Page 86 of Grave Danger

“Not too loud or too soft?”

“No.”

“Good. So, it’s just right. You’re Goldilocks today, Yasmin. Everything should be just right. You let me know if it’s not, okay?”

She gave him a little smile, but it was a nervous one.

Jack eased into things, first getting her to talk about the visit to Judge Carlton’s chambers. His questions were purely conversational, intended only to reduce her stress, eliciting nothing that he didn’t already know from having watched by camera. Then he turned to the matter at hand.

“I want to talk about the drawings you made for Judge Carlton,” said Jack.

“Okay.”

“The first one was a drawing of your friends at school, right?”

“Yes.”

“The judge tells me that was a really good drawing.”

“Thank you.”

“The one we’re here to talk about is the third one,” said Jack. “The one you drew all by yourself, when no one was around.”

Yasmin averted her eyes. Jack gave her a moment, and the judge interjected.

“We’ll mark this as exhibit 1,” the judge said, and then he addressed the court-appointed psychiatrist, who was seated to the side. “Dr. Emanuel, could you please come forward and provide the witness with a copy?”

The psychiatrist complied. Yasmin took the drawing and looked at it, saying nothing. Jack placed his copy flat on the table in front of him.

“Did you make that drawing, Yasmin?”

“Yes.”

“Why did you make this drawing?”

“I dunno. I just did.”

“That’s fine,” said Jack, and he was suddenly thinking about Righley, and not just because of the way she said “I dunno.” Righley had an art teacher who liked to teach her class how to look at art. “IAI,” she’d say; “Identify, analyze, interpret.” Jack started with the “I.”

“First, I just want you to tell me what’s in the picture. I see three people, is that right?”

“Yes.”

“The person in the middle is a grown-up, right?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“You labeled her ‘Mommy.’ Is that your mommy?”

“Yes.”

“Next to her is another grown-up, right?”

“Yes.”

“You labeled that one ‘Him.’ Is ‘Him’ a man?”

“Yes.”