I forced my mind to go blank, imagining the sea crashing on rocks, focusing on taking one breath at a time. Everything slowed down. I don’t know how long I sat there like that but by the time I was back in control the skin on my arms and legs was so cold it was puckered with goosebumps.
I stood up and grabbed the phone again then slowly shuffled into the bedroom. I looked at the note I’d written for Mum. I’d ripped it off the door and scrunched it into a ball and tossed it on the bed with my bag. There was no way she was on her way to see me. If she was she’d have been here by now. With shaking hands I rummaged through my handbag until I found the card Dr Metzger had given me.
I dialled the emergency number. It was answered on the third ring.
‘Hello? Is that Dr Metzger?’
‘Yes. Who’s this?’
‘It’s Cassandra Lehman. Sorry for calling but all this stuff has happened and I’m just not coping.’ My throat constricted and the words stopped tumbling out of my mouth.
‘It’s all right, Cassandra. Tell me what’s happened.’
God, where did I start?
‘I don’t know what to say. So much has happened.’ Tears welled and I had to stop again before I broke down completely.
‘Take your time.’
‘The person who was stalking me tried to break in again the other night. He followed me home and killed my neighbour’s cat. I called the police and they came and arrested him but then it turned out he was my friend’s brother.’
‘I see. Yes, that would have been very upsetting.’
‘It was, but there’s more. I found out this morning that my mum’s missing. She didn’t come home last night. I’m so worried I can hardly think.’
‘That’s a very stressful situation. How are you coping?’
‘I feel so powerless.’
‘And your panic attacks?’
‘I just had a bad one.’
‘All right. Under the circumstances I think I’d better see you before next week. I have an office at home I only use for special appointments. You’d better come and see me today.’
‘I don’t want to leave here in case Mum turns up.’
‘Is it likely she’d turn up without telling you she was coming?’
‘No, but …’
‘I can give you some techniques to manage the stress you’re experiencing. It will help you to cope better with everything. You’ll be no good to anyone if you let your stress get the better of you.’
‘I suppose, but what if she tries to call me?’
‘Can you divert your phone through to someone else for a short time?’
His voice was very soothing. I could feel the tension in my neck and shoulders easing just listening to him. I remembered how good I’d felt after my first session with him.
‘I suppose I could divert it to my grandmother’s house.’
‘Do it. I can see you in an hour.’
He rattled off an address and some instructions, which I scrawled on the back of the novel on my bedside table with a kohl eyeliner. I sat there, soggy and staring into space after we’d hung up.
I didn’t want to leave the house but he was right. If I had a complete meltdown I’d end up causing Gran more problems. I needed to get my head together so I could help her and not add to her worries.
I called Gran.
‘Hello?’ There was so much hope in her voice it made my heart ache.
‘Sorry Gran, it’s just me.’
‘Have you …?’
‘No, nothing. I’ll keep it quick. I’ve got an appointment with a psychiatrist this afternoon.’
‘A psychiatrist?’
‘Yes, I’ll explain another time, but he thinks he can help me cope with the stress of everything that’s been happening.’
‘Oh, of course. That’s a good idea.’
‘I’ll forward my mobile to your house in case she calls?’
‘All right.’
‘Gran?’
‘Yes?’ She sounded so frail.
‘I love you.’
I gave myself twenty-five minutes to get to Dr Metzger’s. It only took me fifteen. His house was an imposing two-storey Victorian home on Mitchell Terrace in Medinde. It seemed there was good money in treating crazy people. I tried to imagine myself as a psychiatrist. I wouldn’t last five minutes before I told someone to suck it up and get over themselves.
I sat in the car waiting for another five minutes to tick by. The butterflies in my stomach multiplied with every minute. I wanted to get it over with. With a bit of luck I could still drive back to Jewel Bay and make it before dark. That thought was enough to propel me out of the car.
I opened the wrought-iron gate and followed the path around to the back of the house like he’d told me. Sure enough, three-quarters of the way along the western wall there was a door with a plaque with Dr Metzger’s name and credentials on it and a bell. Above the doorway I spotted a small security camera.
I rang and stood fidgeting. I was on the point of ringing again when the door opened.
‘Good afternoon, Miss Lehman. I’m sorry for keeping you waiting.’
‘Sorry, I’m a bit early,’ I said, flushing.
‘That’s fine. Better to be early than late. Come this way. You can leave your bag and coat here.’ He pointed at a small hallstand. ‘Be sure to leave your mobile as well. As you know, I don’t allow phones during my therapy sessions.’
I deposited my things and followed him down a narrow hallway. As I watched him walk in front of me something nagged at my subconscious but the thought refused to surface. We passed two other doors before he finally opened one.
‘In here, please.’ He stood back for me to go first.
I walked through the door. The door swung shut behind me. I turned, looking for the doctor. He wasn’t there. Confused, I walked back to the door. My hand reached out for the handle and found only air.
CHAPTER
44
‘So, Mr Smythe, let’s go over it again, shall we?’ Ed said.
They were closeted in the MCIB interview room again. They’d been interviewing Smythe for over an hour, taking him over his connections with all the victims one by one. It was nearly 2pm and Ed hadn’t managed to fit in more than a coffee since breakfast. His stomach was making a steady rumbling.
‘I don’t see what else I can tell you. Asking me the same things over and over again isn’t going to change the answers.’ Smythe was looking tired and haggard. The night in a cell hadn’t agreed with him. His lawyer leant over and spoke in his ear. She was wearing a severe black suit with a cream blouse. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail that was so tight it would have pulled the wrinkles out of her face if she’d been old enough to have any.
Ed knew she was telling him the quickest way to get it over with was to cooperate. Law 101.
Smythe shook his head and the lawyer looked at Ed.
‘I agree with my client, detectives. I’m not sure I see the point in covering the same ground again.’
‘The point is, we’ve got a bunch of people linked to your client who have died and we think your client is responsible for their deaths. Oh yeah, and we just found a body on his property,’ Dave said.
‘Like I told you, I haven’t killed anyone. I didn’t put Monaghan in my woodpile. Someone’s setting me up,’ Smythe said.
Smythe ran a meaty hand backwards and forwards over his bare scalp. His eyes were bloodshot and his lips dry and cracked. He reached for the plastic cup of water on the table in front of him and raised it to his mouth with an unsteady hand.
‘Let’s move onto something new. Tell me, have you ever kept chickens?’ Ed said.
‘Chickens? No.’
‘So you can’t explain how a white chicken feather found its way onto the victim’s shirt?’
‘No, I bloody can’t. Maybe Monaghan kept chickens! Did you think of that?’
‘What about snakes? Have you ever had a pet snake?’ Ed asked.
‘I can’t stand
the bloody things. Why the hell would I want to keep one as a pet?’
‘People do,’ Ed said.
‘Not me. The only pet I’ve ever had was a dog.’
‘Tell us about your relationship with Rod Strauss,’ Ed said.
‘Rod? What do you want to know about him for? We were colleagues. We crossed paths. We talked about how to run our meetings and shit like that. We weren’t mates.’
‘You knew he was a user?’
‘I knew he was a recovering addict. Most leaders are.’
‘We think you knew how afraid he was of slipping back into his old habits. In fact we think you tried to kill him by giving him an overdose,’ Dave said.
‘You guys are fucking nuts. Rod OD’d all on his own. Nobody tried to kill him! I’ve had enough of this crap.’ He stood up. His lawyer tried to stop him but he brushed her hand off his arm.
‘Sit down!’ Ed barked. ‘We’re not done yet.’
Smythe glared at him for a few seconds before throwing his hands up in the air and sitting down.
‘This is bullshit.’
‘So tell us about when you met Strauss. How did you meet him?’
‘At the centre.’
‘No, you met him before that. He introduced you to the centre, didn’t he?’
‘No, I don’t know who told you that, but the first time I laid eyes on him was when I started with NA about two years ago.’
They sent Smythe back to his cell shortly afterwards. His hearing was on Monday morning. Apart from the fact that they’d found the body on his property, they really didn’t have anything to prove he’d killed Monaghan. Their entire case was based on evidence that any lawyer worth their salt would blast out of court in five minutes flat. It was all highly circumstantial. They needed more.
Now Ed had the added problem that Smythe’s answers weren’t gelling with what Cass had told him. He was sure Cass had said that Strauss introduced the killer to the NA centre. Admittedly she’d yelled it at him as she was getting out of his car. Maybe he’d misunderstood. He hoped so.
One thing the Fleurieu case had taught him was that Cass wasn’t often wrong about her visions. If what Cass had said was true, then that left only two possibilities: either Smythe was lying, or someone else was their killer. His gut was telling him Smythe wasn’t lying about that part. He had no reason to. He couldn’t know what Cass had told them.
Ed sighed. ‘I’ll have to ring Cass,’ he said to Dave.
‘You gonna check the Rod Strauss thing?’
‘Yeah, something’s not right.’
‘OK. I’ll get on to the morgue and see if toxicology’s in yet. It’d be nice to know if it was definitely a snakebite.’
Ed reached for the phone and dialled Cass’s number.
‘Hello?’
Ed frowned. It wasn’t Cass, it was her grandmother. ‘Gwen?’
‘Yes?’
‘It’s Ed. Is Cass there?’
‘No, she’s at an appointment.’
Her voice sounded strange. ‘Is something wrong?’
‘Yes.’ She started to cry.
Ed’s jaw muscles bulged as he clenched his teeth.
‘It’s Anita, she didn’t come home last night.’
CHAPTER
45
I grasped at the smooth timber of the solid wooden door, trying to get a fingerhold and pull it open. My fingernails scratched ineffectually at the beaded detailing without finding purchase.
‘Dr Metzger? Dr Metzger! Open the door please!’
There was no answer. I turned and looked around the room, searching for another way out. There was no other door and only one window. I walked to it and pushed the heavy drapes back. It was an old-fashioned sash window that looked out over a lush fernery. I pushed the catch around and heaved on the handles, trying to raise it. It wouldn’t budge. It was either nailed or painted shut. I stood there, shaking. Why would the doctor do such a thing?
I looked around the room again. There wasn’t much to see. There was a solid wingback chair in the middle and a plain wooden chair opposite it. The wingback chair was facing a large flat screen TV mounted on a wall. Bookshelves lined another wall but they were empty. A ratty Persian rug covered part of the wooden floor. I looked up at the ceiling. A five-light brass pendant hung from an ornate ceiling rose. Over in a corner, a red light winked: a camera.
‘Dr Metzger? I didn’t agree to this. I want to leave now please,’ I said, looking straight at the camera, hoping there was a speaker somewhere as well.
Nothing happened for long moments and then the TV screen flickered and came to life. Dr Metzger’s face appeared.
‘Hello, Cassandra. Please, don’t distress yourself. This is all part of your treatment.’
‘I no longer wish to be treated by you. Let me out now!’ I said.
‘I’m afraid I can’t do that. You and I have a lot to talk about. Why don’t you take a seat and we can get started?’
‘I don’t want to sit down.’ I didn’t want to participate in this weird type of treatment.
‘If you don’t sit down we can’t start. Would you prefer that I went away and came back in an hour’s time when you’re ready to cooperate?’
The thought of another hour pacing around the room waiting for him to come back made me feel ill.
‘No, don’t go. I’m sorry. I’ll sit down.’
I walked over to the wingback chair and plonked myself down in it. The room swam and receded.
I blinked, trying to clear my vision. I tried to swallow but my throat had constricted so much that it was virtually impossible.
‘Water?’ I croaked.
‘Not yet.’
I looked at the screen. Metzger was watching me.
‘Are you ready to confront your fears, Carl?’
‘No, I don’t want to! Stop! I’m sorry for what I did. I didn’t know what I was doing.’ I started to cry.
‘Oh, now that’s not what I want to hear. I’m going to come into the room now. Just a minute.’
The screen went blank and I heard the door behind me open. I tried to get up from the chair. I couldn’t move. My hands and feet were fastened to it with thick leather straps.
‘No, not again!’
‘Yes, again, and this time I have something extra special for you to make things more interesting.’
He walked up behind me and leaned in to whisper in my ear. ‘The friend I have for you this time isn’t a carpet python. This one’s the real deal. It’s a brown snake, very venomous. I’m going to drape it around your shoulders. It’s up to you what happens from there. If you conquer your fear it will probably slither away with no harm done. If you let your fear get the better of you and you struggle, it will more than likely bite you and you will die.’
‘No, stop!’ I croaked.
Every muscle in my body went rigid. My breathing was coming in short gasps. I felt the cool smooth skin of the snake slide over my neck and shoulders. I tried not to cringe but I couldn’t help it, I started to shake. I tried to stay still but I couldn’t. With a yelp of despair I fought and bucked, trying to get it off me.
I felt a sudden stinging followed by a burning pain at the base of my throat. The burning started to spread down my limbs. My heart was beating very fast. Dr Metzger came around and stood in front of me.
‘I’m sorry, but it looks like your fear won.’
‘You’re sick,’ I tried to say but my words came out slurred and indistinct. I closed my eyes.
I came to and found Dr Metzger sitting in the wooden chair in front of me. His eyes were glued to my face.
‘I’m intrigued, Cassandra. Did you have a vision?’
‘You wrapped a snake around his neck! You’re sick!’ I yelled at him. ‘You can’t hold me here. I’m leaving!’
I stood up and headed towards the door. My legs felt wobbly and I was feeling nauseous. I got to the door before remembering there was no handle; it was shut tight.
I turned and looked at Dr Metzger. He
hadn’t moved. ‘Please, let me go!’ It came out as a whimper.
‘Sit down, Cassandra. You’re not going anywhere yet. I have questions for you. If I were you, I’d be a good girl and answer them.’
I took a shaky breath and weighed up my options. There weren’t that many.
‘I can’t sit in that chair,’ I said. ‘It’ll happen again.’
‘Will it? How does that work?’
‘It’s like an imprint. His death left an imprint in the spot where he died.’
‘Fascinating. Well, I’ll sit there and you sit here.’ He moved.
With a rush I realised what had been bothering me in the hallway. Dr Metzger was moving well. Where was his walking stick? I sank onto the chair he’d vacated.
‘That’s better. Now, tell me, what did you see?’
‘I saw what you did to that man, Carl. You killed him with a brown snake.’
‘No, now that’s where you’re wrong. It wasn’t me that killed him. It was his fear.’
‘You put the snake around his neck!’
‘If he’d confronted his fear he might still be alive. He gave in to it and he died. He was weak. I abhor weakness.’
‘You’re crazy. You killed the others too, didn’t you? Rod Strauss and all the ones on that list?’
‘Ah, the list. Yes, Paul was getting a bit too clever. I’m afraid to say that I did have to dispose of him. His fear reaction was interesting. Fear of heights is so illogical most of the time. In Paul’s case, I gave him a good reason to be afraid. Ben, on the other hand; he could have lived if he’d managed to conquer his fears.’
‘You suffocated him!’
‘How would you know that?’
‘I experienced his death.’
‘You couldn’t know where he died.’
‘I touched his body.’
‘That triggers it, too?’
I nodded.
‘How intriguing! I would have liked to have seen that. What was he feeling right at the end?’
I shook my head, refusing to answer him. His ghoulish interest in the suffering of his victims sickened me.
Craven (9781921997365) Page 25