Page 107 of The Boathouse By the Loch

Sean said, ‘I see. Yes, I understand. All right, I’ll bring her to your office.’

She raised her eyebrows, saying a silentthank youthat Marnie had persuaded him.

Sean put the phone down. ‘Your therapist said there was no way she was doing the session here, at the police station. It wouldn’t be at all conducive to achieving the state of relaxation required under hypnosis that she’d need to enable those memories repressed deep down in your subconscious to come to the fore.She said the session would be a waste of time for her, and for you.’

Although she was definitely up for another session, looking around the sparsely furnished and rather depressing little interview room with no windows and harsh lighting, she realised that Marnie was absolutely right – she’d be wasting her time.

Sean said, ‘She asked if you’d like a chaperone.’

‘She asks me that each time.’ She recalled what Marnie had said:You are welcome to have someone else present in the session. In fact, I recommend it. I make notes, but it’s always helpful to have another pair of eyes and ears. And for moral support if you wish.

But every other session, she’d been happy to attend them alone. She looked at Sean. ‘Do you have to attend?’

‘No – only if you want me to.’

‘But what about finding out what’s happened to Robyn – the real Robyn?’

‘You would need to give your consent to divulge what takes place, and what, if anything, you remember in your session.’

‘Oh, okay.’

‘Do you want me to sit in on the session?’

She nodded her head. For some reason, this time it seemed important. Not because she’d been taken into custody, but because she had a feeling that the previous sessions with Marnie had been building up to … something. Marnie had said she was making progress. The very fact that she could get into that hypnosis-induced state was a massive positive when it came to accessing the memories buried deep in her subconscious.

She looked at Sean. If something were to come to light today, she wanted someone she knew to be in there with her, hearing it all first hand – even though she had only known him for a shorttime. At that moment, she realised with a heavy heart that she didn’t have another living soul who would support her.

There was a knock on the door. Sean frowned. ‘I’d better go see who that is. Sit tight.’ He looked at his watch. ‘We’ll be leaving soon.’

When Sean returned, he opened the door a crack, and said, ‘Can you come here?’

She stood up, joining Sean at the door. ‘What is it?’ She hoped to goodness that something unexpected hadn’t come up and they couldn’t go, or Marnie had cancelled.

‘The thing is,’ said Sean, ‘they’re all being a right pain waiting in reception, demanding to see you.’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘My superior wants them all out of his station …’ Sean opened the door wide to reveal a group of people waiting outside the door.

Her eyes went wide at the sight of them, and her hand flew to her chest. She started choking up. She stepped outside the room.

‘Robyn, we’re all here for you,’ said Gayle.

There were nods of agreement from David, Joe, Annie, Nick, Marty and Melissa.

‘Oh, aye!’ said Duncan.

Percy woofed.

‘You brought my dog?’ She knelt down and gave him a fuss before she got a group hug.

‘Did you think we’d just abandon you?’ said David.

She wiped tears from her eyes. ‘But I’m not Robyn. You heard Judith.’

Behind the group, someone else stepped forward. The last person she’d expected to come. Judith said, ‘That’s right.’

She swallowed. ‘Oh, Judith, I amsosorry. IswearI’m tellingthe truth. I was in Robyn’s car driving out of town when the accident happened. When I woke up I didn’t know who I was. The police said I was Robyn Parker. Her licence was lost in the crash, so they just did a search on the DVLA. I should have questioned it.’

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