May 18th - Headmistress' office.

[Samantha McManus]

Samantha had a thick folder of papers under her arm as she returned to her office. Sitting down, she undid the rubber band that was holding it closed and spread the documents out in front of her, looking them over.

"I know you're in there somewhere..." she muttered.

[Narrator]

There's a lot that X-Corp can dig up and most of these files are probably copies of ones that officially either don't exist anymore or are buried deep in some forgotten cabinet. Yet any mention of Mary Bell seems to be stripped from them. The latest she can find are some reports from a women's prison from 30 years ago but even those are spotty and only mention what an exemplary inmate she was. Curiously all those reports are signed by the same two wardens.

[Samantha McManus]

Samantha blinked, remembering something Nailah had said.

"...perhaps not precognitive after all."

She went back and looked at the file photos, seeing if there were any more recent than her childhood one.

[Narrator]

Apparently there were not. Which is odd considering the couple of yearly reports that should have them. One of the early evaluations seems to stand out though, describing Mary beyond simple praise. It seems someone only got half-way through with deleting it.

"...acting uncooperative. Threatened to instigate a revolt among the other inmates."

"Never seems to assault other inmates herself, but seems to be drawn to befriending trouble-makers..."

Somewhere in the hacked up sentences though is a transcript of one of her psychiatric evaluations.

Dr. Thompson: Good afternoon Mary.
Mary: [no response]
Dr. Thompson: You're only making this harder on yourself if you refuse to talk, you know?
Mary: I'm bored. You're boring.
Dr. Thompson: I know you don't like our talks Mary, but they're part of your treatment.
Mary: I don't need your treatment. You have no idea what's wrong and you're trying to fix the wrong thing. You couldn't cut it as an actual psychiatrist and now you're here treating juvenile delinquents. You hate it and you hope I am your ticket out of here. The famous Dr. Thompson who figured out what's wrong with the Newcastle Strangler. But you won't because you're just a burned out, washed up hack. Why should I talk to you.
Dr. Thompson: [he stammers for a moment, caught off-guard] I... well... You're... you're a bright young lady, why would you--
Mary: [interrupting] Go away. I'm not talking to you. You're useless.

For the rest of the session she remained silent, staring at Dr. Thompson.

Addendum to File 4372-g-189

[Three weeks later] Assigned Dr. Middleton to Ms. Bell's case due to the unfortunate suicide of Dr. Thompson.

[Samantha McManus]

"...she's a bloody telepath."

She quickly turned to Middleton's files.

[Narrator]

There isn't much to be found on Dr. Middleton in regards to Mary Bell, though just from general information about him it seems he has a much better reputation and seems to have been involved in negotiating in favour of her eventual release.

[Samantha McManus]

"She couldn't manipulate the first one to get what she wanted, so she discarded him. Might not have had enough practice with her powers yet. Middleton she had more success with, and she made sure he was respected. She likely had an easier time with the wardens than the psychologists..."

Samantha blinked. This style of manipulation was feeling all too familiar to her.

[Narrator]

Meanwhile from what used to be the top-most file the top half of Mary's mug-shot seemed to be coldly staring at her. With the rest covered by various papers it's almost hard to believe those eyes belong to an eleven year-old. And coupled with that creeping familiarity they look more like the calculating eyes that had been staring at her only a couple days ago.

[Samantha McManus]

"...you are bloody kidding me."

She mentally ran through the facial structure of the child, with the eyes of someone who considered how faces were put together from the bones up. Then, she considered how such a face would develop with age...

...and immediately reached for the phone to dial Nailah.

[Narrator]

And it rings...

And rings...

And rings...

And rings...

And rings...

And rings...

[Samantha McManus]

Samantha was on her feet quickly, rushing out of the office.