“I do,” Mr. Dover said. “Over the months I’ve seen Cora isolating herself from classmates and I see it in her writing and in how she interacts with others. She has a very vivid imagination.” I didn’t interject in hopes that he would continue. “What I mean is that Cora tends to read into situations. From her perspective, people are out to get her.”

“Well, given her current circumstances,” I said before I could stop myself, “I think that is a pretty accurate perspective.”

“No, no.” Mr. Dover held up his hands as if to stop whatever path my thoughts were heading down. “Obviously, someone hurt Cora badly. I didn’t mean to suggest that wasn’t the case. What I’m trying to say is just the opposite.”

I must have looked skeptical because Mr. Dover took a deep breath and tried again.

“From having Cora in class I’ve noticed that she takes things to heart whether the slight is real or imagined. One wrong look from a classmate and Cora is crushed. One misinterpreted comment and she starts to cry and runs to a teacher. She tends to build up the event into something it really isn’t. She embellishes. Kids resent it and this causes some friction. So what I’m trying to say, and doing so poorly, is on a good day Cora struggles to keep it together, so I can imagine how hard this is for her.” Mr. Dover let out another breath and furrowed his brow. “I just want her to be okay. Cora’s a good kid.”

“That’s all we want for Cora,” I said, forcing a smile. “Thanks for sharing your thoughts, but I have to get to my next appointment.” I turned and headed away from the elevators, opting for the stairs and leaving Mr. Dover behind.

As my footsteps echoed down the concrete steps, John Dover’s words ran through my head. He made it sound like Cora was known for reporting slights, real or imagined, to the teacher. Could the attack on her have been in retaliation for this? That seemed like too much of a stretch.

Besides, there was something about John Dover that made me bristle. For someone who purportedly cared so much about his student why would he take the time to seek me out only to tell me what a basket case Cora is? She embellishes, he said. She lies. Why, I wondered, was it so important to John Dover to tell me this?

Case #92-10945

Case #92-10945

Excerpt from the journal of Cora E. Landry

Dec. 5, 2017

My mom came home while I was in the middle of emailing JW44, so I had to get off the computer really fast. I ran out to the kitchen and sat at the counter like I was doing my homework.