‘Mr Dermot, we’d like to—’
‘John, please.’
‘Okay, John, we’d like to talk to you about a clinic called Change just down the road in Bridgnorth.’
He took a good drink. ‘Okay,’ he said, giving nothing away.
‘We understand you spent time there.’
For the first time the hint of a frown shaped his features. ‘How would you know that?’
‘We understand that you signed an NDA, but would you be prepared to talk to us off the record?’
‘Somewhat,’ he answered cryptically.
Kim waited.
‘If you ask me questions, I’ll either answer or I won’t, so go ahead.’
‘What led you to the clinic?’ Kim asked. She understood that John had been there at the same time as Stephanie, which had been last year. He was an adult. What had driven him to want to change his sexuality?
‘My parents.’
‘Can you elaborate?’ Kim said.
‘I’ve always known my parents’ view on homosexuality. I’d never come out to them for fear of their reaction, but Mrs bloody Fitzsimmons had other ideas. She’s the nosey bitch next door that caught me giving the gardener a blow job and told my parents. I should have resisted, but my goodness he was gorgeous and couldn’t speak a word of English. He didn’t need to. It wasn’t his conversation skills I was—’
‘So what happened?’
John continued after he’d poured another drink. ‘Well obviously they wanted me cured, so they found this place who said they could rid me of the sickness and off I went.’
‘But you were an adult. Your parents couldn’t force you.’
He pulled a face. ‘Not physically no, but there are other ways.’
Kim waited.
‘I was told that if I didn’t get help, I’d be cut off financially. Thrown out and disinherited. I’m a material guy. I love my life. I’m not very good at anything. I’ve never worked a day in my life and I don’t intend to start now. I love being wealthy so they really left me no choice.’
‘So you’re cured?’ Bryant asked doubtfully.
‘Absolutely,’ he said with a wide smile.
‘Really?’ Kim asked.
John laughed. ‘Of course not, but I no longer shit on my own doorstep. I satisfy my desires miles away from this house, this village and the prying eyes and cameras of Mrs Fitzsimmons. Every month or so I bring back one of my girlfriends for a supposed nightcap and that keeps my parents off my back. It’s a great plan with years of mileage left in it yet.’
Kim was trying to understand why she hadn’t yet taken a dislike to this young man. He was rich, privileged, entitled and deceitful to his parents, and yet open and honest with them.
‘Will you tell us about your time at the clinic?’ she asked.
‘Not really,’ he said, shaking his head.
‘Because of the NDA?’ Bryant asked.
‘Fuck the NDA. No, I deal with unpleasant things by pretending they never happened, officers. I put them in boxes and throw away the key. I am able to disassociate myself from past events and move on,’ he said, taking a gulp of his drink.
The slight trembling of his hand said otherwise, but as someone who handled pain the same way, she couldn’t really push him. But it meant she knew what to ask.