Chapter 10 - The Doctor Who Never Ordered It
Dr. Malcolm Fenwick met Ethan in a small office above a children's clinic. The walls were covered with paintings of animals.
"I recommended a predictable routine," the psychologist said. "I did not recommend a locked room."
Ethan showed him photographs of the door.
Fenwick removed his glasses. "That's confinement, not treatment. I would never approve it."
"My wife told police you did."
"Then your wife is lying."
The doctor brought up his appointment calendar. Caleb had missed five scheduled visits. Sloane had emailed explanations about headaches, stomachaches, and family travel. In his notes, Fenwick had repeatedly asked to speak with Ethan privately.
"I never received those requests," Ethan said.
Fenwick printed the emails. "Your son's symptoms didn't improve because we weren't treating the problem. We were treating his fear as though he had invented it."
Back home, Ethan handed the evidence to Olivia. She had already sent preservation notices to Haven Ridge and the security company.
"There's something else," she said. "Haven Ridge billed Caleb's trust for intensive treatment. Its billing director is Victor Hales."
"That name sounds familiar."
"He used to be treasurer of the Whitlock Foundation. He resigned the same week Isabel was arrested."
Ethan remembered Victor at a fundraiser, pouring champagne beside Sloane and assuring everyone that the missing money was a terrible betrayal.
"So he accused Isabel while moving money himself?"
"We don't know yet. But somebody benefited."
Ethan went to Caleb's room to tell him Isabel would have a hearing in the morning. Caleb was asleep with the stuffed seal tucked beneath his chin.
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Beside the bed lay a drawing: a blue square, a small boy, and a woman holding a camera.
On the back, in uneven letters, he had written: SHE SAID THE CAMERA IS FOR WHEN DADDY ASKS QUESTIONS.
