A Flight of Fantasy (Sarah Woods Mystery 12) by Jennifer L. Jennings

regarded us with confusion. “Well, um, he’s in his office, but he’s got another patient coming in in twenty minutes.”
    “We should be out of your hair by then.” Carter gestured toward the door that she kept glancing at. “That’s his office, I presume?”
    She nodded but said nothing more.
    Carter knocked and a male voice said, come in. We entered his office to find him hovered over a plant, spritzing the green leaves with a spray bottle. He wore dark trousers and a white button down shirt under a wool cardigan sweater.  He was tall and lean and, in his preppy attire, he reminded me of Mr. Rogers from Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood , my favorite children’s TV show when I was growing up.  At the sound of our footsteps, he stood to his full height and regarded us with an inquisitive expression. “Good afternoon,” he said after a moment’s hesitation. He was probably trying to figure out if he’d seen us somewhere before and why we were there in the first place. “Can I help you with something?”
    “Yes, sir. My name is Carter and this is my partner Sarah. We do some private investigative work for social services and we need to ask you a few questions about one of your patients. Allison Kenney. ”
    His eyebrow twitched but he wore a convincing innocent expression of concern. “Has something happened to her?”
    “Dr. Wheeler,” Carter continued. “We understand you’re not allowed to share certain information with us due to doctor-client confidentiality but, maybe you can help us in another way.”
    “Certainly.” Dr. Wheeler offered us a seat at the couch that sat directly across from his desk. My heart stopped beating for a few seconds when I realized this looked like the same couch in Allison’s nude pictures. I sat down, kept my mouth shut, and tried to remain calm although my fists were clenched and beginning to sweat.
    “Thank you.” Carter cleared his throat and retrieved his palm-sized notebook from inside his leather jacket. He took his time flipping through the pages until he found what he was looking for.
    All the while, Dr. Wheeler tapped his fingers on his desk impatiently. “So, how can I help you folks?”
    Carter looked up and smiled. “There’s a situation we’ve been alerted to concerning Allison. She’s confided in her guidance counselor recently about being sexually assaulted. Has Allison mentioned anything like that to you?”
    Dr. Wheeler blinked hard as if in complete shock. “No. Allison never mentioned anything like that to me. Did she give a name?”
    “Not yet. We believe it’s someone close to her but not her immediate family. Are you sure she hasn’t mentioned anyone to you?”
    He swallowed hard and grabbed the bottle of water on his desk. He took two short sips and placed the bottle back in the same spot. “This is very disturbing news. It’s possible that Allison is simply looking for attention. Is there any proof of this sexual assault?”
    Carter raised an eyebrow. “As a matter of fact yes, there is. Whoever this pervert is, he took nude photos of her and posted them on the Internet to share with his friends. Have you ever heard of a blog called Teenager Revealed ?”
    The doctor pretended to think it over then shook his head. “Doesn’t sound familiar.”
    “Well, it’s a site where men post stories about having sex with under-aged girls. It’ll make you sick. As far as we can tell, there are about six or seven guys who regularly post on the site. We’ve notified the FBI and they’re currently working on exposing the men involved. These websites are tough to crack so it might take some time. We just thought we’d stop by and ask if you knew anything about that.”
    “I’m sorry, I really wish I could help.” He loosened the top two buttons of his shirt and glanced at his watch. “Look, I have a patient coming in shortly. Is there anything else I can do to help?”
    “Just one more question.” Carter stood up to leave and I followed suit.