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Authors: Giles Blunt
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between her brows. She lifts her hand and she starts to speak …’
The insert suddenly went snowy and there was
a loud hiss - almost a roar - of static. The girl’s eyes went round as two zeroes, and her hand flew to her mouth.
‘What is it?’ Dr Paley asked on screen. ‘What’s wrong?’
The girl’s face went blank, the horror gone.
Dr Paley asked her again what was wrong.
‘Nothing,’ the young woman said. ‘I mean, I don’t know. I felt scared all of a sudden.’
‘Note the return of affect,’ Dr Paley said to Cardinal and Delorme. ‘A good sign.’
‘What startled her?’ Delorme said.
‘There was a short in the jumper cable and it caused that awful spray of static and it made her jump out of her skin. But before that, I think she was about to recognize Beaufort Hill, or at least say something about it. So it’s not clear whether her fright reaction is to Beaufort Hill or just to the sudden noise. As you can see, I didn’t get anything else out of her.’
On screen, Dr Paley gently tried to get the girl to say what had scared her.
‘I don’t know,’ she said, again. ‘I just felt this sudden … I don’t know.’
‘Was it the noise that frightened you?’
She shook her head. ‘I’m not sure.’
‘Was there something about the picture? The picture of the hill? Could you look at it again?’
‘I don’t know …’
‘I promise it won’t make the noise this time. I’ll hold the cable.’
‘I guess …’
The insert of Beaufort Hill appeared again. The girl’s expression changed only slightly this time, to one of concentration. Then she shook her head. ‘It doesn’t mean anything to me. At least, I don’t think so. I don’t know what made me jump like that.’
Dr Paley hit the pause button. ‘I wrapped it up a few minutes after that. It’s probably not much use to you, but I wanted you to see it, if only to get an idea of how gently this sort of recovery has to proceed.’
‘Is it possible that hill is where she got shot?’ Delorme asked.
‘Very unlikely. As I said, she won’t remember anything about that - nothing that occurred within half an hour before or after. If she was held somewhere first, or if she was fleeing for a time, that may come back, but not the memory of the shooting itself.’
‘So it’s possible something happened there,’ Cardinal said.
‘Oh, yes. Possibly something leading up to the trauma. Possibly something when she regained consciousness. If so, we can expect it to come back to her at a later date. We just have to be patient.’
CHAPTER 7
‘You feel like a little hike?’ Delorme said when
they were outside. She tucked a strand of
hair behind her ear; a damp breeze was
blowing across the parking lot. ‘We could take a
look at that hill close up. You recognized it, right?’
‘Yeah, the picture was taken from somewhere up behind the University,’ Cardinal said. ‘Why don’t we drive over that way before it starts to rain?’
‘You think she’s a student at Northern?’
‘We’d have heard from them by now, if she was.’
‘Well, if she was on Beaufort Hill, the most likely route for anyone not a student would be via the lookout off Highway 11. Why don’t I drive to the lookout and I’ll meet you in the middle?’
‘Top of Nishinabe Creek?’
‘Yeah. Where it splits round that little island. Figure forty-five minutes to an hour.’
Algonquin Bay does not have any serious mountains, but the high-backed hills of the Precambrian shield lumber around it like a herd of gargantuan buffalo. The terrain is unforgiving granite, luckily covered with a layer of loamy soil that supports
thousands of square miles of forest. The Northern University campus is flung across the top of one of these hills, affording the students a spectacular view of the city and the blue expanse of Lake Nipissing. Not that it was blue today. A light drizzle had set in, and the sky was a depressing shade of grey from one horizon
The insert suddenly went snowy and there was
a loud hiss - almost a roar - of static. The girl’s eyes went round as two zeroes, and her hand flew to her mouth.
‘What is it?’ Dr Paley asked on screen. ‘What’s wrong?’
The girl’s face went blank, the horror gone.
Dr Paley asked her again what was wrong.
‘Nothing,’ the young woman said. ‘I mean, I don’t know. I felt scared all of a sudden.’
‘Note the return of affect,’ Dr Paley said to Cardinal and Delorme. ‘A good sign.’
‘What startled her?’ Delorme said.
‘There was a short in the jumper cable and it caused that awful spray of static and it made her jump out of her skin. But before that, I think she was about to recognize Beaufort Hill, or at least say something about it. So it’s not clear whether her fright reaction is to Beaufort Hill or just to the sudden noise. As you can see, I didn’t get anything else out of her.’
On screen, Dr Paley gently tried to get the girl to say what had scared her.
‘I don’t know,’ she said, again. ‘I just felt this sudden … I don’t know.’
‘Was it the noise that frightened you?’
She shook her head. ‘I’m not sure.’
‘Was there something about the picture? The picture of the hill? Could you look at it again?’
‘I don’t know …’
‘I promise it won’t make the noise this time. I’ll hold the cable.’
‘I guess …’
The insert of Beaufort Hill appeared again. The girl’s expression changed only slightly this time, to one of concentration. Then she shook her head. ‘It doesn’t mean anything to me. At least, I don’t think so. I don’t know what made me jump like that.’
Dr Paley hit the pause button. ‘I wrapped it up a few minutes after that. It’s probably not much use to you, but I wanted you to see it, if only to get an idea of how gently this sort of recovery has to proceed.’
‘Is it possible that hill is where she got shot?’ Delorme asked.
‘Very unlikely. As I said, she won’t remember anything about that - nothing that occurred within half an hour before or after. If she was held somewhere first, or if she was fleeing for a time, that may come back, but not the memory of the shooting itself.’
‘So it’s possible something happened there,’ Cardinal said.
‘Oh, yes. Possibly something leading up to the trauma. Possibly something when she regained consciousness. If so, we can expect it to come back to her at a later date. We just have to be patient.’
CHAPTER 7
‘You feel like a little hike?’ Delorme said when
they were outside. She tucked a strand of
hair behind her ear; a damp breeze was
blowing across the parking lot. ‘We could take a
look at that hill close up. You recognized it, right?’
‘Yeah, the picture was taken from somewhere up behind the University,’ Cardinal said. ‘Why don’t we drive over that way before it starts to rain?’
‘You think she’s a student at Northern?’
‘We’d have heard from them by now, if she was.’
‘Well, if she was on Beaufort Hill, the most likely route for anyone not a student would be via the lookout off Highway 11. Why don’t I drive to the lookout and I’ll meet you in the middle?’
‘Top of Nishinabe Creek?’
‘Yeah. Where it splits round that little island. Figure forty-five minutes to an hour.’
Algonquin Bay does not have any serious mountains, but the high-backed hills of the Precambrian shield lumber around it like a herd of gargantuan buffalo. The terrain is unforgiving granite, luckily covered with a layer of loamy soil that supports
thousands of square miles of forest. The Northern University campus is flung across the top of one of these hills, affording the students a spectacular view of the city and the blue expanse of Lake Nipissing. Not that it was blue today. A light drizzle had set in, and the sky was a depressing shade of grey from one horizon
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