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at him, ‘What went wrong?’
    He sighed and ran his fingers through his untidy hair.   ‘As we decreased her sedation Grainne started exhibiting signs of distress whenever I was alone with her.  I won’t bore you with all the details but we soon discovered that it wasn’t just me; the presence of any man upset her greatly.  We had to sedate her almost back to catatonia before she could stand having a man in the same room as her.  That’s just one of the mysteries I need you to solve; why, from being afflicted with more than a touch of nymphomania, she now cannot bear to have men anywhere near her.’
    Kate nodded, butterflies of excitement fluttering in her stomach as she realized that she was hooked already, that once more the ga me was afoot.  But the butterflies were of excitement, not fear; this was what she had not just trained for but had been born to do.  How had she forgotten that for so long?  ‘So you brought in a female psychotherapist to talk to her.  And that worked?’
    ‘To an extent,’ replied Trevor, ‘We were able to decre ase her medication to the point where she could engage with Dr. McGrath to a reasonable level.  When she was in touch with reality, that is, which wasn’t often.  I’ll give you all Sarah’s notes, of course, but most days Grainne wouldn’t talk to her at all, and even when she did she didn’t make much sense.  And she only worked with her for about six months so you can’t expect a lot of progress.’
    Kate leaned forward eagerly, ‘Of course I’ll read the case notes, and her file, but right now I’m more interested in what you can tell me about her as a person.’
    There was a pause before Trevor said slowly, ‘Grainne Riordan is an extraordinarily beautiful and sensual young woman.’  He stopped and considered before continuing, ‘Not just sensual but something more, something darker than that.  Something carnal.  When we were kids we would have said she was sex on legs.  She reminds me of a young Brigitte Bardot or something, and although it might sound melodramatic I can’t imagine any man not being instantly attracted to her.  Very attracted.’
    Kate was always skeptical concerning men’s notions of a sex-bomb, knowing full well that they were generally the stereotypical big-breasted airhead a la Pamela Anderson that in real life most men would almost instantly grow tired of.  So she paid little heed to his description of the girl but, to wind him up, raised her eyebrows and said teasingly, ‘Even you, Doctor ?  Were you hooked?’
    He pursed his lips and said humorlessly, ‘On most of the occasions I met her she was so heavily tranquilized that she was more like a beautiful doll than a person.  A slack mouth and empty eyes are not terribly appealing in anyone, much less in a woman already rendered more or less sexless by virtue of being a patient.  On other occasions though, when she was fully alive and aware ...’  He broke off and shook his head, ‘I have to say, on occasions I found her disturbing.’
    Kate was silent, wondering what sort of girl –and she was only a girl- could have had such an effect on her old friend, who generally had more women than he knew what to do with, and was less susceptible than most to their charms, however potent.
    He mistook her silence for disapproval and sighed before saying, ‘I’ll start at the beginning, shall I?  The first time I met her was when I was called in by the DPP to perform a psychiatric evaluation on her in hospital.  Grainne was under suspicion of the murder of her mother, and since she refused to make a statement -actually she was incapable of making one- I was initially called in to determine whether or not she was fit to stand trial.’
    He shrugged and moved restlessly in his chair, ‘Needless to say she wasn’t, or she wouldn’t be here now.  Since she tried to kill herself I naturally recommended that she undergo a thorough psychological examination before any