“Are you still Tommy?”

“I’m a combination and I don’t really have a name now. That bothers me.”

“Yet you respond when people call you Billy.”

“I’ve always done that,” he said, tapping out a slow riff on the drum.

“Any reason why you can’t go on doing that?”

He shrugged. “I guess it would be less complicated for everyone. Okay.” He tapped it out. “You can just Keep calling me Billy.”

The fusion did not come all at once. At different times, for varying lengths of time, seven of the alternate personalities— all except Arthur, Ragen and Billy—fused into one. To avoid confusion, Arthur gave the fusion a new name—’’Kenny. ” But^ the name didn’t take and everyone went back to calling him Billy.

In the evening, another patient brought Nurse Yaeger a note she had found in Milligans wastebasket. It looked very much like a suicide note. He was immediately placed on special precautions. The rest of the week, Nurse Yaeger reported that though he was fusing and unfusing, he seemed to be fused for longer and longer periods of time. By July 14, he was fused most of the day and seemed peaceful.

As the days passed, the partial fusions continued to hold most of the time, but there were brief periods when he blanked out, unable to control the spot at all.

Judy and Gary visited their client again at the hospital on August 28 and pointed out that Dr. Georges report to the judge was due in about three weeks. If Dr. George decided he was fused and competent, it would be up to Judge Flowers to set a date for his trial.

“I think we should discuss trial strategy,” Arthur said. “We want to change our plea. Ragen is willing to plead guilty and to accept punishment for the three robberies, but he has no intention of pleading guilty to rape.”

“But four of the charges in the ten-count indictment include rape.”

“According to Adalanas story, each of the three women cooperated,” Arthur said. “Not one of them was injured. Each one had a chance to run away. And Adalana says she gave each of them part of the money back so that they’d come out ahead when the insurance companies paid off.”

“That’s not what the women say,” Judy said.

“Who are you going to believe?” Arthur snorted. “Them or me?”

“We might question it if only one of them had contradicted Adalanas story. But all three do, and you realize these women didn’t know or have any contact with each other.”

“They could still each be unwilling to admit the truth.”

“How do you know what really happened?” Judy asked. “You weren’t there yourself.”

“But Adalana was,” Arthur said.

Neither Judy nor Gary accepted the idea that the victims had cooperated, but they realized Arthur was talking about Adalanas perceptions of what had happened.

“Can we talk to her?” Gary asked.

Arthur shook his head. “She’s been banished from the spot forever for what she did. There can be no further exceptions.”