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When she looked at him, he quickly averted his eyes.

Then he looked back.

She was still looking at him.

Am I hoping beyond hope?

She made a slight smile, and turned her attention to Amy.

I devoutly hope not…

Amy was saying, “The Ego, Freud said, represents reason and common sense. It’s our reality for the long term. And being in the middle, it tries to balance the extremities of the Id and Superego. The Superego being the opposite of the Id. It’s our conscience. It understands what’s wrong and right-and wants perfection. It triggers our guilt.”

Byrth grunted. “And it’s what the psychopath is missing.”

“In a broad stroke,” Amy said, “yes, it is. Would you care to hear details on defining a psychopath? Or am I boring everyone to tears?”

“No, please do, Amy,” the Black Buddha said.

“Yes, continue,” Tony Harris put in.

Amanda Law and Jim Byrth were nodding their assent. Matt made a grand motion with his hand that said, Carry on.

Amy looked at him, then at her wine stem. She held it out toward Matt, who refilled it with the Sharaz.

“Okay,” she began, “a psychopath is defined as one with chronic immoral and antisocial behavior. Someone whose gratification is found in criminal and sexual and aggressive impulses. And they are not able to learn from past mistakes.

“There is a standard instrument used by researchers and clinicians worldwide that’s called the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised. The PCL-R has proven to be reliable. And very much valid. It was named for Dr. Robert D. Hare, a well-known researcher in the field of criminal psychology.

“The PCL-R separates behavior into two categories: aggressive narcissism and socially deviant lifestyle.”

She paused to look between Matt and Tony. But there was no more of their sophomoric humor. They were paying rapt attention.

She went on: “Within these two categories, Hare lists separate character traits that the patient may or may not have. For each, he assigns a grade between zero and two. The higher the sum, the more severe the patient’s pathology.”

She paused and looked around the table.

“Everyone still with me?”

There were nods. Matt grunted an “Uh-huh.”

“All right,” she continued, “under aggressive narcissism are: superficial charm, a grand sense of self-worth, pathological lying, being cunning and manipulative, no remorse or guilt, shallowness, a cold lack of empathy, and inability to take responsibility for his own actions.”

Matt Payne perked up. “Well, hell, that pretty much paints the perfect picture of most bad guys.”

Amy nodded. “Right. But there’s also Hare’s other component. Under socially deviant lifestyle are these traits: a need to be stimulated; can’t handle being bored; a lifestyle that’s parasitic; can’t control own behavior; promiscuity; no long-term goals, at least ones that are realistic; being impulsive; irresponsibility; juvenile delinquency; childhood behavior problems. And one or two others I can’t recall just now.”

She paused and drained her glass.

“And that ends my speech,” she said. “You add all those up, and you have your psychopath.”

Byrth grunted. “I do indeed wish we did have our psychopath. He needs to be off the streets.”

Matt Payne looked at Amanda Law and said, “While we’re on topics that are uncomfortable, Amanda, am I allowed to ask about Becca?”

She looked at Matt and could see his concern was genuine.

“There’s more than professional curiosity, isn’t there? You do care about her, don’t you?”