Chapter 17: Friday, Mahler then Tara.

Editor’s Note:
The next page is notes taken by Dr Koehler of a meeting between himself and Detective Mahler.

Meeting held 4pm, Friday 12/3.
Present: Dr Koehler Snr (Psychiatrist), Detective Mahler, Lorna Small (legal representative for the Freeman family).

Mahler: You told me you had some information from the Freeman girl.

Dr K: What I’m about to tell you would normally be covered by doctor-patient privilege but Rebecca Freeman and her family, after consulting with Ms Small here, have given me permission to pass some information on to you.

Small: Please keep in mind that this information is being provided in the spirit of cooperation with the police. We were not required to talk to you like this.

Mahler: Of course.

Dr K: Bec is not ready to be interviewed. She is making progress and has passed on some details that she remembers but her memories are still disorganized and full of gaps.

Dr K: Bec only speaks about two men as per the original reports. The leader seems to be a large man, something similar in size to Peter Freeman or Daniel Freeman. He probably has a flattened nose. I suspect that he is the one who was injured and whose blood was on Rebecca’s clothes. I have a drawing here which may not be very helpful.

Photo of face from hospital wall.

Mahler: (muttered oath) That is one ugly looking son of a bitch.

Dr K: I cannot guarantee that this is an exact likeness of the man. I think there may be some interpretation and use of symbols going on and, as you can see, the face itself is distorted. As I said, it may not be very helpful.

Mahler: (grunts) We will try it on the facial recognition program and see if we get anything. It’s worth a shot. So far we’ve got nothing. The lab is backed up so we won’t get DNA on the blood for at least another week. They must have been wearing gloves as we didn’t find any fingerprints at the scene that don’t belong to family and friends.

Dr K: Judging by the amount of blood on Bec’s clothing, the man would have needed medical attention fairly urgently.

Mahler: I had my people check all the local emergency departments, doctors and pharmacies on Tuesday with no results. I will get them to try again using this description and see if we get any hits.

Dr K: I have less information about the second man. Bec has symbolically described the two men as the minotaur and the wolf. This is the man she calls the minotaur. That suggests to me that the second man is somewhat smaller although still fairly solid but that is speculation. I can’t say much at all about him with any confidence except that she calls him the wolf.

Mahler: I hope you’re aware that I can’t put out a bolo for a man who looks like a wolf.

Dr K: Yes, I’m sorry but that’s all I have. Bec mentioned that she chased him away after fighting with the larger man so he may not be injured.

Mahler: Is that all you have?

Dr K: Their motive appears to be kidnapping with the intent to keep the girls prisoner and sexually abuse them over a long period of time. It was a planned attack. Apparently he claimed to have a place prepared where he could hold the girls that was either very isolated or soundproofed or both.

Mahler: Were these men known to the girl?

Dr K: That is unclear at this stage.

Mahler: This is not a lot to go on.

Dr K: I’m aware of that. But it is more than you had.

Mahler: When can I talk to the girl?

Dr K: Bec’s memories of the incident are returning but she isn’t ready to talk directly to you yet. That’s why we are having this meeting.

Mahler: So what has she been doing for all of this time?

Dr K: As I explained to you earlier this week. She draws strength and healing from being with her family. That’s what she has been doing – spending time with her family so that she can heal and regain her strength. And she’s been working with me.

Mahler: (grunt) And drawing on walls, apparently. Damn but that’s big. She drew that on her wall?

Dr K: Yes she did.

Mahler: I bet the cleaners are pissed.

Dr K: The wall has already been cleaned. Bec did it herself, with the aid of her roommate.

Mahler: (grunt)

Meeting ended 4:20pm

Editor’s Note:
The next page is an extract from the journal of Tara Freeman dated Friday 3rd.

So it’s Friday and Dan and I have spent most of the day hanging out with Bec and her new friend Mischa. Mum was discharged this morning and Nana stayed at home to look after her and Angie.

Dad went in to work this morning. He got three days off because of what happened but then he had to go back to work today. Dan says he really should go back to school on Monday and I guess I should think about that too. I’m not ready now, but maybe by Monday I will be. Or maybe not. I don’t know. But I guess sooner or later I’ll have to go back to school.

We had to leave the hospital a bit early last night so that the Aunties and Sam could visit. It would have been too much of a crowd otherwise. We’re going to do the same again tonight because Bec’s friends are coming to visit, Liz Davidson and her father and whatsername – Laura’s sister. I haven’t talked to Laura since the weekend. She’s been sent off to stay with her cousins and she was pissed about that.

So last night I was at home and Dan told Dad about my homework from the doctor. So Dad took me into my bedroom and told me to stand in front of the mirror and do my thing. So I went through it all with Dad holding my hand and watching me. Once I was done, he squeezed my hand and told me I was a real trooper.

When we got back to the living room, Dan got me to sit next to him on the couch while we watched TV. He slung an arm over my shoulders and I cuddled into his side. Later, Dan encouraged me to stretch out on the couch and put my head on his thigh. I almost went to sleep like that but I didn’t.

When it was nearly bed time, I took Dad into his room and I put the cream on his back. We didn’t have to argue or anything this time. I didn’t feel so bad looking at his back this time either. The ridges and creases and the smooth sections now just seem like a part of him and it felt more like I was softly massaging Dad rather than being focused on the scars. It was nice.

Once I was finished, I kissed Dad good night and went back to Dan. Mum went home this morning but her hands are still no good so I guess I’ll have to keep doing Dad’s back for a while.

So last night, after I did Dad’s back, I watched some more TV with Dan which was dumb because there was a stupid show with guns shooting off and people screaming and one woman got dragged into a van and it drove off and you heard her yelling out as it drove off – and that was in the first 5 minutes. The whole thing freaked me out and I ended up crying and holding onto Dan more tightly than ever.

Once Dan realized what was going on, he switched the TV off but by then the damage was done.

Dan said maybe it was bed time but I couldn’t go to bed just yet. I had to go to the bathroom. I was so embarrassed. I was near bursting but I couldn’t imagine going on my own – not in the state I was in. Mum wasn’t at home and Nana and Angie had both gone to bed hours earlier so there was nobody to go with me – except Dan and I could never...

I dithered around trying to put it off until I was nearly wetting my pants. At that point I burst into tears.

Dan grabbed each of my arms and held me so I was looking at him and then he made me tell him what my problem was. So of course I had no choice but explain what was going on. Once I told him he nodded and then started leading me to the bathroom.

He came right in with me and stood me in front of the toilet.

I just stood there. I was still crying. I was so humiliated that I needed him to be with me but now he was with me I was stuck because it was embarrassing to think of going to the toilet with him right there.

I guess he gave up waiting because he undid my jeans and pulled them down and then he pulled my underpants down and he sat me on the toilet. I started peeing almost straight away but it wasn’t by choice. He wasn’t watching me but I cried even more because I was embarrassed about him hearing bathroom noises from me. He must have guessed that was a problem so he reached around and turned on the shower. That helped me relax a bit because the sound of the shower drowned out everything.

He stood beside me and pulled my head into his stomach and rubbed my shoulders while I finished what I had to do. At some point in there, I stopped crying. I guess I passed the point where I couldn’t be any more embarrassed so I stopped crying. Actually it wasn’t as bad as I’d feared. I mean this was Dan. It’s not like he’s going to make fun of me or anything. Not for something like this, anyway.

Once I was finished I bent to pull my pants up but he stopped me. He stood me up and looked in my eyes.

“You need a shower,” he said.

Then he started unbuttoning my top and taking it off. I stood with my pants around my ankles and let him undress me. About the time he had my shirt off and was unbuckling my bra, I looked sideways at the shower cubicle and said, “But...” but he just said “Shhh,” and finished undressing me.

When I was naked, he put a shower cap on me and carefully tucked all of my hair into it. Then he pulled the shower curtain aside and pushed me under the water. I had to close my eyes against the water and when I opened my mouth to complain I got a mouth full of water so I spat that out and closed my mouth.

A second later, I heard the shower curtain swish closed and Dan moved me forward half a step to make room for him to stand behind me.

He tipped one of my hands up and squirted some body wash into my palm. Then he put a cloth into my other hand and said, “You wash your front and I’ll wash your back.”

So that’s what happened. I washed my front and he washed my back.

I can’t tell you how many sleepovers I’ve had where my girlfriends have talked about being in exactly that situation with Dan. They would describe what they imagined would happen in hushed, awed tones as if showering with Dan would be one of the sexual highlights of their lives. I pretty much agreed with them when they said it but I didn’t tell them I agreed because they would think I was a pervert or something.

Now it was happening and it wasn’t sexual at all. It was comforting and reassuring but not really sexy. I’m not saying I’m disappointed. I’m not. Comforting and reassuring was exactly what I needed.

But it was intimate. I guess that what we were doing was about as intimate as you could get without actually doing some sort of sex. Some people might even describe it as a type of sexual act but it wasn’t. He just washed me. Intimate was the word I was looking for when I was doing Dad’s back. It was nice to be so intimate with Dad and now with Dan.

Dan washed down my back, over my bum and down the back of my legs as far he could reach. Then he stood firm so I could hold onto him while I lifted one leg at a time and finished off around my calves and feet.

Then I turned to face him and squirted some more body wash onto my hand. Dan grinned at me and then turned around to present his back to me. I didn’t bother with the cloth, I just ran my soapy hands over his back, enjoying the curves and swellings of his muscles. Again it wasn’t so much sexy as reassuring. He felt so solid. I don’t know how to explain it better but he felt so present that I could relax and enjoy the sensations of washing his back since I absolutely knew that he was there with me. I could feel every square inch of his skin under my hands so there was no doubt at all that he was right there with me. Also, he was washing his front so his muscles moved and flexed under my hands in a most interesting way.