“That’s a very tall order.” She blew her nose into a tissue. “Very tall. As psychologists, our bread and butter is confidentiality. If our patients can’t trust us, they find someone else. And with both of the Baldwins out of commission, it’s going to fall on me. The patients, I mean. I have to ensure that they know I’m trustworthy.”

“Then how about if you just start with the basics,” Marge suggested. “You know…how long you’ve known them…what kind of therapy they did…did they see adults or teens or kids…things like that.”

Maryam looked up and dried her eyes. “His specialty was oppositional teens.” She noticed they were waiting for more. “Kids with behavioral problems.”

Marge nodded. “Any of them seem particularly prone to violence?”

“I’m sure some were, but I didn’t see them personally. Mostly, I handled Dee’s overload. She focuses on anxiety disorders that lead to antisocial behavior. You know, things like acting up in high school—”

“That’s a problem?” Oliver said. “For me, acting up in high school was a pastime.”

“Serious acting up.” Maryam gave him a cold look. “Teens with suicidal thoughts, alienation, and lots of anxiety in test taking. I’m talking about entrance exams in the main—mostly college, but some high school and elementary school as well. It was Merv who handled the obstructionistic boys, and handled them through his group therapy and nature camp. The off-site retreats were the main focus of Merv’s therapy, although Dee does participate by giving seminars—”

“Wait a minute, wait a minute,” Marge interrupted. “Can you back it up a moment? What do you mean by entrance exams for high school?”

“For the private preparatory schools,” Oliver said. “They give entrance exams. You gotta apply to those kinds of schools. You knew that, right?”

Marge was silent.

Oliver refrained from sighing. It wasn’t Dunn’s fault. With altruism as her banner, Marge had adopted a teenager a year ago, and there was a brickyard of knowledge that she just didn’t know.

“So I have to worry about Vega?” Marge asked. “I mean she’s brilliant. Isn’t a brilliant mind enough?”

“They’re all brilliant!” Maryam commented. “It’s how to bring your brilliant teenager to the attention of the admissions committee. Did you know that there are applicants with straight A’s, and 4.3 averages, and 1600 on the SAT who don’t make it into Harvard?”

“No, I didn’t know.” Marge looked pale. “How do you get past a 4.0 average?”

“Honors classes. They’re worth five points instead of the usual four. And then it always helps if the student has had college courses.”

Marge pondered this. “So the kid has to be in college before the kid can get into college?”

“There are honors programs at the local universities,” the psychologist informed Marge.