Part 38 (1/2)

Thurlow nodded mutely.

”Speak up,” Paret said. ”Were you?”

”Yes.”

At the defense table, Bondelli stood up, glared at Paret, looked up at the judge. ”Your honor, I object. This line of questioning is not relevant.”

Slowly, Paret swiveled. He leaned heavily on his cane, said: ”Your honor, the jury has the right to know all the factors which have guided this expert witness in arriving at his opinion.”

”What is your intention?” Judge Grimm asked. He looked over Paret's head at the jury.

”Defendant's daughter is not available for testimony, your honor. She is missing under mysterious circ.u.mstances attendant upon the death of her husband. This expert witness was in the immediate vicinity when the husband . . .”

”Your honor, I object!” Bondelli pounded a fist on the table.

Judge Grimm pursed his lips. He glanced down at Thurlow's profile, then at Paret. ”What I say now I do not say as approval or as disapproval of Dr. Thurlow's present testimony. But I will state by way of accepting his qualifications that he is psychologist for this court. As such, he may present opinions in disagreement with the opinions of other qualified witnesses. This is the privilege of expert testimony. It is up to the jury to decide which experts it will accept as being the most reliable. The jury may arrive at such decision strictly on the expert qualifications of the witnesses. Objection sustained.”

Paret shrugged. He limped a step closer to Thurlow, appeared about to speak, hesitated, then: ”Very well. No more questions.”

”Witness may stand down,” the judge said.

As the scene began to fade under Ruth's manipulation of the pantovive, Kelexel focused on Joe Murphey. The defendant was smiling, a sly, secretive smile.

Kelexel nodded, matched that smile. Nothing was entirely lost when even the victims could share amus.e.m.e.nt at their predicament.

Ruth turned, saw the smile on Kelexel's face. In her flat, controlled voice, she said: ”G.o.d d.a.m.n you for every second of your G.o.dd.a.m.n' eternity.”

Kelexel blinked.

”You're as crazy as my father,” she said. ”Andy's describing you when he talks about my father.” She whirled back to the pantovive. ”See yourself!”

Kelexel took a deep, s.h.i.+vering breath. The pantovive screeched as Ruth twisted its controls and rapped keys.

He wanted to jerk her away from the machine, fearful of what she might show him. See myself? he wondered. It was a terrifying thought. A Chem did not see himself in the pantovive!

The bubble of light on the image stage became Bondelli's law office, the big desk, gla.s.s-fronted bookcases s.h.i.+elding the mud-red backs of law books with their gold lettering. Bondelli sat behind the desk, a pencil in his right hand. He pushed the pencil point down through his fingers, repeated the action with the eraser against the desk. The eraser left little rubber smudges on the polished surface.

Thurlow sat across from him behind a scattering of papers. He clutched his heavy gla.s.ses like a lecturer's pointer in his left hand, waving them as he spoke.

”The delusional system is like a mask,” Thurlow said. Vertical cords smoothed and reappeared in his neck as he gestured. ”Behind that mask, Murphey wants to be found sane even though he knows that this condemns him to death.”

”It's not logical,” Bondelli muttered.

”And if it isn't logical it's the most difficult thing there is to prove,” Thurlow said. ”This is hard to put into words that can be understood by people who haven't had long familiarity with such things. But if Murphey's delusional system were shattered, if we penetrated it, broke it down, this could be compared to what it would be like for an ordinary person to awaken one morning and find his bed different from the one he thought he went to sleep in, the room different, a different woman saying, 'I'm your wife!', unfamiliar youngsters claiming him as father. He'd be overwhelmed, his whole concept of his life destroyed.”

”Total unreality,” Bondelli whispered.

”Reality from the standpoint of an objective observer isn't important here,” Thurlow said. ”As long as Murphey maintains the delusional system he saves himself from the psychological equivalent of annihilation. That, of course, is the fear of death.”

”Fear of death?” Bondelli appeared puzzled. ”But that's what faces him if . . .”