6

Dr. James Walsh was feeling quite troubled on his drive home from his office. Knowing that one of his employees had been arrested didn't sit well with him at all. The latest news on the radio revealed that the FBI no longer considered Regina a suspect and had released her, which was a good thing. Still it puzzled him how such a bizarre connection could have been made to his quiet practice. Who would want to threaten the President, Mr. and Mrs. Britland, and then let Regina take the fall for it? It didn't make sense.

It seemed to Dr. Walsh that as of late, he had little luck with the people he hired. He had hired Regina to replace another young woman who just wasn't working out in the position. When he had been about to break it to her that he was going to terminate her employment, she had proclaimed she was quitting. Regina Franklin had been a Godsend, really. She was capable, professional, and friendly with the clients. Michelle Wilson, the woman who had quit, had been neglectful and incompetent, sometimes even rude. She'd actually lost a few patient files once, failing to notice they had fallen into a wastebasket. A janitor had been forced to dig through the dumpster to retrieve them.

If the FBI had asked which of those three receptionists I felt was most likely to pull a stunt like that, thought Dr. Walsh, I'd have picked Michelle. But she was completely harmless…wasn't she? Dr. Walsh tried to recall if she had ever talked about having a boyfriend, or any friends, for that matter. He realised he could remember very little about her, if anything at all. As he pulled into his driveway, Dr. Walsh wondered if he had an obligation to tell Agent Seitz about Michelle. But what would that accomplish? Michelle didn't even know Regina. Or did she? And if she did, why would she possibly frame Regina?



Special Agents Seitz and Flint were going over details of the psychological profile for the fiftieth time that evening.

"Notice how she only mentions Henry by name," Agent Flint said, looking again at the first letter. "It would seem to indicate that she thinks Congresswoman Britland and President Ogilvey are expendable and only Henry is important."

Seitz nodded.

"She also reiterates that she doesn't think Henry would want to live if they're apart - in this second letter."

"There's one thing that confuses me, though," Seitz broke in. "In the first letter, she asks: 'When are you finally going to leave that tramp you married and come to me, your one, true love?' but later she says: 'I'll be coming for you soon, Henry. You must keep our plans a secret for now'. It's like she's gotten herself mixed up about what she wants. Does she want Henry to come to her, or is she going to him?"

"I get the feeling this first letter was, as she says in the second letter, 'a test'. Which means Mr. Britland, his wife, and the President are in a lot of potential danger. The arrest of Regina is a sign to the actual author of what would have happened to her. In her mind, Henry has betrayed her." Agent Flint mused.

"Damn it, I wish we had more to go on!" Seitz exclaimed, pounding the desk.

"What do you think these are?" Flint suddenly asked, pointing to the second letter that had been found.

"You mean this junk at the end of the message?" Seitz asked.

"Yes, this front slash, back slash stuff…"

"I just assumed it indicated 'end of message'," Seitz responded.

"Or printer error," Flint said.

"What would cause a printer to screw up like that?"

"I don't know…maybe it's some kind of weird signature or something. After all, the first letter was signed." Flint suggested.

"Yeah, but it was signed for a reason – to frame Regina Franklin." Seitz pointed out.

"But surely the author must know Mr. Britland needs some kind of clue as to her identity," Flint said.

"You forget we're dealing with a delusional. If she decides Henry knows who she is and that he also loves her passionately, then to her, that's the way it really is."

"Gotta love these crackpots," Flint shook his head. "Look, there's nothing more we can really do at this point. The Britlands are driving home with their Secret Service detail, and the President is being treated like a he's in a maximum security prison. Let's give it a rest and let the guys at Quantico take over this head-shrinking stuff for the night, okay?"

"I'm with you on that one."

As soon as Agent Seitz stood, his cell phone rang. Raising an eyebrow, he removed it from his jacket pocket and answered.

"Agent Seitz," he said.

"Yes, hello Agent Seitz, this is Dr. Walsh…We spoke earlier? You left your card with my receptionist on your way out this afternoon."

"That's right," the agent responded, "is there something I can do for you?"

"Well, maybe," paused Dr. Walsh. "I don't know how much help this is going to be to you, if it counts as a 'lead' as you call it, but – perhaps you'd like to check on a former employee of mine."

"Why should I want to do that?"

"It didn't occur to me until later, but my past receptionist was a little…flaky."

More flaky than that Kelly Hart? Agent Seitz thought, but could feel his heart beating faster. We all stupidly thought it was someone currently working for Dr. Walsh, but nobody stopped to think that Mrs. Britland was admitted by someone who no longer works there!

"What is this person's name, Dr. Walsh?"

"Michelle Wilson. She just didn't work out, I'm afraid, and when I was going to fire her, she told me she was quitting…and I don't ever recall her taking personal calls at work, or talking about friends or relationships. I think, maybe, she could be unbalanced enough to do something like this."

"Thanks, Dr. Walsh," Agent Seitz said, "your help here is greatly appreciated."

"Dr. Walsh?" Agent Flint asked after his partner had ended the conversation.

"Yes. He said he had his suspicions about a former employee of his. Her name's Michelle Wilson."

"Hmm…Michelle Wilson?" mused Agent Flint. "Wait a minute…let me see that second letter!"

"What about it?" Seitz asked, sliding it to his partner.

"Look…these markings we were talking about just now…front slash, back slash, front slash, back slash and so on. See?"

"It looks like an 'M' joined to a 'W'," observed Agent Seitz.

" 'M W' for 'Michelle Wilson'!" exclaimed Agent Flint. "It is a signature of sorts!"

"We need to get a warrant and an APB for this woman right now," Seitz scrambled from the desk. "We need to get to this Wilson woman before she gets to the President or the Britlands."

                                            * * *

Sunday pulled her dark wool coat closer around her as they stepped out into the crisp, night winter air. They climbed into the backseat as agents Jack Collins and Derek Mendel slid into the driver's and passenger seats respectively. Henry was unusually silent as they left the field office parking lot heading for Drumdoe, their home, with two other Secret Service agents on follow-up detail not far behind in another car.

Several long minutes passed in silence until Sunday could no longer stand it, and she rolled up the partition separating them from Collins and Mendel for privacy to speak to Henry.

"Something's eating at you," she stated, "and I can tell it's more than just the fact that you're worried about our safety in this matter."

"I was thinking that there must be something we're overlooking," he said finally.

"Henry, we just assumed it was one of Dr. Walsh's employees because it made sense under the circumstances… Maybe I was just wrong about the receptionist being a red-head. Maybe this 'Kelly' was actually a redhead and went blonde just before Regina started working there, who knows?"

"Regina said she started working for Dr. Walsh about two months ago, right?" Henry asked.

"Yes, that's what she said." Sunday replied.

"So that means she started working around the beginning of November last year," Henry mused aloud. "When exactly was it you went to Dr. Walsh to confirm the pregnancy?"

"Just at the end of October," Sunday said. "It was just before Halloween. I remember because the office was decorated with pumpkins and cobwebs and such stuff…I feel so terrible. That alone should have exonerated Regina. She wasn't even working for Dr. Walsh when I went for my appointment."

"Be that as it may," Henry began, "even though she's officially off the list of suspects, really anyone can go digging into patient files to get the pertinent information they're seeking. Break into the office, hack the computers…it's not impossible…"

"You think the person threatening us could be someone that has been to – or secretly been inside Dr. Walsh's office over the past two months, then?"

"It's a tenuous connection, but I'd have to say 'yes' because of Regina, because the second letter specifically mentioned the need to punish her. Maybe Regina upset a client. Forgot to schedule an appointment, was rude, something, and now they're trying to get back at her, I don't know…"

"You're grasping at straws Henry," Sunday said.

"Maybe…But what I'd actually like to know is, why was Regina hired two months ago? She must have been replacing someone…A past employee would certainly know his or her way around the office…"

"Why would a past employee want to frame Regina? They wouldn't even have known her. The second letter clearly states 'she deserved to be punished', which to me signifies familiarity…"

Henry was about to reply when the car came to a sudden, screeching halt.