I'm very interested now, according to the police you have not been arrested and are not currently in the station at all." Proctor said writing out another note which he passed to his secretary.