Chapter 295: The Defense Attorney, Trembling with Rage: Calling Psychiatrist Beverly to Testify!
"I have finished my examination. Thank you again, Dr. Wolfe, for all your efforts in protecting public safety. It has been an honor to work with you."
The bald prosecutor noticed that as soon as Chuck made this point, the jury members immediately appeared thoughtful, nodding slightly. Knowing it had landed, he smiled and concluded his questioning, giving Harrison Powell a sympathetic look.
"The defense may cross-examine."
Harrison Powell stood, slowly walking from the defense table toward the witness stand, carefully considering his approach.
He'd been confident he had a strategy, but facing Chuck's unnervingly calm gaze, he felt somewhat deflated and needed more time to steel himself.
However, even he didn't realize this pause had dragged on far too long, to the point that Judge Jackson had to prompt him.
"Defense counsel, you may proceed!"
"Yes, Your Honor."
Harrison Powell then realized his composure was slipping. Looking at Chuck on the witness stand, he kept giving himself mental pep talks.
"He's just a witness being cross-examined now, not some omniscient genius who can see right through you."
He repeated this mantra several times before avoiding Chuck's direct gaze and looking in his general direction to ask, "Dr. Wolfe, you claim the explosives at the Cross residence were manufactured by my client. What evidence supports this?"
"The police investigation confirmed that the materials were purchased in multiple batches under Patrick Cross's name," Chuck said. "And Esther's fingerprints were found in the explosives workshop."
"That doesn't prove my client manufactured these devices, does it?" Harrison Powell challenged. "It's entirely possible that Patrick Cross constructed them and then provided them to Emma for deployment.
We all know that Linda Cross and Beth Harmon both gave police statements saying they heard Emma make certain claims.
That means Patrick always wanted to kill Linda, but you thwarted him previously.
That's why he adopted her and Beth Harmon from the orphanage—because he recognized there was an alter personality, Emma, inside Esther, and wanted to manipulate Emma into killing Linda.
This way, he could achieve his goal and you wouldn't be able to prove anything, correct?
And compared to Emma constructing these devices, isn't Patrick Cross—the chess grandmaster renowned for his intellect—more likely to fit your theory?"
"That's certainly a possibility," Chuck said flatly. "But there's no question that Esther manufactured these explosives. Because she has a compulsion to 'announce' her intentions before committing crimes.
The police found a drawing in her room, made with special invisible ink, depicting the entire process of constructing explosives and then attempting to remotely detonate them to kill me.
She portrayed herself doing all of this in the drawing, without any accomplices.
Following this lead, traces of this invisible ink were also found in the orphanage where she lived and in the home of her first adoptive family in America.
According to her drawing, if she could eliminate me, she could become 'the supreme overlord who rules the world.'
Linda Cross and Beth Harmon, who were held hostage by her at the time, can testify that she told her accomplice David Cross exactly this.
The most crucial point is that I wasn't present during their statements, so she couldn't have known what they would tell police."
"..."
Harrison Powell paused, involuntarily turning to look at his client. Although her eyes appeared innocent, her arm was visibly straining—clearly, the hand that had gripped him earlier was tightening again.
The other observers and jury members regarded the small figure at the defense table with strange expressions.
To 'announce it' before committing such heinous acts... that was just so American.
Hard to say whether Esther was naturally adapting to American culture or was just too immature.
"I've also seen the drawing, and I didn't observe it depicting someone constructing explosives," Harrison Powell argued.
"Simple. Either you knew Esther did everything and had already decided to pursue an insanity defense, so you didn't care about the evidence," Chuck said calmly, "or you know nothing about explosives, didn't study chemistry properly, and lack basic scientific literacy."
"Either stupid or bad,"
Randy in the gallery blurted out, remembering something Chuck had said earlier.
Because of Chuck's naturally soft-spoken nature, everyone was focused on him, listening intently to every word, which made other voices in the courtroom even more audible.
And with the naturally oblivious Randy not thinking to whisper, the entire courtroom heard his comment.
As everyone exchanged bewildered glances, finding Chuck's assessment so succinct yet so vivid, and barely managing to suppress their laughter, Chuck nodded matter-of-factly. "That's an accurate summary."
Someone in the courtroom laughed first, followed by a wave of laughter throughout the room.
"..."
Harrison Powell, though not the only one who didn't laugh, stood there ashen-faced, his body trembling slightly.
This was precisely why he'd earlier cursed himself for being curious about what unpredictable direction the trial would take with Chuck's involvement.
Because the unknown could be thrilling, or it could mean you became someone else's entertainment.
And predictably, things went sideways the moment Chuck got involved.
He, who should have been commanding the room, did indeed possess some brilliance—but he was the villain being utterly outshone.
"Order!"
Judge Jackson, ever the professional, immediately called for quiet, then glanced sympathetically at the trembling Harrison Powell. "Defense counsel, do you wish to continue your cross-examination?"
"Yes!"
Harrison Powell shuddered, glanced at Esther at the defense table, and with his fingers hidden from view, gritted his teeth and pinched his thigh hard. The sharp pain reignited his determination.
"This drawing may indeed have been created by Emma, but doesn't that further prove she has a mental disorder? Otherwise, how could she conceive such a delusional idea?"
Harrison Powell said with a blank expression. "Eliminate you, and she'll become the world's supreme overlord?"
"That only proves she's malevolent, not that she's an alter personality," Chuck corrected.
"Then what evidence do you have to prove that the innocent Esther before us doesn't exist?" Harrison Powell challenged.
"The logical inconsistency I'm pointing out is the evidence," Chuck looked at him. "Otherwise, what are we doing here?"
Snickers erupted in the courtroom again.
"...But you also acknowledged that Emma could theoretically have accomplished that in such a short timeframe, couldn't you?
That doesn't prove there's any logical problem, or that my client Esther is definitely lying!"
Harrison Powell retorted.
"No! I said that unless you're a super-genius, you couldn't accomplish that in such extremely brief intervals," Chuck corrected.
"Right, I remember!"
Harrison Powell's blank expression suddenly transformed into a smile as he looked around at the jurors. "Dr. Wolfe, how can you be so certain Emma isn't that super-genius?"
"Simple," Chuck said calmly. "Just produce her, and we can determine it through IQ testing."
"It is indeed simple," Harrison Powell nodded first, then shook his head. "But I can't do that, because Esther is genuinely just a nine-year-old girl right now. Forcing her alter to emerge by threatening her would be too cruel. No person of conscience could do that."
"You don't dare," Chuck said bluntly. "You know she couldn't pass an IQ test for super-genius level, so even with such straightforward proof available, you still won't demonstrate the possibility you're claiming to the jury.
You're committed to keeping this Emma you're talking about hidden, hoping some jury members will be swayed by emotion over reason."
"That's not my intention," Harrison Powell denied. "The prosecution bears the burden of proof, not me!
I'm simply pointing out there's a possibility that an innocent person like Esther could spend her entire life imprisoned for something she knows nothing about. I trust the jurors and judge to make their own determination."
As he said this, he noticed the jury members weren't really buying it.
After Chuck had exposed this fundamental logical flaw, it was clear the jury possessed basic rational judgment, and relying on Esther's natural childlike appearance and excellent acting skills wouldn't be sufficient to sway them anymore.
Those who completely disregarded science and were extremely anti-intellectual wouldn't even be on a jury.
Jury members undergo extensive voir dire by both prosecution and defense—those seated there are generally ordinary people with basic rationality, not extremists.
Even if such people did slip through, they wouldn't side with Esther.
Because what Esther did represented an outsider who, rather than showing gratitude, severely harmed a kind American family.
This was absolutely intolerable to anyone, regardless of their intellectual leanings.
"Dr. Wolfe, can you do it?" Harrison Powell glanced at Esther. He already knew the answer from her eyes—even if the malevolent 'Emma' were willing to emerge, she definitely couldn't pass a super-genius IQ test. So he changed tactics.
"I mean, learn the relevant theory of explosives and construct a sophisticated device in a very short timeframe?"
At this point, the bald prosecutor would normally stand and object to relevance.
But he did nothing, simply watching with amusement as Harrison Powell continued digging his own grave.
"Of course."
Chuck nodded.
"Because you're a super-genius?"
Harrison Powell shrugged.
"You're no different than before."
Chuck looked at him.
Although Chuck didn't elaborate, everyone understood the implication. In Chuck's assessment, Harrison asking that question was either stupid or bad.
Because Chuck being a super-genius was common knowledge to anyone even remotely familiar with him.
No one could dispute it!
"You just need to answer yes or no!"
Harrison Powell said with a dark expression, exercising his right as defense counsel.
"Yes."
Chuck glanced at him.
"Do you know any other super-geniuses who could accomplish all this?"
Harrison Powell mentally cursed himself for not cutting Chuck off earlier, but asked aloud.
"Yes."
Chuck replied succinctly.
"Give me examples,"
Harrison Powell pressed.
"Paige Swanson, Sheldon Cooper, Spencer Reid, Sherlock Holmes..."
Chuck began listing names.
"So many,"
Harrison Powell forced a chuckle. "I had no idea there were so many super-geniuses in our era..."
He paused, then choked on Chuck's 'You're not connected, of course you wouldn't know' expression, and pinched his thigh hard to regain composure before continuing.
"I don't know about the others, but I do know about Paige Swanson and Sheldon Cooper."
Harrison Powell surveyed the courtroom. "So since you've grouped these people together, I can assume they all have high-functioning autism, also known as Asperger's syndrome, just like you, correct?"
"Yes,"
Chuck nodded.
"This condition is classified as a mental disorder, isn't it?"
Harrison Powell's mood suddenly brightened.
"Yes,"
Chuck didn't deny it.
"So, can I interpret it this way: anyone who could learn the theory and produce sophisticated explosives in such a short time must be a super-genius?"
Harrison Powell said, drawing out his words as he looked at the jurors, emphasizing each syllable: "And super-geniuses all have mental disorders!"
"In our world, that's accurate,"
Chuck nodded straightforwardly.
In the world of high-functioning geniuses, this was an undeniable reality.
In psychological terms: "It's a gift, and it's a curse!"
"Was Patrick Cross a genius?"
Harrison Powell asked. "You just need to answer yes or no!"
"Yes,"
Chuck nodded.
Although he looked down on the man, that was from his perspective. For ordinary people, a chess grandmaster was an undisputed genius.
"So, someone who could use similar methods that the genius Patrick Cross employed to murder his wife to quietly murder him—wouldn't that make them a super-genius?"
Harrison Powell looked at the jurors. "And if she is a super-genius, then according to super-genius Dr. Wolfe's testimony, Emma must have a mental disorder, so it's perfectly plausible for her to have developed a malevolent alter personality to protect the innocent primary personality, Esther."
He didn't give Chuck a chance to respond, turning directly to Judge Jackson. "Your Honor, I would like to call a psychiatric expert witness."
"Her name is Dr. Beverly Hofstadter, a neuroscientist, psychiatrist, and developmental psychology expert at Princeton University.
And she also has Sheldon Cooper—the super-genius Dr. Wolfe mentioned—living in her home. I don't think anyone understands the relationship between super-genius intellect and mental disorders better than she does."
(End of Chapter)
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