Still shaken by his experience, Barrent was certain there would be no second time for him. Whatever the cost, he was not going to risk a repetition of that nightmare.
"Am I addicted now?" he asked.
"Oh, no," Doctor Wayn said. "Addiction occurs with the third or fourth visit."
Barrent thanked him and left. He passed Arkdragen's desk and asked how much he owed.
"Nothing," Arkdragen said. "The first visit is always on the house." He gave Barrent a knowing smile.
Barrent left the Dream Shop and hurried home to his apartment. He had a lot to think about. Now, for the first time, he had proof that he was a willful and premeditated murderer.
Chapter Nine
Being accused of a murder you can't remember is one thing; remembering a murder you have been accused of is another thing entirely. Such evidence is hard to disbelieve.
Barrent tried to sort out his feelings on the matter. Before his visit to the Dream Shop he had never felt himself a murderer, no matter what the Earth authorities had accused him of. At worst, he had thought that he might have killed a man in a sudden uncontrollable fit of rage. But to plan and perform a murder in cold blood....