‘The police psychologist?’
‘That’s what they’re there for.’
‘Inside an hour everybody would know that Javier Falcon was cracking up.’
‘Aren’t these appointments confidential?’
‘They get out. It’s like living in a barracks or a school in the Jefatura. Everybody knows you’re splitting up with a girlfriend before you do.’
‘You speak from painful experience, Javier.’
‘In my case it was even worse, Ines being a
‘So you won’t see the police psychologist?’
‘I want something more private. I don’t mind paying for it. You’re right, maybe talking it out might help.’
‘It’s not so easy to get a private consultation. There are also many different approaches to the science of the mind. Some people perceive it as a purely clinical condition, a chemical imbalance to be rebalanced by the introduction of drugs. Others use drugs and a theoretical approach based on say, Jung or Freud, amongst others.’
‘You will have to advise me.’
‘I can only tell you that so-and-so is a good psychologist, this one works exclusively with a psychopharmacologist, this one is a serious Freudian. You might not like their approaches. You know, “What does my relationship with my
‘You still think I should go to the police psychologist?’
‘There’s the added advantage of availability.’
‘So now you’re going to tell me that in the
‘We all suffer,’ said Dr Fernando. ‘The Spanish, not just the Sevillanos, rise above their problems through …
‘Their natural condition is to be depressed,’ said Falcon. ‘They’ve given in to the human condition.’
‘I don’t think so. They’re melancholic by nature, like our Galicians. They have the Atlantic to confront every day, after all. But they are great sensualists, too. There’s a country that would commit suicide if you cancelled lunch. They love to eat and drink and enjoy the beauty of things.’
‘Yes,’ said Javier, getting interested. ‘And what about the British? My father so admired the British. How do they cope with life? They’re so reserved and inhibited.’
‘Well, to us they are, but amongst themselves … I believe they have this expression: “to take the piss”.’
‘That’s right,’ said Javier, ‘they never take things too seriously. They make fun of everything. Nothing is sacrosanct. The famous British sense of humour. And the French?’
‘Sex. Love. And all that leads up to it.
‘The Germans?’
‘The Italians?’
‘The Belgians?’
‘Mussels,’ said Dr Fernando, and they both laughed. ‘I don’t know any Belgians.’
‘And the Americans?’
‘They are more complicated.’
‘They all have their own personal analysts.’
‘Yes, well, it’s not so easy to be leaders of the modern world with the right to the pursuit of happiness written into the constitution,’ said Dr Fernando. ‘And they’re a mixture: Northern Europeans, Hispanics, Blacks, Orientals. And maybe that’s it, they’ve lost touch with their traditional safety valves.’
‘It’s a good theory. You should write a thesis.’
‘You’re enjoying yourself, Javier.’
‘Yes, I am,’ he said, looking up, as if trying to remember why he was here.
‘Perhaps you should get out more. Work less. Be more sociable.’
‘I’d still like you to find someone for me to talk to,’ said Falcon, the weight back on his shoulders.
Dr Valera nodded and wrote out a prescription for some mild anti-anxiety pills called Orfidal and something to help him sleep.
‘One thing is certain, Javier,’ he said, giving him the paper. ‘Alcohol will not resolve any of your problems.’
Falcon picked up the prescription on Republica de Argentina and swallowed an Orfidal with his own spit. Ramirez was waiting for him in the office with a package addressed to Inspector Jefe Javier Falcon, with a Madrid
