Mind Games

Chapter - 22

Detectives Bozkurt and Reyza sat in the visitor's chairs in front of Dr. Azar, "We had a visit from Serkan and Eda Bolat regarding Selin Atakan. They wanted to take out a restraining order against her. Before we process the order we thought that we would have a chat with you."

Dr. Azar looked at the two men, "Did Mr. Bolat tell you what happened?"

"Some of it but we wanted to get your opinion. Do you feel that Ms. Atakan is a danger to the Bolat's?"

"A danger to them? The woman is a mentally unbalanced. She is a serious danger to both of them but I would say more to Eda Bolat. She blames her for all of her misfortunes."

Detective Reyza wanted to know, "And would she be right? Is Mrs. Bolat responsible for what ails Ms. Atakan?"

"Selin Atakan is delusional. She has been tormenting the Bolat's, Eda Bolat in particular for months. After Serkan Bolat's accident she came back to Istanbul at his request. He had suffered a brain injury and she was able to manipulate him into making the request. He tried repeatedly to get her to return to Denmark but she refused to go home. Selin Atakan thinks that Eda Bolat stole Serkan from her. There could be nothing further from the truth. Yes Selin and Serkan were in a 'relationship' for five years but you can equate that relationship to a platonic friendship or a business deal, there was no romance, no physical element, no emotional element. Serkan made that clear throughout the entire five year period. According to Selin, she broke up with him, she thought it would make him jealous. I asked Serkan about it, his exact response was 'I could have cared less, I was actually glad that I didn't have to deal with her any longer'. I thought it was rather cold until he explained the nature of the relationship, a partnership brokered by his parents for the company."

Leaning in to the doctor Detective Bozkurt asked, "So he led her on and she snapped?"

"Try all you want to make Serkan and Eda out to by the bad guy on the scenario and Selin Atakan the victim. You would be wrong. There was no leading. He made his position clear. As I said, she is delusional. She came to my office after following him here and made an appointment with me. She spun a take of abandonment, how Serkan and she had been on the verge of matrimony until Eda appeared. That never happened, they were never engaged and never were going to be engaged. You've seen the Bolat's, they are a very committed couple, in talking to them they have been almost from day one. No, there was no leading."

"Okay, so she follows him and sets up appointments with you. Why did you agree to a joint session?"

Dr. Azar closed his eyes for a moment before responding, "I was a fool, I fell for her lies. She talks about other being manipulative when she is very good at it. She spun a very believable tale of abandonment. She made Serkan out to be an inseparable friend who overnight cut her loose, same with his mother. I agreed to try for a joint session, I had just done one for Serkan and Eda a few weeks earlier. Apparently Selin had been watching and that's where she got the idea. The visit went south from the first minute. She was never abandoned, she left the company in disgrace. It was either that or face legal action for some of her actions. She left voluntarily in December but they had not been friends for longer than that. Selin had been wreaking havoc on their lives for months prior to her departure."

"And you got this all from the Bolat's? You took their word for it?"

The doctor wondered what they were up to, "In all your stalking cases do you interview both parties? Are you going to interview Ms. Atakan and ask if she's stalking? Because I can tell you she will like to your faces and you'll believe her."

"We're just going for background, that's all. So you took their word for what had happened with Ms. Atakan?"

"Initially, yes. But I spoke with Serkan later, he authorized me to talk with the other partners in his firm if I had questions, so I did after the fallout with Selin. I spoke with an Engin Sezgin. It was an eye opening conversation. Serkan has suffered from memory loss and didn't or couldn't tell me half of what Selin had done. Mr. Sezgin wasn't so shy. No, the woman was a menace. She had set out on more than one occasion to physically harm Eda, by sheer luck she didn't succeed. Do I think she's a hazard? Yes. I think that she's a psychopath."