Therapy by Sebastian Fitzek

Author:Sebastian Fitzek [Fitzek, Sebastian]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Atlantic Books Ltd
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

26

The day before the truth, Parkum

Shortly after eight o'clock Viktor was woken by the phone. Wearily, he dragged himself downstairs and picked up the receiver, hoping to hear his wife. But it wasn't Isabell returning his calls.

‘Did you find my note?’

Anna.

‘Yes.’ Viktor tried to clear his throat and ended up coughing. Anna had to wait a few seconds for him to recover.

‘After yesterday's session I couldn't stop thinking about Charlotte. I thought about coming back, but I didn't want to disturb you.’

Uh-huh, so you waited outside and broke into my room?

‘I'm ready to tell you the end of the story.’

The end of Josy's story.

‘That's excellent progress,’ croaked Viktor, wondering why Anna hadn't remarked on his wretched state of health. It was probably because she sounded pretty lousy herself, although it was hard to tell with the crackling on the line. She was only a few kilometres away, but the sound quality was terrible. It reminded him of the frustrations of international calling before the technology improved.

‘Could I tell you the rest on the phone? I don't feel up to visiting, but I'd like to get it off my chest.’

‘No problem.’

Viktor glanced irritably at his bare feet. He had forgotten to put on his slippers or dressing gown.

‘If I remember rightly, I was explaining how Charlotte and I left the palace.’

‘That's right. You said you were being chased.’

Viktor used his foot to manoeuvre a small Persian rug from under the table. At least he wouldn't have to stand bare-footed on the floor anymore.

‘I took Charlotte by the hand, ran to the car, and drove off. Charlotte wanted to go to Hamburg but she wouldn't say why. I gave up and let her dictate the route.’

‘What happened when you got there?’

‘We checked in to the Hyatt on Mönckebergstrasse. Charlotte didn't care where we stayed, so I went for the Park Hyatt because I wanted a bit of luxury and it reminded me of my days as a glamorous author. I used to meet my agent in the lobby, and I always thought the hotel had an exalted feel to it. I was hoping it would help me focus on happier times.’

Viktor nodded. At one time in his life he had regularly stayed in the five-star Hyatt, preferably on the executive floor.

‘Unfortunately it had the opposite effect. I felt irritable and depressed. I couldn't think clearly and Charlotte was becoming a handful. The poor thing was suffering, and she put the blame on me. I gave her some paracetamol and a dose of penicillin, and thankfully she fell asleep. I was desperate to get on with the book.’

‘The book about Charlotte?’

‘Yes. I wanted to put an end to the nightmare and the only solution was to finish the book – at least, that was my rationale. After a lot of thought, I realized how to handle the story.’

‘How?’

‘Charlotte's clues were the key to the story. I had to describe the cause of her illness based on what I'd seen. The first clue was the cabin in the forest; that was the beginning, according to her.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.