Synopsis:
Joseph O’Loughlin appears to have the perfect life — a beautiful wife, a loving daughter and a successful career as a clinical psychologist. But nothing can be taken for granted. Even the most flawless existence is only a loose thread away from unravelling. All it takes is a murdered girl, a troubled young patient and the biggest lie of his life.
Caught in a complex web of deceit and haunted by images of the slain girl, he embarks upon a search that will take him from London to Liverpool and into the darkest recesses of the human mind. Ultimately, he will risk everything to unmask the killer and save his family.
The Suspect
By
Michael Robotham
The first book in the Joseph O’Loughlin series
Copyright © 2005 by Michael Robotham
To the four women in my life:
Book 1
1
From the pitched slate roof of the Royal Marsden Hospital, if you look between the chimney pots and TV aerials, you see more chimney pots and TV aerials. It’s like that scene from
From up here I can just see the dome of the Royal Albert Hall. On a clear day I could probably see all the way to Hampstead Heath, although I doubt if the air in London ever gets that clear.
“This is some view,” I say, glancing to my right at a teenager crouched about ten feet away. His name is Malcolm and he’s seventeen today. Tall and thin, with dark eyes that tremble when he looks at me, he has skin as white as polished paper. He is wearing pajamas and a woolen hat to cover his baldness. Chemotherapy is a cruel hairdresser.
The temperature is three degrees Celsius, but the wind chill has chased it below zero. Already my fingers are numb and I can barely feel my toes through my shoes and socks. Malcolm’s feet are bare.
I won’t reach him if he jumps or falls. Even if I stretch out and lean along the gutter, I will still be six feet short of catching him. He realizes that. He’s worked out the angles. According to his oncologist, Malcolm has an exceptional IQ. He plays the violin and speaks five languages— none of which he’ll speak to me.
For the last hour I’ve been asking him questions and telling him stories. I know he can hear me, but my voice is just background noise. He’s concentrating on his own internal dialogue, debating whether he should live or die. I want to join that debate, but first I need an invitation.
The National Health Service has a whole raft of guidelines for dealing with hostage situations and threatened suicides. A critical incident team has been pulled together, including senior members of staff, police and a psychologist— me. The first priority has been to learn everything we can about Malcolm that might help us identify what has driven him to this. Doctors, nurses and patients are being interviewed, along with his friends and family.
The primary negotiator is at the apex of the operational triangle. Everything filters down to me. That’s why I’m out here, freezing my extremities off, while they’re inside drinking coffee, interviewing staff and studying flip charts.
What do I know about Malcolm? He has a primary brain tumor in the right posterior temporal region, dangerously close to his brain stem. The tumor has left him partially paralyzed down his left side and unable to hear from one ear. He is two weeks into a second course of chemotherapy.
He had a visit from his parents this morning. The oncologist had good news. Malcolm’s tumor appeared to be shrinking. An hour later Malcolm wrote a two-word note that said, “I’m sorry.” He left his room and managed to crawl onto the roof through a dormer window on the fourth floor. Someone must have left the window unlocked, or he found a way of opening it.
There you have it— the sum total of my knowledge about a teenager who has a lot more to offer than most kids his age. I don’t know if he has a girlfriend, or a favorite football team, or a celluloid hero. I know more about his disease than I do about him. That’s why I’m struggling.
My safety harness is uncomfortable under my sweater. It looks like one of those contraptions that parents strap on to toddlers to stop them running off. In this case it’s supposed to save me if I fall, as long as someone has remembered to tie off the other end. It might sound ridiculous, but that’s the sort of detail that sometimes gets forgotten in a crisis. Perhaps I should shuffle back toward the window and ask someone to check. Would that be unprofessional? Yes. Sensible? Again yes.
The rooftop is speckled with pigeon droppings and the slate tiles are covered in lichen and moss. The patterns look like fossilized plants pressed into the stone, but the effect is slick and treacherous.
“This probably makes no difference, Malcolm, but I think I know a little about how you’re feeling,” I say, trying once more to reach him. “I have a disease too. I’m not saying that it’s cancer. It’s not. And trying to make comparisons is like mixing apples with oranges, but we’re still talking about fruit, right?”
The receiver in my right ear begins to crackle. “What in Christ’s name are you doing?” says a voice. “Stop talking about fruit salad and get him inside!”
I take the earpiece out and let it dangle on my shoulder.
“You know how people always say, ‘It’ll be fine. Everything is going to be OK’? They say that because they can’t think of anything else. I don’t know what to say either, Malcolm. I don’t even know what questions to ask.
“Most people don’t know how to handle someone else’s disease. Unfortunately, there’s no book of etiquette or list of dos and don’ts. You either get the watery-eyed, I-can’t-bear-it-I’m-going-to-cry look or forced jokiness and buck-up speeches. The other option is complete denial.”
Malcolm hasn’t responded. He’s staring across the rooftops as if looking out of a tiny window high up in the gray sky. His pajamas are thin and white with blue stitching around the cuffs and collar.
Between my knees I can see three fire engines, two ambulances and half a dozen police cars. One of the fire engines has an extension ladder on a turntable. I haven’t taken much notice of it until now, but I see it slowly turning and begin to slide upward. Why would they be doing that? At the same moment, Malcolm braces his back
