He wondered if he could still push her buttons. She was a fairly bright woman, and that was a large part of her problem. She thought far too much, double- and triple-think. Most men, especially dull-witted Americans, didn’t like that, which made her even crazier.

He put his face against the door, felt its cool wood on his cheek. He started his act.

“I’ve been petrified to see you, Boo. You don’t know what it’s been like. One slipup, anything they can use against me, and I’m finished. And what makes it worse is that I’m innocent. You know that. I talked to you the whole time from my house to yours that night. You know I didn’t kill that detective. Elizabeth? Boo? Please say something. At least curse at me. Let the anger out ? Doctor?”

There was no answer. He rather liked that. It made him respect her more than he had. What the hell, she was more screwed up than he was.

“You know exactly what I’m going through. You’re the only one who understands my episodes. I need you, Boo. You know I’m manic-depressive, bipolar, whatever the hell you shrinks want to call my condition. Boo?”

Then Shafer actually started to cry, which nearly made him laugh. He uttered loud, wrenching sobs. He crouched on his haunches and held his head. He knew he was a far better actor than so many of the high-priced fakers he saw in the movies.

The door to the apartment slowly opened. “Boo-hoo,” she whispered. “Is poor Geoff in pain? What a shame.”

What a bitch, he thought, but he had to see her. She was testifying soon. He needed her tonight, and he needed her help in the courtroom.

“Hello, Boo,” he whispered back.

Chapter 86

ACT TWO of the evening’s performance.

She stared at him with huge dark-brown eyes that looked like amber beads, the kind she bought at her swanky shops. She’d lost weight, but that made her sexier to him, more desperate. She wore navy walking shorts and an elegant pink silk T-shirt — but she also wore her pain.

“You hurt me like no one ever has before,” she whispered.

He held himself under control, playacting, a truly award-winning performance. “I’m fighting for my life. I swear, all I think about is killing myself. Haven’t you heard anything I’ve said? Besides, do you want your picture all over the tabloids again? Don’t you see? That’s why I’ve been staying away from you.”

She laughed bitterly, haughtily. “It’s going to happen anyway when I testify. The photographers will be everywhere I go.”

Shafer shut his eyes. “Well, that will be your chance to hurt me back, darling.”

She shook her head and frowned. “You know I wouldn’t do that. Oh, Geoff, why didn’t you at least call? You’re such a bastard.”