The Pact Read online

  "What's that?"

  "Fusion." He smiled at the jury. "Just like the physicists. It means that two personalities have bonded together so strongly that a whole new personality is created, and the separate ones cease to exist."

  Jordan raised his eyebrows. "Could you run that by me again?"

  "In plain English," Dr. Karpagian said, "it means that Chris and Emily's minds and personalities were so connected there really was no distinction between them. They grew up so close that they couldn't function without each other. Anything that happened to one of those kids was going to affect the other. And in the case of the death of one of them, the other one literally would not be able to go on living." He looked at Jordan. "Does that make more sense?"

  "It's more clear," Jordan said, "but it's hard to accept."

  Dr. Karpagian smiled. "Congratulations, Mr. McAfee. That simply means you're mentally healthy."

  Jordan grinned. "Don't know that Ms. Delaney would agree, sir, but I thank you." The jury tittered behind him. "So in your expert opinion, Dr. Karpagian, did you come to any conclusions about Chris Harte and Emily Gold?"

  "Yes. I see Emily as being the one who was suicidal for whatever reason. And--it's important to note this--we may never know what that reason was. But something made her depressed and death seemed a way out. She turned to Chris because he was the person closest to her by far, and she told him she was going to commit suicide. But once she confided in Chris, he realized that if Emily was dead, there would be no reason for him to be alive."

  Jordan stared at the jury. "So what you're saying is that whatever made Emily suicidal was not the same thing that made Chris suicidal?"

  "No. It was most likely the simple fact that Emily was going to kill herself that made Chris agree to a suicide pact."

  Jordan closed his eyes briefly. To him, that was the biggest hurdle in his defense--getting the jury even to believe that two kids could have come up with this awful idea together. The good doctor, thank God--or Selena, who'd found him--had made it seem possible. "One more thing," Jordan said. "Emily purchased a very expensive gift for someone several months before her suicide. What would you say about that kind of behavior?"

  "Oh, that would be a giveaway," Dr. Karpagian said. "Something she was planning to leave behind for someone, to make sure she was remembered."

  "So Emily bought this gift to let the world know she was planning on killing herself?"

  "Objection," Barrie called. "Leading."

  "Your Honor, this is very important," Jordan countered.

  "Then rephrase, Mr. McAfee."

  Jordan turned back to Dr. Karpagian. "In your expert opinion, why would Emily purchase an expensive gift like that watch, if she was indeed suicidal?"

  "I'd say," the psychologist mused, "that Emily bought the watch before she decided to kill herself and involve Chris in a suicide pact. And it may indeed have been expensive, but that didn't matter." He smiled sadly at the attorney. "When you're going to kill yourself, the last thing on your mind is getting a refund."

  "Thank you," Jordan said, and sat down.

  BARRIE'S HEAD WAS SPINNING. She had to make an expert look like an idiot, and she had absolutely no grounding in his field. "Okay, Doctor," she said gamely, "you looked at Emily's profile. And you mentioned a lot of characteristics that teenagers sometimes exhibit when they're suicidal." She picked up her legal pad, covered with notes. "Sleeplessness is one?"

  "Yes."

  "And did you see that in Emily's profile?"

  "No."

  "Did you find unexplained changes in eating behavior in the profile?"

  "No."

  "Did Emily act rebellious?"

  "Not that I could see, no."

  "How about running away?"

  "No."

  "Was she preoccupied with death?"

  "Not overtly."

  "Did she appear to be bored, or have difficulty concentrating?"

  "No."

  "Was she abusing alcohol or drugs?"

  "No."

  "Was she failing any classes?"

  "No."

  "Was she neglecting her appearance?"

  "No."

  "Was she complaining of psychosomatic illnesses?"

  "No."

  "Did she joke about suicide?"

  "Apparently not."

  "So the only characteristics that led you to believe Emily might have been suicidal were that she was slightly withdrawn and out of sorts. Isn't that fairly normal for ninety-nine percent of women at least once a month?"

  Dr. Karpagian smiled. "I have it on authority that that's true," he said.

  "So isn't it possible that since Emily didn't exhibit most of these traits, she was not suicidal?"

  "It is possible," the psychologist said.

  "The few signs Emily did exhibit, would you say they are normal behaviors for a teenager?"

  "Yes, often."

  "All right. Now, you worked from a profile of Emily, is that correct?"

  "Yes."

  "Who made up this profile?"

  "I understand the defense's investigator, Ms. Damascus, collated it. They were a series of interviews done by herself or by the State, with friends and families of the teenager in question."

  "By your own testimony, Chris Harte was the closest person to Emily Gold. Were his observations part of her profile?"

  "Well, no. He wasn't asked."

  "But he was the one Emily turned to the most during those last weeks?"

  "Yes."

  "So he may have been able to tell you whether or not she had any of those characteristics we just listed. He probably would have seen more than anyone else."

  "Yes."

  "Yet you didn't speak to him when he was obviously your best source?"

  "We were trying to make a judgment without Chris's input to keep it completely unbiased."

  "That wasn't the question, Doctor. The question was, Did you interview Chris Harte?"

  "No, I did not."

  "You did not interview Chris Harte. He was alive and available and yet never even consulted, even though he was the best witness you had on Emily's behavior prior to her death. Short of Emily herself, that is." Barrie pinned the witness with her gaze. "And you couldn't interview Emily, could you?"

  KIM KENLY APPEARED FOR her brief sojourn in court wearing a tie-dyed caftan, stamped with a hundred small handprints. "Isn't this great," she said to the bailiff escorting her to the stand. "The kindergartners gave it to me."

  Jordan established her credentials and then asked how Ms. Kenly knew Emily Gold. "I taught her art throughout high school," she said. "Emily was incredibly talented. You have to understand, as a specials teacher, I see five hundred kids a day. Most of them just parade through the art room and leave a mess. There are a handful who stick with it, and have a true affinity for the subject. Maybe one or two of them even has talent. Well, Emily was the rarest of jewels. They come along once every ten years, I figure: a student who not only loves art but knows how to use her abilities to their best advantage."

  "She sounds very special."

  "Talented," Kim said. "And dedicated. She spent all her free time in the art room. She even had her own easel stand in the back."

  Jordan lifted a series of canvases that the bailiff had brought in along with Ms. Kenly. "I have here several paintings to enter into evidence," he said, waiting until they were examined by Barrie and duly tagged by the clerk. "Can you walk us through these paintings?"

  "Sure. The boy with the lollipop is one she did in ninth grade. The tenth-grade picture--the mother and child--is more developed, you see, in the facial structure? More lifelike? The subjects are also more three dimensional. This third painting, well, it's clear that Chris was the subject."

  "Chris Harte?"

  Kim Kenly smiled. "Mr. McAfee," she said, "can't you tell?"

  "I can," he assured her. "But the court record can't."

  "Well, then, yes. Chris Harte. Anyway, Emily captured the expression on the subj