Victims by Jonathan Kellerman Read Free Book Online Page A

behavior’s a disease.”
    “What was Vita’s bad behavior?”
    He folded his arms across his chest. “May I tell you something in utter confidence, Alex? Really, I don’t want this entered in any official record.”
    “Absolutely.”
    “Thank you.” He chewed his lip, played with a sleeve. “Vita was quite possibly the least pleasant person I’ve ever met. I know we’re not supposed to judge, but let’s face it, we do. It didn’t help that she had no motivation to cooperate and regarded our profession with obvious disdain. Most of our sessions consisted of her complaining that I was wasting her time. That anyone with half a brain could see she’d suffered grievous injury. She just about came out and called me a quack. Now you tell me she’s been murdered. Was there evidence of rage? Because I can see her inciting someone’s anger past the point of no return.”
    “I’m also limited in what I can say, Bern.”
    “I see … all right. Then that’s really all I can tell you.”
    “Could we go back to her lawsuit? What kind of pranks and ridicule did she say she’d experienced?”
    “Gluing her desk drawer shut, hiding her headset, making off with her snacks. She claimed she overheard people referring to her as the ‘Mad Cow’ and ‘Grumpy Gertie.’ ”
    “Claimed,” I said. “You think she was pouring it on.”
    “I have no doubt she wasn’t popular but all I had to go on was her self-report. The question in my mind was what role did her behavior play in provoking hostility? But figuring that out wasn’t my job. I was asked to render an opinion about her faking and couldn’t. Apparently that was enough because the settlement went through.”
    “How much of the five million did she get?”
    “I wasn’t privy to details but the lawyer said it was considerably less—under a million.”
    “Pretty nice payoff for having your drawers glued.”
    Shacker stifled a laugh that pitched his spare frame forward, as if he’d been shoved from behind. “Forgive me, this is a terrible situation. But what you just said—‘Having her drawers glued.’ I’m no Freudian, but that’s some image, no? And you could certainly describe Vita as being sealed up. In every way.”
    “No sex life?”
    “Nonexistent sex life and social life, according to her. She said she preferred it that way. Was that true or merely rationalization? I don’t know. In fact, I can’t say anything about her with confidence because I never got to see her long enough to break through the resistance. In the end, it didn’t matter: She got what she wanted. That’s the world we’re living in, Alex. Genuinely sick people encounter the likes of Vita who block their treatment and big money’s doled out for exaggerated claims because it’s cheaper to settle.”
    “What’s the name of the lawyer who represented her?”
    “I asked for official documents but never got them, had to work from a case summary provided by the casualty insurers.”
    “Why all the hush-hush?”
    “Their position was I needed to be viewed as objective in case my conclusions were called into question.”
    The regretful look in his eyes deepened. “Looking back, sure, I was used. I’ll never repeat the experience.”
    “What kind of personal information did Vita give you?”
    “Not much, taking a history was an ordeal,” he said. “I did get her to grudgingly admit to a difficult childhood. But once again, can we be sure Vita didn’t bring some of that upon herself?”
    “Cranky kid.”
    “I’ve come to appreciate the importance of temperament. We’re all dealt set hands, the key is how we play them. After observing Vita Berlin as a middle-aged woman it’s hard to imagine her as a sweet, cheerful child. But I could be wrong. Perhaps something turned her sour.”
    “Was she ever married?”
    “She admitted to an early marriage but refused to talk about it. There was one sibling, a sister, they grew up near Chicago. Vita moved to L.A. ten