`They've found that Wright is preoccupied with weather today.'
`Weather?'
`Yes.'
`I don't get it,' Lewis said.
`Neither do I,' Graves said.
SAN DIEGO
12 NOON PDT
`You're very quiet,' Lewis said, as they drove to the police headquarters.
Graves nodded. `I was thinking of an old story. It's back in the soft-data section of Wright's file. You know about the Murdock killing?'
Lewis shook his head.
`It happened in New York five years ago. Wright was married to a girl named Sarah Layne, and when it broke up, she started seeing a man named Murdock. A Texas oil man. Big spender, big ladies' man.'
Lewis nodded.
`Well, Murdock got an anonymous tip that he would be killed. Got it about seven in the morning. He believed it, so he called his chauffeur and had him go over the car carefully. The chauffeur found a bomb, and notified Murdock. Murdock went down to the garage to see the bomb and had his chauffeur remove it. The chauffeur carried it away. And Murdock, who was an oilman and interested in explosives, leaned into the engine compartment to examine how the bomb had been wired in. And thirty seconds after the first bomb was removed, a second one exploded. Murdock was killed instantly.'
`Nice.'
'Wright was questioned but never charged. There was nothing to point to him. That's the story. But whoever did it knew a lot about Murdock.'
`You think that's the way Wright operates?'
`I know it is.'
Lewis was silent for a moment. `Why are we going
to the police station?' -
`To find out how much Wright knows about me,' Graves said.
The spinning drum produced the transmitted image with almost painful slowness. It made a loud, distracting, clanking sound. Nevertheless, when the first sheet came off the drum Graves grabbed it up eagerly and read with intense concentration -ignoring the clanking, the room, the cops all around, Lewis, everything.
The first sheet was printed out in block letters, as Wright's file had been:
PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING: JOHN NORMAN GRAVES
(STATE INT: DOM)
REASON FOR TEST: FIVE YEAR SURVEY
AUTHORIZATION FOR TEST: D/STATE 784-334-404
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: QUERY SUITABILITY FOR
DOMESTIC WORK
TEST SCORES AND RESULTS:
1. RORSCHACH INK BLOT
A. TEST SCORES: OF CHIEF INTEREST IS THE USE OF COLOUR AS RESPONSE DETERMINANT. THIS IS CONFUSING. ON THE ONE HAND, SUBJECT USES COLOUR AS A MAJOR FACTOR IN DETERMINING WHAT HE SEES IN THE FORM. THIS SUGGESTS EMOTIONAL VOLATILITY AND IMPULSIVENESS. ON THE OTHER HAND, HE IS RESPECTFUL OF THE FORMS OF THE COLOUR, SUGGESTING CAUTION AND PERHAPS OVER COMPLIANCE.
B. DYNAMIC CONTENT: THERE IS A HEAVY EMPHASIS ON THEMES OF MASCULINE AGGRESSION. WAR, ANIMALS FIGHTING, WEAPONS, AND BLOOD RECUR OFTEN. A SENSE OF COMPETITION AND STRUGGLE IS USUALLY PRESENT. THERE IS A REMARKABLE LACK OF GUILT EXPRESSED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THESE THEMES. SUBJECT IS APPARENTLY COMFORTABLE IN SITUATIONS OF TENSION AND COMPETITION.
C. PATTERNS OF THOUGHT ORGANIZATION: NO
MAJOR INSIGHTS HERE EXCEPT A STRONG SENSE OF
EXCITEMENT RELATING TO ALL COMPETITIVE THEMES AND SUBJECTS.
D. TEST BEHAVIOUR: SUBJECT CLEARLY REGARDS THIS TESTING SITUATION AS ONE IN WHICH HE MUST PROVE HIMSELF. IN LINE WITH HIS COMPETITIVE IMPULSES, HE DEFINITELY PLAYS OFF THE TESTER IN A RATHER UNUSUAL MANNER. HE DOES NOT TRY TO PLEASE THE TESTER OR WIN HIS APPROVAL. NOR DOES HE EVIDENCE HESITANCY OR UNCERTAINTY ABOUT HIS CHOSEN ANSWERS. INSTEAD, HE UTILIZES THE TESTER AS A SOURCE OF INSIDE INFORMATION ABOUT THE TEST ITSELF. HE ATTEMPTS TO MANIPULATE THE TESTER. ONE HAS THE SENSE THAT HE BRINGS ALL POSSIBLE RESOURCES TO ANY TEST SITUATION - AND HE REGARDS THE TESTER AS ONE AVAILABLE RESOURCE. THIS IS NOT STRICTLY FAIR, OF COURSE. BUT THERE IS A CERTAIN AMORAL QUALITY ABOUT THE SUBJECT IN COMPETITIVE SITUATIONS. ONE FEELS HE WILL DO ANYTHING TO WIN.
2. THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST (TAT)
COMPETITION, THE NEED FOR ACTION, THE
EXCITEMENT OF STRESS, AND THE HORROR OF
FAILURE IN COMPETITIVE ACTIVITY WERE FREQUENT
THEMES. IN CERTAIN INSTANCES THERE WAS A
SENSE OF IMMORTALITY ACHIEVED BY VIGOROUS
COMPETITION: THE SUBJECT TALKED ABOUT ONE
PICTURE AS SHOWING A MAN WHO HAD 'CHEATED
DEATH'. IT IS WORTH INDICATING THAT IN MOST
AREAS THE SUBJECT HAS A STRONGLY DEVELOPED
SENSE OF CONVENTIONAL MORALS, PERHAPS EVEN
AN OVERRESTRICTED SENSE. HOWEVER,
`Where's the next page?' Graves said impatiently.
`Coming off now,' Lewis said, and pulled it from the machine. He handed it to Graves.
IN COMPETITIVE SITUATIONS THESE MORALITIES ARE ABANDONED, AND IF THERE IS A CONFLICT - SUCH AS TWO MEN COMPETING FOR THE FAVOURS OF ONE WOMAN - THE SUBJECT WILL CHEERFULLY PROPOSE CHEATING IN ORDER TO WIN THE DAY.
PSYCHOGENETICALLY IT IS CLEAR THE SUBJECT IS COMPETING WITH HIS FATHER IN A CLASSIC OEDIPAL SITUATION. STORIES ABOUT THE FATHER EMPHASIZE THE DEMANDING, UNCOMPROMISING, AND COMPETITIVE QUALITY OF THE FATHER-FIGURE AND THE DIFFICULTY OF WINNING APPROVAL. IT IS LIKELY THAT THE SUBJECT LIVES IN A WORLD PEOPLED BY HIS FATHER, AGAINST WHOM HE MUST CONSTANTLY STRIVE AND COMPETE.
FAILURE IS ABHORRENT TO THE SUBJECT. HE USUALLY DOES NOT ALLOW THAT IT MIGHT OCCUR. PHYSICALLY HE EQUATES FAILURE WITH CASTRATION. THE FEAR OF FAILURE IS SO GREAT THAT THE SUBJECT MAY BE IMPULSIVE. QUICKNESS OF RESPONSE IS IMPORTANT TO HIM, AND A SOURCE OF PRIDE.
3. ABBREVIATED WAIS IQ TEST
RAPIDITY OF RESPONSE WAS A MAJOR FACTOR HERE IN PRODUCING AN INITIAL TEST SCORE OF 121. THE SUBJECT FELT COMPELLED TO FINISH EACH SECTION IN LESS THAN THE ALLOTTED TIME. TESTER'S IMPRESSION IS THAT THE SUBJECT HAS A TEST SCORE AT LEAST 10 POINTS HIGHER THAN THAT. THIS IS CONFIRMED BY PAST IQ TESTS, WHICH HAVE SCORED THE SUBJECT IN THE 130-140 RANGE. THE SUBJECT'S WILLINGNESS TO DAMAGE HIS OWN PERFORMANCE BY OVERLY FAST REACTION SHOULD BE NOTED.
4. CRONBERG DIAGNOSTIC PERSONALITY
QUESTIONNAIRE
SUBJECT SCORES HIGHLY IN MANIC SCALES WITH SOME CONSISTENT EVIDENCE OF PARANOIA. THIS MAY WELL RELATE TO HIS COMPETITIVE DRIVES.
5. SUMMARY
`Is there another sheet?' Graves asked. `It's coming, it's coming,' Lewis said. He smiled `You're really devouring this, aren't you?' `I think it's important.'
`Don't you know it all already? It's about you.'
`No,' Graves said. `It's what somebody else thinks of me. There's a difference.'
Lewis shrugged. The third and final sheet came from the printer. Graves read it.
IN SUMMARY WE CAN SAY THAT JOHN GRAVES IS A HIGHLY INTELLIGENT, IMAGINATIVE, AND CONVENTIONALLY MORAL MAN WITH AN ASTOUNDINGLY STRONG COMPETITIVE DRIVE. HIS NEED TO COMPETE IS ALMOST HIS MOST OUTSTANDING TRAIT. IT SEEMS TO OVERWHELM EVERY OTHER ASPECT OF HIS PERSONALITY. IT IS HIGHLY DEVELOPED, AND RUTHLESS IN THE EXTREME. THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT HE IS A GOOD BETTOR, GAMBLER, POKER AND CHESS PLAYER - TO NAME HOBBIES HE PROFESSES TO LIKE.
IF THERE ARE ANY DEFECTS OR HIDDEN FLAWS IN HIS BEHAVIOUR, THEY ARE HIS IMPULSIVENESS AND HIS DESIRE TO FINISH A TEST SITUATION RAPIDLY. HE FREQUENTLY PERFORMS BELOW HIS MAXIMUM LEVEL BECAUSE OF A DESIRE FOR SPEED. HE OFTEN FEELS THAT A PROBLEM IS SOLVED WHEN IT IS ONLY HALF FINISHED, OR TWO-THIRDS FINISHED. THIS SITUATION MUST BE GUARDED AGAINST BY HAVING A LESS BRILLIANT BUT MORE THOROUGH PERSON CHECKING HIS WORK AT INTERVALS.