‘But she never at any point implied that the journal was written by Mrs Fulford and not her daughter.’
‘No.’
‘Bloody woman, these amateurs make more trouble for our profession as they rarely if ever know what they are treating, and she should have at least wondered if her own patient was possibly the writer – it beggars belief.’
‘Personally I think she saw Lena Fulford as nothing more than a good money-earner,’ Reid remarked. ‘She said she’d give us free help and advice, but then hit us with a bill for three thousand pounds for treating Mrs Fulford during the investigation. DCI Jackson refused to pay it and she is threatening to take us to the small claims court.’ He wanted to up the ante as at last he was now getting a reaction from Cornwall.
‘Right, let me have the journal.’
Cornwall put out his hand and Reid passed it to him. The professor leaned back, holding it in his hand, as if weighing up the amount of work it would now require.
‘This could be a very long night, Detective Reid. I will go through it page by page and ask you relevant questions. I think we need a fresh pot of coffee and no more of my precious malt.’
Chapter 39
Cornwall was almost obsessively diligent as he carefully read and re-read each section of the journal. As none of the entries was dated, it was difficult to calculate how much time had actually elapsed between each of them. The handwriting changed so often that Cornwall began to catalogue exactly how many different identities he believed were present. At one point his daughter brought in fresh coffee and sandwiches. Reid felt his eyelids drooping at around eleven o’clock, but it was not until two a.m. that Cornwall gave a long sigh, fetched a malt whisky and downed it quickly.
‘Right, you are obviously aware of my original diagnosis, but on a more in-depth read there are at least ten different identities. I have given each of them a number, and it seems to me the most dominant and controlling one is number three. She, or he, is also the most dangerous and likely to be the one who would cause physical harm.’
Reid, fighting the urge to doze off, asked why he said ‘he’, and Cornwall explained that an alter could actually be male or female, irrespective of the sex of the person suffering DID.
‘Alter three takes over at any given opportunity, but predominantly when the other alters find themselves upset or stressed – basically whenever there is any emotional fear, it will be number three who switches in and takes control. You may recall at our last meeting I spoke about identities “switching” at any moment in time. Alter three is the dominant one, with hatred and a desire for revenge towards anyone whom the actual DID sufferer cannot cope or deal with. The different identities are also of various ages: one is a small child, another perhaps ten or twelve, and then there is the predominantly evil and obsessive “three” who is anywhere between twenty-five and forty and, I would say, female. Her writing is often of a mature style, as against some pages, which are printed, not in joined-up writing. Sometimes the handwriting is so heavy the pen almost cuts through the paper, but…’ He closed his eyes.
Reid thought he’d fallen asleep, but after a long pause Cornwall continued, stressing that although there were very derogatory passages referring to Lena, she would not be aware of who she was, or that she was writing about herself.
‘It is also feasible that at times Amy, or someone very similar, was an alter within Lena Fulford.’
‘What makes you say that?’ Reid asked.
‘Some of the contents, but predominantly the fact that the front of the journal has “Amy” inscribed on it, which makes me wonder if one of the alters actually bought it and had it personally embossed.’
‘Sorry, Professor, I didn’t put a photocopy of the cover in the copy of the journal I gave you last time. I also forgot to tell you that the journal was a present two Christmases ago from Marcus to Amy. My guess is that she never bothered to use it, Mrs Fulford found it and…’
‘Her alters decided to use it. I would say that this journal was compiled within that time frame.’
‘I find it amazing that when an alter takes over the DID sufferer has no comprehension of it, what they are doing, or indeed have done after a switch of personality,’ Reid said, rubbing his eyes.
‘I had one patient who cut off all her hair when taken over by one of her alters; when she “switched” back to her normal self she couldn’t recall or understand what had happened to her. In another case, a professional photographer was outraged on discovering all her best work had been slashed. She even called the police to investigate the damage, but of course it was one of her alters all along. When these multiple personalities take over and become dominant they do not usually refer to each other or are even aware they exist.’
Sensing that Cornwall was pontificating again, Reid reiterated his concerns that if Lena wrote the journal then the ‘enemies’, who had not been ‘got rid of ’, were still in grave danger.
Cornwall said he was right to be worried, because the dominant alter three would undoubtedly want to continue and reap revenge.
‘What do I do?’
‘Warn them, and get them immediate protection. If alter three feels the attempted poisoning has failed I fear that other forms of physical harm may be considered and eventually used to achieve the “termination” of the “enemies”.’
‘Will you examine Mrs Fulford if I arrest her?’
‘Most certainly. I would suggest that after her arrest you call me to the station to assess her mental condition. I will recommend that she be sectioned under the Mental Health Act, and be taken immediately to a secure medical facility as the most appropriate place to assess and treat her.’
‘Thank you, Professor,’ Reid said, heartfelt, ‘your help and support will be appreciated as I will be up against it when I speak to DCI Jackson.’
‘Well I’m perfectly happy to speak to him as well, and will be quite blunt if necessary as Lena Fulford, or rather her alter number three, is undoubtedly a continued threat and will, I feel, kill again.’
‘How will you treat her?’
‘If she is agreeable I will use hypnotherapy to open the Pandora’s box in which her multiple personalities already reside; this will help to expedite a detailed diagnosis and treatment. Hypnosis will bring on a trance-like state and allow me to gain access to, and communicate with, her many different alters. In my opinion the poor woman is in dire need of help. The sooner she gets it, excluding what you believe her to be guilty of, the sooner we will gain answers and even give her some kind of peace of mind, as she lives in what I would describe as permanent torment.’
Reid felt very positive, even though he knew suggesting Lena Fulford was sectioned put himself in a position where he had to confront DCI Jackson and update him on the new developments. The major problem was having no physical incriminating evidence against Lena; his whole case against her was, at the present time, entirely based on the ramblings of a journal that was written by God knows who.
‘I am upset with Miss Jordan’s misdiagnosis of Mrs Fulford, and yet as much as it grates me, I may need her assistance as she is on very familiar terms with Lena,’ Cornwall conceded. ‘The fact is, I cannot – in fact nobody can – force her to undergo hypnotherapy. Miss Jordan may be able to persuade her to do so, but the reality is, Lena has to want it, and I think truthfully, she might find it an incredible relief.’
First thing the following morning Reid, with only a few hours’ sleep, went to see Jackson in his office. He was nervous, and having the bullish man glaring and swearing at him did not help, but eventually, when warned more murders could occur, the DCI sat up and listened. Jackson was an experienced officer and knew he was in a ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ position, and if he failed to let Reid arrest and section Lena Fulford he would have a lot of explaining to do.