Before She Was Found - Heather Gudenkauf Page 0,61

show my surprise. Mara must have told him what kind of doctor I was. “Of course I can’t share any medical information about Cora,” I explained. “But if you know of anything that might be helpful to Cora’s situation, I’m sure her family would appreciate it.”

“I’m sorry to say I can’t help with finding out who did this to Cora—” Mr. Dover slid his hands into the pockets of his coat “—but she’s such a fragile little girl. I worry that she won’t pull through this.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. Cora’s injuries were terrible, but from what her other doctors were saying, they weren’t life-threatening.

“Mentally,” Mr. Dover said almost apologetically, as if he was betraying Cora. “After what’s happened I worry that she’ll retreat even more deeply into herself. Cora always seems to be in her own little world.”

“You see this at school?” I asked.

“I do,” Mr. Dover said. “Over the months I’ve seen Cora isolating herself from classmates and I see it in her writing and in how she interacts with others. She has a very vivid imagination.” I didn’t interject in hopes that he would continue. “What I mean is that Cora tends to read into situations. From her perspective, people are out to get her.”

“Well, given her current circumstances,” I said before I could stop myself, “I think that is a pretty accurate perspective.”

“No, no.” Mr. Dover held up his hands as if to stop whatever path my thoughts were heading down. “Obviously, someone hurt Cora badly. I didn’t mean to suggest that wasn’t the case. What I’m trying to say is just the opposite.”

I must have looked skeptical because Mr. Dover took a deep breath and tried again.

“From having Cora in class I’ve noticed that she takes things to heart whether the slight is real or imagined. One wrong look from a classmate and Cora is crushed. One misinterpreted comment and she starts to cry and runs to a teacher. She tends to build up the event into something it really isn’t. She embellishes. Kids resent it and this causes some friction. So what I’m trying to say, and doing so poorly, is on a good day Cora struggles to keep it together, so I can imagine how hard this is for her.” Mr. Dover let out another breath and furrowed his brow. “I just want her to be okay. Cora’s a good kid.”

“That’s all we want for Cora,” I said, forcing a smile. “Thanks for sharing your thoughts, but I have to get to my next appointment.” I turned and headed away from the elevators, opting for the stairs and leaving Mr. Dover behind.

As my footsteps echoed down the concrete steps, John Dover’s words ran through my head. He made it sound like Cora was known for reporting slights, real or imagined, to the teacher. Could the attack on her have been in retaliation for this? That seemed like too much of a stretch.

Besides, there was something about John Dover that made me bristle. For someone who purportedly cared so much about his student why would he take the time to seek me out only to tell me what a basket case Cora is? She embellishes, he said. She lies. Why, I wondered, was it so important to John Dover to tell me this?

Case #92-10945

Excerpt from the journal of Cora E. Landry

Dec. 5, 2017

My mom came home while I was in the middle of emailing JW44, so I had to get off the computer really fast. I ran out to the kitchen and sat at the counter like I was doing my homework.

I don’t like being sneaky. It makes me feel bad but I know my mom would freak out if she found out I was talking to a stranger online. My mom is so happy that I actually have two friends that she has stopped asking me a thousand questions about school and who I sit by at lunch. She even lets me go over to Jordyn’s house once in a while, but I can’t go to the bar and only if Jordyn’s grandma is there.

She still hasn’t let me go over to Violet’s house. When I ask her why, she just makes a dumb excuse even though we both know it’s because of the neighborhood that Violet lives in and the fact that Violet’s mom hasn’t lived here for a hundred years.

My mom wouldn’t be so happy if she knew how Jordyn has been acting toward me lately. Jordyn has been