DC: OK, bringing this back on topic. You slept for four days. And what happened when you woke up?

CA: I didn’t, really. Shandy got scared and called the doctor, and the doctor said to call 999, and the paramedics came and took me to hospital. I was there a week with a mysterious fever. Eventually I got better and was discharged. Then I was sacked.

DC: Your employer dismissed you because of illness, then? That’s illegal.

CA: Oh, they didn’t dismiss me right away. Nobody believed I was sick. The doctor couldn’t find anything wrong with me. She said it must be a virus. But I had problems staying awake, and I had problems telling the difference between being awake and being asleep. And the dream thing was happening all the time.

DC: Which brings us to the subject of Ms Tan. You saw her as a client.

CA: I saw Melodie Tan as a client. Yes.

DC: And what a bad move that was for Ms Tan.

CA: I don’t see the need for you to be so nasty. I didn’t cause this. I didn’t ask for any of this! I really—

DC: What is happening? Hey! Snap out of it.

RP: Ms Aaron? Charlie? Are you . . . Donato, is she asleep again?

END RECORDING

How not to be a doormat

‘You did everything you could,’ Mrs Haugh-Wombaur says when I call her to follow up on our session. ‘Don’t blame yourself. You’ve done more for me than any other therapist. We’re down to one recurring nightmare, and I’ve even taken up Pilates thanks to the insights you’ve given me on posture and self-esteem. The vegetarian diet is working out really well, I feel ever so much better. I think I can take it from here. I’ll ring you in a few months, OK?’

I don’t know whether to be crushed or relieved. I stammer some polite response, careful not to say anything about the effects of the vegetarian diet. (But I’m surprised. It smells like she’s dining on raw meat.) Then we ring off.

I yawn. Two clients in one night was a bit much, although Mrs. H-W won’t have known the difference because I always leave in the early hours. My clients don’t feel so invaded that way. I need to sleep nearby in order to enter their dreams, you see – ideally I like to be in the same room – but it’s important to keep everything professional. So I stay elsewhere in the house until I’m sure they’re asleep, then slip into their bedrooms and work nearby. In the morning, I slip out again before they’re awake. Needless to say, I carry a lot of keys.

Speaking of keys, that afternoon I drop by Martin Elstree’s office and leave the flat keys he gave me with the receptionist.

‘You’ll see he gets them?’ I say. I don’t want him turning up at O’s place looking for them.

‘Don’t worry, love. They live in my drawer when he’s not lending them out.’