“Let’s not deal with that now, Alex. She’s waiting and I’ve got another patient in forty minutes. Even if I didn’t think it was a good idea, at this point I can’t dissuade her. You opened up some kind of Pandora’s box and she’s a very persistent young woman. To the point of obsession, at times. I haven’t tried to quash that because at this stage of her life persistence might be adaptive.”

She slid off the desk. “Ready?”

“Any guidelines?” I said.

“Lots,” she said. “But nothing I need to spell out for you.”

* * *

Beth Scoggins sat stiffly in one of Allison’s soft white chairs. When I entered, she flinched, then she held her gaze steady. Allison made the introductions and I held out my hand.

Beth’s was narrow, freckled, cold. Nails bitten short. A hangnail caught on my flesh momentarily as she pulled away.

I said, “Thanks for meeting with me.”

She shrugged. Her hair was straw clipped in a page. Worry lines tightened a narrow mouth. Wide, brown eyes. Analytic.

Salesgirl at The Gap, but tonight she wasn’t making use of the employee discount. Her navy suit looked like vintage poly. A size too large. Grayish stockings encased skinny legs. Blue flats with square toes, blue plastic purse on the floor next to her. A string of costume pearls settled on her chest.

Costuming herself as a dowdy, middle-aged woman from another decade.

Allison settled behind her desk and I took the other white chair. The cushions were warm and smelled of Allison. The position placed me three feet from Beth Scoggins.

She said, “Sorry for hanging up on you.”

“I’m the one who should apologize.”

“Maybe you did me a favor.” She glanced at Allison. “Dr. Gwynn said you work with the police.”

“I do.”

“So what you told me, about research, it wasn’t true?”

“It’s possible that I may look into the general topic of foster care, but right now I’m focusing on some specific foster parents. Cherish and Drew Daney.”

“Drew Daney abused me,” she said.

I glanced at Allison. Allison’s eyes were on Beth. It brought back my intern days. Talking to patients while being evaluated by supervisors behind one-way mirrors.

Beth said, “He started off being really nice and moral. I thought I’d found someone honest.”

Her eyes turned blank. Then they came back into focus and shifted toward Allison. “Should I give all the background?”

“Whatever seems right, Beth.”