“To a certain extent.”
“Because they both register changes in skin potential?”
“Yes.”
“And are you aware that evidence obtained by the use of a lie detector is inadmissible in court?”
“Objection,” said Ross. “The witness is not a legal expert.”
“I’ll withdraw the question, Your Honor. Now, Dr. Italiano, in the course of your long professional career, have you ever published scientific or technical papers?”
“Yes.”
“About how many, if you can tell us?”
“Nine.”
“And what were the subjects of these papers?”
“Three or four were about various aspects of hypnosis or hypnotherapy.”
“Did you ever write a paper about the ouija board?”
“Yes.”
“Ever write a paper about the Tarot cards?”
“Yes.” There was a rustle of amusement in the courtroom.
“Ever write a paper about crystal-gazing?” Laughter; the judge tapped his gavel and frowned.
“No.”
“Well, that’s something, anyway. Dr. Italiano, did you ever write a paper about Chinese fortune-telling?”
“Well, not exactly. I wrote a paper about the I Ching.”
“I see. And will you tell the jury what the I Ching is?”
“It’s an ancient Chinese system of divination.”
“And what is divination, as you understand it, Dr. Italiano?”
“It’s a system of revealing something about a situation that a person may be involved in.”
“Does it reveal something about the future of that situation?”
“Sometimes.”
“All right. Tell me, does the I Ching work, Doctor?”
“In my experience, it works surprisingly well.”
“But you wouldn’t call that fortune-telling?”
“No, not exactly.”
“I’m afraid the distinction is too fine for me to grasp,” said Llewellyn. There was a ripple of laughter. “No further questions.”
“Redirect?” the judge asked.
“No, Your Honor.”
“Dr. Italiano, you are excused,” said Van Winkle, “and we thank you for your testimony.” She smiled and disappeared. “Call your next witness, Mr. Ross.”
“Your Honor, I call Timothy Burns.” A burly red-haired man in his forties got up and started toward the front of the courtroom.
Llewellyn rose. “Your Honor, we object to the introduction of this witness. He has no knowledge of this crime and has never been acquainted with either the defendant or the victim.”
“Sit down a moment, Mr. Bums,” said the judge. “Counselors?”
The two approached the bench. “Your Honor,” said Llewellyn in an undertone, “we already know that the defense intends to use this witness as a vehicle for interrogating a symbiont by means of Dr. Italiano’s apparatus. The real witness cannot be sworn or held accountable. I object at this time because I believe such evidence will be improper and a source of reversible error.”
“That’s very kind of you, Mr. Llewellyn. Mr. Ross?”
“Your Honor, I have previously responded to this argument, and I believe it has no merit. Mr. Llewellyn wants to block this evidence because he knows it will be unfavorable to his case. That’s the size of it.”
“Let’s keep our tempers, gentlemen. I’m going to overrule the objection. Call your witness again, Mr. Ross.”
The red-haired man stepped up and was sworn. His accent was Texan. After a few questions for the record, Ross said, “Mr. Bums, is it a fact, so far as you know, that you are presently a host of a McNulty’s symbiont?”
“Objection. Incompetent.”
“I’ll show competence, Your Honor, if I am allowed to proceed.”
“Overruled. The witness may answer.”
“The answer is yes,” said Bums.
“What is your basis for believing that you are presently a host of a McNulty’s symbiont?”
“I saw another individual collapse in my presence, when I was the only one near her.”
“What happened to that individual?”
“She was taken to Good Samaritan in a comatose state.”
“Objection, incompetent.”
“Sustained.”
“Mr. Bums, let me put this a different way. Are you aware whether or not this individual was diagnosed as suffering from McNulty’s Disease?”
“Objection.”
“Gentlemen,” said Van Winkle wearily, and beckoned them up to the bench.
“Your Honor,” Ross said, “if the court wishes I can call the examining physician.”
“Is he present?”
“No, Your Honor. Dr. Aarons is a very busy woman, and we wanted to avoid calling her if possible.”
“In the interest of getting this trial over before Christmas, if that’s possible, I’m going to allow the question. Let’s get on with it.”
Ross repeated his question. Burns replied, “Yes, she was.”
“Were you present at Good Samaritan when the attending physician made that diagnosis?”
“Yes.”
“Who made that diagnosis?”
“Dr. Aarons.”
“Dr. Evelyn Aarons?”
“Yes.”
“How did you happen to be present when that diagnosis was announced by Dr. Aarons?”
“The patient was my wife.” There was laughter in the courtroom. Van Winkle rapped his gavel gently.
22
Ross faced the judge. “Your Honor, in the voir dire we determined that five members of the jury panel who were excused from duty are former McNulty’s victims, that is, they have already been hosts of the symbiont. As you know, former hosts can be reinfected without suffering any ill effects. With the court’s permission, I will now seat these five members of the panel in the front of the courtroom near the witness.”
“For what purpose, Mr. Ross?”
“Your Honor, we intend to show that the symbiont can in fact tell what its host is thinking and report this information accurately.”
“Objection, irrelevant.”
“I’m laying a foundation for later testimony which will show relevance, Your Honor.”
“Very well, I’ll allow it.”
Under the bailiff’s direction, courtroom attendants arranged five chairs in the front of the room near the witness stand. Three women and two men took their seats.
“Your Honor, for purposes of identification only, the five people you see here are Ms. Carol Wheeler, Mr. Leonard O’Casey, Mrs. Robert Semple, Mr. Edward Colombiano and Ms. Linda Silverman.”
Ross turned to the witness and handed him the two metal cylinders of the Italiano device. “Just hold these comfortably in your hands, Mr. Burns. Speaking to the symbiont now, I ask if you are willing to go into each of these five people, one at a time, then return to your present host and tell us what they were thinking.”
The cursor went to YES, and the word appeared at the top of the screen.
“Ms. Wheeler, we’ll take you first. I’d like you to concentrate on some thought—anything you wish—it could be a sentence, or a number, or a mental picture of some kind, but whatever it is, it should be specific enough that it can be described in a few words. Do you understand? Tell me when you’re ready.”
“All right. Now.”
Ross said to the witness, “Will you cross over to Miss Wheeler, please, then return and tell us what she was thinking?”
YES.
Ross waited a minute. “Have you done so?”
YES.
“What was she thinking?”
The cursor danced over the chart, spelling out picture OF ORANGES AND APPLES.
Miss Wheeler gasped and put her hand to her mouth.