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‘That sounds about right,’ Marielle nodded.
‘I had indents on my fingers, apparently, where some rings must have been. They think I was mugged.’
‘It’s certainly a possibility if you had no handbag with you. And that’s quite a distance up the hill where you were found. No one would walk up there—’in their right mind.Marielle cut off her words because they were insensitive in the circumstances.
‘The police came to see me but I wasn’t exactly helpful.’ Sabrina gave a little laugh. ‘They took notes but I don’t think they really know what to do with me. For now anyway. No one’s reported a woman like me missing.’
She got the feeling that the cynical policewoman who had interviewed her didn’t believe that she didn’t know much about herself. She couldn’t really blame her. Especially when she said she didn’t want to go down the route of getting the press involved to put out an all-points bulletin in the hope that someone would recognise her. She didn’t want to berecognised, not until she could uncover more about herself and why she had washed up in a small seaside town on the east coast of Yorkshire.
‘I can’t stay in hospital for weeks on end, I’ll go mad. Especially when there’s nothing wrong with me physically.’
Somewhere she had friends, a bank account, possessions, a job waiting for her. Sheneededto remember why she’d forgotten everything, and why she felt that she had to lay low. The consultant had asked her if she had been under a lot of recent strain because that might have triggered it. Or maybe even something small sparking off long-term stress, like a match to a load of dried hay, was how he put it. She wished she’d had a pound for every time she’d said ‘I don’t know’ this past week; she’d have had enough money to start a new life in San Tropez.
‘You’re in the best place, for now,’ said Marielle kindly, reading the despair on her face. ‘You will remember little pieces and they’ll come together like a jigsaw puzzle. I promise.’
Chapter 20
‘Ya what?’ said Sylvie, horrified.
‘You don’t approve of my plan, I take it?’ said Marielle.
‘If you do that, I’ll have you bloody sectioned.’
‘Do say it as it is, Sylvie. Please don’t hold back.’
‘Marielle, you don’t know this woman from Adam. What if the reason she’s lost her memory is because she’s killed someone and it’s all too traumatic to bring back?’ Sylvie shook her head. ‘Marielle Bonetti, do NOT do this.’
‘She hasn’t killed anyone, silly,’ said Marielle, and though she couldn’t be wholly sure of that, the odds were against it. ‘She’s rotting in hospital.’
‘Good, let her rot,’ said Sylvie, ‘and I’m not being callous, I would just rather it was her at a disadvantage than you.’
‘Well I’m not listening to you. My mind is made up.’
‘I’ll tell Teddy. You give me no choice.’
‘Then if that’s your answer, I’m going, Sylvie Sampson.’ And Marielle reached for the jacket she had not long taken off.
Never once had Marielle walked out of Sylvie’s house on bad terms and they weren’t going to start now. Sylvie stood up to block her way.
‘I’m sorry. Please don’t go.’
‘I’m sixty-three years old, not some child who doesn’t know her own mind, and you’re threatening to tell my son on me,’ Marielle was angrier than Sylvie had ever seen her.
‘Look, Marielle – love – I’m only thinking about you.’ Sylvie swapped the heat in her voice for concern. ‘Come on, you can’t blame me after what happened last time when you let that woman stay in the flat and she ran off with everything that wasn’t screwed down.’
‘I made a mistake then and I admit it, but Sabrina is a very different case. I’ll let her stay in the flat for just a little while, I promise. I’ll keep the door between us locked. She’s not making any headway in a hospital environment and the sooner she does, the sooner she can go back to her life. They’ve tried all sorts on her this past fortnight. She hasn’t even responded to hypnotherapy, so whatever it is, is very deep-seated—’
‘Or she’s making it up,’ Sylvie said, unable to stop herself, then, seeing Marielle’s expression, apologised quickly. ‘Okay, I’m sorry. But surely she’s better off in hospital?’
‘I don’t think she is. I think I can help her break down the wall she’s built up inside herself,’ said Marielle.
‘And what makes you think you can do that?’
‘Because I was a nurse for forty years and I’ve done it before,’ Marielle answered her. ‘When I was working in the hospital in Naples, there was a young woman on the psychiatric ward who couldn’t remember who she was, very similar circumstances to Sabrina’s. She was in there ages and it did her absolutely no good at all. So she discharged herself even though she had nowhere to go and Sal and I took her in. She lived with us and she’d help out, cleaning, cooking and just by doing banal things that didn’t take up any headspace,her brain must have started turning over in the background and she began to remember bits and pieces. Like when you can’t think of an answer in a crossword and you can’t force it out, but it’ll come to you if you go for a walk or do some ironing. To cut a long story short, we discovered that she was traumatised after losing her child. She had a family in Turin going mad to find her and we were able to reunite them. So whatever you say, it’s happening. I’m going to try to help Sabrina my way.’
The doorbell rang; the others were arriving for the Mad Cows get-together.
‘Then do me one favour, Marielle. Just run all this past everyone else and see what they say. I promise you, I’ll keep my mouth shut. Now you get the glasses and I’ll get the door.’
