Chapter 126

‘I woke up in hospital,' Poe said to Doctor Lang. ‘I was in what the doctor called a "minimally conscious state" when they found me. There was significant swelling on my brain and I spent a week in an induced coma.'

‘So the file says,' Doctor Lang said. ‘Alice obviously managed to persuade Bethany not to kill you?'

‘I have no idea what happened after I passed out. All I know is that when I didn't turn up for breakfast, Estelle called Tilly to see where I was. A missing cop sets off all sorts of alarm bells and it wasn't long before Superintendent Nightingale dispatched a team to Eve Bowman's house.'

‘Where they found you?'

‘My car was still in the drive. When there was no answer, they broke down the door. They found me lying on the floor in between the cooling bodies of Eve and Aaron Bowman.'

‘Alice had untied you?'

‘Bethany had.'

‘I take it she was long gone?'

‘No. She was sitting on the floor beside me. I'm told she was in some sort of fugue state.'

‘Dissociative fugue,' Doctor Lang said automatically. ‘The terminology has changed.'

‘Yeah, that sounds right. Anyway, she didn't seem to know where she was, or what had happened.'

‘Was Alice waiting with her?'

‘Bethany was alone,' Poe said.

‘The police officers arrested her?'

‘She was in court a few months ago charged with the murders of Cornelius Green, Aaron Bowman and Eve Bowman.'

‘How did she plead?'

‘After considering three psychiatric reports, which all concluded there was an abnormality of mental function, the Crown Prosecution Service accepted a plea of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility. The judge sentenced Bethany to life imprisonment combined with a Section 45A Hospital and Limitation Direction Order.'

‘That isn't one I'm familiar with.'

‘They're sometimes called hybrid orders,' Poe explained. ‘It means she'll stay in a secure hospital until she no longer requires treatment. At that point, she'll be transferred to prison where she'll see out the remainder of her sentence.'

‘That seems . . . harsh?'

‘Actually, the judge was remarkably understanding,' Poe said. ‘He was sympathetic to what Bethany had been through and he sentenced her accordingly. He had to protect the public, obviously, but he only put an eight-year tariff on the manslaughter charges. That means if Bethany can get well, she can apply for parole before she's forty.'

‘And if she doesn't get well?'

‘She'll spend the rest of her life in hospital.'

‘That poor girl,' Doctor Lang said. She closed Poe's file. ‘We'll leave it there for now, Washington, but this has been a productive session. You've suffered enormously, but you've been extremely honest about it. I've had police officers as patients before and they rarely open up, and because of that they rarely get better.'

‘Am I going to be OK?'

‘You'll be fine,' she smiled. ‘Now, this is a bit cheeky, but can I ask two more questions? They're just to satisfy my own curiosity, so please don't feel you need to answer.'

‘Ask away, Doctor Lang.'

‘What happened to the Children of Job?'

‘Folded,' Poe said. ‘Joshua stuck to his guns and refused to denounce Cornelius's actions, but with the press camped outside for a month, members drifted away. The senior members all became tabloid hit pieces. In the end, Joshua was left all alone. No members, no income. I think a hotel chain picked up the estate for pennies on the pound.'

‘I'm glad,' Doctor Lang said.

‘I am as well,' Poe said. ‘You said you had two questions?'

‘Did you ever find out what Linus Jorgensen was up to?'

Poe held up his scarred hands and scowled.