She brought in the radiogram and put it on his desk before calling Pelham. She had already read it, of course. It was her job to read such things.
The detective picked up the sheet of paper and read it.
THE OPERATION IS ABOUT TO BEGIN. I NEED THE OTHER HALF OF MY FORCEPS. COME HOME AND JOIN THE BIG PARADE.
MANNHEIM
It took a second for the words to really impress themselves on his mind. He read them over again.
And the veil began to drop from the closed-off part of his mind.
Memories began to swarm back into his mind—memories that had been walled off and kept away from his conscious mind by the hypnotic suggestion implanted so long ago.
Oddly, it did not surprise or shock him. He was an expert at hypnosis, especially self-hypnosis. He recognized the message for exactly what it was: a series of code phrases designed to break the blockage that had been placed in his mind.
His only reaction was to laugh aloud. "By God!" he said. "It worked! It actually worked! Nearly six years, and I never suspected once!"
The phone hummed. He switched it on. "Mr. Pelham is on the phone, Mr. Martin," Helen said.