Chapter

 57

And so it was on this already hot summer morning that a room full of the State’s elite mind-probers welcomed the arrival of their about-to-be heated leader.

Dr. Pressman was anxious for the proceedings to be over and wasn’t afraid to say so. He had no sooner finished reminding them that what they had gone through was unusual, but not unprecedented, when his anxieties over their objectivity were laid to rest.

“Dr. Pressman,” said Dr. Farnsworth, “We took the liberty of discussing our conclusions with the tapes before you arrived and I think for our part, we’ve reached a decision...subject to your thoughts of course.”

Dr. Pressman was taken aback. He was prepared to battle, to hold hands, to meet resistance to a decision, but here they were...ahead of him.

“Well...” he hesitatingly said, “In all of fifteen minutes. Remarkable. I presume your opinions take into account the prepared transcripts of video monitoring of the two subjects that’s gone on for these past weeks as well?”

“Although we’ve not discussed them in detail,” said Dr. Snow, “we couldn’t find among us any dissenters due to your observations. The majority of us have had a week to observe some of the video as well. Most of us have interviewed both of them and... we’re unanimous in our recommendations.”

“Which is?” asked Dr. Pressman.

“Capable of standing trial for their alleged conspiracy and murder of Lauren Sobel,” said Dr. Farnsworth. “They are as sane as you and I.”

Dr. Pressman wasn’t sure how he took the latter part of the statement. He was sure he’d heard right, though, and he wondered why Farnsworth sounded as if he at least—if not everyone in the room—had Mathews and Charlie/Charles guilty of conspiracy and murder.

“I’m not here to argue with your recommendation,” answered Dr. Pressman. “I do have to say, however, that after our last session, I expected much more indecision. I trust you’ve all given Friday a great deal of thought. Anyone wish to comment further?”

No one spoke up.

“Let me say then, that I will hold your recommendation in abeyance. I’m not in disagreement, as I said, but I am concerned with Mathews' behavior. He is a former colleague and one whose maverick reputation is not without merit. Because of that, I’m going to exercise the extra time Milton, by law, can give him. That holds true for Charlie/Charles as well. He is still a man with a damaged memory on top of everything else. A functioning recall of his past would certainly remove an additional obstacle for the trial, and his chance of regaining that recall is better enhanced here than downtown. In my opinion, putting either one of them back in a jail cell to await trial is not in the best interest of the state. Does anyone have a problem with that?”

Again, no one spoke up…and so it was with relief that Dr. Pressman dismissed everyone and began the obligatory process of shaking everyone’s hand and offering a personal “thank you” as they left the room.

Dr. Farnsworth filed past with an unexpected aside. “May I see you in your office a moment when you finish here?”

Curiously, Dr. Pressman granted the request.

As he walked through the halls to his office, Dr. Pressman’s belt pager beeped. He stopped at one of the nurse stations and answered. He was urgently needed in the video room.

He hurried down the hall, passing his office where Dr. Farnsworth was waiting. “Something’s up in video. Can this wait?” said Dr. Pressman.

“Not really,” said Dr. Farnsworth, “but, maybe we can walk and talk?”

A little impatient, as an urgent call from video meant that something was happening with either Mathews or Charles, Dr. Pressman reluctantly motioned for him to follow.

“What’s up Doctor?” Dr. Pressman asked.

“I didn’t want to say anything in there, but I know you have your doubts, right?” “What are you trying to say, Doctor Farnsworth?”

“What if...now don’t interrupt...what if Mathews conspired to plant a post-hypnotic suggestion in Charles to kill Sobel? What if recognizing he had a partial cripple in his control, he had him murder Sobel for him? Now wait...let me finish. What if there’s some legal form that Charles has signed he’s unaware of...another hypnotic suggestion...that gives Mathews control of the money in the event either Sobel’s power of attorney is invalidated or Charles is found incapable of handling his own affairs...in other words imprisoned for life or better yet, sentenced to death?”

Like the touchdown of a tornado, fifteen or twenty seconds was all it took for Farnsworth to scramble the landscape of Dr. Pressman’s years of experience and logic. And, as in a tornado, the swath of destruction was swift and shocking, leaving behind a sense of disorientation, the shock of the unexpected.

“Jesus, Doctor. Do you know what you’re saying?”

“Completely. I spent the entire weekend with my colleagues and all my notes.  And this is where I’m at.”

Suddenly, Dr. Pressman pushed Dr. Farnsworth through a door into a restroom. “Not something for all of Milton to hear. You’ve been working too hard, Doctor. That’s as preposterous a theory as I’ve heard in thirty years.”

“Preposterous enough to fool everyone into thinking it’s too preposterous to be possible, right?”

Dr. Pressman had to stop for a moment and rerun that statement through his mind. He couldn’t deny the brilliance he’d grown to respect in Mathews, but... “Even if you were right, against me thinking you’re out of your mind, it’s still an issue for the courts, not us. Our job is... “

“...‘to determine the ability of a suspect to stand trial in the state of California’...etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. I know the law as it regards our job, Doctor Pressman. And as far as I’m concerned, our job is not over.”

“Why the hell didn’t you say anything in there?”

“Timing. You’re the only one, besides my colleagues, who knows me well enough to know I’m brilliant and usually right.  But, respectfully, I should share this with you… first.”

Dr. Pressman spun on his heels, threw his head back in disgust and stepped into a toilet stall, angrily unzipping his fly. “I should be doing this on you, you self-centered, egotistical asshole. You want me to believe that I’m supposed to ignore the unanimous conclusions of a body of experienced psychiatrists, far more experienced than you, and pursue only your line of thinking? You think that Mathews has feigned his disturbance, even though he’s been under my personal care and observance for weeks, and that he’s duped me? That I’ve been wasting my time treating him as an innocent man? You think Charlie/Charles is a man so whacked out and crazy that some post-hypnotic suggestion could be absorbed and carried out like you’ve described? You think I’m crazy too?” He violently shook his penis at the toilet bowl and flushed, turned and opened the stall door. “Well, do you?”

Standing before him was Dr. Baker. “Lost your way, Doctor?”

Dr. Pressman mustering all the energy he hadn’t already expended took a deep breath and swallowed hard. “This isn’t the men’s room? Don’t answer that.”

He was out the door and into the hall, only to run into Farnsworth leaning against the wall… and grinning.

“Figured I’d let you get it all out of your system,” said Farnsworth. “Who would have thought?” He shrugged, then wiping his face clean of any humor, “Can we still talk?”

Pressman’s complexion had returned to his normal pallid white. “I was on my way to the video room, remember?”

“I don’t have a memory problem.” They hurried off.