Blood Passage by Michael J. McCann Read Free Book Online Page B

Liu.”
    “ How’d she feel about this dream at the time? Did she say?”
    Josh looked at him. “What you’re actually asking is whether or not Mrs. Chan wanted her child to be the reincarnation of her cousin. Was her state of mind positive or negative when it came to the possibility that it might be true?”
    Hank smiled faintly. “Yeah, that’s what I’m asking.”
    “ Dr. Walsh questioned both parents in this regard tangentially,” Josh said. “It’s part of the interview process. It’s important to see whether the parents are pre-disposed to wishing that the reincarnation of a family member might happen. Dr. Walsh’s technique involves indirection. Her conclusion was that Mrs. Chan was distinctly uncomfortable that her child might be the reincarnation of her cousin.”
    “ It’s not something she particularly wanted,” Hank said.
    “ That’s right. It was creeping her out.”
    “ What about the father?”
    “ Dr. Chan told us he didn’t believe in reincarnation. He was concerned there might be some clinical reason his son was making these statements. He talked to a colleague in the Psychology Department at State, a professor named Dr. Isaacs. Dr. Isaacs spent some time with Taylor and felt there was nothing clinically wrong with him and recommended to Dr. Chan that he contact Dr. Walsh at Thomas Gaines. Which is how we got involved.”
    “ Okay.” Hank leaned back. “So you said the boy’s three and a half years old, correct?”
    “ That’s right.”
    “ And how old was he when he started talking about being Martin Liu?”
    “ Mrs. Chan shot some video last November 15 on the day of Taylor’s third birthday when he made a number of statements about being Martin,” Josh said. “She told us there were a few other things before that, but she didn’t really pay much attention to them at the time. It was only when she thought back that she realized the significance of those earlier statements.”
    “ So this birthday video is the earliest evidence of the kid making these statements?”
    “ Yeah, that’s right.”
    “ I wouldn’t mind seeing it some time.”
    “ How about right now?” Josh gestured at his laptop.
    “ Now?” Hank got up and moved around behind Josh’s chair.
    “ Yeah, I’ve got all the relevant video documentation here.”
    Hank raised his eyebrows. “Must be some hard drive in this thing.”
    “ This is my working laptop. There aren’t any games on it.”
    “ Not even Solitaire?”
    Josh made a face. “It’s a Mac. Here, take a look.” He used the touchpad to move his cursor and tapped on an icon on the desktop. A window opened on the screen and the video began to play.
    The picture bounced around a little and then steadied. A small Asian boy sat at a kitchen table eating cereal from a bowl.
    “ Looks like the battery’s okay, Taylor,” a female voice said.
    “ Okay, mama,” Taylor said, spooning in another mouthful.
    “ It’s your birthday today, Taylor. You’re three years old. Do you feel all grown up now?”
    “ Not all growed up yet,” the boy said.
    “ Uncle Lee and Aunt Mia are coming over today to see you,” Grace Chan said, zooming in on her son’s face. “You’ve never met them.”
    “ That’s Dr. Chan’s brother and sister-in-law,” Josh explained.
    The boy said nothing, eating. The camera zoomed out again.
    “ Aunt Mia says she has a really nice birthday present for you.”
    “ Is Aunt Mia Chinese?” Taylor asked, chewing slowly.
    “ Yes, of course she is,” Grace Chan said.
    “ When you were a little girl,” Taylor said, carefully dipping his spoon into his bowl, “you came over to my house one time and you said you didn’t like my mama because she wasn’t Chinese.”
    There was a moment of silence. The camera dipped and steadied.
    “ What do you mean, Taylor?” Grace Chan asked, her voice a little high.
    “ When I was Martin,” the boy said firmly, playing with the cereal in his bowl, “you didn’t like my mama