The Last Witness Read Online Free PDF Page B

to the Cinderella and pink-ribbons images Cameron Ryall was trying to sell with his bed-time stories. She was keen to embrace adult-hood quicker so that she could blot out her childhood completely; kid herself it never happened. Maybe the only way she felt she could be truly happy. Certainly it would explain a lot.
      ‘How often do you have these nightmares now?’ Nadine asked.
    ‘Sometimes I’ll have none for two weeks or so. Then two or three might come only days apart.’
    ‘And is it always Mr Ryall that comes to see to you, or does Mrs Ryall sometimes come?’
    Lorena shook her head. ‘It’s usually him. She usually only comes to me when he’s away somewhere on a trip.’
    ‘And does Mr Ryall visit your room late for any other reason now apart from the dreams? Does he read you some stories still?’
    ‘No, no stories anymore. But sometimes he comes to my room just to talk – you know, asking about schoolwork, how I’m getting on. Things like that.’
    ‘Does that happen often?’
    Lorena shrugged. ‘Mainly when he’s been away somewhere and hasn’t seen me for a few days. Apart from that, not much.’
    Nadine asked a few more questions, trying to get it clear just how often Mr Ryall visited her room late at night. One way or another, Ryall managed to visit at least once a week, sometimes twice a week.
    ‘How about when Mr Ryall is around you at other times? Do you feel comfortable then?’
    ‘Yes, it’s… it’s okay.’ A flicker of uncertainty for a second, then Lorena shrugged nonchalantly. ‘No problems.’
    ‘And Mrs Ryall? You get on well with her?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘You never feel uncomfortable around her at any time?’
    ‘No.’ Lorena smiled faintly, as if the question was slightly ridiculous.
    Elena watched Lorena intently throughout the exchange. The atmosphere in the room became tenser with each question, and Elena’s emotions were seriously divided. A chink of uncertainty in Lorena’s eyes, and she’d feel like screaming: ‘Stop shying away, covering up! If you don’t say something, speak up, we can’t help you. You’ll stay trapped here at Ryall’s mercy.’ But when Lorena appeared sure-footed and confident, it would hit that other part of her that wanted desperately to believe that nothing was happening; though maybe she too was selectively erasing, unwilling to accept any possible horrors after what Lorena had suffered in Romania .
    Nadine took a fresh breath. ‘So, more or less, all of your problems stem from your discomfort with Mr Ryall coming to your bed late at night now that you’re older. Is that about it?’ Nadine tapped her pen on her folder as she waited on Lorena’s answer.
      Lorena merely nodded, chewing lightly at her bottom lip.
      ‘So, if and when you have these bad dreams, if we ask that Mrs Ryall comes to you rather than Mr Ryall – I suppose that would solve your problem.’
      ‘I suppose it would.’ Lorena fluttered her eyes down in submission for a second before looking up again. Embarrassment at having wasted their time, or still holding back on something? It was difficult to tell.
      ‘We’ll see what we can do.’ Though Nadine didn’t know where she’d even start; she could hardly reproach Ryall for showing due care and concern for Lorena. And telling Ryall that he couldn’t tuck his favourite stepdaughter in bed after a few days away would be even more absurd. She pressed one last time, if nothing else to save later criticism from Elena that she might not have been thorough. ‘And are you absolutely sure there’s nothing else troubling you concerning Mr Ryall – either connected with him coming to your room late at night, or otherwise?’
      Lorena’s eyes flickered, as if she was searching for something that was finally just out of reach. ‘No, no… there’s nothing. That’s it.’
      But by the way Lorena looked fleetingly back towards the closed door, as if towards the Ryalls in the drawing room beyond, Elena knew