A Death in Canaan Read online

  P:

  What do you mean?

  K:

  Say you did this thing last night. Say you hurt your mother. Maybe you want the polygraph to help you.

  P:

  If I had any doubts, I would see a doctor.

  K:

  Well, if I feel there’s something wrong, this is what we would do for you. Get a doctor. A lot of times, people don’t know they need help. And the test says they need help. It’s amazing but true.

  P:

  Right.

  K:

  Now, I’ll ask you some real easy questions on the test. Were you born in the United States? Do you live in Connecticut? Are you wearing a brown shirt? Is your first name Peter?

  P:

  Yes.

  K:

  I’m going to go across the hall and make one phone call. I want to write these up on a form so I can read them intelligently. Then we’ll go through them two or three times on the polygraph. If you broke an arm and you went to a doctor, he wouldn’t take one X ray. He would take several before he set your arm. I do the same thing with the questions. I compare one to the other. Now, is there anything you want to ask me?

  P:

  I just want to understand how it works.

  K:

  It works on your heart. That’s your conscience. All we’re trying to do is arrive at the truth. And the truth will be on that tape.

  The polygraph, the “lie box,” has been used in the United States, in one form or another, since before the turn of the century. But it came to be widely used only in the last few decades. In the mid-1960s, about seven hundred polygraph tests a day were being given in government offices and in private places. In 1965 the House Government Operations Committee, alarmed by widespread use of the machine, made a study and reached the conclusion that “There is no ‘lie detector,’ neither machine nor human. People have been deceived by a myth that a metal box in the hands of an investigator can detect truth or falsehood.” Even J. Edgar Hoover, who was about as interested in law and order as anybody, said the device was incapable of “absolute judgments,” and said the term “lie detector” was “a complete misnomer.”

  The machine itself can vary from the $12.95 model, virtually a toy, to the sophisticated models used by most police departments. The high-priced brands measure pulse rate, blood pressure, and breathing, as well as the galvanic skin responses, and cost two or three thousand dollars. Even these models can be considered a bargain, though, considering the results obtained. According to Richard Arther, a private polygraph examiner in New York City, almost fifty percent of the persons examined by a police polygraph examiner are lying.

  Three types of questions are used in a polygraph session.

  There is the irrelevant question. “Were you born in Kentucky?” The response to the irrelevant question is considered a person’s normal response.

  There is the control question, unrelated to the matter being investigated, but in the same area. In the case of theft, “Have you ever stolen anything?” is a control qusetion.

  And there is the relevant question. “Did you steal the rubies?” A response greater than the normal response, when the relevant question is asked, is said to denote a lie.

  In a book he wrote about scientific crime investigation, Mr. Arther pointed out that a person can learn to operate a polygraph machine in one day, just as a three-year-old child can learn to use a television set in one day. But that does not make the person a polygraph expert, any more than it makes the toddler an engineer. Mr. Arther, who teaches a class in polygraph testing, explained that the accuracy of the device depends on a blend of “natural ability, proper training, adequate experience, and personal integrity” of the examiner. Even so, he admits that “A conscientious, full-time examiner properly doing his job will probably average one error a year.”

  One of Mr. Arther’s former polygraph students was Sgt. Tim Kelly of the Connecticut State Police.

  Peter was interested in the apparatus. “What does the whole unit cost?” he asked.

  “You’re an inquisitive little guy, aren’t you?” Sergeant Kelly said. “It costs about two thousand dollars. It’s the best one made. Are you a mechanic at heart?”

  “Yes,” Peter said. “I love taking things apart and finding out how things work.”

  “Well, don’t take this apart,” Kelly said. “Now, Pete, sit up nice and straight for me. Sit as quietly as you can, without moving, as I ask you the questions.”

  “Do you want me to speak out loud?” Peter asked.

  “Oh, yes,” Kelly said. “You’re going to answer yes or no. Now I’ll tune in on your emotions, and I’ll tell you when the test starts and when it ends.”

  He tightened the cuff around Peter’s arm. “It will be snug, and your arm may get slightly red, but I guarantee it won’t fall off,” Kelly said. “Now, the test is about to begin.”

  K:

  You were born in the United States?

  P:

  Yes.

  K:

  Right now do you live in Connecticut?

  P:

  Yes.

  K:

  Last night do you know for sure how your mother got hurt?

  P:

  No.

  K:

  Are you wearing a brown shirt?

  P:

  Yes.

  K:

  Last night did you hurt your mother?

  P:

  No.

  K:

  Did you ever deliberately hurt someone in your life?

  P:

  No.

  K:

  Is your first name Peter?

  P:

  Yes.

  K:

  Do you know how your mother’s legs were broken?

  P:

  No.

  K:

  Last night did you talk to your mother when you came home?

  P:

  No.

  K:

  Do you know how your mother’s clothes got wet?

  P:

  No.

  K:

  Besides what we’ve talked about, have you done anything else you’re ashamed of?

  P:

  No.

  K:

  Is the statement you made to the police the truth?

  P:

  Yes.

  K:

  Sit quietly for ten seconds.

  P:

  All done?

  K:

  Yes.

  P:

  How’d I do?

  K:

  You’re very cooperative, let me put it that way.

  P:

  What do you mean?

  K:

  Well, that was just a warm-up, to show you you’re not going to get electrocuted.

  P:

  How does it look?

  K:

  What do you mean?

  P:

  Does it look like I was lying to you?

  K:

  That wouldn’t be fair for me to say. You’re nervous. Did any of these questions bother you?

  P:

  Well, whether I harmed my mother or not.

  K:

  Why?

  P:

  Well, that question … they told me up at the barracks yesterday that—how some people don’t realize—all of a sudden, fly off the handle for a split second …

  K:

  Right.

  P:

  … and it leaves a blank spot in their memory.

  K:

  Right. This will help bring it out.

  P:

  Well, I thought about that last night, and I thought and I thought and I thought, and I said no, I couldn’t have done it, I couldn’t have done it, you know. And now, when you ask me the question …

  K:

  Peter, let me say this one thing.

  P:

  … that’s what I think of.

  K:

  If you did it, this is probably how it could have happened.

  P:
>
  What do you mean?

  K:

  Bango, just like this. All right?

  P:

  Right.

  K:

  Just looking at you, Peter, you don’t look like a violent person to me at all.

  P:

  I’m not.

  K:

  I’ve met a hell of a lot of people in my life. Now, if you did it, it was a split-second thing that you did. You lost your head. Who knows why? Maybe you and your mother had an argument, and one thing led to another, and she attacked you. I don’t know. It could have been an accident with her last night, right?

  P:

  Right.

  K:

  I want you to review for me those questions. I want to make sure you’re paying attention.

  P:

  You asked me what color my shirt was. You asked me if I harmed my mother. You asked me if I had anything to be ashamed of. You asked me—let’s see, I haven’t been to bed in almost thirty hours. I can’t remember anything else.

  K:

  Didn’t you get any sleep this morning?

  P:

  I got a little. A couple hours. Maybe it was more than I realize.

  K:

  Now, I’m going to have Jack come in and make you lie. If he can pick out where you are deliberately lying, then we know we are getting proper recordings from you. Regardless of how simple a lie, your body rebels. If you don’t rebel to the simple little lie, we’ll just say, today is not Pete’s day to take a polygraph test.

  P:

  It’s the best time to give it to me, after a crisis, isn’t it?

  K:

  We’ll see.

  Sergeant Kelly left the room again, and Corporal Schneider came back. He asked Peter to pick a card, any card, and he would try to guess which one. Peter was to lie, and Schneider would try to spot the lie on the polygraph.

  Corporal Schneider and Peter ran through the little test twice. Schneider said he spotted the lie readily both times.

  “That’s great,” he said. “You’re a textbook reactor. When you tell a lie, you go right to the top of my chart. Any amateur can pick out where you lied. This is great for us; we’ll have no trouble here today.”

  Peter seemed pleased. “I’m perfect,” he said.

  “You’re perfect,” Schneider repeated. “Now, I’ll get hold of Tim. One or two more tests, then he’ll have the answer. You know the answer now. He’ll tell you exactly what the answer is when he’s finished. OK?”

  “Will do,” Peter said cheerfully.

  Alone for a moment, Peter coughed loudly. Then Kelly was back.

  “I’m a textbook reactor,” Peter said, still sounding pleased.

  “Look at this,” Kelly said. “Right off the paper, practically. Now we’ll go through these questions a couple times and we’ll have the answer. Your brain will tell me.”

  Again he pumped air into the cuff, tightening it on Peter’s arm. “All you have to do is answer me truthfully. Now, the test is about to begin.” Sergeant Kelly asked the same twelve questions he’d asked before, in the same order. Peter gave the same yes and no one-word answers. Then the second polygraph test was over, and the sergeant again instructed Peter to “Sit quietly for ten seconds.”

  P:

  Did I hit any peak or anything?

  K:

  Oh, you’re popping along there OK.

  P:

  Am I lying that you can tell?

  K:

  I think I have the answer, but I want to make absolutely sure. I’m going to mix the questions up. I think I have the answer here but I want to double-check. Keep looking straight ahead. I may repeat some questions more than once this time, Pete. This is the procedure on this last test. This test is about to begin. Is your first name Peter?

  P:

  Yes.

  K:

  Did you ever deliberately hurt somebody?

  P:

  No.

  K:

  Last night did you hurt your mother?

  P:

  No.

  K:

  Right now do you live in Connecticut?

  P:

  Yes.

  K:

  Do you know how your mother’s legs were broken?

  P:

  No.

  K:

  Besides what we’ve talked about, have you done anything else that you’re ashamed of?

  P:

  No.

  K:

  When you came home last night, did you talk to your mother?

  P:

  No.

  K:

  Last night do you know for sure who hurt your mother?

  P:

  No.

  K:

  Did you ever deliberately hurt somebody?

  P:

  No.

  K:

  Last night did you hurt your mother?

  P:

  No.

  K:

  Besides what we’ve talked about, have you done anything else that you’re ashamed of?

  P:

  No.

  K:

  Do you have a clear recollection of what happened last night?

  P:

  Yes.

  K:

  Is there any doubt in your mind, Pete?

  P:

  Can you stop the test?

  K:

  OK.

  P:

  I didn’t understand that last question.

  K:

  I think we’ve got a little problem here, Peter.

  P:

  That last question …

  K:

  I was just trying to probe your subconscious.

  P:

  But I wasn’t sure whether you meant what happened to her, or whether I knew who did it to her and everything.

  In Sergeant Kelly’s office, near the polygraph room, the reel of recording tape ran out. Corporal Schneider, who was operating the tape recorder, changed tapes quickly. In the same room were Lieutenant Shay and Trooper Mulhern, watching Peter through the one-way mirror.

  Several other state policemen were working on the case full time already. Peter had told the police he had relatives in Florida, and in New Jersey, so the police called both places during the day on Saturday. The first family member to be told was Barbara’s Aunt Stephanie, one of the Florida relatives. Aunt Steffie was eighty and ailing when Barbara died. She had always liked her niece and had given her a platinum ring with three diamond chips, which Barbara wore until she died, and it couldn’t be found.

  After the police called Aunt Steffie, they called Barbara’s cousin June. It was about 3:00 or 3:30 on Saturday afternoon when June got the call at her house in suburban New Jersey. Trooper Toomey said he was calling to notify her that Barbara Gibbons had been murdered.

  “Oh,” said June. “Oh, give me a minute. Please, just give me a minute to think.”

  June hadn’t seen Barbara for seven years, since Louie Gibbons’s funeral. She was younger than Barbara, but she had a teen-aged son of her own, and while she stood holding the phone, trying to comprehend Barbara’s murder, she thought of Barbara’s son. He was only eleven when June had seen him last.

  “There’s a boy, Peter,” June said to the policeman. “I don’t want him in the house by himself. Where is he? Is he there?”

  “He’s not here,” the policeman said.

  “Oh, try to find him,” June said. “Please find him for me.”

  When June’s husband got home, he called Canaan. “Where could the boy have gone?” he asked the policeman. “We don’t know,” the policeman said.

  June had called her sister Vicky in upstate New York, and Vicky’s husband John made calls to Connecticut, too, asking for Peter. John was told, “He’s assisting the police.”

  On the second floor of the police headquarters in Hartford, Corporal Schneider turned on the machine and a new tape began.

  K:

  Well, I think we got a little problem here, Pete.

  P:<
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  What do you mean?

  K:

  About hurting your mother last night.

  P:

  I didn’t do it.

  K:

  You’re giving me a reaction. Do you have any doubt in your mind?

  P:

  Can you reword the question in any way?

  K:

  Which question?

  P:

  About hurting my mother. We went over, and over, and over it, you know what I mean? When he told me I could have flown off the handle, I gave it a lot of consideration. But I don’t think I did.

  K:

  But you’re not sure, are you?

  P:

  That’s right. Well, I could have.

  K:

  I think you possibly did. I don’t think you’re a vicious person. I think you and your mother had some kind of argument.

  P:

  What about the question that says, did I speak to my mother?