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A week later.
The inquiry hadn’t been in session for the first two days of the second week due to some prior commitments of Dame Margaret being impossible to rearrange. It also gave a chance for some further information gathering on a couple of details about the health authority that would be needed for the final recommendations. Gina welcomed the two-day break, as it allowed her to catch up on some of her other casework which was ticking over in the background and also the chance to view some properties for her and Will to rent. Fortunately, the recent hot spell had broken, and the temperature had dropped by almost ten degrees, returning Canterbury to its more normal climatic conditions. Last night there had even been some welcome rain, and this morning the streets felt much cleaner and fresher.
She had an appointment with a client at 11 a.m. to discuss a possible medical negligence suit after a botched bowel operation. That was in just over an hour, and when she had finished her coffee, she planned to pop outside for a quick vape on her e-cigarette. Since the inquiry had started, she had been seeking solace in her tobacco substitute more often. It helped her calm her nerves, but she knew that Will would urge her to cut down as the long-term effects of e-cigarettes were not yet known. Were there no vices which were safe, thought Gina.
‘Come in?’ she called.
‘Some post for you,’ said Carly. ‘Quite a bundle today.’
‘Great. I’ll look through it in a minute.’
‘Oh, Mr Evans, phoned to say he might be about ten minutes late, he had trouble starting his car.’
‘OK, thanks, Carly.’
Gina flicked through the letters. One was from the care home where her mother was staying, confirming that an en-suite room had become vacant on a permanent basis. Gina was invited to go and see it anytime, and the letter went on to detail the monthly cost. Gina felt a great sense of relief that they had found a suitable home quite quickly and her mother, who had only spent a few nights there so far had settled in well. There was much to organise in the future regarding the sale of the bungalow but all that could wait. Her mother could easily afford to pay for a few years’ residential care out of her savings, so there was no need to rush.
She opened what was clearly a greetings card. The card showed a reproduction of a Monet water lily painting, inside, it said, “Welcome back!” Nothing else, no signature.
Gina frowned and looked at the envelope addressed in carefully written block capitals. How odd, she thought. Surely Will hadn’t sent a card and been so distracted that he’d forgotten to sign it? It also looked too neat for his flamboyant scrawl. Also, why now? It was a month since she’d started at Barker and Hinds unless someone had just found out about her new job. In that case, why remain anonymous?
Gina concluded that it probably wasn’t worth worrying about as there was a lot more demanding her attention at the moment. Grabbing her e-cigarette, she left the building to seek a few minutes solitude to compose her thoughts.
**
‘Hi, Tom,’ said Trish into her mobile. ‘Yes, I’m just doing a bit of tidying in the garden as it’s not so hot today. How’s your day going?’
‘Oh, well, apart from the online booking system failing completely causing our phone lines to be jammed, it’s going swimmingly!’
‘Oh, no, can you fix it?’
‘The technical team is here. It’s chaos, so I better not be too long. I just wanted to check you were OK?’
‘I’m fine, there’s no need to phone so often. Don’t forget, Francine is going to call around this afternoon, we are meeting here instead of in town. She thought it might be best.’
‘OK, well, I’ll text you to let you know what time I’ll be back. Goodness knows when that will be.’
‘See you later, love you.’
‘Bye, love.’
Trish placed her phone on the table on the patio where she could hear any calls coming through and resumed her gardening. She’d not told Tom, but there was another dead squirrel this morning, so she was in the process of digging a hole for it towards the back of the garden. Hopefully, next spring her pots of bulbs would stand a better chance. This year had been particularly annoying, as one pot with some new crocuses only produced a couple of flowers. Her investigation of the container revealed all the rest of the bulbs had been removed by the cheeky pests.
She heard a clanking of ladders, which sounded the arrival of Jake, their regular long-standing window cleaner.
‘Morning, Mrs Webster,’ he called cheerfully. ‘The garden is looking fabulous as usual!’
‘Thank you, at least it’s not so hot now.’
‘Tell me about it. It’s been unbearable the last few weeks. Well, I’d better get on.’
‘OK, I’ll get your money,’ said Trish, heading back inside.
Reluctantly, she’d told Beth she would be unable to accompany her to the inquiry as it was too stressful for her. Naturally, her friend had insisted she could cope and that Derek was planning to take a few days off work to lend moral support.
‘I’ll leave your money here!’ she shouted up to Jake.
‘Thank you!’ he called down.
Trish returned inside and made herself a small cafetière of coffee. She would return to the garden later but first, she had some things to research on the Internet. Despite promising not to attend the inquiry in person, her interest had been piqued. The nature of the evidence had been so disturbing that she felt drawn to look up the background to the sordid affair of SEKare and the trials of the convicted offenders. Each day, transcripts of the inquiry were available online so she could follow the interviews at a distance without witnessing first hand the distressing evidence.
Although attendance at the inquiry had doubtless been the cause of her transient amnesia, she now felt much stronger. On the advice of Francine, she had visited her GP, who had prescribed anti-depressant medication and though it hadn’t taken full effect, it was already making her feel less emotional and more psychologically robust.
Jake passed by the window and gave a cheery wave.
‘Bye!’ she called as she refilled her cup and heated some more milk in the microwave before sitting down with her laptop.
**
Melanie had stayed in hospital for just over a week before being discharged back to her flat. The Psychiatry Liaison Team had drawn up a care plan, in conjunction with the Adult Mental Health team, and it would be reviewed regularly to ensure she was making progress. Melanie had also been prescribed anti-depressants, in conjunction with regular counselling sessions, both individual and with a group. Izzy had agreed to move in with Melanie to provide support and company and had reduced her working hours for the first fortnight.
That morning, Melanie had her first appointment with a clinical psychologist.
‘Come in and take a seat, Melanie,’ said Hannah, a woman in her early fifties.
‘Thanks,’ replied Melanie, her voice showing a hint of nerves.
Hannah wore black trousers, black ankle boots and a long-sleeved white blouse. Her hair was cut in a short, urchin style which framed her small face. A pair of reading glasses with bright red frames was perched on top of her head. Her plain attire was set off by a chunky necklace and matching bracelet on her right arm, her left sported a large boldface watch with a red strap.
‘How’s your arm feeling?’
‘Oh, it’s OK, I can’t wait to get rid of this cast, it makes it so awkward getting dressed or doing anything.’
‘I can imagine.’
‘I’ve read your notes and I see that you were prescribed some medication before you left hospital. Have you been to see your GP since you were discharged?’
‘Yes, I saw Dr Anand yesterday. I’m going to stay on this dose of anti-depressants for two more weeks and then see him again. I’ve also got some tablets for anxiety, but I don’t take those every day.’
‘Do you think the tablets are helping?’
‘Well, yes, I think so but I might have to increase my dose.’
Hannah put on her reading glasses and made some notes in Melanie’s file.
‘I’m really sorry that you’ve been feeling so depressed and anxious recently and my job is to try to help you manage your feelings. I can see that you have had counselling before, with Trish Webster,’ she paused and looked up. ‘Are you able to tell me a bit about how she was helping you?’
‘Well, I’ve had a lot of problems in the past, my teenage years were hard because my parents didn’t get on. Then I was bullied at school.’
‘Are you in contact with your parents now?’
‘No, I don’t really want to, we don’t get on.’
‘OK, can you tell me anything more? Take your time and stop anytime you feel you want to.’
Melanie nodded. ‘I’ve sort of felt like I’ve had a black cloud following me all the time. I’m OK when I’m working and really busy, but sometimes my painful memories just become overwhelming.’
‘OK, you are doing really well.’
‘I learnt some techniques to help with my anxiety but recently they didn’t seem to work very well. Suddenly I started to feel much worse, and I reverted to self-harming. It was the only way to get rid of the pain.’
‘How did it feel when you cut yourself?’
‘It felt like I was releasing the pain from my body. It gave me something to focus on, and the physical pain distracted me from my other mental agonies.’
‘Do you feel you want to hurt yourself again?’
‘No, I don’t think so.’ Melanie stopped. ‘No, I really don’t want to. I won’t do that again. I think it was because I started drinking again heavily and that made my depression worse.’
‘OK, are you able to talk a bit more?’
‘Yes, I think so.’
‘Can you tell me a bit about what happened the night of your accident?’
‘I’d been to the pub with Izzy, my friend, then when we walked back across town, we were asked for money by a homeless man. It made me feel even sadder. The next thing I remember, was waiting to cross the road and I must have stepped in front of a car.’ Melanie closed her eyes as she thought about the events of that fateful evening.
‘Take your time and some deep breaths, that’s good, there’s no rush.’
‘I really don’t know whether I intended to kill myself, I was just in another world. Everything seemed distorted and blurry as if I was in a daze. I think I misjudged the traffic and started to cross.’
‘Thank you, Melanie, you’ve been really brave telling me what happened that night. Do you need some water?’
‘Yes, thank you,’ said Melanie, taking a sip of the water.
‘Do you wish you had died in the accident?’
‘No, I think it was a silly thing to do. I wish I hadn’t.’
‘Well, I think about the people I would leave behind, my friend, Izzy, for example. She would feel terrible if I killed myself. She’s been such a good friend.’ Melanie paused. ‘Also, I do enjoy my job. It’s just I’m prone to my mood swings.’
‘Thanks for sharing that with me. It’s really good that you have recognised those feelings. Now, over the next few weeks, I want to talk about the things which upset you and how you react when you start to feel overwhelmed. I hope I can help you manage your feelings and to cope with those past painful events.’
‘OK, I’d like that,’ replied Melanie.
Hannah looked at her client and truly believed that she wanted to be in a better place, mentally. It was clear that there were some deep psychological scars which needed to be healed but there were positive signs, and that was a starting point.
