I didn’t.

He never followed up.

* * *

Three days into writing the report, I phoned Tom Laskin. “This isn’t working very well.”

“What isn’t?”

“I told you at the outset that I might not be able to come up with meaningful recommendations, and that’s what’s happened. If you want to reduce my fee, fine.”

“What’s the problem?”

“I can’t produce clear data to help you with your choice. My personal preference would be juvey certification because they’re kids and lacked adult capacity. But I’m not sure I’d sleep well if I was responsible for that decision.”

“Why not?”

“The act was horrendous and I doubt making them C.Y.A. wards for a few years will rehab them.”

“Are they still dangerous?” he said.

“Would they do something that bad again? On his own, Rand Duchay probably wouldn’t. But if he hooked up with someone dominant and violent, it’s possible.”

“Any remorse on his part?”

“He seems to have some,” I said. “Was he thinking like an adult at the time of the murder? No. Would that change in five years, or even ten? Probably not, given his intellectual level.”

“Which is?”

I quoted the test results.

Laskin whistled. “What about Turner?”

“Smarter— a lot smarter. He’s got the ability to calculate and plan. Sydney Weider’s going to claim Rand Duchay initiated the crime and her client was an innocent bystander. The forensics say that’s not true, but Rand did admit striking Kristal, and his size could work against him if you didn’t know better.”

“I’m still on the remorse issue,” said Laskin. “Turner have any?”

“He talks about sin, claims to be reading the Bible, has a couple of theology students offering moral support. But I doubt there’s any serious insight there. He denies he ever touched Kristal despite the fact that Kristal’s skin was found under his fingernails.”

“Weider sent me an impassioned request for bifurcation. Looks like just another TODDI defense.”

The Other Dude Did It.

“Going to grant the split?” I said.

“Not unless I have to. How smart is Turner?”

“Considerably above average.” I gave him those numbers, too.

He said, “No diminished capacity, there. Adult comprehension?”

“Intellectually, he can reason things out. But he’s thirteen, which is an interesting age. There’s some evidence that adolescent brains undergo changes at fourteen to fifteen that lead to fuller reasoning capacity. Even with that, you know what teens are like. Rationality takes years to settle in.”

“Sometimes it never sets in,” he said. “So you’re leaning toward juvey but you don’t want to put it in writing because of the enormity of the crime.”

“I don’t think it’s a psychological issue,” I said.

“What is it, then?”

“A judicial question. What placement would approximate justice to the greatest extent.”

“Meaning it’s my problem.”

I didn’t answer.