Jess’s enthusiasm for the place had shone through as they’d walked from one therapy room to another and then one treatment room after the other. The pride in the achievements of her parents had radiated from her. Kim felt that if you cut the girl in half, the name of the clinic would be running right through her like a stick of rock.
Kim had been shown the kitchen and introduced to the qualified chef who had been no more pleasant than when they’d seen him throwing the rubbish out. They had passed other staff members dressed in the black uniform as they’d toured the dining room, the evening lounge and the quiet room. Everyone had nodded and smiled pleasantly. She’d even been allowed to view the therapy room that held the aversion chair. It was an innocuous looking piece of furniture and yet Kim had no wish to go anywhere near it. The drop-down screen made it look like a one-person cinema had she not known what had been shown on that screen and why.
‘Thanks for taking the time to give us the tour,’ Kim said.
‘Happy to,’ Jess said with a bright smile. ‘I never get bored of showing people around.’
‘You’re very proud of what your parents have achieved here. It must have taken a great deal of work, which I’m sure wasn’t without sacrifice,’ Kim said. She’d seen the playful dynamics between the family earlier but wanted to probe deeper.
The smile remained on Jess’s face but lost some of its sparkle. ‘No different to any other family with working parents, Inspector. Of course things get missed or forgotten when you’re building a business with two young children, but Eric and I have grown up in this environment and feel just as passionately about it as our parents. We understand why they didn’t make it to every parents’ evening or sports day. They were helping people.’
Kim could see that Jessica held no animosity towards her parents and was as dedicated to the cause as they were. ‘And how deeply involved are they with the patients? Do they offer any treatment themselves?’
‘Oh no,’ Jess said, grabbing a bottle of water from her desk. ‘My parents aren’t hands-on with the patients. We have clinicians that follow the treatment plans laid out by my mother, and my dad is responsible for marketing and legal.’ The bright smile was back. ‘We all have our designated roles given our skill set and passion.’
Kim had the feeling of being given a one-sided view, offered the opinion only of the people that ran the place, not the patients who used it. She hadn’t been afforded that pleasure as their maximum capacity of ten had been at the mandatory morning tai chi session. She needed a balanced view of what went on here, and she wasn’t going to get that from any of the staff.
‘Is there anything else I can help you with?’ Jessica said, closing the door marked ‘private’ behind them.
‘Actually, there is one thing,’ Kim said. ‘Is there any chance we could get a copy of Sarah Laing’s admission form? It’s for her mum, who’s having a hard time believing that Sarah would have voluntarily signed herself in for such treatment. If she can see the black-and-white proof of it, she might be able to accept that this was what her daughter wanted.’
‘Of course,’ Jess said, reaching under the desk for a lever arch file.
She laid it on the desk and flicked to the appropriate page, then removed it and stepped to the photocopier.
Bryant looked at her questioningly, knowing that Mrs Laing needed no such proof. But the piece of paper Kim wanted wasn’t the one that was in Jessica’s hand. She glanced down quickly at the record that had been revealed beneath Sarah’s sheet.
Stephanie Lakehurst, 22 Hope Street, Much Wenlock.
‘Thank you,’ Kim said, taking the piece of paper. ‘You’ve been very helpful, but can I ask you just a couple more things before we go?’
‘Of course,’ Jess said.
‘You said that this place is your mum’s passion, her vocation, but if she’s not hands-on with the patients, what exactly is it she feels passionately about?’
‘Helping people to change into the person they want to be. She’s driven by giving people the choice and opportunity to change something they hate about themselves. Her vocation is helping to take away someone’s pain.’
‘Do you really think any of this works?’ Kim asked.
Jess smiled. ‘Oh, I know it works, Inspector. We have the living proof of it just along the hall.’
‘I’m sorry, I’m not sure what you mean.’
‘My mother. She was sent here when she was sixteen years old.’
FORTY
‘It’s not what you think,’ Wendy Clarke said from the other side of the reception desk. The colour was rising in her cheeks.
‘You don’t know what I think, but I do know that Gabriel called you right before he disappeared and you hadn’t thought to mention it last time we spoke?’ Stacey asked. She was trying not to make any judgement on the nature of their relationship.
It had taken less than twenty minutes for the squad car to get her from Birmingham city centre to the accountants’ office in Halesowen, and Stacey had spent most of those minutes convincing herself that Gabriel wouldn’t have done that to Beth.
‘I didn’t want to get him into any trouble,’ Wendy said, looking down at her hands.
‘With who?’
‘Beth.’