snag 9
wasn’t helping matters. Her name was Posy — Posy Kisch — but 10
they called her Kabuki Girl. She wore white pancake makeup 11
and red lipstick. This week her hair was green. On a good day she 12
called when she planned to skip work. Most days she didn’t 13
bother.
14
Regardless of how tired she felt, she had to get some reading 15
done. Leaving the dishes in the sink to soak, Callie went straight 16
to her desk. After months of trial and error, she’d found this was 17
the only way. She turned on her halogen desk lamp and pulled 18
out a syllabus. Now You See It, Now You Don’t: Unconscious Trans-19
ference and Mistaken Identity. Riffling through a stack of articles, 20
she found the one she needed.
21
As Callie’s eyes moved across the page, the world seemed to 22
fade away. They were studying memory, and the material intrigued 23
her. Eyewitness testimony, the author wrote, was heavily relied 24
on by juries. A single credible eyewitness could put a defendant 25
behind bars. And yet time and again, sworn witness accounts had 26
proven false. “In some instances victims lie, but many more are 27
simply mistaken. Far too little attention is paid to the vagaries of 28
memory.”
29
A tapping somewhere at the back of her mind, the past paying 30
a visit.
31
Things she remembered or thought she did.
32
Things she’d prefer to forget.
33
She finished the introductory section and moved on to the 34
rest, the case studies the author used to demonstrate his thesis. In S 35
the first, a ticket agent pointed to a sailor as the man who’d R 36
4 3
2nd PASS PAGES
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A M Y G U T M A N
1
robbed him at gunpoint. But the totally innocent sailor had an 2
alibi. It was later discovered that the sailor had bought tickets in 3
the past. It was simply because he looked familiar that he’d been 4
picked from the lineup. In a second example, a psychologist stood 5
accused of rape, again having been selected by the victim from a 6
lineup. But at the very moment the rape was occurring, the psy-7
chologist was live on TV. The explanation? The victim had been 8
watching the program when she was assaulted, and the memory 9
of what she’d seen on screen had apparently merged with the 10
rape. Another classic case of unconscious transference, a glitch 11
in memory.
12
Unconscious transference.
13
Callie wrote down the words. She stared at the phrase for an-14
other few moments, thinking through what she’d read.
15
Far too little attention is paid to the vagaries of memory . . .
16
Far too little attention. Maybe.
17
But sometimes far too much.
18
She’d like to know more about these witnesses, so confident 19
and unyielding. Was there a personality type especially prone to 20
making such mistakes? Or how about another type, who con-21
stantly doubts herself? Who knows exactly what she’s seen yet re-22
fuses to acknowledge it? She herself would fall in this second 23
group, of that she was sure. Asked to identify someone, she would 24
be plagued with doubts. However confident she might feel, a 25
small part of her would wonder. She thought of a girl named 26
Laura Seton, recalled her haunted eyes, pictured her on the stand 27
at trial, pointing at Steven Gage. She thought of Sharon Adams, 28
Dahlia Schuyler’s friend. Even at the time, she’d reflexively won-29
dered how you knew for sure. Wasn’t there always that shade of 30
doubt that whispered you might be wrong?
31
Over the years, she’d taught herself to push certain facts aside.
32
It was a skill she’d carefully cultivated, a tool she’d used to sur-33
vive. First she’d done it for her daughter; later, for herself. For 34
years, the habit had served her well, and she’d never questioned 35 S
it. Only now did it occur to her that the strategy had its draw-36 R
backs. The note she’d found in the door last night, she’d pushed 4
wasn’t helping matters. Her name was Posy — Posy Kisch — but 10
they called her Kabuki Girl. She wore white pancake makeup 11
and red lipstick. This week her hair was green. On a good day she 12
called when she planned to skip work. Most days she didn’t 13
bother.
14
Regardless of how tired she felt, she had to get some reading 15
done. Leaving the dishes in the sink to soak, Callie went straight 16
to her desk. After months of trial and error, she’d found this was 17
the only way. She turned on her halogen desk lamp and pulled 18
out a syllabus. Now You See It, Now You Don’t: Unconscious Trans-19
ference and Mistaken Identity. Riffling through a stack of articles, 20
she found the one she needed.
21
As Callie’s eyes moved across the page, the world seemed to 22
fade away. They were studying memory, and the material intrigued 23
her. Eyewitness testimony, the author wrote, was heavily relied 24
on by juries. A single credible eyewitness could put a defendant 25
behind bars. And yet time and again, sworn witness accounts had 26
proven false. “In some instances victims lie, but many more are 27
simply mistaken. Far too little attention is paid to the vagaries of 28
memory.”
29
A tapping somewhere at the back of her mind, the past paying 30
a visit.
31
Things she remembered or thought she did.
32
Things she’d prefer to forget.
33
She finished the introductory section and moved on to the 34
rest, the case studies the author used to demonstrate his thesis. In S 35
the first, a ticket agent pointed to a sailor as the man who’d R 36
4 3
2nd PASS PAGES
13713_01_i-vi_001-344_r4jn.qxd 4/21/03 8:03 AM Page 44
A M Y G U T M A N
1
robbed him at gunpoint. But the totally innocent sailor had an 2
alibi. It was later discovered that the sailor had bought tickets in 3
the past. It was simply because he looked familiar that he’d been 4
picked from the lineup. In a second example, a psychologist stood 5
accused of rape, again having been selected by the victim from a 6
lineup. But at the very moment the rape was occurring, the psy-7
chologist was live on TV. The explanation? The victim had been 8
watching the program when she was assaulted, and the memory 9
of what she’d seen on screen had apparently merged with the 10
rape. Another classic case of unconscious transference, a glitch 11
in memory.
12
Unconscious transference.
13
Callie wrote down the words. She stared at the phrase for an-14
other few moments, thinking through what she’d read.
15
Far too little attention is paid to the vagaries of memory . . .
16
Far too little attention. Maybe.
17
But sometimes far too much.
18
She’d like to know more about these witnesses, so confident 19
and unyielding. Was there a personality type especially prone to 20
making such mistakes? Or how about another type, who con-21
stantly doubts herself? Who knows exactly what she’s seen yet re-22
fuses to acknowledge it? She herself would fall in this second 23
group, of that she was sure. Asked to identify someone, she would 24
be plagued with doubts. However confident she might feel, a 25
small part of her would wonder. She thought of a girl named 26
Laura Seton, recalled her haunted eyes, pictured her on the stand 27
at trial, pointing at Steven Gage. She thought of Sharon Adams, 28
Dahlia Schuyler’s friend. Even at the time, she’d reflexively won-29
dered how you knew for sure. Wasn’t there always that shade of 30
doubt that whispered you might be wrong?
31
Over the years, she’d taught herself to push certain facts aside.
32
It was a skill she’d carefully cultivated, a tool she’d used to sur-33
vive. First she’d done it for her daughter; later, for herself. For 34
years, the habit had served her well, and she’d never questioned 35 S
it. Only now did it occur to her that the strategy had its draw-36 R
backs. The note she’d found in the door last night, she’d pushed 4
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