Page 33 of Absent Feeling

“It’snot your patient records I’m interested in. I need to talk to you about yourstaff.”

“Youthink one of our doctors might do something like this?”

“Itwouldn’t have to be a current one,” Amber said. “But itwouldhave to besomeone who you know has worked with Dr. Werdly and Dr. Banks, preferably withYsabel Jones too.” Amber assumed that someone working in the psychiatric professionaround Guisborough had the potential to have met an agency nurse even if itwasn’t immediately obvious from the records.

“That’spotentially a lot of the staff,” Ms. Dern said.

“We’relooking for someone who used the Rorschach test a lot. Someone who knew moreabout it than anyone. Someone obsessed with it. Does that description bring anynames to mind, Ms. Dern?”

“I… theremightbe a name. But I’m sure he wouldn’t.”

“Who,Ms. Dern?” Simon asked, in a stern tone that left no room for holding back.

“Dr.Andrew Harvis,” the administrator said. “He has literally written the book onthe Rorschach test. Several books, in fact. He’s probably applied it to a widerrange of patients than any of our other doctors.”

“Andhe still works there?”

“Hedoes, in spite of his best efforts.”

“Whatdoes that mean?” Amber asked.

“Hehas been … difficult before. He’s argued with several of his colleagues.”

“Aboutthe Rorschach test?”

“Amongother things.”

Amberlooked over to Simon, who nodded. The more they heard about Andrew Harvis, themore plausible a suspect he seemed. They needed to talk to him, right away.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Amberstared over at the Guisborough Wellness Institute, wondering if their killerwas in there, waiting for them.

ToAmber, the place looked like it had been designed to mimic some old-fashionedmanor house, with elegant gardens spread out around it and ivy climbing upseveral of the walls. Everything about it seemed to be designed to cultivate afeeling of tranquility and peace.

Amberfound it hard to feel either of those things when there was a chance that theywere about to talk to the man behind all of this.

Simonalso looked tense. “Before we go in there, I want to know more about him. Idon’t want us walking in there blind.”

Ambernodded. She’d started looking on the drive over, and she called up some of therelevant information on her phone now.

“Dr.Andrew Harvis, fifty-two years old. Went to the top universities, graduatedwith honors, and started a career in psychiatry. There’s a page about hiscareer on the site devoted to his private practice and his books. It seems thathe’s worked at the Guisborough Wellness Institute for around ten years, as wellas seeing some patients privately at his home in town.” Amber frowned. “Iwonder if the administration here is ok with that?”

“I’mmore interested in whether it gives him a chance to come and go so that no oneknows where he is at any given time,” Simon replied. “What else does it sayabout him?”

“ThatDr. Harvis has written five books on the Rorschach test. Five sounds like alot. Why didn’t this guy come up when you were looking for an expert to talk toabout it all?”

“Iwanted someone not closely connected with the Guisborough Wellness Institute.”

Thatmade sense, but if theyhadgone to see Andrew Harvis rather than SallyLloyd, maybe they would already have solved this case.

“Theblurbs for the books say that he is one of the world’s leading experts on thetests,” Amber said. “And that he has been working on both new scoring systemsfor them that might make them fit a wider range of conditions and on additionalinkblot prompts.”

Thatcaught Amber’s interest. Was it possible that the inkblots they’d found at thescene were one of those new prompts?

“Weneed to get in there to talk to him,” Amber said, getting out of the car andleading the way into the facility.

“Justremember that we don’t have anything concrete yet to link him to the crimes,”Simon pointed out. “He’s a suspect, but we’re not in a place yet where we canjust arrest him.”

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