Heartstone

He had spent considerable time going over the transcript of the hypnosis sessions. When he heard her, the doctor and Shindler speaking the words he had read, it reinforced the clinical explanation that Dr. Paris had given for Esther’s testimony. She was lying or brainwashed and he had to make the jury see that.

“Mrs. Pegalosi, I have tried on two occasions to speak to you about this case, have I not?”

“Yes.”

“And you refused to discuss the case with me on both of those occasions, isn’t that true?”

Esther looked down at her hands.

“You slammed the door in my face on one of those occasions, didn’t you?”

She nodded.

“Well, we’ll discuss this case now, won’t we? Is it your story that after drinking the stolen wine, you became drunk and did not feel well?”

“Yes.”

“And you went cruising downtown and then asked the Coolidges to take you home?”

“Yes.”

“And the Coolidge brothers drove from the downtown area of Portsmouth to Monroe Boulevard, so that they could drive you home?”

“Yes.”

Mark stood up and carried a map of Portsmouth to an easel that stood next to the witness stand.

“Monroe Boulevard is not the shortest route to your house from downtown Portsmouth, is it?” Mark asked.

Esther stared at the map, then at Mark.

“I…I don’t know.”

“Well, why don’t you look at the map and tell the jury what route you usually took home from downtown.”

“I don’t think I took any route like that.”

“You don’t, Mrs. Pegalosi? That’s interesting,” Mark said, returning to counsel table and picking up an index card from the top of a stack.

“Do you remember being asked this series of questions on Tape Number 5 and giving these answers:

Question: Then you go cruising downtown, don’t you?

Answer: I think so.

Question: And you are on Monroe now. Can you see Monroe?

Answer: I can see Monroe, but I’m not…I don’t remember if…

Question: But you had to go on Monroe to get home, didn’t you?

Answer: No. Usually I would go on Marshall Road from downtown.

“I don’t remember that.”

“Would you like me to play that tape for you?”

“No, I…”

“Is it not a fact, Mrs. Pegalosi, that the normal way, the usual way, for you to go home from downtown Portsmouth in 1960 was Marshall Road?”

“I guess so.”

“And is it not true that you repeatedly told Dr. Hollander that you could not remember being on Monroe Boulevard that evening?”

“That was before…”

“Before they brainwashed you into believing you were on Monroe?”

Heider was on his feet, objecting.

“I withdraw the question, Your Honor,” Mark said and returned to counsel table.

“Is it your testimony that you lost your glasses and your lighter and your comb on the evening of November 25, 1960?”

“Yes.”

Mark selected a police report from the top of a stack and turned to one of the pages in it.

“During the second week of January, 1961, do you remember being visited by two police detectives, Roy Shindler and Harvey Marcus?”

“I can’t remember the exact date, but they did visit. Mr. Shindler came more than once.”

“I am talking about the first occasion. This was at your home and your mother was present.”

“I remember that.”

“Do you remember telling those officers that the glasses had been stolen from you three months before?”

“I said that, but…”

“Just answer the question, please.”

“Yes.”

“And three months before the second week in January would be right around the time that Roger Hessey slapped those glasses off, not the date of Richie Walters’s murder, wouldn’t it?”

“I said that because…”

“Your Honor,” Mark said, “would you please instruct the witness to answer my questions.”

“Mrs. Pegalosi, you must answer Mr. Shaeffer,” Judge Samuels said.

Esther glanced at the spectators. They were silent, staring at her, accusingly.

“I guess so. I didn’t count.”

“On direct examination by Mr. Heider, you said that you told the police the glasses had been stolen because you believed that was the truth.”

“Yes.”

“And when did you stop believing that?”

“After I realized that I had information to give.”

“And when was that, Mrs. Pegalosi?”

“After…When I met with Dr. Hollander and I began to see that…I began to know the truth.”

“Was it the truth that you were telling during the sessions you had with Dr. Hollander?”

“Yes.”

Mark selected another index card and read it while Esther waited. She was perspiring and she could feel the droplets on her brow. Her stomach was churning and the tension was making her lightheaded. She tried to imagine Dr. Hollander’s fingers on her wrist, his soothing voice. She had to relax.

“Mrs. Pegalosi, do you recall these statements on Tape Number 8?

Question: Do you recall telling me about Monroe Boulevard and Lookout Park?

Answer: Uh-huh. I probably lied.

Question: You probably lied to me?

Answer: Could I have lied about what I said?

Question: I doubt it.

Esther licked her lips again and looked over at Mr. Heider. Heider was leaning back in his chair with a bored look. He had told her that he would not give her support during cross-examination, because the jury might interpret it as coaching, but she needed support and wished that he would break the rule, just once.

“Mrs. Pegalosi, I asked you if you remembered that sequence of questions and answers.”

“I don’t remember that exactly.”

“I see. How about this one? This is from Tape Number 10.

Question: Where did they go?

Answer: Into Lookout Park.

Question: You went into the park?

Answer: It seems like it. It couldn’t be my imagination.

Question: No. You’re doing fine. Your memory is working better than it ever has. What happened next?

Answer: We…I saw the car.

Question: The car you were dragging with?

Answer: Are you sure that I’m not just remembering this because I want to get it over with and I’m not really remembering it?

“I don’t recall that.”

“You don’t? Would you like me to play the tape for you?”

“No. It’s just that…When you are under it…The drug makes you dreamy and it’s hard to remember what you said.”

“Well, do you recall saying this, a bit later?

Question: You’re doing fine. Let’s see how good your memory is.

Answer: It’s so hard because I know what they did. I know what I’m supposed to say and I want to make sure that I remember and I’m not just saying it…Something that I know.

“Do you remember saying that?”

Esther kept thinking of Dr. Hollander’s fingers.

“No, I don’t.”

“You don’t seem to remember a lot of things.”

“I told you,” she said, her voice rising a little in panic, “you can’t remember with the drug so well.”

“Do you remember saying, ‘…I can’t remember what I’m supposed to say’?”

Esther shook her head. She concentrated on the fingers. Soothing, relaxing. Don’t panic.

“Or ‘Wait a minute. How many times have I lied to you about this…?’ Do you remember that?”

“No,” Esther said. As soon as the word was out of her mouth she realized that she had said it a little too loudly. She had to get hold on herself.

“How many times did you lie to Dr. Hollander?”

“I didn’t.”

“How many times have you lied…?”

Mark stopped. He looked at Esther’s hands. The right was stroking the left wrist rhythmically.

“Mrs. Pegalosi, what are you doing with your hands?”

She stopped stroking abruptly. The jurors’ eyes were on her wrist.

“Nothing,” she replied guiltily.

“I saw you stroke your wrist. Are you trying to hypnotize yourself? Your Honor, I ask the Court to instruct the witness that she may not hypnotize herself during cross-examination.”