This time I decide to swipe a bunch of the tapes. I can stash them in one of the drawers in the office. I take all the EJ ones recorded after the tape marked in red. Then I take a selection of other tapes from around the same date. It must’ve been right before Dr. Hale disappeared, because there’s nothing recorded later than that.

I’m going to hear the information that the police missed. I’ll listen to everything that happened to Dr. Hale in the months leading to her disappearance. The mystery that the entire country was talking about for almost a year.

I scan the shelves one more time. That’s when the one tape labeled differently catches my eye once again. LUKE. The boyfriend. The one the police thought killed her. Why does she have a recording of him? Was he her patient? But if he was, why is his tape labeled differently than all the others?

My mother always said I’m too curious for my own good.

I grab the LUKE tape and add it to the pile. I’ll have time to listen to at least one of these tapes before Ethan gets back.

I close the door to the hidden room and carry my stack of tapes to Dr. Hale’s office. I stash them in the bottom drawer of her desk, where I found the scissors last night. I select one of them at random and pop it into the tape recorder.

My finger hesitates over the Play button on the tape recorder. I desperately want to listen to these tapes, but there’s one thing I need to do first.

I get up and close the door to the office.

Okay, now I can listen.

Chapter 19

Transcript of Recording

This is session 89 with GW, a 68-year-old widow who suffers from paranoid delusions.

“Hello, Dr. Hale.”

“Please have a seat, Gail.”

“Oh. Yes. Of course. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. I want you to be comfortable when we’re talking.”

“Yes. I know. I just… I feel like…”

“Are you okay? You seem especially anxious today. Your hands are shaking.”

“I just…”

“Are you taking the medications I prescribed?”

“No. I’m afraid not.”

“How come?”

“Well, I… I know you’re going to tell me I’m being paranoid if I tell you this.”

“Tell me.”

“I… I think my pharmacist is trying to kill me.”

“Gail…”

“I know. You think I’m crazy. You think I’m paranoid. But this time, it’s true. I mean, he’s a pharmacist. It would be so easy for him to do it. He could just swap out my pills for something else.”

“Why would you think he wants to kill you?”

“It’s the way he looks at me. I can’t describe it. And after he handed me the bag with my pills in it, he winked at me.”

“So…?”