going to work out?”
“I think he’ll get arrested. That will solve my problems for a while. At least about the murder thing. After that I just don’t know. With a good lawyer these days, anything is possible.”
Gibbs’s musings were at once both rational and incredibly naÏve. Although I knew what I wanted to say next, I paused through a couple of breathing cycles before I said it. I would have preferred for her to respond to the echoes of her own words, but she didn’t.
“When you started today’s session, you said that Sterling was going to kill you. Now you would like me to believe that you’re convinced that you are safe living with him even though you’re about to turn him in to the police for murdering your mutual friend?”
Her face brightened inexplicably. She blurted, “That’s so great! I think that’s almost exactly what Dr. Phil would say.”
“Excuse me?”
“Dr. Phil-you know, on the-oh, you don’t know, do you? The guy on TV?”
She could tell I was befuddled.
She quickly added, “Don’t worry, it’s not
that
important that you know who…” Her voice trailed away.
I actually had a vague idea who Dr. Phil was. What I was befuddled about was the question of whether it was a good thing or a potentially embarrassing thing that I was beginning to sound like a psychologist who plied his trade on daytime television.
I made a mental note to ask Diane how humiliated I should be. She had her finger on the pulse of things like that.
“Yesterday,” I said, “you were frightened enough of Sterling that you asked me to solicit help for you from Safe House. Today you’ve convinced yourself that the danger isn’t real. Which am I supposed to believe?”
“ Sterling doesn’t want to hurt me.”
I thought it was an interesting statement. Wishful, but interesting.
“Can you hear your own confusion?” I asked her.
“I’m not confused. I changed my mind. People do that. People react impulsively sometimes.”
Softly, I probed, “Gibbs, has Sterling not wanting to hurt you kept him from hurting you in the past?”
She sighed, gave me a little half-smile. I took it to mean that I’d asked another Dr. Phil question.
“If he hurt me now, wouldn’t that be like proof of what he did to Louise? He wouldn’t risk that. Sterling isn’t stupid.”
“And you are willing to run that risk? You’re willing to believe that, despite his threats, despite his past behavior, despite the fact that you’re accusing him of murdering a friend of yours, he won’t hurt you now?” I allowed a tincture of incredulity to enter my voice.
“Yes, I am,” she said definitively. “I am. I don’t want to go to Safe House. I want to go back home. Will you call the police in California now? Right now? I want to get that over with.”
“Why me? Why don’t you make the call yourself, Gibbs?”
“I can’t. Betraying Sterling to you is as far as I can go. It’s been hard even going this far.”
I sat silently, urging her to say more. She didn’t. The quiet stretched over two minutes or more.
Finally, I said, “But you’ll cooperate with the police and testify about what you know?”
“If they arrest him? Yes, I’ll testify. And if the police ask to talk with me before that, I will talk with them. I already told you that. I’m trying to do the right thing, Dr. Gregory.”
I recalled Lauren’s caution about spousal immunity. I wondered if Gibbs knew what I knew on that topic, that she couldn’t testify against Sterling in California, which meant that the police would have to develop substantial evidence on their own to support her allegations.
“If the police ask to talk with you right now? While I’m on the phone?”
“No. Not right now.”
I considered the fact that I had an out. Gibbs wasn’t keeping her end of the bargain we’d made the previous morning-seeking shelter at Safe House. I concluded that her change of heart abrogated my responsibility to keep my end of the
“I think he’ll get arrested. That will solve my problems for a while. At least about the murder thing. After that I just don’t know. With a good lawyer these days, anything is possible.”
Gibbs’s musings were at once both rational and incredibly naÏve. Although I knew what I wanted to say next, I paused through a couple of breathing cycles before I said it. I would have preferred for her to respond to the echoes of her own words, but she didn’t.
“When you started today’s session, you said that Sterling was going to kill you. Now you would like me to believe that you’re convinced that you are safe living with him even though you’re about to turn him in to the police for murdering your mutual friend?”
Her face brightened inexplicably. She blurted, “That’s so great! I think that’s almost exactly what Dr. Phil would say.”
“Excuse me?”
“Dr. Phil-you know, on the-oh, you don’t know, do you? The guy on TV?”
She could tell I was befuddled.
She quickly added, “Don’t worry, it’s not
that
important that you know who…” Her voice trailed away.
I actually had a vague idea who Dr. Phil was. What I was befuddled about was the question of whether it was a good thing or a potentially embarrassing thing that I was beginning to sound like a psychologist who plied his trade on daytime television.
I made a mental note to ask Diane how humiliated I should be. She had her finger on the pulse of things like that.
“Yesterday,” I said, “you were frightened enough of Sterling that you asked me to solicit help for you from Safe House. Today you’ve convinced yourself that the danger isn’t real. Which am I supposed to believe?”
“ Sterling doesn’t want to hurt me.”
I thought it was an interesting statement. Wishful, but interesting.
“Can you hear your own confusion?” I asked her.
“I’m not confused. I changed my mind. People do that. People react impulsively sometimes.”
Softly, I probed, “Gibbs, has Sterling not wanting to hurt you kept him from hurting you in the past?”
She sighed, gave me a little half-smile. I took it to mean that I’d asked another Dr. Phil question.
“If he hurt me now, wouldn’t that be like proof of what he did to Louise? He wouldn’t risk that. Sterling isn’t stupid.”
“And you are willing to run that risk? You’re willing to believe that, despite his threats, despite his past behavior, despite the fact that you’re accusing him of murdering a friend of yours, he won’t hurt you now?” I allowed a tincture of incredulity to enter my voice.
“Yes, I am,” she said definitively. “I am. I don’t want to go to Safe House. I want to go back home. Will you call the police in California now? Right now? I want to get that over with.”
“Why me? Why don’t you make the call yourself, Gibbs?”
“I can’t. Betraying Sterling to you is as far as I can go. It’s been hard even going this far.”
I sat silently, urging her to say more. She didn’t. The quiet stretched over two minutes or more.
Finally, I said, “But you’ll cooperate with the police and testify about what you know?”
“If they arrest him? Yes, I’ll testify. And if the police ask to talk with me before that, I will talk with them. I already told you that. I’m trying to do the right thing, Dr. Gregory.”
I recalled Lauren’s caution about spousal immunity. I wondered if Gibbs knew what I knew on that topic, that she couldn’t testify against Sterling in California, which meant that the police would have to develop substantial evidence on their own to support her allegations.
“If the police ask to talk with you right now? While I’m on the phone?”
“No. Not right now.”
I considered the fact that I had an out. Gibbs wasn’t keeping her end of the bargain we’d made the previous morning-seeking shelter at Safe House. I concluded that her change of heart abrogated my responsibility to keep my end of the
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