“Did Eve or Penny—or anybody, for that matter—ever tell you about an injured cat?” Grace keyed in on the hesitancy in his voice.
“No,” she answered warily. “Why?”
And with that, Mitch launched into a frightening account about Penny （or Eve） walking home after school one day, by herself—a point of fact she mentioned enough times for Mitch to think she might be covering up for someone （Maria, most likely）—and finding the injured animal on the side of the road.
“I can only share this with you because I asked and she gave me her consent,” Mitch said. “Whether it’s all true or a fantasy of hers, I can’t say for certain.” He accompanied that assessment with a shrug. “But I do believe she enjoys the feeling of having life-and-death power over a living being. And I suspect there may be a sexual component to it.”
Grace tried to maintain a deadpan expression even as a sick feeling swept through her.
“I’m not saying that there was a sexual component to Rachel’s murder,” Mitch went on to say. “But there is something in Eve that correlates lustful desire with violence. It could help to explain those murder fantasies she exchanged with Maria. It was a form of exploration for her—a thrill, neurologically speaking. And there’s potential there for a psychotic break.”
“I don’t have to tell you that gets very twisted very fast,” Grace said.
“Agreed, but this revelation could help us understand why the murder was so frenzied. The brutal nature of the crime just doesn’t seem to match with Penny, or Eve for that matter, but the cat story gave me a new avenue to explore. It’s possible it wasn’t even Eve who committed the murder.”
Grace got his insinuation.
“The hidden alter theory,” Grace said. “A fourth alter.”
“Alters can appear at any time,” said Mitch.
“You think it’s an evil persona?”
“It’s not that the alter is evil. It would be that Penny herself has a psychopathic personality, and the expression of that psychosis is through this vehicle, this alter that we haven’t met. The bottom line is there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to DID, but there are a lot of unknowns. So yes, there could be a fourth alter that we don’t know, haven’t met yet, who is more psychopathic. It could even be a male persona with enhanced strength—there’s really nothing entirely off the table.”
Grace almost grinned.
“Are you saying that you now believe Penny has DID?”
“I’m saying nothing is off the table,” Mitch repeated with a rueful smile. “It’s all still an open question in my mind.”
“Well, not in mine,” said Grace, who felt something smoldering behind her eyes. She managed to tamp down the anger before it flared. It would do her no good to start an argument with Mitch. What she needed more than to force a concession from him was an ally in this fight. Besides, she had high hopes he’d come around soon enough.
“Before I take a look at the artwork,” Mitch said, seeming to sense her need to change the subject, “I want to know how you’re doing with all this.”
Grace’s mouth went dry, her face hot. It was as if some kind of internal switch got flicked, firing up a reminder that she existed, too; she was a person going through something traumatic as well.
“I’m doing the best I can,” she managed. “It’s hard, of course, but that shouldn’t be shocking.”
“You seem upset, I’m sorry if I—”
“No, it’s fine,” Grace assured him, waving off any concern. “It’s just … other than my sister-in-law, Annie, nobody ever really asks how I’m managing.”
“Well, I’m asking,” said Mitch, whose friendly aspect encouraged her to share.
Grace tried hard not to dwell upon how she really felt, because going there summoned a host of sad, unpleasant, and confusing questions for which she still had no clear answers.
“You have to understand something, Mitch,” Grace began in a voice loud enough to be heard over the cafeteria din. “What I feel mostly is a tremendous sense of loss … loss of Arthur, loss of Penny, sadness for Rachel, for everyone hurting from this. But I also struggle with guilt.”
“Guilt,” Mitch repeated. “For what Penny may have done?”
“For that, yes, of course. But also guilt for how all of this has impacted my family. I brought Penny into our lives. It was my doing, my … I don’t know the right word. Obsession. When we found her that day, I had a feeling that this child came to us for a reason, like we were picked, and finding her made her my obligation. It’s hard to explain, but I convinced myself of it, and from the first second I was with her, I just couldn’t imagine not being with her.