Chapter 11: What Patricia Did With It
Patricia listened to the recording twice.
She sat at her desk with her hands folded and her eyes on the small speaker Tom had brought in, and she listened to Craig's voice move through its careful shapes — the warmth, the patience, the concern, the threat dressed as worry — and when it finished the second time she reached over and pressed stop.
"The GP contact," she said.
"That's important.
Do you know the date?"
"Hannah thinks it was sometime in April," I said.
"She can check her records."
"She should do that this week.
Written confirmation of what he said to the GP and when." Patricia made a note.
"The recording itself — the language he uses around her state of mind, the documentation he mentions — that's a pattern.
Combined with Gemma's statement and Roz's messages, we're building something."
"Is it enough?" Tom asked.
"It's a strong foundation.
What I'd like to do is refer Hannah to a specialist solicitor — family law, with experience in coercive control cases specifically." She looked at Hannah.
"What he's describing — the money, the phone, the food, the isolation from friends, the GP contact — that's not just @buse.
In legal terms, it's a pattern of coercive and controlling behavior.
That carries weight."
Hannah was very still.
"Will I have to go to court?"
"Not necessarily.
In many cases, once a solicitor makes contact and the evidence is laid out, the other party's position changes quickly.
Especially when there's a prior pattern." Patricia looked at her steadily.
"Gemma's statement is significant.
He's done this before and he knows we can show that."
"He'll say she's unstable," Hannah said.
"He'll say I'm unstable.
He told his family I had an episode."
"He can say that.
But we have Roz's messages going back months, showing you were coherent, frightened, and trying to protect yourself.
We have a photograph.
We have a recording of him threatening to use your mental health against you in legal proceedings, which is itself a form of pressure.
And we have a woman who left him three years ago and is willing to say, in writing, that he did the same things to her." Patricia paused.
"He built a story about you.
We're going to build a better one.
With evidence."
Hannah looked at the table.
Then she looked up.
"What do I need to do?"
"First — the GP records.
Second, I'd like you to write down everything you can remember, in as much detail as possible, with approximate dates where you have them.
It doesn't have to be perfect.
It just has to be yours, in your words." Patricia slid a pad of paper across the desk.
"You can start here if you like.
Or at home.
Wherever you feel safe."
Hannah looked at the pad.
She picked up the pen.
She wrote for two hours.
Tom and I sat in the waiting area.
He read a magazine without turning the pages.
I looked at the wall.
At one point he reached over and took my hand and we sat like that without talking.
When Hannah came out she looked exhausted and lighter at the same time.
She handed the pad back to Patricia and Patricia looked at the first page and then looked at Hannah.
"This is good," she said.
"This is very good."
Two weeks later, Craig's solicitor received a letter.
I wasn't in the room when Hannah's solicitor sent it.
I didn't see Craig's face when he read it.
But Hannah's solicitor called her that evening and said that Craig's side had requested a pause in correspondence to take further instructions.
Hannah was sitting at our kitchen table when she took the call.
When she hung up she set the phone down and looked at me.
"He didn't expect it," she said.
"No," I said.
"He didn't."
She was quiet for a moment.
Then: "Gemma.
Can I — do you think she'd want to hear from me?"
"I think she'd like that very much," I said.
Hannah picked the phone back up.
Outside the window the light was going, the garden going gray and still.
She found the number I'd saved for her and she pressed call and waited, and when Gemma answered Hannah said, simply, "Hi.
It's Hannah.
May you like
I just wanted to say thank you."
I went to put the kettle on and gave her the room.
