Not now, Chad!

What text?

He replied: can it wait till later?

Then almost immediately after he hit SEND, his phone vibrated again.

The text message read:

Then Matt’s phone started to ring. Its screen flashed: SOUP KING-1 CALL TODAY @ 1848.

Later is not now, dammit.

Matt pushed and held the 0/1 button.

Oh, look, Chad-my phone just “died.”

His phone screen went dark and then the phone turned off.

“Okay,” Dr. Amelia Payne was saying, “what often is confused with psychopathy is what’s called dissocial personality disorder. In concept, the two share the same criteria. But in reality there are distinct differences, ones that determine who truly is a psychopath.”

“What are these shared criteria?” Jim Byrth said.

“Behavior that is delinquent and criminal.”

“Well, our boy meets that criterion in spades. As my grandfather used to say, he’s meaner than a rattlesnake in a red-hot skillet.”

The Black Buddha chuckled.

“Furthermore,” Amy said, “prison studies have found that up to eighty percent of those incarcerated meet the criteria for dissocial personality disorder. But of those, only ten or so percent are in fact true psychopaths.”

“To borrow Jim’s word, that is fascinating, Amy,” Washington said. “Are there any precursors to the condition?”

She nodded, then took a drink of her wine.

“In the early 1960s,” Dr. Payne explained, “J. M. Macdonald came up with three indicators that pinpointed psychopathy in children. Those are bedwet ting, starting fires, and torturing animals.”

“The Macdonald triad,” Jim Byrth said.

“Exactly,” Amy Payne said, her face showing she was again impressed.

Byrth then said, “Well, I can’t speak to whether or not El Gato wets his bed. But he clearly has a history of torching and torturing.”

Everyone was quiet for a moment.

“Perhaps worse,” Amy then added, “it’s been found that a psychopath is untreatable.”

Byrth nodded. “The best you can do is incarcerate them-in solitary confinement, away from the general population, unless you want more deaths-and throw away the key.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Matt said, and did.

The Black Buddha sipped thoughtfully at his Bushmills martini, then said, “Amy, it’s been some time-I won’t date myself-since I sat in a Psychology 101 class. Would you mind going over what causes such a sickness? What makes them different than any of us?”

Matt looked at Tony Harris. “Don’t even think of saying what you’re thinking, Tony.”

Harris grinned, then downed his Bushmills on the rocks and reached for the bottle for a refill.

Amy looked at Matt and shook her head.

She then said, “Of course, Jason. It’s fairly familiar ground for all of us. It goes back to what Freud said. He wrote of das Es, das Ich, and das?ber-Ich.”

She took a sip of her wine, then said, “As you’ll recall, that translates, respectively, as the It, the I, and the Over-I-or the Id, the Ego, and the Superego.

“The Id is the part of our personality that acts on pleasure, on immediate gratification. It is absolutely unashamedly amoral.”

Byrth saw Payne and Harris exchange glances. The three of them then grinned at the thought of what the other might be thinking.

It was not lost on Amy.

“The classic example,” she said pointedly, looking at Matt, “is that of an infant. A baby has been described as an alimentary tract exhibiting no sense of responsibility at either end.” She paused, sipped her wine, then added, “So, not surprisingly, the Id is all about our basic drives, from food to sex.”

“And I’ll damn sure drink to that,” Matt said.

That earned him a glare from Amy.

She snapped, “Jesus, little brother. How about reining in your Id! This sophomoric behavior is ridiculous!”

Matt looked at her, about to bark back. Then he realized that he’d heard some genuine disgust in her tone.

Shit. Maybe she’s right.

Hope I didn’t just embarrass myself in front of Amanda.

And I don’t know if it’s because I’m exhausted or what, but I’m starting to feel this booze.

It has been an absolutely incredible day… in every way.

Payne looked at Amanda.

Especially now that I think I’ve found the perfect woman.

He felt a warm sensation, and was not convinced it was not from the scotch.

Crank up the violins.

Looks like it’s time to think about winding up living happily-ever-after in that vine-covered cottage by the side of the road.

Amanda felt his attention.

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.”