Maxwell Edison: A Study In Psychosis

It wasn't the indignity of being ordered to stay after class writing "I must not be so" fifty times, despite being a med student for Christ's sakes, that sent him over the edge. That's no justification for what he did. There is no justification for what Maxwell Edison did.

In the courtroom, the silver hammer was in evidence. Maxwell was a stealthy lad, as shown by his many crimes. He may even have been the sort or person who people just don't take much notice of - but however he managed it, he chose his moment and he acted. Were Rose and Valerie screaming from the gallery at some pre-arranged signal? Whatever their motive for the timing of their outburst, they created just the distraction Maxwell needed. He saw his chance, he simply grabbed exhibit "A", stepped nimbly to the side and crept around behind the judge.

Certainly in Maxwell's mind, the judge was his enemy. A delusion on the order of that which kept Maxwell Edison prisoner admits no shades of gray. No possibility that the person who inconveniences us may simply be a good person doing their job. No, as far as Maxwell Edison was concerned, the world was a drama that revolved around him and him alone. Everyone he came across either threw in with him, or was an enemy - to be dispatched. The bold self-assurance exhibited by an unbalanced personality of this type can exert a magnetic hold over those who lack a strong direction of their own. To Rose and Valerie, Maxwell was a bolt of certainty in a world of equivocation, of hem and haw. To Maxwell, his was the stature and power of a god; the silver hammer was his Mjöllnir.

But why Joan, Maxwell? Why did you kill Joan? She agreed to go out with you to the movies! What did she do to deserve to be senslessly murdered?

She did nothing. None of Edison's victims did anything to deserve to be murdered. Let's get this straight right straightaway.

Maxwell Edison was a psychopath.