‘Doctor–patient confidentiality, even after death, prevents me from divulging the details, but what I can tell you is that Mr Mahmoud had trouble accepting he was ill. He was not happy about being here. Our work together was hampered by his overwhelming desire to return to England.’

‘What was stopping him?’ Her eyes met his. ‘If I understand the law correctly, no patient in this country can be kept against their will. Unless it’s been shown they’re a danger to themselves… or others.’

‘That’s correct,’ Gessen said. ‘But prior to admission, Mr Mahmoud demonstrated suicidal tendencies, and he’d threatened his father with bodily harm. Apparently, things were very heated between them, so they struck a deal. Mr Mahmoud, Ismail, would submit to six months of residential treatment at a clinic of his father’s choice. If Ismail completed the treatment successfully, his father would release him from his obligation to take over the family business, which is based in Cairo. Ismail wanted to stay in the UK and study medicine. I believe there is also a young woman there he’d wanted to marry, but he never said much about that.’

Officer Müller tapped her pen on the table. ‘Why did he need his father’s permission to stay in England or to marry the girl of his choice?’

‘That’s not for me to say,’ Gessen said. ‘It was a family matter.’ He sipped the last of his coffee, but the dregs were bitter on his tongue. He paused before continuing. ‘It can be difficult for those of us brought up in the West to appreciate the importance other cultures place on family ties and dynastic succession.’

‘Dynastic?’

‘Mr Mahmoud is – was – the second son of a powerful family in the Middle East. When the oldest boy died in a car accident some years ago, the father assumed Ismail would give up his dream of becoming a doctor and step into his older brother’s place. When Ismail refused, things grew ugly, and he made a half-hearted attempt to kill himself. He and I agreed that, as part of his treatment programme, he would keep his part of the bargain. Ismail was hoping that, after the six months were over, his father would come to his senses and allow him to choose his own path in life.’

Officer Müller jotted down a note on her pad.

Silence filled the room. Gessen looked up to see snow spinning down from the darkened sky. ‘Though our primary focus is psychiatric treatment,’ he continued, ‘the clinic also functions as a place of refuge, a retreat for troubled individuals while they figure out how to live in the world.’