Given these things, she turned her attention back to the receptionist. She was standing just outside of Deringers office door with her arms folded and a smoldering look on her face. Honestly, it perfectly echoed Deringers exact attitude when theyd first spoken with him. When Rachel walked over to her, the receptionist backed away a bit. When she realized Rachel intended to speak with her, the receptionist stopped when she reached her desk, choosing to stand by the side and try to hold her own.

Were you aware that Dr. Deringer was having someone illegally tap into phone lines to get names and numbers from suicide hotlines?

The woman looked as if someone had just told her the world was flat and the oceans were filled with talking dinosaurs. What on earth are you talking about?

He admitted it to it himself in interrogation, Rachel said. Did you have no idea about it?

No, she said, her voice little more than a whisper. I had absolutely no idea.

Was he secretive? Rachel. Did you ever notice him making sure to close his office door even when not in session? Or maybe he took a lot of private calls that werent related to work?

I dont know about the calls. But I mean, he always had his door closed. Its just something hes always done, even when hes not with a client. I figured it was just the way he preferred to work. Even when there are no clients in there, theres always a ton of paperwork.

Taking a shot in the dark, Rachel went another way. By any chance, can you recall Dustin Adams and Joseph Staunton?

I recognize both names, sure. But I knew Joseph quite well. He had gotten so that he was very chatty with me, very friendly. It was the polar opposite of how he was when he started seeing Dr. Deringer. Even I could see vast improvements from my limited interactions with him.

How about she started, but a shout from the office interrupted her.

Agents, said the technician currently sitting behind Deringers laptop. Officer Holmes down at the precinct has something for us.

Rachel hurried back into the office, where everyone was huddled around Deringers large desk. The technician was placing his phone down on the desk and clicking around on the laptop. Hes going to conference call us on this laptop so we can all hear it, he explained.

Hear what, exactly? Jack asked.

He says theres a voicemail on Deringers phone and the source appears to be from Edwin Newkirk.

As soon as he said this, the noise of a FaceTime call came over Deringers laptop. The technician answered and they all found themselves looking at the pale, waifish face of Officer Holmes. He was perched behind two laptops, and a desktop monitor sat off to his left.

Okay, Holmes, we have you on, the technician said. What have you got?