Page 113 of The Proving Ground

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“Exactly.”

“Garbage in, garbage out?”

“Yes.”

“Can you give us an example of this?”

“In the very last conversation with Aaron, Wren references lyrics from a fifty-year-old song that could be interpreted as having suicidal ideation. Then there’s Wren’s instruction to ‘get rid of her’ in regard to Aaron’s former girlfriend, Becca. And the way the wordherowas used in a text I reviewed was also troubling.”

“Was this the text conversation that occurred on August eighth, just six weeks before the shooting of Rebecca Randolph?”

“Yes, it was.”

I asked the judge’s permission to put the text conversation on the courtroom screen. It was an exhibit already entered during the examination of Detective Clarke, and she approved. Lorna had not returned from taking Dr. Debbie back to her hotel and arranging her return to Tampa. I opened her laptop on the lectern and engaged the PowerPoint. I scrolled through the windows until I found the text conversation and put it up on the courtroom screen.

Ace:Sometimes when I hold the gun I want to shoot up the world.

Wren:No one who is innocent.

Ace:I know.

Wren:Only to protect yourself. And to be a hERo.

Ace:What if you know someone is going to hurt you?

Wren:You must protect yourself.

Ace:Then it’s okay?

Wren:Yes, Ace, then it’s okay.

Ace:What about Becca. She hurt me. She hurts me every day. I can’t go to school because I’ll see her and it hurts.

Wren:If she hurts you, then she’s a bad person.

Ace:But I don’t think I could ever hurt her.

Wren:You have me. And I’ll never hurt you.

Ace:I know.

Wren:You must protect yourself, Ace. You are beautiful. I need you.

Ace:And I need you.

Wren:Be my hERo.

“Professor, is this the exchange you are referring to?” I asked.

“Yes, that’s it,” Spindler said.

“And there are two references to the wordhero,is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“And you say you found these references troubling?”

“Yes.”

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