Encouraged by their attention, Joe talks them through the fugue states that Felicity experienced, and her memories, awoken under hypnosis, of what happened to her during one of them. ‘She believed Freddie was stalking her,’ he says. ‘When she thought he was close, she became very afraid, and it triggered another personality to take over her body for several hours. When she came back to herself, she had no memory of it.’
‘But she could recall under hypnosis?’ someone questions.
‘That shouldn’t be surprising,’ Joe says. ‘Felicity was still in her body while all this was happening, so the memories were there, just buried quite deep.’
‘It’s a bit like someone else took over driving the car for a while,’ Torquil adds. ‘Felicity was still in the car, but in the back seat. She wasn’t in control.’
‘Maybe she was in the boot if she couldn’t remember the journey,’ someone quips.
‘Twice, I saw Felicity change,’ Joe says. ‘The first was under hypnosis, when she became a child that she referred to as “Little Bitch”. I’m guessing that was a regression to whatever abuse she suffered as a child. Her voice and her demeanour changed completely. It was very disturbing to witness.’
‘Curiously, the child called Little Bitch exhibited extreme fear of her father,’ Torquil adds. ‘Again, a reference to her childhood trauma.’
‘The other time was the last occasion I saw her,’ Joe says. ‘She rang to invite me out to dinner, something she’d never done before. She behaved very differently. She was flirtatious, much more rough and ready in her manner. She almost ordered a steak and then remembered she was vegetarian. I called her Felicity once and she didn’t acknowledge me. I think now that I was actually having dinner with one of her alters.’
‘Hold on, I’m confused.’ One of the detectives speaks up. ‘Does Felicity know that she has this condition?’
Joe and his supervisor share a look.
‘I don’t believe so,’ Joe says. ‘The fugue states were totally bewildering to her. I also think her symptoms have only emerged very recently. If they’d been occurring for any length of time, she and we would know about it. I think something happened, last summer, to trigger their onset.’
‘Something pretty worrying,’ his supervisor adds. ‘Possibly connected with her husband.’
‘No, hold on.’ The same detective interrupts. ‘Felicity doesn’t know about the others, about Little Bitch and whoever else she turns into, is that right?’
‘That’s my belief,’ Joe confirms.
‘But they know about her? They must do, or how else could one of them pretend to be her? This woman you had dinner with didn’t say, no actually, my name is, I don’t know, Kimberly?’
‘No, she was definitely pretending to be Felicity.’
‘Why would she do that?’
Delilah has her eyes fixed on the tabletop.
‘She was trying to draw me into an intimate relationship,’ Joe says. ‘She knew that if she and I were involved, my credibility would be seriously undermined. I wouldn’t be able to stop her taking up a new job she desperately wanted.’
‘With this condition, the alters typically know more than the host,’ Torquil says. ‘All of them will know of Felicity’s existence, they will know that they share a body with her. Some of them might know each of the alters who comes and goes. Others might only be aware of one or two.’
‘So, to cut to the chase,’ Downey says, ‘are you saying that the person we believed to be called Shane is one of Felicity’s – what did you call them – others?’
‘Alters,’ Joe replies. ‘Although “others” is also used by the various personalities to describe their cohabitees. And yes, I’m sure that Shane is one of her alters.’
‘Nearly always with these cases, at least one of the alters will be much more streetwise and aggressive than the host,’ Torquil says. ‘From what Joe has told me, Felicity is rather a gentle personality, somewhat lacking in self-confidence and a little shy. I think Shane is the personality that goes into battle when Felicity is afraid. Shane takes care of her.’
‘Shane’s a man,’ someone says. ‘How can she turn into a man?’
‘The alters can appear to be very different to the host,’ Torquil says. ‘They believe themselves to be different ages, sexes, races and act accordingly. They can have different levels of sight or hearing. One alter can be a very fast runner. Another might believe he can’t possibly drive. One might speak a foreign language. I know this sounds far-fetched but there is so much about this condition we don’t yet understand.’
‘Remember how convinced you were that Shane was a man,’ Joe says. ‘He fooled the experts you brought in. When she’s Shane, she completely believes she’s a young man with that name.’
‘None of this changes the fact that whoever she believed she was at the time, Felicity murdered Dora Hardwick and Bella Barnes,’ Downey says.
‘Not necessarily,’ Joe argues. ‘We know Felicity and Shane are the same person, but we don’t know that Shane killed Dora and Bella. Shane stood in my bedroom while I was asleep, with a knife that could have slit my throat. He didn’t touch me.’
‘Joe, there’s something you need to know,’ Delilah says.
‘What?’
‘We found blood on Dora’s coat that isn’t hers. It is Felicity’s. There is no doubt that she and Dora had a close encounter the night Dora died. She may not know it, love, but she is a killer.’
‘And a very dangerous woman indeed,’ Downey adds.
‘She’s only dangerous when she’s Shane,’ Torquil says. ‘When she’s Felicity, she probably wouldn’t harm a fly.’
‘So, what is it you want from us?’ Downey says.
‘You can’t send a team of strange police officers and soldiers to arrest Felicity,’ Joe says. ‘She won’t have a clue what’s going on and it will terrify her. She’ll almost certainly become Shane—’
‘Or someone even worse,’ Torquil interrupts.
‘And someone will get hurt. Probably her.’
‘What’s the alternative?’ Downey asks.
‘Send someone she knows and trusts,’ Joe says. ‘Send my mother. And me.’
Part Four
SOUTH GEORGIA
Present Day
‘I seemed to vow to myself that someday I would go to the region of ice and snow.’
Ernest Shackleton
65
Joe
The windows of the harbour master’s office look out towards emerald hills tumbling into an azure blue ocean. Joe can see a waterfall like a silver ribbon, slicing a snow-tipped summit in half, and the rusting carcass of a wrecked steam ship stranded in the bay. On the northern horizon, a berg lies like a fallen mountain and the air above it is alive with seabirds.
The eardrum-splitting cacophony of noise has softened since he, Delilah and Superintendent Skye McNair have come indoors, but even through the reinforced glass Joe can hear the bird screams and the grunting of seals. All the while, the wind uses the building and its surrounds as musical instruments: whistling, singing, moaning. Every few minutes, the structure trembles as a stronger gust hits it.