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CHAPTER TWO
CHRISTIAN WAS SITTING BEHIND HIS DESK, eating takeaway sushi with chopsticks. He looked up and frowned.
“Don’t you know how to knock?”
“I need a word.”
“Not now, I’m in the middle of lunch.”
“This won’t take long. Just a quick question. Did you ever treat Alicia Berenson?”
Christian swallowed a mouthful of rice and gave me a blank look. “What do you mean? You know
I do. I’m in charge of her care team.”
“I don’t mean here—I mean before she was admitted to the Grove.”
I watched Christian closely. His expression told me all I needed to know. His face went red and
he lowered the chopsticks.
“What are you talking about?”
I took out Alicia’s diary from my pocket and held it up.
“You might be interested in this. It’s Alicia’s journal. It was written in the months leading up to the
murder. I’ve read it.”
Christian looked surprised and a little alarmed. “Where the hell did you get that?”
“Alicia gave it to me. I’ve read it.”
“What’s it got to do with me?”
“She mentions you in it.”
“Me?”
“Apparently you were seeing her privately before she was admitted to the Grove. I wasn’t aware
of that.”
“I—don’t understand. There must be some mistake.”
“I don’t think so. You saw her as a private patient over several years. And yet you didn’t come
forward to testify at the trial—despite the importance of your evidence. Nor did you admit you already knew Alicia when you started working here. Presumably she recognized you straightaway— it’s lucky for you she’s silent.”
I said this drily, but I was intensely angry. Now I understood why Christian was so against my trying to get Alicia to talk. It was in his every interest to keep her quiet.
“You’re a selfish son of a bitch, Christian, you know that?”
Christian stared at me with an increasing look of dismay. “Fuck,” he said under his breath. “Fuck. Theo. Listen—it’s not what it looks like.”
“Isn’t it?”
“What else does it say in the diary?”
“What else is there to say?”
Christian didn’t answer the question. He held out his hand. “Can I have a look at it?” “Sorry.” I shook my head. “I don’t think that’s appropriate.”