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Her eyes were on the boy's face. He scratched at a welt. He said, "I guess."
"See that chair there?"
Dr. Penny nodded toward the chair and the boy glanced at it. "I see it."
"We're going to play sort of a game. You're going to pretend there's somebody real important in that chair."
"Like the President?"
"No, I mean, somebody important to you. Somebody you know in real life. You're going to pretend they're sitting there in front of you. I want you to talk to them. And I want you to be real honest with them. You tell them whatever you want to say. Share your secrets with them. If you're mad at them you tell them that. If you love them tell them so. If you want them--like you'd want a girl--tell them. Remember it's okay to say anything at all. Nobody's going to be upset with you."
"Just talk to the chair?" Garrett asked the doctor. "Why?"
"For one thing, it'll help you feel better about the bad things that happened today."
"You mean, like, getting caught?"
Sachs smiled.
Dr. Penny seemed to repress his own smile and moved the empty chair a little closer to Garrett. "Now, imagine that somebody important is sitting right there. Let's say Mary Beth McConnell. And that you've got something you want to say to her and now's your chance. Something you've never said before because it was too hard. Something really important. Not just some bullshit."
Garrett looked nervously around the room, glanced at his lawyer, who nodded encouragingly. The boy took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Okay. I guess I'm ready."
"Good. Now, picture Mary Beth in the--"
"But I don't want to say anything to her" Garrett interrupted.
"You don't?"
He shook his head. "I already told her everything I wanted to say."
"There isn't anything else?"
He hesitated. "I don't know.... Maybe. Only ... the thing is I'd rather imagine somebody else in the chair. Could we, like, do that?"
"Well, for now, let's stick with Mary Beth. You said maybe there's something you want to say to her. What is it? Do you want to tell her how she let you down or hurt you? Or made you angry? About how you want to get even with her? Anything at all, Garrett. You can say anything. It's all right."
Garrett shrugged. "Uhm, why can't it be someone else?"
"For now, let's say it has to be Mary Beth."
The boy turned suddenly to the one-way mirror and he looked right at where Sachs was sitting. Involuntarily she sat back, as if he knew she was there even though he couldn't possibly see her.
"Go on," the doctor encouraged.
The boy turned back to Dr. Penny. "Okay. I guess I'd say I'm glad she's safe."
The doctor beamed. "Good, Garrett. Let's start there. Tell her that you saved her. Tell her why." Nodding to the chair.
Garrett looked uneasily at the empty chair. He began, "She was in Blackwater Landing and--"
"No, remember you're talking to Mary Beth. Pretend she's sitting there in the chair."
He cleared his throat. "You were in Blackwater Landing. It was, like, really, really dangerous. People get hurt in Blackwater Landing, people get killed there. I was worried about you. I didn't want the man in the overalls to hurt you too."
"The man in the overalls?" the doctor asked.
"The one who killed Billy."
