Chapter 29

After another uneventful night, Monday morning I had breakfast with Sandra then, after she left for work, I started the chores. When Mrs Thomas rang the doorbell at nine thirty, I was ready and waiting.

When we arrived at Ms Edgeway’s office, Mrs Thomas made no move to get out of the car.

“Aren’t you coming in with me?” I asked.

“Jon, your parents are good friends. I’m afraid to listen to the recording in case it makes me think less of them,” she said. “I’ll go to the shopping centre and window shop. Call me when you want to be picked up and I’ll take you back to my sister’s.”

“Okay,” I said numbly, suddenly feeling all alone in the world.

I got out of the car and Mrs Thomas drove off without looking back.

Inside, the receptionist apprised Ms Edgeway of my arrival. About ten minutes later she arrived in reception.

“Hello Jon,” she said. “I’m just about to start a session with another client but first I’ll set you up so you can listen to the recording. Are you on your own?”

“I was hoping Mrs Thomas would listen to the recording with me, but she didn’t want to hear anything that might jeopardise her friendship with my parents.”

“I’ll be about an hour,” said Ms Edgeway. “If you want, I’ll listen to the recording with you after that. If you need anything in the meantime, ask Debbie on reception.”

Ms Edgeway took me to a spare office, which was similar in layout to her own. She showed me how to use the functions I’d need, including playing, pausing and resuming, and rewinding to the beginning. Then she left me for her other client. After she’d shut the office door, I activated the play function.

The recording started with the familiar sound of my home doorbell, then the front door being opened.

“Hello Richard, this is an unexpected surprise,” said Mum. “And Carlie, nice to see you too. Please come in.”

“Kathy, I’m here wearing two hats, both as a friend of the family and your lawyer,” said Richard Masson. “There are things we need to talk about. Is anyone else home?”

“That sounds serious. John’s in the lounge. We can join him there. Janey’s upstairs doing her homework so she won’t bother us.”

“Please ask Janey to join us,” said Ms Edgeway.

“What’s this about?” asked Mum.

There came a faint rustling sound, which I interpreted as someone making a gesture.

“Janey! Can you come downstairs? You’re wanted,” called Mum.

“Coming!” came the immediate response. Janey had been waiting for the summons.

Sounds of people moving around then Mum asked, “Richard, Carlie, can I get you anything to drink?

“No thanks,” said Richard.

“Please may I have some water?” asked Ms Edgeway. “Tap is fine.”

“Hello John,” said Richard. “While Kathy’s getting some water, I don’t know whether you’ve met before but this is Carlie Edgeway, a colleague.”

“Hello, pleased to meet you,” said Dad. “Please sit anywhere.”

More sounds came of people moving around and chairs being adjusted then a quiet word of thanks from Ms Edgeway, presumably for the water.

“This is all very mysterious,” said Mum. “What’s it about?”

“Where’s Jon this evening?” Richard Masson asked.

“We found a highly recommended mental health facility on the other side of town run by a Dr Rabdoolia,” said Dad. “It’s got a specialist sleep clinic where they’re investigating Jon’s sleepwalking. We visited Jon last week and Dr Rabdoolia says that Jon has settled in well and hasn’t sleepwalked since he started there. We’re planning to pay him another visit in a couple of days time.”

“He didn’t look well when we saw him and he asked to come home,” said Mum. “Dr Rabdoolia said that Jon had become over-excited at the prospect of our visit and they’d had to isolate him and give him a mild sedative. Dr Rabdoolia assured us he was fine and he’d be back to his normal self in a couple of hours. Anyway Jon is free to leave at any time since he’s a voluntary patient.”

“We’re planning to visit him again next weekend,” said Dad.

“It’s his birthday. I’m going to bake a birthday cake for him, to share with his new friends,” said Mum.

I’d forgotten all about my forthcoming birthday.

“How did you come to choose Dr Rabdoolia’s clinic?” asked Mr Masson.

“It was highly recommended,” said Dad.

“By who?”

“My Regional HR Manager, Calvin Jennings.”

“Has Mr Jennings stayed there, or had a family member stay there?”

“I can’t remember. I don’t think he said.”

“Does Mr Jennings know Norris Ferguson, the father of Alexandra Ferguson, the girl who was the first target of Jon’s sleepwalking?”

“I’m not sure. Actually, thinking about it, Calvin may have mentioned his name a couple of times. Why is that relevant?”

“I think it’s about time for the local news,” announced Richard Masson. “Would you mind turning on your television?”

I heard our television in the background. The national news was just ending. The local news led with the FreshFields story. Accompanied by appropriate loud intakes of breath from the audience, I heard the familiar voice of the announcer saying that police had raided the building, seized a large quantity of illegal drugs and taken several men into custody.