Change of heart

1: 1 2 P. M.

"Of course Bourne planned it," Jack said. "He got a job with them so that he'd be near the girl. He picked this family on purpose, and had access to the house."

"He'd gone home for the day," Jim said. "Why else would he come back, if he didn't need to be there?"

"The tools," Maureen answered. "He left them behind, and they were his prized possessions. Remember what that shrink said? Bourne stole them out of other people's garages, and didn't understand why that was wrong, since he needed them, and they were pretty much just gathering dust otherwise."

"Maybe he left them behind on purpose," Ted suggested. "If they were really so precious, wouldn't he have taken them with him?"

There was a general assent. "Do we agree that there was substantial planning involved?" Ted asked. "Let's see a show of hands."

Half the room, myself included, raised our hands. Another few people slowly raised theirs, too. Maureen was the last, but the minute she did, I circled that factor on the white board.

"That's two from column B," Ted said.

"Speaking of which... Where's lunch?" Jack asked. "Don't they usually bring it by now?"

Did he really want to eat? What did you order off a deli menu when you were in the process of deciding whether to end a man's life?

Marilyn sighed. "I think we ought to talk about the fact that this poor girl was found without her underpants on."

"I don't think we can," Maureen said. "Remember when we were deliberating over the verdict, and we asked the judge about Elizabeth being molested? He said then that since it wasn't being charged, we couldn't use it to find him guilty. If we couldn't bring it up then, how can we bring it up now?"

"This is different," Vy said. "He's already guilty."

"The man was going to rape that little girl," Marilyn said. "That counts as cruel and heinous behavior to me."

"You know, there wasn't any evidence that that's what was happening,"

Mark said.

Marilyn raised an eyebrow. "Hello?! The girl was found without her panties. Seven-year-olds don't go running around without their panties.

Plus, Bourne had the underwear in his pocket... what else would he be doing with them?"

"Does it even matter? We already agree that Elizabeth was young when she was killed. We don't need any more from column B." Maureen frowned. "I think I'm confused."

Alison, a doctor's wife who hadn't said much during the original deliberations, glanced at her. "When I get confused, I think about that officer who testified, the one who said that he heard the little girl screaming when he was running up the stairs. Don't shoot- she was begging. She begged for her life." Alison sighed. "That sort of makes it simple again, doesn't it?"

As we all fell quiet, Ted asked for a show of hands in favor of the execution of Shay Bourne.

"No," I said. "We still have the rest of the equation to figure out." I pointed to column C. "We have to consider what the defense said."

"The only thing I want to consider right now is where is my lunch,"

Jack said.

The vote was 8-4, and I was in the minority.