The Stranger Came (55 page)

Clever
Maitland.

'I
can
see,'
she
said,
'that
"the
full
record"
of
our
sessions
would
be
a
bore.
All
those
silences.’

There
was
a
silence.

If
she
laughed
they
would
be
right
to
be
angry
with
her.
All
the
same
laughter
was
there,
like
a
tiny
spool
unwinding
inside
her,
and
that
made
it
worse
when
Doctor
Cadell pressed
the
switch
and
she
began
to
understand
what
her voice
was
saying.

‘“You watch then”
,
that was what he said
,
and he took the nipple of her breast and hurt her
.
Yes
,
I felt the hurt though I wasn't supposed to
,
somewhere inside I felt it
,
somewhere inside
.
“I've seen that before”
,
one of the other men said “open your eyes
,
Sleeping Beauty”
,
he said to her
.

'Why
are
you
doing
this?'
she
whispered.
'I
won't
listen to
this.’

“Good dog”

“
Can I touch her
?
you're a lucky bitch
”

“L
ift your leg
–
pee like the dogs do
”

“F
inished with her
?
Who's talking about finished with her
?
We haven't bleeding started on her it'll be a long time before we're finished with her a long time before I'm finished with her.”

How
did
they
want
her
to
react?
The
significance
of
what
they
were
saying
was
muffled
for
her.
Was
she
to
be
shocked?
Words
in
a
play
acted
for
her
benefit.
For
her
benefit,
surely
in
every
sense.
Whatever
the
words
meant,
the
intention
was
to
help
her
to
be
well.

It
would
have
been
easier
if
she
had
been
unaware
of
what
they
were
doing.
Then
it
would
have
been
easier
for
Dr
Cadell
to
help
her.

She
was
more
intelligent
than
he
realised,
than
they realised.

'Isn't
that
so?'
She
realised
he
had
been
waiting
for
her to
respond.

'I
thought
we
were
happy
together,'
she
said,
not
looking
at
Maitland.

'It's
possible
to
know
and
be
determined
not
to
know.’

He
had
steepled
his
fingers
again.
It
was
her
turn
for
a
lecture.
'It
would
explain
why
you
found
her
death
so
traumatic.
You
wanted
it
to
happen
–
when
it
did,
you
went
into
shock.’

'Is
it
true
then?'
she
asked
Maitland.

'More
than
that,'
he
said.
'It's
general
knowledge.
Sam Wilson
was
obliging
enough
to
help
the
police
with
their
enquiries
by
telling
them
about
Sophie
and
me.
I'm
sorry.’
Sam
Wilson,
so
busy
in
the
Department,
but
not
distinguished,
he
hadn't
published
anything
worth
reading,
so
Maitland
said,
and
he
ran
around
after
Maitland,
made such
a
fuss
of
admiring
him –

'How
could
he
be
so
disloyal!'
she
cried.

Instead
of
Maitland,
she
was
accusing
Wilson
(and
it
was
true;
the
little
wretched
creature).
It
didn't
mean
she
had
missed
the
enormity
of
what
Maitland
had
admitted.
The
thing
about
Wilson
just
something
she
had
blurted
out.
But
even
so.
And
Maitland
hadn't
smiled.
If
she
had
been
Maitland,
listening
she
might
have
smiled.
No
wonder
if
even
the
best
of
men
despised
women
a
little.

'Mrs
Ure?'
She
was
listening,
yes,
she
was
listening.
'It was
after
our
sessions
of
hypnosis
that
I
made
it
my
business to
find
out
the
details
of
the
Great
Sovek's
performance
that evening.
I
made
a
prediction
to
myself
that
there
would
be
someone
persuaded
to
impersonate
a
dog.
I
thought
it
might
have
been
a
woman.
In
fact,
it
was
a
young
man.
When
Sophie
Lindgren
died,
he
was
on
all
fours
–
just
as
you
describe
your
girl
in
the
"dream"
to
be –
on
all
fours
beside
her.
She
died
with
him
beside
her
like
that.’

She
saw
him.
On
all
fours.
His
head
nuzzled
between
the
girl's
legs.

'Are
you
all
right?'
It
was
Maitland's
voice,
very
far
away.

'Was
it
you
who
killed
her?'
she
asked
him.

'She
killed
herself!'
It
was
exactly
the
note
with
which
he
would
respond
when
he
found
something
she
had
said
exasperatingly
ridiculous.

'It
was
you
who
saw
that
something
was
wrong,'
Dr Cadell
said.
'No
one
else
was
watching
her
with
such
a...
jealous
attention.
You
knew
she
was
your
husband's
mistress.’
He
glanced
at
Maitland.
'We
really
must
accept that
somehow
you
had
learned
about
it.
To
see
her
die
like
that
when
you
were
so
full
of
anger
against
her.
It
must
have
been
traumatic.
Anger
and
the
desire
to
punish,
they're
still
there
in
the
treatment
of
the
girl
in
the
"dream.”
In
throwing
it
up
as
a
defence
it
also
allows
you
to
work
out
your
aggression
against
me.
I
am
the
hypnotist
prying
into
secrets
–
so
you
turn
me
into
a
monster.
It
explains
everything.’