Terry Thomas - The House of Secrets

‘But to answer your question, I’ll just say that I remain hopeful. You’ll learn more about his story when you transcribe my notes. I read what you did yesterday. Commendable job.’

‘Thank you,’ I said, pleased with myself for a job well done.

‘I’ve left a pile of handwritten pages on your desk. You will find the date they were written in the upper right-hand corner. If you would organize them chronologically, current date on top, that is the order I would like them in when you type them up. They aren’t going to be included in the book, but I need them typed today.’

‘Of course.’

‘I’m glad you’re here, Sarah. I will see you later. I must check on my patients. Oh, and get you a key.’

Dr Geisler thanked Mrs McDougal for breakfast and left me sitting at the table with the San Francisco Examiner . The headlines RAF Rips at Berlin: Fires Rage and Jap Fleet Nears New Guinea jumped out at me.

Here I was, worried about mundane matters, while our soldiers faced the ravages of war and, somewhere in this city, someone’s wife, mother, or daughter was receiving a dreaded visit from a Western Union man.

* * *

Someone had left a flower arrangement on the desk in my office, a simple Mason jar filled with yellow roses, white tulips, and a spray of baby’s breath. There was no card, and I wondered if they were from Zeke. They brightened the room, a singular attempt to override the endless grey outside my window.

The promised pile of notes lay on my desk, waiting for me to sort them. I opened the curtains and the window, turned on the banker’s lamp, and set about my task.

I couldn’t help but read the notes as I organized them. They were written accounts of Dr Geisler’s hypnotherapy sessions dating as far back as 1938. I read of patients who had lost weight, controlled pain, and overcame chronic phobias. Dr Geisler had even cured two children of bedwetting.

I had just settled into a routine, sorting by year, then month, when Bethany came into the room.

‘I’ve come to see how you’re doing today,’ she said. She eyed the pile of papers on my desk and the vase of flowers.

I stretched my neck and flexed my fingers, using the exercises that Miss Macky had taught us to treat the inevitable cramps that arose after long hours of typewriting.

‘Beautiful flowers,’ Bethany said.

‘I don’t know who they’re from. I used to grow roses at my house in Bennett Cove.’

‘Do you miss it there?’ Bethany sat down in the chair next to my desk.

‘No. My memories of Bennett Cove are not good. But I love the beach.’

‘Sometimes it’s difficult to leave the past behind.’ She stood up. ‘I’ll see you at lunchtime.’ She left my office, closing the door behind her.

Through my window, I could hear her enter Dr Geisler’s office. The conversation between them latched on to the spring breeze and flowed into my office, allowing me to hear it as though I were in the same room.

‘Did you buy Sarah flowers?’ Bethany asked.

‘I did. The poor girl deserved a little something. She’s alone in the world, and Jack Bennett’s trial has taken a horrible toll on her. She’s upset over Zeke. You can tell by looking at her.’

‘She’s doing a good job of avoiding him. They met yesterday in the library. They were very intimate at first. There’s no denying they are in love. You can see it between them. But Sarah’s jumpy. I wonder if she knows her own mind, Matthew. She’s at least ten years younger than he.’

‘Sarah’s 26 and Zeke is 34, but Sarah’s an old soul. I think they are good for each other. There’s no need for you to watch her every move, darling. Let’s try to make her feel at home. We must get her a key—’

‘Matthew, don’t try to placate me. We need to finish our conversation. As I told you last night, I’m concerned that you would turn away paying patients, when we are so low on funds. There are patients ready to check in to this hospital and pay us to be here. In order to make the hospital pay for itself, we need to have patients in the beds.’

‘But I don’t have the time to give to them, not now. Can you not see that?’

‘Because you’re off on these séances with Minna? Matthew, darling, please. I love you, but I am so worried. You’ve become obsessed with Alysse, and for some strange reason you think that Sarah Bennett is connected to her. Don’t you realize how absurd you sound? Alysse is dead. This obsession of yours is not healthy.’

I heard the sound of a chair moving on the wood floor. In my mind’s eye, I saw Dr Geisler moving around the desk to sit next to his wife.

‘I can’t explain what I saw at the trial, darling. And as crazy as it sounds, Alysse was there. I know it.’

‘Have you seen her, Matthew? Have you seen her with Sarah?’

‘Well, no, not really. I just—’

‘I can’t talk to you about this, Matthew. Not now. We need to take the patients. These are soldiers with psychiatric injuries, soldiers who need peace and quiet. They need our help, now. The hospital needs the income. We can charge them, and I can get Dr Severton to see to their care. Don’t you see, you need to work, darling? You can pursue this new interest of yours at the weekends.’ Bethany couldn’t keep the desperation out of her voice.

‘Dr Severton could see to the patients. That’s a splendid idea. You know, Bethany, you do have a remarkable business sense. Whatever you think, darling. I trust you implicitly. I know this hospital means the world to you. That’s why you’re the business manager.’

‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘I’ll see to it right away. How’s Sarah doing? Will she be able to do the job?’

‘She is doing very well,’ he said.

‘Matthew, you realize if the newspapers discover you’ve hired Sarah, they will stake this place out. We’ll get no peace. The sanctuary we offer our patients will be compromised.’

They murmured and for a moment I couldn’t hear what was said between them.

‘What’s bothering you, darling? Something tells me that your worries have nothing to do with Sarah or my interest in the occult.’

‘It’s Minna,’ she said. ‘I’m worried about her. I know that she believes she has a newfound psychic ability, and I realize how interesting that is to you. She thinks that Gregory is alive and has come to get his revenge. She needs more help than we can provide. I know how much you care for her, but I think we are doing her a disservice by allowing her to stay here. This house can only remind her of the past. You don’t believe that Minna is truly a medium, do you? Darling, you are risking your career.’

‘You’re shivering,’ he said.

‘Close the window, please. It’s freezing in here.’

He closed the window. And that was that. I couldn’t hear them any longer.

Try as I might, I couldn’t focus on the stack of notes that needed to be sorted. Rather than sit at my desk, I stood by the door that led into Dr Geisler’s office with my ear pressed against it. I could have left, gone upstairs, packed my things, and slipped out the front door with no one any the wiser. But I had no place to go and no money to get there. I listened until I heard Bethany leave. When the door shut behind her, I slipped into Dr Geisler’s office. He uncapped his pen and started to make some notes on one of the yellow pads that were scattered all around the office.

‘Excuse me,’ I said.

‘Finished?’ Dr Geisler put his pen down.

‘No.’

‘Are you able to read my handwriting?’

‘Yes.’

He studied me and something in my expression must have led him to ask, ‘Is everything okay?’

I pointed at one of the guest chairs that faced his desk. ‘May I?’