‘But why would you think I know Celia Gardner?’ Megan asked, crossing her legs.
‘Your paths must have crossed,’ Kim insisted.
‘They have indeed, but I’m not sure what you want to know.’
‘Did you know Celia in your youth?’
‘Why would you ask that?’ Megan said, frowning.
‘You’re a similar age, both from the Black Country. You never met her?’ Kim asked.
‘You do know that the Black Country is 138 miles square?’
Kim shrugged and waited for an answer.
Megan continued. ‘Oh, wait, you think that us gay kids wore magnets so we could find each other in a crowd?’
The questions had been asked with humour but Kim got the point. She moved on. ‘Okay, there’s a polish to her that doesn’t feel real,’ Kim said honestly. ‘I feel as though I could wipe hard at the shiny silver exterior and find something not so palatable beneath.’
‘I think that’s a fair assumption. My understanding is that she’s determined, ruthless and will always get what she wants.’
‘She was sent to the old version of the clinic in her late teens, we understand.’
Megan shrugged. ‘I’ve heard that rumour but it’s not as if we speak. She has her little empire. She has the life she’s constructed for herself with her perfect straight marriage and perfect children.’
‘You sound bitter?’ Kim noted.
‘I deal with the aftermath of what she’s created.’
‘But it was there before she was,’ Kim countered.
‘It was the brainchild of an ignorant, bigoted man drowning in grief. It should have died with him.’
‘Agreed,’ Kim said. ‘We’re hearing horror stories. Can you confirm?’
‘On the record, no.’
‘Off the record, even though we’re not reporters?’ Kim said, taking a sip of her drink. She’d called the quality right.
‘Even so, I’ll answer direct questions if you ask them, but I’m not giving you a narrative.’
Kim wondered at her evasiveness but decided to put that aside for the moment.
‘Have you treated anyone other than Stephanie after they’ve spent time at the clinic?’
‘Poor word choice for the facility but we’ll go with it. The answer is yes.’
‘Are you prepared to give us a name?’
‘No.’
‘Has anyone ever spoken to you about electric shock treatment?’
‘Yes.’
‘Starvation?’
‘Yes.’