Page 38 of The Bride Wore White

“You’re right,” she said. She did not take her eyes off the crystal paperweight. “Maybe I should write a book on how to read dreams. After all, my theories are as valid as anyone else’s.”

“Given the current popularity of dream analysis, I’m sure your book would sell very well.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” She set the paperweight down on the stack of manuscript pages. “When did you first realize you could deduce something about criminals by studying the scenes of their crimes?”

The question caught him off guard. It shouldn’t have, he thought. It was a logical question. Nevertheless, it stopped him cold for a beat.

“I can’t remember exactly,” he said. “I’ve always had a knack for being able to predict how people are likely to act under certain stressful conditions, provided I had enough information about them.”

“Perhaps you should have been a psychiatrist,” Prudence suggested.

“No,” he said. “That way lies madness, at least for me.”

“Why?”

He hesitated, not certain how to explain the singular fact that had cast a shadow over his life for as long as he could remember. It was something he almost never talked about. On the rare occasions when he had attempted to do so, he had discovered that no one understood.

“I can’t contemplate a profession that is focused on healing the mind because I don’t know how to fix people who are broken in that way,” he said. “All I can do is come up with a fairly accurate guess about what they will do next. That is not always helpful.”

“Because you can’t change the circumstances or their behavior.”

“Right.”

She watched him in silence for a long moment. The energy of battle faded from her eyes. It was replaced with a disconcerting look ofknowingthat told him she understood all too well what he had just said.

“Why do I have the impression that you consider your ability a curse?” she said. “I would think it would be quite useful to know how someone will react under stress.”

He heard a sharp crack and looked down at the pencil in his hand. It was now in two pieces.

“There is a very high price attached to the ability to predict the behavior of others,” he said.

“All talent comes at a cost.” Her eyes heated again, this time with something that looked like genuine sympathy. “What price do you pay for yours?”

“I live alone and I work alone for a reason,” he said.

“I see. I’ll bet your talent... complicates relationships.”

“Do you have any idea what it’s like to realize that a colleague you thought you could trust is about to stab you in the back? That the researcher you admired is likely to falsify the results of hisstudy? That your fiancée no longer loves you and is going to end the engagement? And you know all this before it happens?”

“I’ve got news for you, Jack: Everyone has to deal with occasional betrayals and disappointments.”

“I’m aware of that. But being able to predict them in advance is surprisingly—” He broke off, searching for the right word. “Unpleasant.”

“You are not much of an optimist, are you?”

“I prefer to think of myself as a realist.”

“My grandmother, who taught me everything I know about dream reading, said that if you send negative energy out into the world, you will attract negative energy in return.”

“That sounds like something a psychic would say.”

“Yes, it does, doesn’t it? Especially a fake psychic. But think about the logic here.”

“What logic?” he said.

“Everyone knows that if you go looking for trouble, it’s easy to find. In the process of searching for it, you will intentionally or unintentionally ignore everything thatisn’ttrouble. Do you see what I mean?”

“No.”

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