The Safe House by Nicci French Read Free Book Online Page A

people who committed these murders didn’t expect her to be there. It may be the weak link in the crime. Hence the danger she’s in and the help she needs. Aren’t you intrigued?’
    ‘Sorry, Thelma, the answer is no. For the last eighteen months I haven’t seen Elsie except on weekends, and as soon as she fell asleep on Saturday and Sunday I would do paperwork until two in the morning. Mainly I just remember migraines in a fog of fatigue. If you have seriously considered that I could have a traumatized young woman actually staying in my house where I have my little daughter… And staying here because she may be in danger. It’s not possible.’
    Thelma bowed her head in acknowledgement, although I knew her well enough to know she wasn’t convinced.
    ‘How is little Elsie?’
    ‘Cross, insubordinate. All the usual. Just started a new school.’ I was worried by the interested, predatory look that came over Thelma’s face when I mentioned Elsie and my home. I had to get on to something else. ‘Your research sounds interesting.’
    ‘Mmm,’ she said, busily dunking, refusing to be so crudely drawn.
    ‘I’ve been overseeing some work on trauma in children which might interest you,’ I continued, stubbornly, on the same doomed track. ‘Obviously, you know that children relive past traumas in repetitive play. A team down in Kent is trying to assess the effect this has on their memory of the event.’
    ‘So it’s not your own research?’
    ‘No,’ I said with a laugh. ‘The sum total of my research on childhood memory is a mnemonic game that Elsie and I play. It’s just for fun, but I’ve always been interested in systems of organizing mental processes and this is one of the oldest. Elsie and I invented the image of a house, and we know in our minds what it looks like and we can remember things by putting them in different places in the house and then retrieving them when we want to remember them.’
    Thelma looked dubious.
    ‘Can she manage that?’
    ‘Surprisingly well. When she is in a good mood we can put something on the door, on the doormat, in the kitchen, on the stairs and so on and later she can usually remember them.’
    ‘It sounds hard work for a five-year-old.’
    ‘I wouldn’t do it if she didn’t like it. She’s proud of being able to do it.’
    ‘Or pleased to get your approval,’ Thelma said. She stood up, a dumpy and dishevelled creature covered in crumbs. ‘And now I must go. If you have any more thoughts about our problem, please phone me.’
    ‘All right.’
    ‘You can post a reminder to yourself on the front door of Elsie’s imaginary house.’
    I felt I needed to say something.
    ‘You know, when I became a doctor I had an idea about making the world a saner, rational place. I sometimes think that when I began treating victims of trauma, I gave up on the world and just tried to help people deal with it.’
    ‘That’s not a small thing,’ Thelma said.
    I saw her to the door and watched her walk across to the car. I stayed in the doorway for several minutes after she’d gone. It was ridiculous, entirely out of the question. I sat down on the sofa and pondered it.

Seven
    ‘This crackling’s a bit soft.’ Danny held up a bendy, pale-brown strip that looked as if it had been torn from the sole of a shoe rather than the back of a pig.
    ‘Blame Asda. Or the microwave. I just followed the instructions on the packet.’
    ‘I like it chewy. It’s like chewing gum.’
    ‘Thanks, Elsie, and take your feet off the table – just because you’ve got another INSET day off school doesn’t mean you can start copying Danny and slouching around. Pass the apple sauce, Danny. From a tin,’ I added.
    ‘Didn’t your mother ever teach you to cook?’
    ‘Help yourself to some spinach. Microwaved in the bag.’
    I slid two slabs of whitish meat on to my plate.
    ‘Do a bird,’ said Elsie.
    ‘Wait,’ said Danny.
    ‘Just a small bird.’
    ‘All right.’
    Danny ripped a corner