Unfaithful (27 page)

“Almost non-existent towards the last year of our marriage,” Rebecca managed. “Of course, I recently discovered that he was having a very active sex life, just not with me. He's admitted to sleeping with several women and I've since discovered that he was also sleeping with prostitutes. One day, I saw on our credit card statement that he'd taken quite a large sum of cash out of our credit card. There was no reason for him to withdraw that money and for once he had no plausible explanation. I questioned him incessantly, demanding an answer. I wouldn't let it go, like I usually did. Eventually, Mark admitted that he'd spent the money on prostitutes, apparently he'd been visiting them throughout our marriage.”

Dr. Moynihan looked up from her note writing, an expression of shock on her face.

“It feels like he's been living a double-life throughout most of our marriage,” Rebecca continued, her voice cracking slightly. “On the one hand he seemed like a respectable married man, a high-standing member of the business community but on the other hand he was carrying on these illicit affairs behind my back. When he finally admitted to all the affairs he had no remorse whatsoever, no understanding of why I'm so devastated. It seemed like he was boasting at one point, with no sense of the impact his words were having on me. He actually had the audacity to say to me, “you have to understand, Rebecca, I've slept with a lot of beautiful women.””

Dr. Moynihan looked at Rebecca incredulously. “What on earth did he mean by that?” she asked.

“I have no idea,” Rebecca said sadly, “but that was the sentence that did it for me, the final nail in the coffin of our marriage. You should have seen the look on his face as he said that to me, like he had a need to be with these women, some sort of a medical condition. He was nearly demanding that I understand.”

“What about his traditional values?” Dr. Moynihan asked, quickly referring back to her earlier notes. “Exactly,” Rebecca smiled, “that's exactly what I asked him to explain to me. I wanted to know where that young man who I fell in love with went, the man who would get so angry when he heard about other people having affairs, even people who he never knew.”

“What was his response?” Dr. Moynihan asked.

“He looked at me coldly and said that he pretended to be holier than thou but it was all a smoke screen.”

Dr. Moynihan gasped, looking horrified. “I'm sorry,” Dr. Moynihan said quickly, trying to regain her composure. She looked visibly shaken by Rebecca's last words.

“Oh, it gets worse, doctor, I'm afraid,” Rebecca said.

Dr. Moynihan watched her patient's face carefully. Rebecca looked like a newsreader who was delivering some horrific news about some disaster which was completely separate from her. This is a woman who is deeply traumatised, Brianna thought. She tried to maintain an expression of calm while the other woman continued to speak.

“When I insisted that Mark should leave, and that I wanted a divorce, he launched a charm offensive,” Rebecca said.“He claimed that he was a victim! Can you believe it? He declared himself a sex addict and that he was in need of treatment.”

“I told my sister all about it, she was incredulous. She said most people wouldn't believe it if they read it in a book, but like the old saying goes; truth is often stranger than fiction. Mark wrote a letter of apology to my sister. He explained his “problem”, saying that he was committed to recovery, that's how clever and sneaky he is, but my sister was having none of his nonsense.”

“What did you do?” Dr. Moynihan asked.

“Well, we were living apart at that stage, but I agreed to engage in therapy with him. I didn't want my marriage to be over. Mark is the only man I've ever loved. We have a son together, Christopher, who's left home now and another baby on the way any day now. I don't know, looking back I think I was just weak. I didn't want to be alone. It's taken me too long to realise that I've been alone for a very long time.”

“How are you still standing?” Dr. Moynihan asked.

“I don't know,” Rebecca answered. “It hasn't been easy. It still isn't easy. I'm just trying to put one foot in front of the other, get up every morning, eat, sleep and do it all again. Christopher and the thought of my new baby keep me going and the hope that one day I will be ok again.

I suppose that's why I'm here, talking to you. I just want to get Mark out of my life and out of my mind so that I never have to look at him or think about him again.”

“Are you divorced yet?” Dr. Moynihan asked.

“Not yet,” Rebecca sighed, “it will take some time. We have a judicial separation order from the courts, but it will be another few years before we can legally divorce.”

“Has Mark showed any regret or humility?” Dr. Moynihan asked.

“Not an iota,” Rebecca almost laughed, “but he's absolutely determined to get what he says is an equal share of the assets. He's even made an inventory, right down to the wooden spoons and a tin opener. There's not a shred of decency in him, no guilt. He fooled everyone. Everyone thought he was a person of principle. He proved us all so very wrong, especially me.”

“Was he ever physically violent?” Dr. Moynihan asked.

“No, he wasn’t physically violent. He always said that he'd be afraid to touch a woman because he could probably end up killing her in one punch. He was emotionally abusive though,” Rebecca said, “he always wanted his own way. He wanted to know where I was and who I was with. He even had the cheek to accuse me of cheating on him, when he was the one who was cheating all along. I've never so much as kissed another man.”

“Typical manipulative behaviour,” Dr. Moynihan muttered. “I see from your general practitioner's notes that you have suffered from anxiety and depression over the past few years,” the doctor said, consulting her computer for a moment.

“Yes,” Rebecca concurred, “more so recently.”

“Completely understandable, considering everything you've been through,” the other woman said sympathetically.

“Thank you for being so understanding, doctor,” Rebecca said, “I was so afraid of not being believed, of being told that I'm paranoid.”

Dr. Moynihan looked at her in shock. “Rebecca, none of this is your fault,” she said emphatically, “I believe you unquestionably. You will get through this, and I will help you.” She squeezed Rebecca's hand again. “I'm afraid our time is up for today,” she said, “but I'll give you a call tomorrow so we can arrange some dates in our diary for some further appointments.”

“I feel so foolish,” Rebecca sniffed, as she wiped her tears with a tissue. “I gave him everything; all my love, my attention, a son, a home, a family and he just threw it all back in my face like it meant nothing to him. I feel so stupid and naiive for believing him and trusting in him so implicitly.”

“You are not the stupid one here,” Dr. Moynihan insisted, “don't punish yourself. You should rejoice in the fact that you are capable of giving so much to another person. Take heart in the fact that you are able to grieve and that you are capable of feeling so intensely. Mark seems to be closed off from his emotions. I wonder if he ever truly feels sorrow or joy?”

“He feels very intensely for himself,” Rebecca half laughed. “He is his favourite topic of conversation.”

“Has Mark made any attempts to reconcile?” Dr. Moynihan asked.

“Sometimes he texts me to say that he misses me,” Rebecca answered.

“Do you think you would ever give him another chance and take him back?” Dr. Moynihan asked.

“I have to be careful, I realise that,” Rebecca said slowly, deliberately almost, as if she was measuring her words. “Even now he is capable of convincing me that he's sincere, and what’s more, he knows it too. When he knocks on my front door with his sad face and big blue eyes, asking me if we really have to go down this road, I feel myself melt a little inside. I have to force myself to be very business-like inside, because sometimes, even now, it's all I can do to stop myself from throwing myself into his arms and telling him that all is forgiven, even if it is just for a moment. A few months ago, I don't think I would have been able to resist his charms, but now I see what's there, or what isn't there, and it frightens me,” Rebecca's voice trailed off.

Brianna glanced reluctantly at her watch. “I'm afraid our time is up for this week, Rebecca,” she said, slowly getting to her feet.  Brianna closed the door gently behind her patient. She was absolutely appalled by Rebecca's story of her husband. She was appalled but also fascinated by the man. She'd done some research on different personality types and Mark seemed to fall into the psychopathic category. He certainly displayed a lot of the characteristics of a psychopath.

Brianna made herself a strong coffee and sat at her desk. Rebecca was her last client for the afternoon so she was free to do some extra reading and research. She read through the notes she'd made during Rebecca's session as she rebooted her computer. She flicked quickly through the screens until she came to her files on personality disorders.

It had always been an area of particular interest to her throughout the course of her career. Mark McNamara sounds like a true psychopath, she thought to herself, he sounds like a charming individual but he has a chilling disposition underneath it all.

Brianna finally found the file she was searching for and began to read. The psychopathic personality is generally defined by a high score on what it known as the Hare PCL-R check list. The Hare PCL-R check list is usually used in combination with an interview to determine a true diagnosis.

Psychopaths are usually glib, and superficially charming. They have a grandiose sense of self-worth and a need for constant stimulation. They are also very prone to boredom and pathological lying. They are cunning and manipulative and lack remorse or guilt for their actions. They are shallow, with a superficial range or depth of feelings. They can be callous and display a distinct lack of empathy in their interactions with others, even those they claim to love.

They often lead a parasitic lifestyle with poor behavioural controls and tend to be sexually promiscuous. They have displayed early behaviour problems and are impulsive and irresponsible.

They lack realistic long-term goals and fail to accept responsibility for their own actions, tending to blame others for what goes wrong in their lives. They often have short-term relationships and have a tendency towards juvenile delinquency which can lead to criminal versatility.

Brianna read through the checklist, completely forgetting about her coffee. Many of the items on the checklist applied to Mark.

I would love to interview him
, she thought to herself as she added further notes to her session with Rebecca. Brianna believed that Mark would score very highly on the Hare PCL-R check list.

The hallmark of the psychopathic personality is the cunning manipulation of others and the complete absence of conscience. It is thought to be untreatable and affects an estimated one per cent of the population. It appears to be more common in men than women and involves a moral blindness, an emotional emptiness and an inability to feel empathy, guilt or remorse.

Brianna recalled the case of Malcolm Webster, aged fifty two, who was found guilty of murdering his first wife, Claire Morris in Aberdeen, Scotland and attempting to murder his second wife, Felicity Drumm in 1999. She pulled up the details of the case on the internet.

The story would seem far-fetched, even by the standards of a Hollywood movie. Eight months into their marriage a man sedates his wife, places her comatose body into the passenger seat of their car, drives to a remote road near their Scottish home, sets fire to their car, causing her death, and claims it was a tragic accident.

He walks away with a six figure life insurance payout. Then he meets and marries victim number two. Their cottage mysteriously catches fire; Webster claims thousands in insurance, then the couple move to New Zealand, where they're involved in another car accident in another remote spot.

This time, the wife survives, and tests reveal that she has unwittingly taken sedatives. She files a complaint against her husband, who, by now, has returned to Scotland with her life savings and is on the point of bigamously marrying someone else. Finally, detectives and family members start talking and investigations against Webster soon commenced.

Webster was found guilty of murdering his first wife and the attempted murder of his second wife. Along the way he had also stolen significant amounts of money from a number of sources, impressed people with dark tales of his time in the Saudi Arabian army, and drawn sympathy when he'd battled leukaemia; when, in fact, he had merely shaved his hair and eyebrows. Malcolm Webster is a true psychopath.

One of the investigating officers described him as “a charming individual with a chilling disposition.” However, despite a recent spate of cases involving charming and manipulative husbands like Webster, who have killed their partners, most psychopaths are not murderers or even criminals. They are husbands and ex-husbands, colleagues and managing directors, men who can charm, manipulate and run circles around the rest of us, simply because they act with no emotional attachment, compassion or deep connection to rein them in.

Some women are unwittingly married to a psychopath. Brianna searched through her extensive library of books and pulled out a copy of The Psychopath Test, which was written by journalist Jon Ronson. His book is a fascinating exploration of the psychopathic personality.