“True,” I said. “But Logan…he doesn’t fit any mold.”
Jenny nodded, reached into an accordion folder that was on the floor next to her chair, and pulled out some photocopied pages. I recognized them as the pages from Logan’s journal. I’d forgotten we’d given them a copy. “After hearing that Logan was dead, I took another look at these pages. I’d always had the sense that Logan was a follower, not a leader. I think Amanda probably had it right when she told you she thought Logan had a crush on her primarily because he wanted to emulate Evan. And Logan clearly had some serious psychological problems-certainly he was severely depressed. I don’t think, given what he ultimately did, that it’s a big stretch to say Logan also had a great deal of anger boiling inside him. In that regard, he and Evan had something important in common. But the difference is in how they dealt with that anger. That difference is what made Evan so attractive to Logan. Evan’s aggressive energy, his apparent power, was revelatory for Logan. Here was someone who channeled his rage outward, who punished others rather than what Logan did-”
I nodded. “Punish himself.”
“Right,” Jenny said. “I doubt Logan, on his own, would ever have harmed another person. He might’ve fantasized about homicide in his darker moments, but I doubt he would ever have acted on it. It was the introduction of Evan into his life that induced him to turn his rage outward-”
“You think he committed suicide out of guilt?” I asked.
“In part, yes,” Michael said. “He was suicidal in general, so he might’ve killed himself eventually no matter what. But Logan was not psychopathic, so it’s highly unlikely he derived the pleasure from killing that Evan did. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if Logan suffered terribly in the aftermath of the Fairmont shooting.”
“And what about the reverse?” Bailey asked. “Would Evan still have done these shootings if he hadn’t met Logan?”
“In light of the fact that he did carry on after Logan killed himself, I’d say probably yes, he would have,” Michael said. “Now, would he have done the Fairmont shooting if he hadn’t met Logan? That I can’t say. But I can say that connecting with Logan made Fairmont a more likely target.”
I had a question that’d been in the forefront of my mind since our meeting with the Cutters. “Sorry for the dogleg, but I’ve been meaning to ask you, how come none of the parents-not the Jarvises or the Cutters-saw anything wrong, nothing out of the norm, before the shooting? The parents seem like responsible people. The type who pay attention. These guys were planning the Fairmont murders for almost a year. How can it be that they didn’t notice anything was wrong?”
“The only thing the parents said was that the boys weren’t around much in the last month,” Bailey said.
Jenny nodded. “Of course, they were busy getting ready. Or they might’ve been keeping themselves away to make sure no one could see any difference in their behavior. But that wouldn’t register with any parent as ‘something wrong.’ As for Evan, I wouldn’t expect to see any gross manifestations of unusual conduct by the time he was planning the shootings. He had no moral compunctions about it, so there was no reservoir of guilt to trip him up. These shootings were something he eagerly anticipated. He would’ve made sure not to do anything that might raise concerns.”
“Logan would have been the one more likely to show visible signs of something amiss in the last few weeks,” Michael said. “He had a conscience.”
“But even if Logan wavered, or started to act out, Evan was there to keep the lid on,” Jenny said.
“Right,” Michael said. “And it’s even likely that Logan was in a bit better mood than usual in the last month. Once a suicidal person has made the decision to end his life, he feels a sense of relief, even euphoria. Logan knew the killing spree couldn’t last forever. So for him, the shooting marked the light at the end of the tunnel.”
“Bottom line, by the time their plans were under way, it was way too late,” Jenny said. “They were old enough to manage their behavior. The time to catch signs of homicidal pathology like Evan’s was much earlier, in childhood.”
“And what would those have been?” I asked.
“The early signs of psychopathology are varied. There was a study that showed infants who turned out to be psychopathic had a pronounced tendency to stare at objects out of their reach. They theorized that the infants stared in an effort to exert control; that the space between the infant and the object was a threat to the baby’s control-”
Michael shook his head. “I’m not sure how much stock I put in that one-”
“It may be a bit far-out,” Jenny said. “But generally, psychopaths show a greater attachment to objects than to people from a very early age. Some believe that may be caused by mothers who have difficulty bonding with their babies. Personally, I think the child has to already have a tendency toward psychopathology for maternal detachment to have that kind of impact. My own mother suffered severe postpartum depression for a solid year after I was born. Refused to even touch me. She eventually recovered-enough to go back to work, anyway. But she never became anything close to a ‘loving’ mother.”
“How did it affect you?” I asked.
“From about the age of six I knew I wanted to help children-”
“So it had a positive effect?” Bailey asked.
“Well…I also vowed never to have any children of my own. But it certainly didn’t make me a sociopath. And, diagnostically speaking, that’s the problem we face. Family trauma or even abuse is not a predictor. As I’m sure you’ve seen, there are plenty of kids who suffer devastating abuse who have no violent tendencies whatsoever.”
I nodded. I’d been assigned to juvenile court for a year. It was sadly common to find that the kids had been abused, but most were charged with drug crimes or theft. The few who were in for violent crimes were usually involved in gangs.
“Anyway, as for the early signs of psychopathology, you’ve heard of the classic ones: cruel, sadistic behaviors toward animals or smaller children-”
“And younger siblings are often targets,” Michael said. “But in this case, neither Logan nor Evan had them.”
“And not all children will behave in such obvious ways,” Jenny said. “While they lack empathy and do not have normal attachments to family and friends, their behavior may not initially be overtly abnormal. A child may merely appear to be less demonstrative than others or a little less empathic. But if the child is a fast learner, he’ll pick up on the appropriate social cues at a young enough age to avert detection. Destructive behavior is common. Such children often have a penchant for setting fires. Deceptive behaviors, lying, cheating, stealing. For them, the ends always justify the means, and no value is placed on honesty-”
“Which is why they can be very glib,” Michael said. “They have no regard for rules or for the truth. Evan had that juvenile arrest for car burglary?” I nodded. “I’d bet he was the ringleader. And I’m sure there were other such instances for which he never got caught. I’d also imagine Evan committed noncriminal acts as a child that showed a cruel, sadistic side, but weren’t big enough to force the parents to put two and two together.”
“How on earth could a parent see any kind of sadistic behavior and not know that there’s something seriously wrong?” I asked.
“A combination of denial-we don’t see what we don’t want to see-and a failure to grasp the significance of what they’re seeing,” Jenny said. “It’s not uncommon for parents to view each incident as an isolated event and explain each one away, rather than see the whole picture. And if the behavior surfaces during adolescence, well…even the most normal teenagers can be unlovely.” Jenny gave a brief smile.
Memories of our interviews with Evan flashed through my mind. “I just can’t believe Evan gamed us so well,” I said.