Bohemia Village Voice

Conflict

As far as the world at large was concerned, Harry had got it all. Money, a beautiful wife, two lovely daughters and an easy-going charm that took the edge off any envy that might have been generated by his success.
Since his childhood, Harry had lived a privileged life, marred only by the loss of his twin brother, Will. Harry was there when it happened. He was eight years old when he saw his brother drown.
A tragic accident in the Coroner’s view, expressed with professional sympathy for the bereaved family and a heartfelt criticism of the Mill Preservation Trust for inadequate safety rails.
Recently, that difficult period of Harry’s life had been more and more on his mind, waking and sleeping.
***
It had all started with a crank email – one of the thousands that get spammed around the Internet every day:
‘Repent for your sins are discovered’
Two weeks later the second email arrived. A biblical quotation, or so he guessed, not being a regular churchgoer.
‘Should you not dwell in the land of Nod?’
The latest email, received when he was working at home, was equally short
‘Were you not your brother’s keeper?’
***
Kate returned home to find the house strangely quiet.
She felt apprehensive as she called out Harry’s name and made her way to the study. She didn’t know what to expect when she opened the door, but it certainly wasn’t the chaos she walked into.
It took her a few moments to realize that it wasn’t just the room that had been wrecked. Harry had been injured. As she picked up the phone to call an ambulance she saw the knife that Harry used as a letter opener on the floor in a pool of blood.
***
At the hospital Kate stopped pacing around the small waiting room when the door opened.
“How is he, Doctor?” she asked.
“He’s stable. Despite appearances, your husband’s injuries are all superficial. There was a lot of blood but no lasting physical damage.”
The doctor’s words should have been reassuring, but Kate detected something in his tone that increased rather than reduced her anxiety.
“Can I see him?”
“He’s had quite a traumatic experience, but he’s resting now. In fact he’s under sedation. Why don’t you go home for a while and get some rest yourself?”
Her unease increased with the growing belief that the doctor was trying to avoid something.
“If Harry’s injuries are so slight why were you in there with him for so long?” she asked.
Doctor Cliffe hesitated.
“Medically your husband needed little attention, but nevertheless I was concerned. There’s no sign of a head injury or concussion but he was rambling. I became concerned enough to ask one of my colleagues, Doctor Young, to take a look at him. Doctor Young is a psychiatrist.”
As the word ‘psychiatrist’ registered, the mixture of worry and bewilderment on Kate’s face was enough to interrupt the doctor’s flow.
“Doctor Young believes your husband knows who caused his injuries, but it’s unlikely to be of help to the police.”
Kate’s confusion increased and she sat down heavily on one of the waiting-room chairs, feeling faint.
“It looks as though the injuries are self-inflicted, although he’s been ranting about someone called Will being to blame. In fact, your husband and ‘Will’ were arguing so violently that we had to sedate him. There’s a lot of conflict there that seems to be rooted way back in the past. It’s going to take a long time for Doctor Young and your husband to work it through.”