Chapter Thirty-Two
Dr Ferrand stood at the window when Denis entered the meeting room with Madame Mangin. Patient 232 sat impassively at the table. Denis frowned when he saw that the man was laced into a straightjacket. Procedure, no doubt, but he would have expected Ferrand to have overridden it.
Madame Mangin began to cry from the moment she saw the patient. The Mole didn’t bat an eyelid. He was impassive, while Madame Mangin cried, “What have you done to my son? Why the straightjacket? He wouldn’t hurt a fly!”
She almost flung herself at him, lamenting, “Alain, it’s your mother!” Denis was convinced she hadn’t even looked properly at the patient. Ferrand signalled to the male nurse beside The Mole. He retreated a few steps. Madame Mangin took The Mole’s face in both hands and kissed
