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Back The Double Save as PDF
Chapters (63)
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  63. Acknowledgements

A quick survey of the other patients’ movements revealed nothing unusual. Babette was in her chalet, then the swimming pool, followed by Movement & Meditation in the afternoon. He counted the dots in the meditation hall. Three. Along with Ismail, both Libby and Vidor were missing, but that wasn’t unusual. Vidor came up with every excuse possible to miss M&M. Gessen traced the series of yellow dots with his finger. Vidor was in his room when he should have been at the session, where he appeared to have stayed until he left the chalet for dinner at six thirty. What time was it when he bumped into Vidor in the sculpture garden? He couldn’t remember now. The terror of losing a patient had clouded his mind.

He finished off the brandy and massaged the back of his neck. Where could Ismail have gone? He switched off the lights in the chalet and peered at the dark shrubbery through the window and the jagged teeth of the mountains. In a moment of desperation, he began to pray. Not to the god he no longer believed in, but to whatever deities might be dwelling in the glades. Please bring him back to us.

Alive.

28

‘We’ll be in the other room today.’ Gessen ushered Vidor into the small adjoining room that was furnished with a single straight-back chair and the black leather couch. With still no news of Ismail, he’d had a sleepless night, reaching for his phone every few minutes to check that it was working. His eyes were gritty with fatigue. Even the effort to move the muscles in his face felt gargantuan. Up since dawn, he had again gone over the staff and patients’ movements from the day before. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, though it struck him as odd that Vidor had spent an unusual amount of time in his room.

‘Perhaps we should cancel,’ Vidor said, eyeing him intently. ‘You’re looking rather peaked.’

‘No, I’m perfectly fine.’ Gessen sat up straight. ‘A little trouble sleeping is all.’

‘Well, you’ll be pleased to hear that I slept like the proverbial rock,’ Vidor said, flexing his arms. ‘In spite of having taken a long nap yesterday afternoon.’ He breathed in through his nose. ‘All this fresh mountain air knocks me right out.’

Gessen’s smile felt like a grimace. He was in no condition to lead Vidor through a session. But until Ismail was found, what else could he do but continue as usual?

‘Did they find that old gent who went missing?’ Vidor twisted the ring on his finger.