even shorter than she had thought. Diane was five foot five and Xavier was clearly the same height â allowing for his heel-pieces. The immaculate white lab coat floated on him.
âCome with me. I will show you around.â
He opened a cupboard. Lab coats hanging all in a row. He took one and handed it to Diane. She caught a whiff of washing powder, and something musty.
He brushed against her. He laid his hand on Dianeâs arm; his nails were, she saw, very well groomed, perhaps too well groomed.
âThey are truly terrifying individuals,â he said smoothly, looking her in the eyes. âForget what they are, forget what they have done. Concentrate on your work.â
She remembered Wargnierâs words on the telephone: he had said virtually the same thing.
âIâve already dealt with sociopaths,â she objected, but her voice lacked confidence, for once.
A strange look flashed briefly through his red glasses.
âNone like these ones, mademoiselle. None like these ones. â
*Â Â Â *Â Â Â *
White walls, white floor, white neon lights ⦠Like most people in the West, Diane associated the colour with innocence, candour and virginity. And yet there were vile murderers living in the midst of all this whiteness.
âOriginally, white was the colour of death and mourning,â said Xavier, as if reading her thoughts. âThis is still the case in the East. White is also a limit value â like black. Finally, it is the colour which is associated with rites of passage. This is a rite of passage for you at this moment, wouldnât you say? But I am not the one who chose the décor â Iâve only been here for a few months.â
Steel gates slid open and closed as they passed through; electronic locks clunked in the thickness of the walls. Xavierâs short figure strode ahead.
âWhere are we?â she asked, counting the closed-circuit cameras, the doors, the emergency exits.
âWe are leaving the administration offices to enter the actual psychiatric unit. This is the first security barrier.â
Diane watched as he inserted a magnetic card into a box fitted on the wall, which read the card and spat it back out. The metal gate opened. On the far side was a glass cubicle, where two guards in orange boiler suits sat under the electronic surveillance screens.
âAt present we have eighty-eight patients who are considered dangerous, capable of committing acts of violence. Our clientele have been sent here from penal institutions and other psychiatric establishments in France, but also from Germany, Switzerland, Spain ⦠These individuals have mental health issues, compounded with delinquency, violence and criminality. Patients who turned out to be too violent to stay in the hospitals that had initially taken them in, detainees whose psychosis is too severe to be treated in prison, or murderers who have been ruled irresponsible by the courts. Our clientele requires a highly qualified staff, and an infrastructure that will guarantee both their security and that of the staff and visitors. We are in Ward C at the moment. There are three levels of security: low, medium and high. This is a low-level area.â
Diane raised an eyebrow every time Xavier talked about the clientele.
âThe Wargnier Institute has shown itself to be uniquely competent in the treatment of aggressive, dangerous, violent patients. Our practice is founded on the highest, most modern standards. In the initial stages we carry out a psychiatric and criminological evaluation, which includes, in particular, fantasy analysis and plethysmography.â
She started. Plethysmography consisted of measuring a patientâs reactions to audio and video stimuli showing a variety of scenarios and partners, such as the sight of a naked woman or child.
âYou are using aversion therapy with subjects who are shown to have deviant profiles when they are subjected to
âCome with me. I will show you around.â
He opened a cupboard. Lab coats hanging all in a row. He took one and handed it to Diane. She caught a whiff of washing powder, and something musty.
He brushed against her. He laid his hand on Dianeâs arm; his nails were, she saw, very well groomed, perhaps too well groomed.
âThey are truly terrifying individuals,â he said smoothly, looking her in the eyes. âForget what they are, forget what they have done. Concentrate on your work.â
She remembered Wargnierâs words on the telephone: he had said virtually the same thing.
âIâve already dealt with sociopaths,â she objected, but her voice lacked confidence, for once.
A strange look flashed briefly through his red glasses.
âNone like these ones, mademoiselle. None like these ones. â
*Â Â Â *Â Â Â *
White walls, white floor, white neon lights ⦠Like most people in the West, Diane associated the colour with innocence, candour and virginity. And yet there were vile murderers living in the midst of all this whiteness.
âOriginally, white was the colour of death and mourning,â said Xavier, as if reading her thoughts. âThis is still the case in the East. White is also a limit value â like black. Finally, it is the colour which is associated with rites of passage. This is a rite of passage for you at this moment, wouldnât you say? But I am not the one who chose the décor â Iâve only been here for a few months.â
Steel gates slid open and closed as they passed through; electronic locks clunked in the thickness of the walls. Xavierâs short figure strode ahead.
âWhere are we?â she asked, counting the closed-circuit cameras, the doors, the emergency exits.
âWe are leaving the administration offices to enter the actual psychiatric unit. This is the first security barrier.â
Diane watched as he inserted a magnetic card into a box fitted on the wall, which read the card and spat it back out. The metal gate opened. On the far side was a glass cubicle, where two guards in orange boiler suits sat under the electronic surveillance screens.
âAt present we have eighty-eight patients who are considered dangerous, capable of committing acts of violence. Our clientele have been sent here from penal institutions and other psychiatric establishments in France, but also from Germany, Switzerland, Spain ⦠These individuals have mental health issues, compounded with delinquency, violence and criminality. Patients who turned out to be too violent to stay in the hospitals that had initially taken them in, detainees whose psychosis is too severe to be treated in prison, or murderers who have been ruled irresponsible by the courts. Our clientele requires a highly qualified staff, and an infrastructure that will guarantee both their security and that of the staff and visitors. We are in Ward C at the moment. There are three levels of security: low, medium and high. This is a low-level area.â
Diane raised an eyebrow every time Xavier talked about the clientele.
âThe Wargnier Institute has shown itself to be uniquely competent in the treatment of aggressive, dangerous, violent patients. Our practice is founded on the highest, most modern standards. In the initial stages we carry out a psychiatric and criminological evaluation, which includes, in particular, fantasy analysis and plethysmography.â
She started. Plethysmography consisted of measuring a patientâs reactions to audio and video stimuli showing a variety of scenarios and partners, such as the sight of a naked woman or child.
âYou are using aversion therapy with subjects who are shown to have deviant profiles when they are subjected to
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