Page 77 of No Safe Place
‘I need to go,’ he said, abrupt.
‘I really think my client—’
Field spoke over the lawyer, pushing Callum. ‘Two stabbingsin two days, Callum. Who were the other patients? Help me keep them safe.’
Callum stood up from the table, unsteady on his feet. He swayed, and Lily caught him under the arm.
‘Okay, that’s enough,’ the lawyer said.
‘You need to tell us the truth,’ Field pressed, leaning across the table. Pushing Callum was the only way to get the answer. ‘Unless you tell us, we can’t protect—’
‘I can tell you,’ Lily snapped. ‘I was there, okay?’
They all turned to her, and Field sat back in her chair.
‘I’m Patient A. I’ll answer your questions, or whatever, but let me get him out of here first.’
Lily led Callum out of the room. The doctor was outside, waiting. The three of them left in a bustle of jerky movements and soothing voices.
Wilson let out a low whistle, barely audible. ‘I did not see that coming.’
Chapter 51
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 neededto 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.
