‘Anna,’ I say. ‘Can you call my 3 pm and see how far away he is?’

‘Sure.’

I stand there, listening. This happened with Xanthe, and now it’s happening with Cormac. Something is very wrong.

Occasionally clients vanish without another word. Therapy does cost a significant amount of money and some people would rather disappear than admit that money is too tight for them to continue our sessions. Talking payment breaks the therapeutic alliance psychologists must maintain with clients, but that’s not to say money should never come up. Money can but payment shouldn’t; not until it’s over.

I trust that Xanthe wouldn’t leave without a trace, knowing I would be worried about her. Xanthe’s absence was chalked up to coincidence by Simms when I spoke to him but how many coincidences does it take before they investigate? In a podcast I learnt about circumstantial evidence: each piece of circumstantial evidence is like a strand and when you have enough to form a strong cable there is sufficient strength to pursue the case in the legal system, even if one strand is weak, or a few strands break, just so long as the rest are strong enough. Have I reached sufficiency with Joe? Are there enough strands?

‘Hi Cormac,’ Anna says and I tingle with relief. ‘I’m calling from South Yarra Pysch, how are you?’ A pause, and I can hear him murmur down the line. ‘Sure, I totally understand. So you won’t be able to get in today?’ she eyes me, her nose wrinkled. ‘Okay, Cormac. Let me see if she is available to speak.’

She mutes the line. ‘He wants to speak to you. He won’t be able to make it in.’

‘Why?’

‘He said they won’t pay for him anymore. Should I ask for a late cancellation fee?’

Shit. Adam must have stopped funding the sessions. ‘Okay, no, that’s fine,’ I say. ‘Tell him I’ll call him back in a moment.’

‘She’ll call you in a minute.’ She hangs up. I note his number on a Post-it and go into my office, where I make the call.

‘Cormac, hi.’

‘Margot, I’m really sorry to do this. I should have called earlier.’

‘It’s fine,’ I say. ‘What’s happening?’

‘Look, I can’t be seeing you. He’s not paying anymore. I think I’m going to try to sort myself out, get back on my feet and make a plan, maybe apply to another university. I wanted to pay for the visits myself, to keep seeing you, because I know it was really helping, but I just can’t afford it.’

I can hear the sadness in his voice.

‘I’m sorry, Cormac. I don’t know what to say.’