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He nods. “And you had the electronic key in your possession the whole time?”
“Not on me,” she says. “But it would’ve been in my purse, yes.”
“What about the backup key?”
“It’s at home somewhere, I think.”
He looks up from his notebook. “If the doors were locked, then either someone would’ve had to use one of your keys or a fairly sophisticated relay system to open it.”
“A relay system?”
“Basically, a hacking device that amplifies or relays the signal from the electronic key to another device near the car, allowing it to open the door remotely.”
“That doesn’t sound like some bored teen looking for loose change.”
“No, it doesn’t.” Rivers taps his pen on the pad. He offers her a sympathetic smile. “But there’s not much I can do. This apparent break-in happened at your office in Laguna, and I have no jurisdiction there.”
“Even if it were connected to JJ’s death?”
He eyes her skeptically. “Connected?”
Holly wavers. She still feels conflicted about sharing the name of a living client with the detective, but if Liisa has fled, then the detective needs to know. “As a psychiatrist, I have a duty to report if I have concerns that a client’s life might be in danger.”
“Yes, you do,” he says. “Which client?”
“Dr. Liisa Koskinen.”
He jots the name down, confirming the spelling. “But what does this have to do with your car?”
“Maybe nothing.”
“OK, what makes you believe Dr. Koskinen’s life is in danger?”
“Believe might be too strong a word,” Holly says, wondering when it comes to Liisa if the threat is more suicidal or homicidal in nature. “I couldn’t find her this morning. And no one seems to know where she went. I’m concerned.”
“Is Dr. Koskinen a Newport resident?”
“She is. I went by her place on my way here. There was no answer. And her car was gone.”
“Can we backtrack a little? Why would Dr. Koskinen’s life be in danger?”
“Liisa is in… turmoil. Both professionally and personally.” Holly’s stomach twists, hearing herself divulge private information on a client. “She is—or at least was—a member of the same therapy group as JJ and Elaine.”
The detective’s eyebrow shoots up. “Another one?”
Holly nods.
“Does Dr. Koskinen also suffer from addiction?”
“Yes. Xanax.” Holly hesitates. “But I only recently learned she’d also been hiding other secrets.”
“Can you be more specific, Dr. Danvers?”
Holly tells him about the misconduct complaints with the California Board of Psychology, stressing that all of the information is already in the public realm. “Also, I just found out that Liisa was trying to convince other women in the group that I’d been molesting them, too.”
He angles his head. “Too?”
Holly swallows. “I should’ve told you sooner, Detective. But Elaine—who was sexually abused as a child—misinterpreted an incident with me while under ketamine.” And she goes on to summarize her allegations.
