Summer Daze

Thursday was a day in the office for the detectives. The medical examiner’s report was on Goren’s desk when he arrived, their interviews from the previous evening had to be written up for the report, the victim’s parents had to be interviewed, and the psychiatrist’s file arrived in the afternoon.



The medical examiner didn’t really say anything that Bobby didn’t already know. He helped Eames type up the neighbor’s statements and, together, they interviewed Mr. and Mrs. Morgan.



The parents were too distraught to be any help at all. They denied that their daughter had any sort of problem, even after they were confronted with her record. The psych file, however, taught Goren quite a lot about Esther Morgan.





“…Esther Morgan, a 17-year-old juvenile, was referred for psychiatric evaluation by the criminal court judge. Esther has been placed on probation by the juvenile court. She deposited cash payments made to the establishment for which she worked into her own account.



Esther was accompanied to the psychiatric interview by her mother, a well-dressed, upper-middle-class matron who provided additional, and often contradictory, information to that given by Esther.



Esther has been repeatedly apprehended for shoplifting and has, on several occasions, ‘borrowed’ the credit cards of her mother and father, charging thousands of dollars for clothing, jewelry, food, and cosmetics. As a child and young adolescent, Esther had frequently stolen money from her father’s wallet and her mother’s purse. Teachers at school had learned that if anything was missing, Esther’s desk or locker was the first place to look. When Esther was apprehended, her mother would make plausible excuses for Esther and then pay for whatever loss she had caused. Everyone, including Esther, agreed that she had no need to steal. Her mother was indulgent and provided her with essentially anything she wanted.



Esther continued, however, to steal and lie repeatedly. Esther lied about everything, how much money her father earned, how many boyfriends were pursuing her, and how well she was doing at school. When caught stealing, she inevitably had a reasonable excuse for why she had something that did not belong to her. To further complicate her story, Esther also secretly engaged in bulimia and would, once or twice a week, binge and induce vomiting.



From this psychiatrist’s viewpoint, the information about Esther’s family was very revealing. Her father is described as a successful surgeon whose compulsive gambling led to repeated financial crises that had been kept secret from the children. He is also described by the mother as a ‘pathological liar’ who skillfully covers his absences from the hospital and office with plausible excuses so that he can see his bookie. His father, Esther’s paternal grandfather, was an alcoholic. So was Esther’s maternal grandfather.



The overriding dynamic in Esther’s family is the attention provided to her older brother, a minor league baseball player. Almost all family activities throughout her childhood have centered on this brother and his athletic accomplishments. Her father may not have been able to take time from his busy medical practice to attend Esther’s piano recitals, but he never missed a Little League or high school baseball game. Esther’s mother dotes on the young man, indulges him, and has rescued him from his past minor misdemeanors.



Esther was referred for psychological testing that revealed mild dyslexia, in addition to the underlying depression and mixed impulse control disorder: kleptomania, bulimia, and compulsive lying. Once again, with the behind-the-scenes interventions of her mother, the judge ordered a brief period of probation and mandated psychiatric treatment. Esther canceled the first appointment that was scheduled after the end of her probation and never returned for further treatment…”