Chapter 31 Chapter Thirty

Aklan was still sitting on the corner of the bed without moving, still in the same sitting position, half of his disfigured face was facing the door, staring at the opposite wall, he didn't seem to care about the people coming and going outside.Jackson watched him for a few seconds.He has an extraordinary concentration, she thought. "Were you born with this patience, or did you develop it in the military?" she asked. He turned his gaze to her. "I learned this as a child. There's no point in sitting in a room by myself getting agitated or angry, and nothing I do will make a difference anyway. Now, it just comes naturally. "

"Did you know I was at the door?" He nodded, "I heard your footsteps." She walked into the room. "Did anyone tell you that Jen was in custody?" He nodded again. "They're waiting to interrogate her." Jackson pointed to the head of the bed. "Is that okay?" She took his silence as consent, sat down on the edge of the bed, leaned forward, and put her elbows on her knees, "Sheriff Wanted to ask you first. What do you think? Do you need me to fudge him for a while...give you a little more time?" "why?" "That way you can decide how you'd like to work with. Mr. Jones needs to know everything, and I'm afraid—every bit of detail—he's going to ask the bottom line until he gets what he wants." She glanced sideways. , "We both understand why you react so strongly to being touched, Charles. I suspect you don't have many secrets left."

"I wouldn't bet on that." "How many times has Jane used the stun gun on you?" "It depends on whether you count the repeated pressing of the discharge button," he said, "if she shocks me every five minutes, she can lay me on the ground for as long as she wants." His good eyes wrinkled humorously. He frowned; "Isn't it stupid for a man to be knocked down more than once?" "Is this what embarrasses you? You think you're stupid?" "It shows that I was not well trained in the army. Soldiers should always be prepared for surprise attacks."

Jackson smiled. "An attack from an enemy, maybe...not from a friend." "The first time she used it I didn't even know she had the thing. She said it was an accident and only shocked me once. The second time we were supposed to be going out I was sleeping on a chair She said it was just to teach me a lesson, who told me not to take her seriously." He fell into a short silence, "That was not long before I went to Oman, she said that she did that just because she wanted to leave pissed off by the fact... so I snatched the damn thing out of her hands and smashed it with a hammer."

"But she bought another one after you left?" Aclan nodded. "These things are easy to come by, Charles. Daisy's been sold to her a few times in the back streets. You shouldn't beat yourself up for this one." He didn't say anything. Jackson straightened up, "What happened?" "I told her I had time to think about it all in Oman and that our engagement was over. She couldn't rationally accept that." He chuckled softly. "I turned my back on her. Naive, wasn't it? " "How many times have you been electrocuted?"

Akram shook his head, "I can't count. Every time I try to stand up, she presses it again. The charge works on your head...and makes you lose your coordination. Repeated shocks take everything from you." behavioral capacity." "That's why this stuff is illegal in the UK. In the hands of someone like Jen, it could kill you. The human body can't take that much shock." "She thought it was fun." Jackson heard the hate in his voice, "How did you stop her?" "She answered a call...it lasted longer than she realized. When she came back, I managed to grab her wrist and point the gun at her." He fell into a brief silence again, "I Could have killed her. I could have easily done it, and she understood."

"Why didn't you do that?" "Because I'm not that bad." Like your father, she wondered, "Has Jane ever used anything else on you besides a stun gun?" "There's nothing I want to talk about." Jackson shook his head. "Mr. Jones won't take that kind of answer. He needs to know if she ever hit you with a ball." Akram hesitated, "She didn't have to knock me down before using the ball club. That's her favorite weapon. It was just a joke at first... If I'm late, give me a light tap on the wrist. Around July, when I told her about my month-long training in Oman, her behavior kicked in. At one point she nearly broke my arm."

Jackson glanced at him again. "When was the first time you used a bob? Before or after the engagement?" "I'm not exactly an idiot. After that." He smiled wryly again, "She was fine until then," he paused, "and I thought maybe I made her do things she didn't want to do. things, but she got worse when I said there was no need for our relationship to continue. Whenever she started messing around, I would slip away...but she didn't like it either." "In the Crown Bar II horse?" He nodded. "I told the sheriff I never spoke to that taxi driver, but I think I might have. I remember he gave me a business card, which I passed to Jen. She doesn't matter where she goes." Take a taxi." He fell into another silence.

"So what is it that annoys Jane?" "Same thing that annoys my mother...it doesn't go her way. As long as you agree with her, it's fine. When you say 'no,' the trouble starts." "Some people can't think well without consistent approval. Any dissent is seen as rejection, and their reaction is anger because they feel demeaned or betrayed. This description fits Jane and your mother ?" "Beyond that, there's something else that you've missed." "Like what?" "They live in a fantasy world of how sweet and lovely they are...the more praise you give them, the worse they get...they don't really care about anyone else," he paused, sighing, "you know, Jane It wasn't always like that. She was really good at first."

"And probably still, if she wanted to," Jackson said calmly. "People with personality disorders don't lack charisma. If they want to manipulate some form to their own satisfaction, they use personality." Charm ... especially if they think they're special in some way." Akram's good eyes blinked humorously, "Tell me something I don't know." "Well," she agreed, "your father deserves your admiration, not your contempt. From what you've told me, it seems he's been in huge trouble trying to break free from domestic abuse. Strange circle. On the one hand, he needs to control his reaction to your mother's aggression; on the other hand, he also needs to protect you from the worst side of you. It's not an easy task."

Aklan said indifferently: "However, it's useless, isn't it?" Jackson looked at him thoughtfully, "You tell me. I only know of two times you fought back against Jen—the last time you went to her apartment, and the day she visited you in the hospital. And ?" "Three times, if you count the one with the stun gun." He clenched his fist into one hand and squeezed the other. "If I were more like my father, those people would still be alive. Those dates match." "It doesn't mean you're responsible for it. She can just as well have you lying helpless on the floor, which gives her a perverted sense of power, which she re-enacts because she enjoys it. She looked at his writhing hands. "You said I shouldn't bet that I know all your secrets. What else did she do to you?" He avoided answering directly, "If Jen wasn't doing it to humiliate the men, she wouldn't be carrying that bob." humiliation? "How to do it?" His expression was dark, "the same way she humiliated me," he said. Jones and Bill listened in silence to Jackson's statement. "He told us last night that he raped Jen as punishment," Jones said, waiting for Jackson to finish. "That sounds more plausible now. Is that the real reason he came back to Jen's apartment? Revenge in the same way." she?" "I guess that's about it. He said he sent Jen a text warning her to go away, but I'm sure he knew Jen wouldn't heed his warning." "Is that why he feels responsible?" Bill asked. "I suppose so," said Jackson, with a touch of sarcasm, "that he didn't become a monk for religious reasons." She paused. many things." "The death of three men," Bill agreed. "Two," she corrected, "his armor . He never expected Jane to take her anger out on strangers." "He still made a difference," Jones said, "even unintentionally." "Then you could say the same about Harold Shipman's wife. Being in a relationship with a psychopath doesn't mean you're sending them down a criminal path." Jones nodded in agreement. "However, something Charles did seemed to trigger a psychotic reaction. All three murders occurred after he met Jane." He paused. "What's your opinion on that?" "Since you have a ready-made decryption master ready to call, why do you care what I think?" "You are closer to Charles than anyone else." "Even so, the person you need to figure out is Jane, and I don't know any more about her than you do . . . except what Charles told me." "I am listening." Jackson shook his head, "I'm just an ordinary temporary doctor, not an expert in trial psychology." "If there's anything common about you, then I'm in the wrong business," Jones quipped. "I want your idea, doctor, not a sociopathological treatise." Jackson grinned, "If it was a thesis, I might do better." She held up her hand in a peaceful gesture, "Okay, okay!" She thought for a moment, "The obvious trigger is Charles's constant rejection of Jen...but she's also thrilled to be able to make a man helpless. She's used a stun gun on him twice before, so obviously she enjoys the power it gives her." "He should have left her the first time." "Do you think Charles doesn't know this? It all seems so easy in hindsight. He doesn't understand women in the least. The only thing his upbringing taught him about women is not to argue with them... Nothing beats That fits Jen's personality better. In some ways, he's the perfect partner for Jen." "Has Jane realized that?" Jackson shrugged. "Maybe. I suspect Jane has a lot more feelings for Charles than Charles realizes." "Then why did she attack Charles in that way?" "Using a high-voltage stun gun? Because Charles gave her an eviction order, and she was not ready to accept this fact." Jones looked skeptical. "She thinks hitting him in the ass with a ball-nosed bat will convince him to change his mind?" "She was angry, she wanted to hurt Charles, and the anger made her lose her mind." Seeing Jones' puzzled expression, Jackson shrugged again, "Look, what the hell do I know? Maybe Charles is right, all her whimsical thoughts It's just trying to humiliate people." There was a short silence. "The two views are not mutually exclusive," Beer said, "and anger usually takes the form of taking an opponent down ... either verbally or physically." "So why didn't she push through the rage when she incapacitated the lieutenant?" Jones asked. "Why did she keep him alive?" "Because she loves him," Jackson said, "the diversity of domestic violence is as much about strong attachment as it is about being very controlling and manipulative." "You seem quite convinced that Jane's feelings are genuine. Does the Lieutenant agree with you?" "No. He thought Jane was just using him as a meal ticket." "Why don't you think so?" "Because it was Charles who lost enthusiasm first. He wanted an equal partner—unlike the relationship he understood his parents had—and when he realized how demanding Jane was, he started to lose interest. It was also at this time that Jane Aggression surfaced. She was determined to keep Charles." "Maybe it's only when she puts on the ring that her true nature comes out," Bill said. Jackson nodded, "That's one aspect, too... Another issue is the fact that she used drugs. She may have tried to get over it when they first started dating, but then she started recovering when she realized the realities of military life." Sucks. The military life that Charles is often away from for long periods of time is not inherently suitable for a woman who craves constant attention. I believe her purpose in visiting Charles in Birmingham is to prove to him that he cannot live without her. She must think so Yes, otherwise she wouldn't have gone. I can't imagine her anticipating a hateful response." "He showed hatred when he raped her," Jones pointed out. "You and I might think that way, but I suspect Jen doesn't. It was sex, it was territory she knew well. You need to put yourself in her shoes. She is beautiful, sexy, Charles' behavior Shows that he still needs her, otherwise he wouldn't be able to get an erection at all." "He said he was paid to do it." "That doesn't mean she's less sexy. Some guys will pay more to sleep with her." "Nothing recently," Bill said. "We just found out that an agency was still advertising her on the site, and she hadn't been picked for weeks. Apparently word got around and she had a bad reputation with clients." . Dexterous, not too docile." Jackson frowned, "Charles said he saw her with a Japanese." "We also saw ... probably the same person ... but almost certainly a private arrangement with a man who used to employ her. We think that's where most of her work now comes from. Her dealer said, Her ability to earn a living has suddenly declined a lot over the past six months." "Then maybe Charles is right. He's convinced that the only reason Jane went to the hospital was to get his disability money." "Why don't you think so?" Jones asked. "In that case, she would have appeared to Charles with a look of remorse and tears of remorse on her face, begging him to give her another chance. Instead, she went with his favorite fantasy, even wearing a The same clothes as the day she used the Taser on him." Jackson raised his eyebrows pityingly, "And, you know the bob isn't the worst problem Charles has, most of the time, she'll be holding a bread knife, to his genitals and threatened to castrate him." "Go on." "The only conclusion I can draw from this is that Jen thinks Charles is as excited as she is by her dominatrix sadism." Jones smiled cynically. "It's a big leap of the imagination." "I'm not saying it's reasonable, Sheriff. I'm saying that's what a woman with a strong sense of ego might think." "However, according to Dr Campbell, Jen told Charles' psychiatrist in Birmingham that she hoped his amnesia would cover the end of their relationship. In her series of love letters to Charles, she didn't even mention Rape, not to mention the fact that he was nearly castrated." "But he didn't read it, and he didn't reply." "So what?" Jackson shrugged again. "What would you think if you were Jane?" "Charles never got those letters." Jackson nodded, "The content of the letter is purely emotional comfort. It only mentions the good things that have happened between them. What do you think of this fact?" "Does she hope he has forgotten?" "Or she was afraid the nurse would read it to him because she didn't know about Charles' injury." She paused, "The more interesting question is why Charles was willing to give the letter to his therapist unopened when He is vehemently resisting revealing anything about their relationship." "Go on." "He knew Jen was going to do what his parents had done all their lives...to keep their secrets. He preferred to keep it that way. The only way he knew to deal with hurt was to suck it in." She sighed "He said, all along you have been trying to crucify him... If you force him to go to court to support the lawsuit, you are tantamount to publicly humiliating and torturing him. Drag all this to a public place like a court , the burden he needs to carry is too heavy." Jones shook his head. "You underestimate him, Doctor. If there's one thing we've learned about the Lieutenant in the past few days, it's that he's more determined than you or I to face his fears." .”