Page 59 of So Silent

"Sure did. Ethan had a safe in his basement with the old murder weapon. About six dozen pictures, too."

She grimaced. “Lovely.”

“Yeah, Not the word I would use.”

“Fair enough.” She sipped more of her coffee and focused on the comforting warmth percolating through her system. “How did you know about that case? The Cherry Waterson case?”

“My Behavioral Analysis instructor at the academy used it as an example of how some killers use a warped sense of justice to excuse their violent tendencies. She claimed that whoever killed Cherry had driven himself insane so he could convince himself that what he was doing was right, but the real reason was just jealousy and a belief that he had inferior masculinity. You know, because he went after the girl and not the man.”

Faith shook her head. "I don't know if I believe that. I mean, Ethan was high-functioning up until a year ago. Maybe he just snapped finally, but…” she lifted her hands and let them drop. “What did the psychologist say? Do you know?”

“They’re buying it. Looks like his defense is going to use not guilty by insanity. They’ll win too.”

Faith pursed her lips and crossed her arms. “I just… I don’t know. Maybe that’s a legitimate defense, but it sucks knowing that he’s going to get away with it.”

“Is he though? The facilities these guys get sent to aren’t any different from prison. Except the guards are allowed to tie you to a chair and force-feed you pills. Wherever he ends up, he’s in for a bad life.”

“But it’s a life,” Faith replied. “It’s better than nothing.”

“Maybe,” Michael replied. “Between you and me, I’m just glad that my part of the job’s over. I have bad nights thinking about the victims I couldn’t save, but I couldn’t imagine being on a jury trying to figure out if it’s right to torture a crazy person for the rest of their life because he thought he was protecting himself.”

Faith wanted to reply that it was right, of course it was. Innocent people had a right to be safe, even if the killers that threatened them weren’t entirely in control of their faculties.

But all she said was, “I’m glad my job’s over too.” It was the only thing about which she was one hundred percent sure.

“Hey, how about you and David come over for dinner on Saturday?” Michael asked.

She gave him a sidelong glance. “You sure Ellie will be okay with that?”

“I think when I tell her it’s a chance to meet David, she will be. If she knows you’re dating someone else, and she can put a face to that name, then maybe she’ll stop worrying about you and I as partners. Besides, it’s a little weird that I’m your best friend and I still haven’t met your boyfriend of over a year.”

“Good point,” she said. “Yes, we would love to.”

“You don’t need to ask him first?”

She gave him another sidelong glance. “No. Why would I?”

Michael sighed. “It must be nice to have all the power in the relationship.”

“Considering the crap we have to put up with from men, I think it’s only fitting that women should be in charge of at least some of the decisions in the relationship.”

He laughed. “You mean all of the decisions, right?”

“We’re getting along now,” Faith replied. “Let’s not ruin that.”

“Fair enough. I wasn’t quite sure how to backpedal my way out of this subject anyway.”

“Well, here’s your out. And anyway, I’m sure David would love to meet both of you. He’s still pretty convinced he’s my dirty little secret and not a man I see a future with.”

“I don’t blame him. You hide him like he’s no more than a toy.”

“I’m going to give you a chance to backpedal again,” Faith said drily.

“Yep. I’m gonna take it. Looking forward to Saturday.”

“Smart man.”

Chapter Twenty Seven

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