The 6th Target (Women's Murder Club 6)

“Yes. That’s right.”

“And how much were you paid?”

Friedman looked up at Judge Moore, who peered down at him. “Please answer the question, Dr. Friedman.”

“I was paid about eight thousand dollars.”

“Eight thousand dollars. Okay. And how long were you treating Mr. Brinkley?”

“Mr. Brinkley wasn’t technically my patient.”

“Oh,” said Yuki. “Then let me ask you, can you diagnose someone that you’ve never treated?”

“I’ve had three sessions with Mr. Brinkley, during which time I also gave him a battery of psychological tests. And yes, I can assess Mr. Brinkley without treating him,” Friedman sniffed.

“So based on three interviews and these tests, you believe that the defendant was unable to understand right from wrong at the time of the killings?”

“That’s correct.”

“You didn’t give him an X-ray and find a tumor pressing against a lobe of his brain, did you?”

“No, of course not.”

“So how do we know that Mr. Brinkley wasn’t lying and skewing the test results so he wouldn’t be found guilty of murder?”

“He couldn’t do that,” Friedman said. “You see, the test questions are like a built-in lie detector. They’re repeated in many different ways, and if the answers are consistent, then the patient is telling the truth.”

“Doctor, you use those tests because you can’t really know what’s in the patient’s mind, can you?”

“Well, you also make a judgment based on behavior.”

“I see. Dr. Friedman, are you aware of the legal term ‘consciousness of guilt’?”

“Yes. It refers to actions a person may take that show the person is aware what he or she did was wrong.”

“Well put, Doctor,” Yuki said. “Now, if someone shoots five people and then runs away, as Alfred Brinkley did, doesn’t that show consciousness of guilt? Doesn’t it show that Mr. Brinkley knew what he’d done was wrong?”

“Look, Ms. Castellano, not everything a person does when he’s in a psychotic state is illogical. People on that ferry were screaming, coming at him with intent to harm him. He ran. Most people finding themselves in that situation would have run.”

Yuki stole a look at David, who gave her an encouraging nod. She wished he’d beam her something to nail Friedman with because she didn’t have it.

And then she did.

“Dr. Friedman, does gut instinct play any part in your assessment?”

“Well, sure. Gut instinct, or intuition, is made up of many layers of experience. So, yes, I used gut instinct as well as formal psychological protocol in my assessment.”

“And did you determine whether or not Mr. Brinkley is dangerous?”

“I interviewed Mr. Brinkley both before and after he was put on Risperdal, and it is my opinion that, properly medicated, Mr. Brinkley is not dangerous.”

Yuki put both her hands on the witness box, looked Friedman in the eye, ignored everything and everyone in the courtroom, and spoke from the fear she felt every time she looked at that freak sitting next to Mickey Sherman.

“Dr. Friedman, you interviewed Mr. Brinkley behind bars. Check your gut instinct on this: Would you feel comfortable riding home in a cab with Mr. Brinkley? Would you feel safe having dinner with him in his home? Riding alone with him in an elevator?”

Mickey Sherman leaped to his feet. “Your Honor, I object. Those questions should be taken out and shot.”

“Sustained,” the judge grumbled.