Page 72 of Justice for Samara

There wastime for another interview before she was done for the day. She’d just assumed it would only take her a few minutes, but she was wrong.

The Burgess woman seemed to have some kind of medical problem, and it was hard to understand her speech. Her mother was there, and the older woman basically translated for her daughter. It was slow going.

“So, in the initial report you said that you didn’t recognize the man.” The woman nodded. “But would you know him if you saw him again?” The woman nodded again.

I wonder if she really understands what I’m asking her?She tried again. “If you saw a picture of him, do you think you’d recognize him?” Another nod. Samara pulled a picture from the file, one she’d printed as a control. It was of GrayLewis. “Is this him?” The woman shook her head furiously. “How about this one?” she asked as she pulled Stadler’s picture out and placed it on the table.

“Da him,” the woman mumbled.

“You’re sure?”

She nodded vehemently. “Yah.”

The mother was still sitting there, so Samara turned to her. “Could I speak with you in the other room for just a minute.”

“Sure.” The mother’s name was Amy, and her daughter was Brooke.

Once they’d cleared the doorway, Samara turned to Amy. “Can you tell me what happened to her?”

“She had a stroke about a year ago. They think she had a blood clot that was caused by birth control pills.”

“And it affected her speech?”

“Yes.”

“What about her cognition?”

“Her what?”

“Understanding. Does she understand what’s going on around her?”

Amy’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, yes. She knows everything going on around her. She reads four or five novels a week. There’s nothing wrong with her mind. She just can’t talk.”

“Okay. That makes her very helpful to me. Can you understand most of what she says?”

“Yes. I’m here with her all the time, so I can tell pretty well.”

Samara returned to her chair beside Brooke and picked up her pencil. “Brooke, can you tell us why you didn’t identify the man before?”

She mumbled something garbled and Samara couldn’t understand, but Amy seemed to. “She says she didn’t have a picture to look at. And she was afraid.”

“And why aren’t you afraid now?” That got another string of stuff that was foreign to Samara. When Brooke finished, Samara looked at Amy. “What did she say?”

“She said she’s not afraid because if he saw her, he’d think she was an idiot and couldn’t talk, so she’d be no threat to him.” Amy laughed. “Joke’s on him. She can type very well, and the program translates into spoken word, so she can type something and actually talk to you.”

“Could I see?” She’d never seen anyone do that, and Samara was very curious.

“Sure. The battery on her laptop was drained, so it’s been charging. Maybe it’s got enough of a charge to use. Hang on.” Amy left the room and came back with a small laptop. “Yeah, looks like it’s usable. Here you go, honey,” she said as she opened the lid and set the laptop in front of Brooke.

The young woman started to type furiously, then hit a key. A computerized voice said, “I know this seems weird, but it works for me. I can talk to you this way just like I would if I used my mouth.”

“Wow. That’s impressive, Brooke. So what can you tell me about him?”

Brooke typed like a maniac, then hit the key. “Not much. He was behind me, but I did get a look at him when he put me in the back seat. His face, I mean.”

“And you’re sure that’s him?”

More typing. “Yes. He was a Kentucky State Trooper.”