and purple shadow made pale cheeks paler. Heather Lloyd, a fashion model. Twenty-five, five-nine. With those looks, Claudia guessed, probably successful in her field.
A selection of snaps that were supposed to be informal had obviously been posed for maximum effect. One scene had been shot on Ellis Island with a backdrop of Lady Liberty, Heather’s skirt billowing in the breeze, à la Marilyn Monroe. In another she was dressed in cutoffs and a halter top, sitting on the steps of a brownstone, blowing an exaggeratedly puckered kiss at the camera. A third showed her on a fashion show catwalk in filmy lingerie, revealing legs that were close to being anorexic thin.
Before she turned to the handwriting, Claudia tried to imagine what it might look like. From Heather ’s modeling photos, it was clear that she spent a lot of effort creating her appearance. Chances were the same was true of her handwriting.
When she came to the sample page, the stylized script told Claudia that her educated guess had been right, and the content agreed.
I want a certain kind of lifestyle, so I am seeking a very successful gentleman who is financially secure. I want a man who is kind and lovable who will take care of me. He wants a woman to love and worship, always and forever. He wants me to be that woman.
The text described what Heather wanted, but she had written nothing about what she might have to offer a mate. Even without the narcissistic sentiments she had expressed, her painstakingly constructed handwriting with its many arcaded forms revealed a woman who would make security and financial reward the highest priority in her life. It was all about image and how she projected it. The way others perceived her was of paramount importance, so she would take pains to hide anything about herself she believed flawed. For anyone to see her as less than perfect would give her a sense of shame.
The handwriting had one uncommon characteristic: Several of the lower loops were twisted into something resembling a bow. In handwriting, lower loops were connected to, among other things, biological urges.
In virtually all cases Claudia had examined, the particular form Heather had adopted was made by victims of sexual assault. The convoluted path that Heather’s loops followed was a strong indicator that, like Avram, she had sexual issues. The question was, would that affect her ability to form a healthy intimate relationship? In Claudia’s opinion, it would.
Had Andy Nicholson explained all this to Grusha?
She read his report, which said little of substance: “She is a cumulative thinker who builds one idea upon another. She has the trait of yieldingness, but there is some resentment.”
He’d written about her gregarious personality and generosity. What Andy’s report failed to state was that the handwriting painted a portrait of a sweet-natured but naive girl who acted younger than her years, whose self-image was tied in with her beauty. That would all make sense if she had been the object of unresolved sexual abuse.
Cumulative thinking, gregarious, yieldingness, resentment — a superficial laundry list of traits that meant little in the big picture of Heather Lloyd’s egocentric self-absorption or the sexual implications of those lower zone bows.
Claudia glanced over at the clock and saw that the hour was getting late. Time always seemed to surge forward when she was immersed in handwriting samples. What felt like ten minutes was in reality an hour.
She knew she should get some rest so she would be ready for her meeting with Grusha tomorrow, but her body was telling her it was three hours earlier than the nightstand clock claimed it was. If she went to bed now, she would be awake by three a.m.
Her eyes went to her cell phone on the nightstand. She wondered how Jovanic and Alex were doing on their stakeout. Would he call? He usually did when there was little action. She gave a small sigh and reached for the next folder.
Over the next
A selection of snaps that were supposed to be informal had obviously been posed for maximum effect. One scene had been shot on Ellis Island with a backdrop of Lady Liberty, Heather’s skirt billowing in the breeze, à la Marilyn Monroe. In another she was dressed in cutoffs and a halter top, sitting on the steps of a brownstone, blowing an exaggeratedly puckered kiss at the camera. A third showed her on a fashion show catwalk in filmy lingerie, revealing legs that were close to being anorexic thin.
Before she turned to the handwriting, Claudia tried to imagine what it might look like. From Heather ’s modeling photos, it was clear that she spent a lot of effort creating her appearance. Chances were the same was true of her handwriting.
When she came to the sample page, the stylized script told Claudia that her educated guess had been right, and the content agreed.
I want a certain kind of lifestyle, so I am seeking a very successful gentleman who is financially secure. I want a man who is kind and lovable who will take care of me. He wants a woman to love and worship, always and forever. He wants me to be that woman.
The text described what Heather wanted, but she had written nothing about what she might have to offer a mate. Even without the narcissistic sentiments she had expressed, her painstakingly constructed handwriting with its many arcaded forms revealed a woman who would make security and financial reward the highest priority in her life. It was all about image and how she projected it. The way others perceived her was of paramount importance, so she would take pains to hide anything about herself she believed flawed. For anyone to see her as less than perfect would give her a sense of shame.
The handwriting had one uncommon characteristic: Several of the lower loops were twisted into something resembling a bow. In handwriting, lower loops were connected to, among other things, biological urges.
In virtually all cases Claudia had examined, the particular form Heather had adopted was made by victims of sexual assault. The convoluted path that Heather’s loops followed was a strong indicator that, like Avram, she had sexual issues. The question was, would that affect her ability to form a healthy intimate relationship? In Claudia’s opinion, it would.
Had Andy Nicholson explained all this to Grusha?
She read his report, which said little of substance: “She is a cumulative thinker who builds one idea upon another. She has the trait of yieldingness, but there is some resentment.”
He’d written about her gregarious personality and generosity. What Andy’s report failed to state was that the handwriting painted a portrait of a sweet-natured but naive girl who acted younger than her years, whose self-image was tied in with her beauty. That would all make sense if she had been the object of unresolved sexual abuse.
Cumulative thinking, gregarious, yieldingness, resentment — a superficial laundry list of traits that meant little in the big picture of Heather Lloyd’s egocentric self-absorption or the sexual implications of those lower zone bows.
Claudia glanced over at the clock and saw that the hour was getting late. Time always seemed to surge forward when she was immersed in handwriting samples. What felt like ten minutes was in reality an hour.
She knew she should get some rest so she would be ready for her meeting with Grusha tomorrow, but her body was telling her it was three hours earlier than the nightstand clock claimed it was. If she went to bed now, she would be awake by three a.m.
Her eyes went to her cell phone on the nightstand. She wondered how Jovanic and Alex were doing on their stakeout. Would he call? He usually did when there was little action. She gave a small sigh and reached for the next folder.
Over the next
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