“He denied those things happened—at least in the way you described them to me. He said he was wrestling with the other student and the boy slipped and fell.”

“What about his sister?”

“He said he was teasing her. He told her that the sweater she was wearing belonged to him, ordered her to take it off, and she did it.”

“Franny wouldn’t lie about it!”

Dr. Jackson shrugged. “Maybe, thinking about it later, she saw something sinister in the incident. Girls approaching puberty and with only a vague knowledge of sexual matters are often apprehensive in such circumstances.”

“What about his raping Stephanie!”

“I doubt that it was rape. Given the opportunity, most boys his age—”

“Can’t you see he’s been lying to you?”

“If he was, he’s very clever.”

“Of course, he’s clever! What about the car accident? What about his hitting the policemen?”

“He admitted driving recklessly, but that sort of behavior in a teenager isn’t pathological, or even unusual. It would be more surprising if a normal teenage boy didn’t speed when he had the chance and was alone in a car. He denied hitting the policemen. He said they pulled him out of his car and shoved him around, but he didn’t retaliate beyond some talking back to them. That apparently angered them. You know as well as I do, Mrs. Caine, that some policemen are prone to be excessively aggressive.”

“You’re on his side, aren’t you? Duff has captivated you.”

“I’m not on anyone’s side, Mrs. Caine. Duff is a personable youngster, but I think I’ve been in practice long enough—”

“That’s just the point, don’t you see? He never was person­able before! He didn’t care what people thought of him!”

“Mrs. Caine, it’s very difficult, if not impossible, to conceal the true state of one’s mind in psychological testing.”

“Duff could deceive you, I know he could.”

“Not unless he had seen the whole series of pictures and inkblots before and knew exactly what the normal responses ought to be in each case. Then he would need to know how to vary the responses just enough off the norm in a few instances to make the total personality seem plausible. And that would almost demand someone with professional training. More than that, I can usually tell by physical signs, as can any trained person in my field, when a patient is lying.”

“Can you, Doctor? Well you muffed one this time.”

“All right, Mrs. Caine.”

“What about the man I saw? Do you think that was all in my head?”

“I couldn’t think that without further evidence—”

“What about his pissing in church?”

“I asked him about that and he denies it. He said—”

“Send me your goddamn bill!”