Owen Messinger spooned cornflakes into his mouth as he watched Diane Mayfield on the television screen. He was going to have his work cut out for him with Leslie when she came for group therapy today—that is, if she came for group therapy.
If she had already seen herself as unfairly persecuted by everyone who hadn’t believed her, her story getting national attention would only create further psychological issues for her to address. If Leslie had ever craved attention, she was certainly getting it now.
Stashing the cereal bowl in the kitchen sink, Owen took a can of cat food from the pantry and emptied its contents into the aluminum bowl on the floor. “Okay, Cleo, I’m leaving your food out, baby,” he called. “Daddy’s gonna be home late tonight.”
He exited through the kitchen door, forgetting that he had left his cell phone recharging on the counter. He got into his black Volvo and adjusted the air-conditioning as high as it would go. Another scorcher was on the way.
It was a short drive to the office. When Owen pulled into the parking lot, he noticed two police cruisers parked near the entrance of the professional building. He parked the car in his reserved space, went directly into the building, and took the elevator to the third floor.
The door to his office was wide open.
“What’s going on here?” Owen asked as he surveyed the overturned furniture in the reception area.
“Oh, Dr. Messinger,” said Christine with relief. “I’ve been trying to reach you, but there was no answer on your cell. This is what I found when I came in.” His assistant made a sweeping gesture at the disarray.
Owen looked past her, through the doorway to his office. The police officers were taking stock of the chaos in the room. “Can you tell if anything’s missing?” asked one of them.
Taking his key ring from his pocket, Owen unlocked his desk drawers and checked each one. “Nothing has been touched here, thank goodness,” he said.
“How about anywhere else? Anything missing?”
Owen looked over at the bookcase and saw the gaping space where his patient binders used to be. All of his treatment notes were gone.