Insights

Dr. Williams had a few folders opened on her desk. The names of Morrison, Melissa and Jefferson, Doug put by a stick on label on each of the tabs that stuck up from each folder.

Melissa's folder was slightly thicker than Doug's but Sydney had to admit there were just a few overlaps that couldn't be ignored.

She had spent most of the morning reading each file in depth to try to get a sense of what might be going on. It wasn't completely clear but Sydney certainly suspected more than the initial report revealed.

The psychologist opened the incident report. The claims about what had happened to Melissa last Saturday night between Melissa and Doug were identical. Word for word; identical. That little mess up was really what was eating at the woman. Usually, the only things like that were word for word identical to each other was if one of the people involved had been coached. Given the current state of both Melissa and Doug; Sydney could guess which one.

Still, she couldn't just go around accusing Doug of anything. Not without proof. Something to back up the claim. As head guidance counselor of a boarding school, getting to the bottom of things was something she did more often than she cared to think about at times.

She was in charge of the mental health of a group of teens who didn't live at home. Some of those teens had good relationships with their families; others didn't. Some had dealt with trauma; others had lived life incredibly sheltered from anything like that. She's dealt with a range of issues from a variety of teens in her time here. And while each problem was unique, to the individuals involved, there were certain places to start that were common.

This kind of problem or what the doctor suspected it to me; started with interviewing those involved. Sydney had decided to start with the three students that had reached Melissa that night. Courtney Hellford, Conner Mason and Dante Hawthorne. She had folders on them, like she did every student in the school but she really thought the three were just trying to help that night. Still, they might be able to give some insight, something that perhaps Doug or Melissa wouldn't say.

Sydney decided the first person she would talk to was Courtney. She pulled the junior's file and read through it quickly. Courtney's folder wasn't very thick. The majority of it was dedicated to the testing that the girl had received earlier in life which determined she was gifted, especially in math and anything mechanically related. Courtney hadn't been in trouble since she got here. She got straight A's, did well in sports and other than the adjustment she had to make when she first got here there was nothing really of any concern.

Sydney looked over Courtney's class list; she called down to the class that was currently occupying Courtney's time and asked that she be sent to her.

It didn't take long for the waiting area to be holding the junior. Sydney opened her door and said. "Courtney, please come in." Once Courtney was in the office she offered her a seat.

"I am going to start off by telling you that I won't disclose what you say to me. I'm just trying to figure out what happened to Melissa Morrison on Saturday night." The doctor started after Courtney had sat down. "First of all; how did you know Melissa was missing?"

"Carter told me. I'm sorry Carter Crawford told me." Courtney said.

Sydney opened up the folder of the incident. "You didn't mention this earlier."

"I didn't think it was important. I wasn't asked that question." Courtney was telling the truth; Sydney could tell.

"What did Carter say to you?" Sydney inquired.

"He said that Doug had gotten upset and that he, Doug, had gone outside to get some air. Carter had gone outside to check on him and both Doug and Melissa were gone. He asked me to find out if everything was ok." Courtney responded. "When I couldn't find either of them I asked Dante and Conner to help." The girl paused. "I didn't think to tell Conner and Dante that Carter was the one to tell me. I just thought there were more important things at the moment."

"That's understandable." Sydney said, adding Carter to the list of people she wanted to interview. Then she asked. "So, tell me what happened after you started looking for Melissa and Doug. Did you see or hear anything important?"

"Not until we found Melissa. She was in a clearing in the back, sitting against a tree, injured." Courtney responded. "Doug was nowhere to be found."

"I'm aware he wasn't there. You didn't hear anything that might give a clue as to how she got injured?"

"Afraid not. I wish I could tell you more." Courtney said, which seemed like an interesting way to say that.

"Do you have any insight into Doug and Melissa's relationship that might help me out with this?" Sydney asked. She wasn't getting the answers she actually needed so she just asked the one question that might help.

"Still, confidential?" The doctor nodded to Courtney's question and responded in the affirmative. "Doug is ...well...he seems to have a temper. He is kind of a jerk to people he doesn't feel are worthy of him. Those two argue a lot but I'd guess he starts it. Melissa seems like a nice girl who might have just gotten the wrong guy as a boyfriend. But, you know, that's just my opinion."

Sydney raised a brow and nodded. "I see. Have you ever seen Doug do anything violent towards Melissa?"

"Seen it? No, I can honestly say I've never seen Doug do anything like that to Melissa." Courtney responded.

"Is there anything else you want to add?" Sydney had gotten what she needed from Courtney for the moment

"No, there's nothing I can think of." Courtney was apparently done giving information.

"If you think of anything else or you need anything, just stop by." The head counselor ended the interview with Courtney. She thanked the girl for her time and then showed her out.

Back behind her desk Sydney made a few notes and then pulled out Carter's folder. This was becoming more insightful as she went.