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"How are you feeling?" Jennifer asked of Beth.

Beth seemed to run through a quick mental inventory of how she felt. "Fine," she responded.

"There are a few questions that I would like to ask you Beth, if you don't mind," Jennifer requested.

Beth glanced over at me and, then, back to Jennifer. She shrugged her shoulders and said: "Sure, go ahead."

Jennifer began with: "Beth, do you suffer from any sinus pain or sinus headaches on a regular or semi-regular basis?"

Beth shook her head. "I have the occasional headache like anyone else, but nothing like you are asking."

Jennifer followed with: "Do you have any persistent gastrointestinal difficulties such as irritation, pain, cramping, or bowel problems?"

Once again, Beth shook her head. "No," she said.

"Have you ever had any sudden and unexplained bleeding from your ears, nose or rectum?"

Beth thought for a few seconds and said: "No."

Jennifer continued on. "Beth, have you, either recently or in the past, had any sort of gynecological problems or complaints?"

Beth blushed a little, looked down briefly, and shook her head. When she raised her head, she said: "No."

"Do you have nightmares with recurrent themes on a more or less regular basis?" Jennifer inquired.

"No," indicated Beth simply.

"Last, but not least," Jennifer said, "have you, or anyone else in your immediate family, ever experienced problems of lapsed memory on more than one occasion?"

Beth hesitated briefly. Finally, she replied: "I can't really speak for anyone else in my family, but as far as I know, the answer to your question is no."

Jennifer smiled. "Well, that pretty much does it. Then, she said: "Oops, almost forgot. I need a few samples of your hair."

She saw the puzzled look on Beth's face. There was puzzlement present in me, as well, but it was hidden.

By way of explanation, Jennifer stated: "Believe it or not, there are quite a few things that your body metabolizes which actually end up in your hair. Examining your hair may help us to identify certain metabolites that could be related to your memory lapse."

When Beth gave her permission, Jennifer set about finding some scissors. Once she had located them, she came to Beth and snipped a few hairs right at the roots.

After completing the task, Jennifer went to her desk and opened the middle drawer. She rummaged around and pulled out a small plastic bag into which she deposited the hair samples.

I motioned Jennifer to come back and sit with Beth and myself. When she had settled onto the couch, I confessed: "I'm afraid there are several small details that I have kept from both of you until now.

"I wanted to keep these facts concealed so that the hypnosis process would not be delayed or rendered more problematic, as may well have been the case if I informed both of you about these facts before the session had taken place.

"This...this deception, if you will, was undertaken for what I hope is Beth's best interest. Now, I believe Beth's best interests will be served by both of you coming to know what I know and, perhaps, together, we can explore various options that we may have."

Beth and Jennifer exchanged glances wondering what this was all about. Beth appeared anxious. Jennifer had a wary look in her eyes.

I turned to Beth. Brian is missing from the prison.

"Did you know?" I inquired. "Has anyone left a message for you on your phone service?"

Beth was stunned. After getting over her initial shock, Beth shook her head in delayed response to my questions, although her response was redundant in view of her reaction.

"When...when did it happen?" Beth wanted to know.

"I was told that it happened a few days after my visit with him," I informed her.

"Now," I said, "prepare yourselves for small detail number two. The FBI wants to question you, Beth. I know this because they paid me a visit. At the end of our tete-a-tete, they strongly suggested I tell you about their desire to speak with you if I should see you before they did.

"Apparently, they were, or are, considering me as a possible accomplice in your brother's escape. Their suspicions are based solely on my having visited with your brother a few days prior to the escape.

"I'm certain there is no other evidence which could tie me to any escape plan. If there were, I probably would be in custody right now.

"As I see it, your recent memory lapse is going to present a huge problem of credibility in the eyes of the FBI. To them, the fact you cannot account for your whereabouts during the period your brother went missing will seem to be a little too convenient and far too contrived-sounding.

"I'm worried about their jailing you, Beth. You are in a very vulnerable situation.

"Even if Dr. Ormsby were to go to them and inform them of what she had discovered during the hypnosis session, they are not likely to accept that as credible evidence. Such an account is probably even worse than no account at all."

I turned to Dr. Ormsby and said: "I hope you will not judge me too harshly for playing a little fast and loose with the truth. I'm telling you now so that, if you want, you can disengage yourself from the situation without having to face the prospect of, possibly, unpleasant repercussions.

"As far as I know, neither Beth nor I have warrants of any sort issued against us. Beth is, at this point, merely being sought for questioning.

"You had no knowledge about any of this mess until after the fact of your induced participation under conditions of less than full disclosure. You were acting in good faith, and you have done nothing illegal.

"Consequently, you are free to: (a) show us the door; or, (b) phone the FBI and provide them with as much information as you feel is necessary concerning the manner in which you were lured into the whole affair by me.

"I'll back your story and so, I'm sure, will Beth. After all, that is exactly what happened. It's the truth of the matter."

I looked over at Beth as I was making "our" commitment. Her nod of assent cemented the offer.

"However," I continued, "I'm hoping you might be willing to help Beth and me figure out what is best for her under the present circumstances. The easiest solution might be to take Beth to see the FBI, but I'm rather pessimistic about how all that might turn out.

"A lot would depend on the questions they ask. As long as they didn't ask her where she has been for the last eight or nine days, she might be O.K. Unfortunately, I'm not sure Beth can count on that kind of cooperation from the FBI."

Jennifer waited to see if I had said everything I wanted to say. When nothing but silence was forthcoming, she asked: "Why do you have so little confidence in the ability of the FBI to treat Beth fairly and justly?"

"There are a lot of reasons for my negative biases toward the FBI. Some of these are personal and could be discussed at another time. Much more relevant is the fact I believe Brian Idaho was framed by the FBI for a murder he didn't commit."

Out of the corner of my eye I could see that Beth was pleased with the statement concerning my belief in Brian's innocence. It probably was the first piece of positive news she had heard today, or, maybe, even for a few days.

Developing my train of thought, I said: "The people who framed Brian are going to be very interested in what happens with the resolution of the prison escape. Beth's memory lapse could present them with a golden opportunity to find some sort of contrived way to nail yet another member of the Idaho family.

"The FBI, along with other branches of our government, have a wonderful history of being less than either fair or just when it comes to Native peoples. What reason do you have, Dr. Ormsby, for assuming they will change that policy for someone like Beth?"

"If you will forgive me for saying so, Dr. Phelps, this all sounds like some, far-fetched, conspiratorial fantasy of a somewhat paranoid individual. Don't you think you're over-reacting a little?"

"Maybe. Sometimes, however, Dr. Ormsby, the belief that somebody is out to get one is perfectly justified when people actually are conspiring to do one in. I would say that, both historically and currently, Native peoples are more than a little justified in believing that some people in official circles, including the FBI, have it in for them.

"Such thinking may, indeed, be somewhat paranoid and conspiratorial in nature. Nonetheless, it has adaptive value in the present climate of hostility concerning Native peoples.

"My concerns are for Beth, not me. I'm hoping we can make that concern the focus of our discussion.

"If I make an error in this situation, I would prefer that my error would work in Beth's favor, and not against her best interests. If conspiratorial and paranoid thinking is an error in this case, then, so be it, as long as Beth derives benefit from the error."

Jennifer was silent for a moment. She had her hand near her mouth and was hitting her forefinger lightly against her mouth in a repetitive fashion, as if she were considering possibilities.

Finally, she spoke. "Even if what you say about Beth not getting a fair shake from the authorities were true, have you considered the possibility that any significant delay is going to make things look that much worse for Beth, like she was trying to avoid them because she had something to hide? Wouldn't you be playing right into the hands of the sort of people about whom you are worried?"

I had to admit that Jennifer had a good point. No matter which way we turned, there seemed to be problems.

Turning to Beth, I said: "Since you seem to be the object of this exercise, what do you think? Do you want to take your chances with the FBI and hope they don't ask any questions about where you've been for the last nine days?"

Beth wondered: "What do you think would happen if they asked that question and either I or you or Dr. Ormsby were to tell them what came out during hypnosis? Would I necessarily become an accomplice to Brian's escape just because of a story that they found to be ludicrous?"

"I don't think any of us knows the answer to that question, Beth," I offered. Then, after quickly reviewing the situation, I indicated: "I guess it's the uncertainty surrounding precisely this issue which is making me hesitate.

"If the FBI thinks you are lying and trying to hide behind what is, for them, a fabrication of incredible proportions, who knows what they might do. At the very least, even if they didn't hold you in custody for some legal reason, they might make your life miserable."

Beth countered with: "Wouldn't the testimony of you and Dr. Ormsby count for anything?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Maybe yes, maybe no. They might just bring in their own psychological experts and turn things around to serve their own purposes.

"Besides," I added, "if all of this goes as far as a court trial, are you prepared to spend time locked up while your case slowly works its way onto the calendar of some district Federal court? I have a strong suspicion you wouldn't get bail on any charge related to allegedly helping a convicted murderer of an FBI agent escape prison.

"Perhaps we need to think about getting you some qualified legal counseling on these matters. Unfortunately, the judicial system in America, everywhere really, is such a swamp, no one, not even lawyers, can ever be certain whether or not one is standing on solid legal ground, or whether what had been solid is about to be transformed into quicksand."

Jennifer had been quiet for some time. She placed a hand on Beth's knee and asked her: "Would you mind, Beth, if I were to take Dr. Phelps into the outer office and speak with him in private for a moment?"

Beth said: "Sure, I guess it's alright." Nonetheless, a look of concern crossed her face, undoubtedly because she was wondering why such a private conversation would be deemed to be necessary.

I also was concerned. I hoped this turn of events didn't signify yet another bump in an already rocky road.

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