Page 117 of Lumi
Charles poured a glass of lemonade. “It’s a sad situation, but John brought this on himself. I gave him a warning that he ignored when he went straight to Lumi’s office.”
“Did Jessie know anything about the investigation and firing?” I asked Liv.
“No. She hadn’t heard from John since he left the US.”
“Dang! Can you imagine getting a phone call like that?” Jolene asked Liv in her American accent.
“Well, that’s the reason I called Jessie. I thought she was going out of her mind with worry. We’ve known John and his family for eight years, so it felt like the right thing to reach out. I tried to tell her to talk to John, but she wanted answers, and I didn’t blame her.”
I nibbled at a grape. “So, now his wife knows that he got fired yesterday?”
“Yes, I told her about the investigation and how Charles called him over here to place him on leave until we knew more. I didn’t have many details, except that incriminating emails were found yesterday, and that John showed up at your office and acted in a threatening manner, which ultimately made Charles fire him.” Liv sighed. “Jessie was as shocked as the rest of us that he would show up at Lumi’s home and get himself arrested. She told me to apologize to you on his behalf. But of course, I told her she’s not responsible for her husband’s actions.”
“I have a question.” River moved to the edge of her seat and looked first at Liv and then at Atlas and Jolene. “Is John White a psychopath?”
“Yes!” Nathan exclaimed.
“You can’t say that.” Liv protested. “Not every person with a low level of integrity is a psychopath.”
“But he cheated and took no responsibility when he got caught. Isn’t that a sign of a psychopath?”
Atlas held up a hand. “First of all, the term isn’t psychopath, but antisocial personality disorder. It’s not a diagnosis you should throw around just because people behave like assholes.”
“So, he’s not a psychopath?” River asked with her head tilted.
Jolene cleared her throat. “River, the thing is, psychopathy is a spectrum. We use a checklist called the HarePsychopathyChecklist to go over twenty criteria. It takes a score of above thirty to be in the level of what you like to call a psychopath. What a lot of people don’t understand is that we are all somewhere on that spectrum.”
“Did you take the test?” I asked Jolene.
She nodded.
“Well, what did you score?”
“I scored five, which is normal for people with non-criminal backgrounds.”
“Does that mean you’re a bad person?” Saffron, who was sitting on Charles’ lap, asked.
I smiled at my sister, who was such a straightforward child.
“No, Saffron. It means Jolene is a good person,” Atlas clarified and looked back at the rest of us. “But don’t forget that while most serial-killing monsters are psychopaths, not all psychopaths are serial killers. Many are high achievers in important jobs.”
River crossed her arms. “I’m confused. You make it sound like it can be a good thing to be a psychopath.”
“It depends how you look at it. Their traits of not being controlled by emotions make them able to stay calm in frightening situations. That’s helpful in any job that involves high pressure. I don’t know about you, but I would prefer a surgeon who isn’t easily spooked or distracted by his personal life.”
“Atlas is making a good point,” Jolene said. “Psychopaths are great at taking risks and making bold decisions. They’re ruthless, goal-oriented, and they don’t lose sleep over other people’s opinion about them. That’s why many of them thrive in business, the army, or even politics.”
“Sounds like ye just described several of my colleagues. Say, how many psychopaths are there?” Damian asked.
“Statistically, only about one percent of the population,” Jolene stated.
I ran a quick calculation in my head. “Hold on. What do you mean byonly? If one percent of the population are psychopaths, that means we have almost fifty thousand psychopaths in Ireland alone. That can’t be right.”
Kit chuckled and pushed at Damian’s knee. “How high do ye think we’d score on that test?”
Atlas raised his eyebrows. “As I said, most are doing well in society, and you wouldn’t know it unless you tested them.”
“This is fascinating.” River reached for some more fruit. “Jolene, do you know if there are more women than men?”
