The Mercy Chair (Washington Poe Book 6)

Chapter 94

‘Were the videos what I think they were?’ Doctor Lang asked. ‘Were they the murders of those men? The ones Cornelius Green had lured from the streets of Manchester and Newcastle?’

‘And Glasgow,’ Poe nodded. ‘Israel had stolen the tapes before he left the Children of Job. He made copies and hid them carefully as an insurance policy. He kept the originals at home.’

‘And you watched them?’

‘I did.’

‘All of them?’

Poe nodded again.

‘Why?’

‘It was my job to watch them,’ he said.

‘I’m sorry, Washington, but that shouldn’t be your job,’ Doctor Lang said. ‘That shouldn’t be anyone’s job.’

‘If not me, then who?’

‘You can’t keep putting yourself into situations like this and expect nothing to happen. There’s a cumulative as well as an immediate psychological impact with traumatic events, Washington. At some point, you have to take a step back and let someone else shoulder the burden. Occasionally you have to put yourself first. Your nightmares are a warning shot; I doubt you’ll get another.’

Poe didn’t respond. He knew she was right. At some point, the bill became due.

‘I don’t think you should tell me what you saw on those videos, Washington,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to be responsible for you having a psychotic episode.’

Poe paused for several moments. Eventually he said, ‘You say there’s a cumulative psychological impact to everything I’ve seen, everything I’ve done. And maybe you’re right—’

‘I am right.’

‘But if there was an immediate impact on my mental health with this case, watching those videos wasn’t it.’

Doctor Lang looked sceptical.

‘You don’t look convinced,’ he said.

‘You haven’t convinced me.’

‘Watching those videos was an appalling experience. I’m certainly not trying to downplay what I saw. They were horrific and I will never forget them.’

‘But?’

‘But there was worse to come.’