"Eldon Chance is a 55-year-old, right-handed neuropsychiatrist." "Of late, he is increasingly aware of a mental state he finds to be dark and unstable." "This is D. D, meet Dr. Chance." "Do you remember that furniture we looked at?" "I do." "You decide you want to make it right?" "Jaclyn Blackstone is a 39-year-old ambidextrous woman living in Berkeley." "with complaints of intermittent memory loss, poor concentration, loss of time." "It says here that you separated from your husband" "It says here that you separated from your husband after he struck you in the face." "Shortly thereafter, you became aware of a second personality " " Jackie Black." "You were in her room just now." "Why didn´t you look in on her?" "He´ll kill me." "He said he would, and I believe him." "This was big, even coming here." "It could be for you, too." "I could be putting us both in danger." "I was trying to help someone." "I will not accept this problem cannot be solved." "Let´s walk." "This is not good." "I don´t like this." "If anyone starts shooting, duck." "Otherwise, don´t fuckin´ move." "What are you doing?" "Calling 911." "Get that kid an ambulance back there." "Don´t." "I´m a doctor, for Christ´s sake." "You´re in the database." "I´m not." "If you really want to call someone, use that." "If you really want to call someone, use that." "911." "What´s your emergency?" "There´s - there´s three guys in an alley in the Tenderloin that need medical attention." "Can you give me an address?" "ItÂ´s an alley in the Tenderloin." "Can you be more specific, sir?" "In between 23rd and 24th." "Enter off Mercer." "Okay, and" "Do you feel better?" "You want some water?" "You want some water?" "Back there." "What´s that about?" "That was about me getting right." "What you do with it is up to you." "This cop -- this cheap fuck gun-and-a-badge tough guy," "This cop -- this cheap fuck gun-and-a-badge tough guy," "I´d like to see him meet me somewhere." "What?" "!" "What are you saying?" "That what you just did was some kind of aud-- audition?" "No." "Why?" "The rules?" "You think that´s how he feels?" "Those guys back there, how´d you know they wouldn´t be armed?" "How´d you know they wouldn´t have guns?" "That it wouldn´t be the two of us left for dead?" "That it wouldn´t be the two of us left for dead?" "Fuck!" "Most fights are over before they start." "Those guys followed us into an alley." "What kind of idiot goes into a blind alley to escape?" "Emotion over logic." "They didn´t think." "They just reacted, so they let me dictate." "There are no victims." "Only volunteers." "Only volunteers." "D?" "D!" "D!" "Jaclyn." "Jaclyn." "Jaclyn!" "Man does like his scalps." "Morning." "I wouldn´t have stayed late at the office last night" "I wouldn´t have stayed late at the office last night if I´d known you were gonna be here." "Well, I said I would if Mom and Neil ended up going to the movie." "Remember how I said that?" "Although they didn´t actually go out to one." "They ordered one on TV and pretty much took over the living room." "Again." "He´s living with us now, I guess." "Neil is?" "Yeah." "I mean, he basically was already, but he found somebody to sublet his place, so it´s official." "but he found somebody to sublet his place, so it´s official." "Hey, how accurate is this thing?" "The Beck Depression Inventory?" "It´s kind of weird." "Like, I donÂ´t get how," ""I make decisions about as well as I ever could"" "is the answer that´s supposed to show you´re not depressed." "But I do seriously have basically no interest in other people, though." "And I definitely feel more discouraged about my future than I used to." "You know, when I administer that test, it´s in conjunction with other tests." "It´s cumulative." "It´s not a stand-alone diagnostic." "It´s not a stand-alone diagnostic." "You look pretty bad." "Thanks." "I slept in a chair." "Well, last time I stayed over, you said the next time there would be a futon couch or something for me to sleep on." "Guess what." "There isn´t." "Plus, are you ever gonna unpack these other boxes?" "It´s been months." "I mean, if you didn´t need any of this stuff, then why´d you even take it?" "Okay, who´s for pancakes?" "And coffee." "You donÂ´t have any." "What do you mean?" "I " " I have coffee." "You have that stuff that tastes like burning earthworm dirt." "You have that stuff that tastes like burning earthworm dirt." "Also, there´s none left." "We have to go now, though." "I have 10 demerits already this semester." "For what?" "Talking in the library and being late." "You have something on your shirt." "Are we going?" "!" "Yeah, just -- just give me one second." "Yeah, just -- just give me one second." "Dad!" "Yeah!" "I´ll be right there." "I´ll be right there." "I waited in line 45 minutes for these." "They don´t have them on the menu every day." "Come on." "You haven´t taken one bite." "Yeah, my stomach´s not feeling great." "So anyway, I called the Alameda County D.A.´s office." "Volunteered to do the psych evals, profiles, whatever they need, pro bono." "Okay." "If I can get a friend there, maybe I can put that friend onto Raymond Blackstone." "maybe I can put that friend onto Raymond Blackstone." "If he´s as dirty as Jaclyn says he is." "If Blackstone is even close to what she says, how is he not gonna find out you´re poking around?" "´Cause he doesn´t work there." "He can´t have his finger in everything." "Okay, so you said you had two things." "What´s the other thing?" "Jaclyn tutors math." "Now, if she came to my apartment, says it´s for that, you could meet her there to continue her therapy." "At your apartment?" "Ye-- it doesn´t have to be there." "Ye-- it doesn´t have to be there." "The point is to set up some cover that allows you and her to keep meeting." "Do you really still not see what dangerous ground this is?" "Even for someone without your history, your vulnerability, it would be." "Or is that what you like about it?" "Come on, Suzanne." "Jaclyn wouldn´t be the first to trade in one abusive man for another." "Remember you said that?" "So maybe Jackie Black and all the rest of her story is just about finding one man to save her from another." "is just about finding one man to save her from another." "You don´t believe in Jackie Black?" "I don´t know what I believe." "Well, Jaclyn or Jackie Black or however many of her there are or aren´t," "I can´t imagine any of them would want to go on getting beaten." "Eldon, why can´t you let this go?" "That´s what I´m trying to do." "I´m trying to let go." "I´m trying to give Jaclyn to you." "She needs help, and I´m trying to find a way to let you keep helping her." "and I´m trying to find a way to let you keep helping her." "Or we can -- we can just hope for the best." "I´m taking yours home, too." "Did her other therapist go to this much trouble for her?" "Myra something." "What was her name?" "Cohen, I think." "Yeah, Cohen." "What happened there again?" "She -- she died?" "Yeah." "She was an older woman, lived alone." "On the Internet, the police said that they thought" "On the Internet, the police said that they thought she might have tried to stop a home-invasion robbery." "Wow." "Poor woman." "That couldn´t have been easy for Jaclyn, either." "Is that a yes?" "I just hope you know what we´re doing." "Hello?" "Hi, Jaclyn." "This is Eldon Chance." "Listen, I might have an idea about how you could continue your therapy." "Is " " Is this a good time?" "You mean now?" "I´m at work right now." "Now, later, whenever is convenient." "I´ll call you back." "Okay." "When " "This isn´t a good number, just so you know." "Bernard Jolly is a 19-year-old white male who, until his recent arrest and incarceration, has lived in the basement apartment of his maternal aunt, Amanda Jolly of San Francisco." "He is two years into a post-concussive syndrome following a basilar skull fracture and intracerebral hematoma following a bicycle/ pickup truck accident following a bicycle/ pickup truck accident in which he was riding the bicycle." "Since his discharge, the patient admits to both visual and olfactory hallucinations." "Visual hallucinations consist most often of seeing the Mexican gardener who struck him, even though Jolly has been informed that this man has since left the country." "On top of that, various olfactory hallucinations." "What kind of olfactory hallucinations does he have?" "Incense, hay, and something he describes as the smell of different beings." "Yeah, I get that every time I´m on BART." "Okay, so headline." "If competency means that Bernard Jolly could communicate effectively with his attorney..." "Then, no, he´s not competent." "You think you could write that up for me by Thursday?" "You think you could write that up for me by Thursday?" "Sure." "I´d be happy to help with anything else." "Yeah?" "´Cause just off the top of my head," "I got 10 more defendants where Bernie Jolly came from." "Fine." "I could also walk you through medical histories that seem confusing, too." "When you fell down from heaven, did it hurt a lot?" "Listen, does the D.A.´s office work with all the Alameda County police departments?" "Yeah." "Oakland, Berkeley, Hayward -- all of them." "They keep us busy." "Gonna keep you busy now, too." "Okay, how come?" "Okay, how come?" "I was just wondering, it´s " "Colleague of mine was murdered, and the case is still unsolved." "I know it´s probably inappropriate." "Where was this?" "Fremont. 2014." "We´d have that file here." "You can´t take it with you, but we´d probably have a room you could sit with it." "That work?" "Sure." "Done." "Myra Cohen, PhD." "Myra Cohen, PhD." "Stab wounds penetrating vital structures." "Total number of stab wounds -- 43." "Nine classified as major." "Hands tied in front using a double square knot with white nylon rope approximately 42 inches in length." "Discovered subsequently at the coronerÂ´s office that Dr. Cohen had a kitchen knife embedded in her throat." "It was undetected at the scene because of the pillowcase over her head." "because of the pillowcase over her head." "Sorry." "I got no time to fuck around." "This is what I tell him." "300 degrees, and the beer is pouring out of me from the night before, right?" "and the beer is pouring out of me from the night before, right?" "And you know me, I´m just gonna say to him, you´re gonna tell me where I can find this guy right now." "´Cause if you don´t, I swear to Jesus Christ," "I will come across this table, and I will rip your heart right out of your fucking chest!" "The little piece of shit looked like he was gonna piss himself." "Hello?" "Hi." "It´s Jaclyn." "Hi." "It´s Jaclyn." "Sorry it took me so long to call back." "No, no, that´s -- that´s fine, really." "I was calling to -- I talked to Suzanne Simms, and we came up with a plan to help you keep going with therapy." "Would you -- are you up for that, you think?" "Tomorrow night, there´s a lecture on the campus, the math department." "I was planning to go." "One of the graduate students is lecturing on the axiom of choice, if you´d like to come." "on the axiom of choice, if you´d like to come." "I " " I´m afraid that would be lost on me." "Sure." "There´s a Chinese place on Shattuck thatÂ´s close to the campus." "Do you " "Taizu Dragon." "That´s the one." "We could meet there after." "We could." "We could." "At 8:30." "8:30 it is." "Hey." "Where were you?" "When?" "Randall -- your 9:00." "I called you a ton of times." "Shit." "I didn´t hear it." "We better reschedule." "Friday at 11:00." "That´s good." "I know it is." "Also, a detective called for you." "What?" "Detective Hynes." "Did he say what was it about?" "No." "Just that you´re in trouble." "No." "Just that you´re in trouble." "Myra Cohen." "He " " He said it´s about the Myra Cohen case." "Right." "Yeah, I " " I asked about that at the D.A.´s office." "Do you want me to get him for you?" "No, it´s okay." "I´ll call him later." "He wanted your cell." "Did you give it to him?" "Yeah." "I just give out your cell number to whoever wants it." "You would tell me if thereâ´s something going on, right?" "Going on with what?" "Going on with what?" "You." "I like to think I would, yes." "The Sykes guardianship call is at noon." "I´ll dial you in." "Thank you." "The patient states that Jackie is daring and extroverted, a person who comes out in times of stress." "a person who comes out in times of stress." "In particular, it is Jackie who continues to have a sexual relationship with her estranged husband even though she, Jaclyn, does not approve of this." "even though she, Jaclyn, does not approve of this." "Hello?" "Young man, do you have time to stop by and see me?" "When were you thinking?" "Well, what are you up to right now?" "I-I don´t really " "You do so, and you won´t be sorry." "I got news that´s too beautiful not to share." "I got news that´s too beautiful not to share." "I have a man who can do the restoration." "He does fantastic work." "Big dog." "Hey." "Hey." "There are victims." "I spend half my life in rooms with them." "I spend half my life in rooms with them." "They do exist, they do think, and they react to being bereft of protectors and damaged beyond repair." "Your furniture´s gone." "What?" "Yesterday." "I thought that´s why you were here." "All right." "Bye for now." "My friend." "Would a cashier´s check in the amount of $80,000 brighten your day?" "brighten your day?" "A Mr. Morozov of San Francisco." "Is he Russian?" "He´s rich, and he´s happy." "And heâ´s not in the mob." "You sure about that?" "´Cause I read an article in the Chronicle." "I´ve held back $20,000 for D´s work and my own commission." "And that´s a deal." "I know, and D´s work is not the issue." "He´s entitled to whatever is fair, and you are, too." "What is the issue?" "What is the issue?" "I just " " I thought there would be a time, you know, when you had the buyer, and there would be a final moment to reconsider before..." "It´s what we agreed upon." "It´s why we did the work." "I´ve made you a little something to remember them by." "I´ve made you a little something to remember them by." "I thought you would be happier." "When I pictured your face, you were smiling." "Three major fault lines, and shit tons of minor ones, and they all meet right here in the fucking Bay Area, man." "How´s that for freaky?" "I was reading about something like that somewhere recently, yeah." "I think about us being, like, years past due for a seismic event of catastrophic fucking proportions." "of catastrophic fucking proportions." "I think about it all the time." "What would you do?" "If it happened?" "Nothing." "Probably drown, right?" "But what am I gonna do?" "But it just seems like there´s a lot of people afraid of bullshit, you know?" "If you´re gonna be afraid, be afraid of something that could actually happen." "That´s what I am." "Yeah." "Me too." "Yeah." "Me too." "Carl Allan here." "Please leave a message." "Hi, Carl." "It´s Eldon Chance." "Listen, I´ve been thinking about what we..." "I have to make this right with the buyer, the Russian." "I´m not gonna put any of this on you or on D." "I´ll explain." "I´ll say it was all on me." "I´ll tell him that the pieces -- they had brass on them when I brought it to you." "when I brought it to you." "I´m gonna offer him his money back." "Whatever it takes to put right what we did." "I´m sorry, really." "I..." "ItÂ´s just, ethically speaking, all of this... this is not who I am." "Hi." "Hey." "How you doing?" "Hey." "Hey." "You expecting someone?" "We met at the hospital." "You were looking in on my wife." "Yeah, that´s right." "Yeah, I remember you now." "You remember me now." "You remember me now." "As opposed to when you saw me walk in?" "Yeah, you looked familiar." "I see a lot of people in the course of my day." "You mind?" " Can I get you gentlemen " " No." "We´re good." "Thank you." "Let me see." "Is this what they would call Art Deco?" "Is this what they would call Art Deco?" "It´s French Art Deco." "French Art Deco." "These are yours?" "Yeah." "Well, no." "It " " It was, but I just sold it." "Hope you got your price." "Yeah." "So do I." "What brings you to our side of the bay, Doctor?" "You know, I-I sometimes see patients up here." "I like being on the campus now and then." "Reminds me of my student days." "Are you on staff at any of the hospitals over here?" "Are you on staff at any of the hospitals over here?" "No." "I used to be, but I´m not anymore." "I was asked by your wife´s therapist to look in on her," "´cause she was worried that there might be some trauma to the brain." "The doctors might have missed it, so that´s why I was there." "Well, I didn´t mean to intrude." "Well, I didn´t mean to intrude." "I just saw you sitting over here, thought I´d come over and say hello." "You said you were meeting someone?" "No." "Actually, I didn´t say that." "Not at all." "Look." "I guess it started raining." "Weather report´s finally right." "Well, well, well." "Jackie!" "Jackie!" "Look who I found." "Hi." "Hi." "How are you?" "Dr. Chance was just about to tell me who he was waiting for." "No, I was just saying that I´m not meeting anyone." "It´s a coincidence, then." "It´s a coincidence, then." "YouÂ´d be amazed at how many coincidences I hear about in my line of work, and you´d be amazed at how often it turns out that they´re not coincidences." "I´m getting to the point where I don´t even believe in such things." "Here." "Have a seat." "You know, it´s not really a question of believing or not believing." "Coincidence is the simple condition of coinciding." "Any number of people or things occupying the same space at the same point in time." "Right." "Right." "You want me to give you an example?" "Please." "There´s a guy rehanging a light fixture in the lobby of an upscale hotel." "For whatever reason, he gets distracted, and he doesn´t do the job right -- leaves some screws out of the assembly." "Some time later, a woman is crossing the lobby on her way to join some friends at the bar." "She passes under the light" "She passes under the light at the point which a construction crew outside start using a jackhammer, and it vibrates the building very slightly but enough." "Then what happened?" "She die?" "No." "The impact caused a subarachnoid hemorrhage resulting in global aphasia." "She was never the same again." "I see it all the time -- people´s lives changed irrevocably." "I sometimes wonder if it´s by that kind of geometry" "I sometimes wonder if it´s by that kind of geometry that our lives are our lives, those random meetings in time and space." "It´s just purest coincidence." "And they call him Dr. Chance." "So we´re not responsible for our own actions, then?" "Is that the point?" "´Cause I´ve heard that one a few times, too." "You know, someone once asked William James if he believed in free will." "And he said, "Of course." "What choice do I have?"" "That´s good." "That´s good." "He´s all right." "How was the lecture?" "It was good." "That´s it?" "That´s all you got?" "Tell us about it." "Graduate student from the math department was lecturing on the Banach-Tarski paradox and the axiom of choice." "Really?" "Why?" "Would you care, I mean." "Would you care, I mean." "It´s a counterintuitive theorem." "A solid ball in three-dimensional space can be split up into a finite amount of non-overlapping pieces, which can then be put back together so as to yield two identical copies of the same sphere." "Fuck me." "I never understood why she puts herself through it." "I never understood why she puts herself through it." "Are you hungry or what?" "I came for takeout." "There are papers I need to read for tomorrow." "Go up and order it." "I´ll be up in a second to pay." "That won´t be necessary." "Forget about it." "It was nice to see you again." "Yeah." "You too." "We´ve been living separately, but then you probably knew that." "No, I did not know that." "I´m not your wife´s therapist." "I´m not your wife´s therapist." "I was trying to determine the extent of her injuries." "Speaking of which, they ever find the person responsible?" "Whatever you´re having here, I´m gonna pick it up." "It´ll be my treat." "I couldn´t possibly let you do that." "Of course you can." "You were kind enough to look in on my wife." "And no, we have not yet found the person responsible, but we will." "You can take that to the bank." "Hey, let me ask you, Dr. Chance, are you a married man?" "Hey, let me ask you, Dr. Chance, are you a married man?" "Divorcing." "Children?" "I have a daughter, yeah." "I don´t envy you that." "You know, it´s rough out there." "You know what I´m trying to say." "I mean... we´re a predatory species, Doctor." "That´s not what they teach you in the hallowed halls on campus, and as a cop, that´s not what I´d say to the press, but it´s the truth." "I mean, that´s the world I deal with every day, right?" "I mean, that´s the world I deal with every day, right?" "And next time we coincide like this... that´s on you." "Okay?" "Okay?" "Hi." "I just wanted to see Nikki, to say good night to Nikki." "Yeah." "Okay." "Nikki?" "You went out to Rockridge?" "Yeah, I had a thing." "The broker call you?" "Well, maybe." "I haven´t checked." "We have like four preemptive offers, all above asking." "We have like four preemptive offers, all above asking." "Great." "Yeah, it is." "I mean, it doesn´t solve the whole school problem." "You know, we´ve missed all the deadlines for financial aid, and, really, at this point," "I don´t even think she has any options beyond Marina South." "I...really didn´t come here to fight." "Yeah." "What would that even look like?" "Hey, Dad." "Hey." "Anything wrong?" "Anything wrong?" "Sometimes I just like to see your face." "Sometimes." "I was in Oakland today." "I came home with some more of that coffee that you hate for actually tasting like coffee." "So, maybe we could " "I need to go to bed." "I have to do a tempo run tomorrow morning." "In the park?" "By yourself?" "Well, Shawn has to do hers, too." "And actually, Neil might meet us, maybe." "And actually, Neil might meet us, maybe." "Just for part of it." "Sometimes he runs to the gym in the morning, and it´s in the same direction " "Okay, I just wanted to make sure that, you know, youÂ´re not alone." "Is he here now -- Neil?" "They ordered Thai, and he went to pick it up." "How come?" "It´s nothing." "I..." "I just want to say good night and I love you." "I love you, too." "Good night, baby." "Good night." "Good night, baby." "Good night." "The axiom of choice." ""An axiom of set theory allowing for the construction of non-measurable sets." "Collection of points without volume in the ordinary sense."" "Why should they be?" "Why should any fucking thing be ordinary?" "Yeah?" "Hello?" "Who is this?" "You´re my knight."