ELEVEN
Doctor Patten stood in the doorway and watched the girl as she just sat there. It seemed to her that she hadn’t moved so much as a muscle since she had been seated down in front of the heater what was a couple of hours ago now. She still had her hands placed in her lap, gazing off towards the far wall as if she were looking through the prefabricated concrete and steel structure to something far beyond. Perhaps to a happier, safer place far away from the horrors she had seen here on Widow’s Bay.
Suzy Munro gently pushed past her and came into the room. She was carrying a mug of hot chocolate in hopes of tempting the girl back to the here and now. Patten came into the room after her and closed the door behind her. Now she was in the room she felt just how hot it had become thanks to the heater that had been quietly blasting away all this time.
Suzy placed the mug down on to a small coffee table set just next to where the girl was sitting and then got down onto her knees. “Hi, my name’s W.P.C Munro, Suzy.” She motioned across to Patten who turned off the heater. She found the atmosphere in the room oppressive, which she took as being due to the heat. Then the doctor moved over to stand next to Munro. “This is Doctor Patten, Rachel.” She studied the girl’s face but it didn’t register so much as a flicker of recognition.
“We’re here to help,” Rachel said. “Could you tell us your name?”
Nothing.
Rachel could see Suzy biting her lip as she concentrated on the girl’s blank expression, looking for any sign they were getting through to her. “It must have been awful,” she said with genuine compassion. “Seeing what you saw out there.”
The girl flinched ever so slightly. It was a barely noticeable twitch and one Rachel might well have thought he imagined if Suzy hadn’t glanced up at her. They waited for any further response but there was nothing.
Suzy sighed and nodded to the mug on the table. “I’ve brought you a mug of hot chocolate. Lots of sugar.” She picked up the mug and gently raised it to the girl’s lips. She tipped it slightly and the girl took the smallest of sips but still her face was an indecipherable mask.
At least that was something Rachel thought and knelt next to Suzy. She took her pen light out of her pocket. “Hi, I’m just going to shine this into your eyes again if that’s okay?” She hadn’t been expecting a response and got none. She shined the light first into her right eye, then the left. “Pupils responding normally,” she said.
“No sign of physical trauma,” Suzy said looking the girl over. “Are you in any pain, miss?” She asked.
Rachel motioned to the dried blood on her blouse. “The blood’s not hers.” She tapped her own temple. “I’d say it’s all in here,” she added in a whisper.
“Miss?” Suzy said putting the mug back down on the table. “I know this is really hard, but we need to catch whoever did this. Can you remember anything about what happened?” Still nothing but the girl’s slow regular breathing, it was almost hypnotic. “Did you know the man who was attacked?” She waited for a flinch but this time nothing came.
“Did you see who attacked him?” Rachel asked. When she got no response she got back to her feet. “This is useless,” she said softly trying not to let her frustration show. “We have to get her to a hospital where she can be properly looked after.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Suzy said. “Not for a while at least.” All the while she didn’t take her eyes of the girl, not even for a moment fearful she might miss the slightest hint of recognition. She placed her hand gently on the girl’s knee and leant forwards. “I know this is hard for you,” she whispered. “But please, we want to help. How about a name, huh?”
Both women almost cried out in shock as the girl slowly raised a hand to her still blank face, a slight frown played across her lips as she touched her pale cheek.
“Mary,” it was barely a breath.
“Mary? Your name’s Mary?” Suzy asked her face flushed with relief at the breakthrough however small it might turn out to be.”
Mary gave the hint of a nod in response. Her gaze flicked towards the police woman but it seemed to go straight through her.
“Good girl!” Rachel said, she waited for the flood gates to open but that was it. “That’s great Mary, my name’s Doctor Patten, this is W.P.C Munro...”
“Suzy,” Mary said softly.
“Suzy, yes that’s right,” Rachel replied.
The girl turned her head stiffly to look Suzy straight in the eye. “Thank you for the chocolate Suzy, it was lovely.”
“You’re most welcome Mary,” she replied clearly taken aback.
“Now Mary,” Rachel said. “I want you to tell me how you are feeling, physically I mean. You look okay, but did you get hurt in anyway tonight?”
Mary simply looked down at her hands rested once more in her lap and the doctor had to suppress her growing frustration once more.
Suzy, whether it was her training or not, was much calmer. She took Mary’s hands in hers. “Look Mary, I know you’ve been through a lot tonight, but we really need for you to try and remember what happened out there.”
“No!” Mary snapped and Suzy pulled her hands away like she had been given an electric shock. She held them up defensively.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Suzy tried to reassure her. “All we want to do is catch the person who did this. But we really need your help to do that.” She waited for a response but Mary just knitted her fingers together in her lap and didn’t look up. “I can only imagine how horrible this has been for you, Mary,” Suzy continued. “But we need to know what happened.”
“He died,” Mary said without looking up. It was a statement of fact said without any trace of emotion.
Rachel felt the hairs on the back of her neck bristle. This girl was seriously traumatised by what she had seen.
“I know,” Suzy pressed on regardless. “Believe me, I’ve seen the body.” She paused looking for a response to that but got nothing. “That’s why I know it must be incredibly hard for you to think about what happened, what you saw.”
“I, I don’t remember, what I saw,” Mary replied hesitantly.”
I don’t blame you, Rachel thought. She knelt down by the opposite side of the chair to Suzy again. “You’re in shock, Mary,” she explained as gently as she could. “And God knows that’s understandable. You’ve suffered a terrible trauma and it’s at times like this that your brain thinks; Hang on a minute, hold everything I can’t deal with this right now. I don’t want to remember, it’s too hard. Too painful.”
Mary slowly raised her head to look at Rachel as she spoke. “Your brain just shuts it out,” Rachel continued. “It’s a defense mechanism. To help you cope. Mary I’ve seen the body as well. It must have been terrible to see someone die like that, or even just to stumble across a body in that state.”
“I shouldn’t be here.” Mary said to her, it was almost a plea.
“I know,” Rachel replied. “But we can’t get you to the mainland for a while just yet I’m afraid.”
“I shouldn’t be here,” she said firmer this time and Rachel thought she caught a hint of venom in her voice. Mary looked around the room as if only just realising where she was. She shook her head in disbelief. “Where am I?”
“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Suzy said trying to calm her. “You’re at the lifeboat station, on Widow’s Bay, remember?”
A look something akin to horror flashed across her young face. “What a horrible name,” she said with genuine disgust.
“I know, God knows where it came from,” Suzy said.
“A widow is touched by death,” Mary said obliquely. “Someone left behind after death.” She began shaking. “I can’t be here!”
Rachel had never thought of it that way before, but she supposed that was true. She was giving serious consideration to giving the girl something to calm her when all of a sudden she stopped shaking and a strange serenity came over her.
“Mary?” Suzy said but the girl simply folded her hands in her lap once again.
Unnerved, Rachel got to her feet. “Come on, Suzy, let’s let Mary rest.” She suddenly wanted to get out of the room but Suzy didn’t move.
“Mary, please we just want to help. Is there anyone you want us to get in touch with? Someone must be missing you.”
“There is no one,” Mary said bitterly without shifting her gaze which was fixed on the wall once more or what lay beyond.
Rachel moved over towards the door. “Suzy, come on, let her rest.”
Finally Munro relented and got to her feet. “We’ll just be in the next room, Mary,” she said but got no response.