Page 52 of No Safe Place

Friday | Morning

Field

Lily was back five minutes later. Wilson turned to a new page in her daybook.

Field had assumed Lily was worried about Callum, but it was suddenly apparent how much distress she was in. The news of David’s death had been a shock for her. He had treated her too.

And Lily should never have been present at Callum’s interview.

They ran through the formalities first.

Lily’s alibi for the night David was killed was being home with Callum, but they were in separate rooms from seven o’clock. Her boyfriend, Scott, got home from work sometime after 3 a.m.

No alibi for Sam’s stabbing, either. After the argument Lily left the house and went to her boyfriend’s empty flat.

‘Lily,’ Field said, finally getting to the question she needed to ask. ‘You understand – how Callum was found, the fact he didn’t call an ambulance. The circumstances, well—’ She let the sentence hang for a moment. ‘Do you think there’s any way that Callum could have done this?’

Field didn’t believe Callum had done it, but she wanted to see how Lily responded.

Lily laughed, caught herself, stopped. ‘No.’

‘Then why didn’t he call an ambulance?’ Field prompted. ‘I know he found it hard to answer that question, but I’m struggling to understand it.’

‘You’ve read David’s paper, right?’ Lily took a deep breath. ‘One of the ways Cal’s OCD manifests is numbers. To him the number six is safe, and nine is bad.’

Field didn’t react, but it sounded implausible, at the very least.

As if she’d read her thoughts, Lily continued. ‘My birthday is the 19th of the month, and we have to celebrate a day early.

‘He can’t go into shops because the prices make him so anxious, he can’t breathe. He doesn’t go on the internet, read books. We put tape over the nine on the clocks at home, before we had to get rid of them all.’

To Field, it seemed like well-trodden material. Something Lily had perfected over the years, explaining Callum’s behaviours, learning what people would respond to.

Field looked down at her notes, letting Lily speak at Wilson – the more sympathetic face.

‘If he could leave the house, he wouldn’t be able to go more than two doors down. We live on the odd side of the road,’ she said. ‘But he’s making progress. David recently got him using a mobile phone again. Just owning one, carrying it round, is a huge step for Cal.’

‘And how long has David been Callum’s therapist?’ Wilson asked.

‘Since he was a teenager,’ Lily said, wiping away a tear. ‘Well, since we were teenagers.’

‘And what was your relationship like, with David?’ Field asked quietly. ‘When you were part of the trial.’

‘He believed me,’ Lily said, her voice barely above a whisper. ‘I’d told so many doctors that I thought it might be OCD, but they told me I was wrong. I’d given up on getting better, when I met David.’

‘They didn’t believe you?’ Wilson echoed.

How many times had Field told Toby that he was just going through a phase? That he didn’t need medication – he just needed to get out and do some exercise.

‘Four.’ Lily turned to Wilson, a note of challenge in her voice. ‘Four eating disorder clinics, before I ended up on David’s ward. You can check my medical records, if you don’t believe me.’

‘I’m going to ask you the same question I asked Callum, now, Lily. I need the names of the other two patients.’

Lily looked down at her hands. ‘Callum is right. This stuff, it’s private. My work don’t know, about my OCD. I told my first few schools, but after the initial conversation with the head, it never came up. It doesn’t affect my work, so I stopped telling them.

‘I have colleagues I’ve worked with for five years who don’t know, and I like it that way.’

Wilson sighed. ‘Lily, we’re not going to go around telling people’s employers—’

‘It’s not about that,’ Lily snapped.

Field gave a tiny shake of her head, and Wilson sat back in her chair. She waited.

‘I can tell you about Patient E. Her name was – it’s Paige Jacobs. She had contamination OCD.’

‘Was?’ Field prompted, gently.

‘She died. She was – she was nineteen.’

‘How did she die, Lily?’ Field asked, fearful that she knew the answer.

Lily closed her eyes. ‘Car accident.’

Not what she was expecting. Field thought Lily hadn’t meant to be blunt; she could only bear to say it that fast.

‘And Patient C?’ Field asked, but Lily was already shaking her head.

‘No. Callum was right, and that paper was anonymous for a reason.’

They had four out of five names. Lily was distracted and sweating, and Field came to her decision easily.

‘Okay, I think that’s enough for now.’ Field closed her notebook. ‘When Callum is feeling up to it, we will need a formal statement, and we’ll need to formally interview you, too.’

‘Callum – would he have to come to the station for that?’ Lily asked.

Field shook her head. ‘We can arrange to hold it wherever works for him.’ She turned to the list of questions she’d prepared. ‘There’s one last thing I need to ask, Lily. I had meant to ask Callum, but – as you were there too – you should be able to help.’

Lily folded her arms.

‘David’s wife, Penny. Have you ever met her? Has Callum? While you were in the Maudsley, perhaps.’

Lily didn’t hesitate. ‘No. Why?’

Field smiled, shrugged. ‘Not important.’