Chapter 133

‘I don't understand,' Doctor Lang said. ‘Until I read your file I'd never even heard of Bethany Bowman. Yet you seem to think I was the one who stopped her from killing you.'

‘You did.'

‘Are you saying I've blocked it all out?'

‘What do you remember of your childhood, Doctor Lang?'

She shrugged. ‘It was nothing special. My parents are English, but I grew up in Mindelheim. It's about sixty miles west of Munich.'

‘In Bavaria?'

‘Yes. You've been?'

‘Not there. But I spent time in Germany when I was in the army.'

‘It's a beautiful town,' she said. ‘Lots of tourists, a bit like your Lake District. They're both a curse and a blessing. Can't live with them, can't survive without them.'

‘You don't have a German accent though.'

‘Like I said, my parents are both English. They're both teachers.'

‘But you grew up around Germans. You went to school with German children. Surely you should have a bit of an accent?'

‘I'm bilingual,' she said. ‘My German accent is flawless, I'm told.'

Poe nodded as if that explained it. ‘Tell me about your childhood,' he said.

‘I studied psychology at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich then went on to specialise in psychotraumatology. Unlike CBT, psychotraumatology isn't covered by German mandatory healthcare insurance. As a result, patients there can have trouble accessing good-quality care.'

‘No, Doctor Lang. That's what you did in your late teens and early twenties. I want to hear about your childhood.'

‘But . . . I've just told you. I grew up in Mindelheim.'

‘Describe a specific childhood memory.'

‘Drinking rum and hot chocolate with my friends after we'd been skiing.'

‘That sounds like a teenage memory. Tell me about your tenth birthday party. That's always a big thing for a child. I bet your parents made a fuss.'

‘They did,' she nodded.

‘What type of birthday cake did you have? Was it chocolate? I bet it was. The Germans make a good chocolate cake.'

Doctor Lang frowned. ‘I . . . I can't remember,' she said after a minute.

‘Did you have a party? You must be able to remember that.'

‘I can't,' she said, her voice low and uncertain. She bit her lip and clenched her jaw. She began balling and unballing her fists. ‘Why can't I remember my childhood, Washington? What's happening to me?'

‘You can't remember your childhood, Doctor Lang, because something terrible happened. Something so horrific you weren't safe in your own head. So your mind used an extraordinary, but entirely normal, coping strategy to survive: it completely blocked out the first fifteen years of your life.'

‘I was Bethany's friend when I was younger? Is that why I turned up in Eve's basement?'

‘No.'

‘What are you saying?'

‘You know what I'm saying, Doctor Lang.'

‘Tell me anyway,' she said, her voice hollow and empty.

‘You didn't know Bethany Bowman,' Poe said. ‘You are Bethany Bowman.'