Joe - 01 - Suspect by Michael Robotham

Author:Michael Robotham [Robotham, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Mystery & Detective
ISBN: 9780385515283
Published: 2003-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

5

At the office I cross the lobby aware that the security guards and receptionist are staring at me. I take the lift upstairs to find Meena at her desk and an empty waiting room.

"Where is everyone?"

"They canceled."

"Everyone?"

I lean over her desk and look down the appointments list for the day. All the names are crossed out with a red line. Except for Bobby Moran.

Meena is still talking. "Mr. Lilley's mother died. Hannah Barrymore has the flu. Zoe has to mind her sister's children..." I know she's trying to make me feel better.

I point to Bobby's name and tell her to cross it out.

"He hasn't called."

"Trust me."

Despite Meena's best efforts to clean up, my office is still a mess. Evidence of the police search is everywhere, including the fine graphite powder they used to dust for fingerprints.

"They didn't take any of your files, but some of them were mixed up."

I tell her not to worry. The notes cease to be important if I no longer have any patients. She stands at the door, trying to think of something positive to say. "Did I get you into trouble?"

"What do you mean?"

"The girl who applied for the job ... the one who was murdered ... should I have handled it differently?"

"Absolutely not."

"Did you know her?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

This is the first time that anyone has acknowledged the fact that Catherine's death might have saddened me. Everybody else has acted as though I have no feelings one way or the other. Maybe they think I have some special understanding of grief or control over it. If that's the case, they're wrong. Getting to know patients is what I do. I learn about their deepest fears and secrets. A professional relationship becomes a personal one. It can be no other way.

I ask Meena about Catherine. How did she sound on the phone? Did she ask questions about me? The police took away her letters and job application, but Meena has kept a copy of her CV.

She fetches it for me and I glance at the covering letter and the first page. The problem with a curriculum vitae is that it tells you virtually nothing of consequence about a person. Schools, exam results, tertiary education, work experience?none of it reveals an individual's personality or temperament. It is like trying to judge a person's height from their hair color.

Before I can finish reading, the phone rings in the outer office. Hoping it might be Julianne I pick up the call before Meena can patch it through. The voice on the line is like a force-ten gale. Eddie Barrett lets loose with a string of colorful invective. He is particularly imaginative when it comes to describing uses for my Ph.D. in the event of a toilet paper shortage.

"Listen, you overqualified headshrinker, I'm reporting you to the British Psychological Society, the Qualifications Board and the U.K. Registrar of Expert Witnesses. Bobby Moran is also going to sue you for slander, breach of duty and anything else he can find.

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