Chapter Seventeen
October 19 Sunday Afternoon
Patrick Kelly’s Home
Cambridge, Massachusetts
“PATRICK AND PROCRASTINATION both start with the letter P. I don’t think it’s a coincidence,” Patrick’s mother used to say. As a kid he had been really good at putting off chores and homework.
Sunday afternoon after a corn chowder and apple pie lunch Nicole had the kids strap on their helmets and knee pads. They rode off in the direction of the Charles River.
So far the weekend weather had been as close to perfect as possible, unusual for Massachusetts. The temperature required a sweatshirt, not a jacket. The sky was blue. The leaves had reached the strongest reds and yellows possible.
Patrick wanted to be with his wife and twins riding along the Charles not writing his report to Bill Reardon. There was something about starting to sit down and transfer his thoughts to the keyboard that proved his mother right about his procrastination.
He thought he would put on a load of laundry.
He went into the living room and put The Boston Globe back together.
He debated running the vac over the living room rug, then decided no, he had to get that damned report done.
He sat at his desk, his laptop open to word processing. Then he went to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. Opening the fridge for milk, he saw the two apple cider jugs bought at the Davidson Orchard. Fresh cider, he thought. Better.
Totally out of excuses not to write the report, he returned to his office, put the glass of cider next to him and opened his laptop. Finally.
To: Lieutenant William Reardon
From: Dr. Patrick F. Kelly, Certified Child Psychologist ABCCAP
Subject: Observation of Juliana Beaudoin, Emma Jackson, Amanda Lander, and Gloria Masters interviews
Date: Friday October 17, 2025
Report Date: Sunday October 19, 2025
Place: Cambridge Police, 125 Sixth Street, Cambridge, MA 02142
Interrogators: Police officers Robert Bunker, Samantha Lee.
Observers: Captain William Reardon, Dr. Patrick Kelly
Lieutenant William Reardon asked me to observe four interviews of four fourth grade girls from the Howard James Private School. The girls were overheard by a fifth girl as they spoke in detail while they were in the second-floor bathroom of the school’s Hawthorne Building where the fourth through six grades have their classrooms. Their intended victim was a fifth grader Clay Franklin. That was Thursday October 16. The girl, who overheard the alleged
plot went to the HJPS Headmistress Dr. Elise Hanson. She notified the police. Detectives Robert Bunker and Samantha Lee, after conferring with Dr. Hanson, immediately met with all four families and set up interviews for Friday, October 17, 2025.
This is a summary of the interviews and my impressions
During the interviews Lieutenant William Reardon and I were behind a two-way mirror when the four girls were being interviewed individually. I recorded the interviews. A transcript will be made available on request.
1. First Interview Emma Jackson
Born: October 24, 2016
Mother: Marjorie Jackson, administrative role at Harvard
Father: Dr. Brad (ford?) Jackson, MIT scientist
Interviewers: Robert Bunker, Samantha Lee
Time: 11:08-12:49
Also present was attorney Thomas Ganley, who has a Cambridge practice mainly in family law, not criminal law. The Jacksons would be the only parents who brought an attorney.
The child’s face was swollen, I assume from crying. She held onto her mother. When Ganley, who was sitting behind her, touched her shoulder to tell her not to answer a question, she jumped.
Lee did most of the questioning and was excellent at getting Emma to relax. When Emma Jackson did speak, Lee had to repeatedly ask her to speak louder. The child looked mostly at the hands in her lap.
Her father arrived late, was rude, and left as soon as he could. I did not see him engage with either his wife or daughter.
Lee had Emma give a sample of her writing to compare with a suicide note allegedly by Clay Walker, the intended victim. It was found in Emma’s locker. Lieutenant Reardon said they had done a search of the girls’ lockers early that morning. The school had been given written authorization from all parents to check all student lockers; therefore, no warrant was necessary. A sample of Clay Franklin’s writing was provided by the school.
Emma confirmed she was friends with Juliana Beaudoin, Gloria Masters and Amanda Lander. She likes reading, ice skating, math games, Barbie and baking cookies with her mother.
Although both Lieutenant Reardon and I thought the handwriting was identical to Emma’s sample we are waiting confirmation from a handwriting expert that they are the same or not.
2. Second interview: Juliana Beaudoin
Born: April 16, 2016
Mother: Anne-Marie Beaudoin, self-employed caterer
Father: Deceased
Interviewers: Robert Bunker, Samantha Lee
Time: 1:00-1:45
Juliana’s comportment was 180 degrees from Emma Jackson’s. She walked into the interrogation ahead of her mother. Throughout the interview her face was frozen in a scowl alternating with a pout. At no point did she reach for her mother’s hand. When her mother reached out to take her daughter’s hand, the child pushed it away.
When she sat, she crossed her arms, uncrossing them halfway through Lee’s soft questions. When asked about Clay Franklin, she said she seldom thought much about him. He was a fifth grader, a jock, not very interesting, although she admitted some girls thought he was cute, but she didn’t. Girls are more apt to have interest in boys at this age than the opposite, but none of Lee’s questions led to Juliana showing interest.
“Boys and girls don’t want to do much with each other,” confirming my statement above.
Lee followed the same line of questioning about school, friends, etc. Juliana answered politely enough, but her tone was on the verge of annoyance, signaled by several sighs-
3. Third interview: Gloria Masters
Born: June 11, 2016
Mother: Rebecca Masters, CEO of an AI company
Father: Allen Masters, High up in Rahm Hedge Fund (not present)
Interviewers: Robert Bunker, Samantha Lee
Time: 2:30-2:45
Rebecca Masters tried to take control of the interrogation, repeatedly interrupting Bunker and Lee until Bunker hollered at her. Gloria did what I would call a double take when her mother stopped and was almost quiet. I’m not sure if she ever saw her mother silenced, but that is conjecture.
Gloria’s father did not come.
Gloria asked to use the toilet. Lee took her.
Gloria talked about a play the four girls were planning, which might explain the gloves and apron found in her school locker when Lee and Bunker searched it early this morning. Before Lee could ask about it, the mother said they would wait for their lawyer before answering anything else. The interview was terminated.
4. Fourth Interview: Amanda Lander
Born: June 9, 2016
Mother: Heidi Lander, Housewife (not present)
Father: Vernon Lander, Vice President of Citizens Bank
Interviewers: Robert Bunker, Samantha Lee
Time: 3:30-3:59
Mr. Lander immediately told me how he was the Vice President of Citizens Bank and how it had 245 branches in the Boston area and how they were located in 10 other states. Bunker pointed out he wasn’t looking for a banker but needed information about his daughter.
Lander interrupted to brag about his daughter’s excellent grades and praise HJPS as an excellent school. Amanda, who was dressed as if going to a social event in a blue dress, hands in her lap, sat in her chair, watching her father.
Bunker, unlike his response to Rebecca Masters, did not interrupt, did not yell. Lee stepped in, speaking softly, saying she needed to talk to Amanda directly. When Lander tried to interrupt, which he did several times, she would hold up her hand to silence him. It worked.
She asked Amanda the same questions she asked the other three girls. Amanda answered the questions looking directly at Lee. I could detect no nervousness at all. The other three all showed various degrees of nervousness.
Amanda smiled regularly at her father and Bunker, less so at Lee.
She expressed annoyance that something like writing a play could produce such an overreaction. She used the word stupid, at which point Vernon Lander said that this was costing him valuable time. Amanda reached for her father’s hand, which he took and put his arm around her.
Amanda called Clay Franklin “just another stupid boy.” Stupid was a frequent response to whatever Lee asked. At one point she laughed, saying, “more stupid questions.”
Observations and Recommendations
Observation: This report is being written at the start of the investigation. I will try to do a if this then that, but without additional information I consider the information valid only as far as today’s date. New information could mean this report might change any opinions that I have expressed here.
Recommendation: I have not talked to nor do I know the identity of the girl who overheard their plans. If the police have not interviewed her already, I recommend that they do so. I will be willing to be present if they do.
Observation: The four girls seem to form a clique. I see Amanda as the leader based on her comportment. She seemed the most assured of the four. Each maintained a slightly different attitude determined by their body language and responses. Without more understanding of their family dynamics, I can only surmise by what I saw based on the following summaries.
Observation: Emma Jackson
She was both nervous and frightened, relying on the support of her mother more than the other two girls relied on their mothers. The two seem close. The father was not only non-supportive but left before the integration finished. We are waiting for a handwriting expert to determine if Emma wrote the suicide note.
Recommendation: Ask for a sample of Clay Franklin’s handwriting to determine if Emma was trying to copy it or if Clay wrote it.
Observation: Gloria Masters
She was more assured than Emma Jackson by the way she walked in and how she sat.
I understand the girls’ lockers were searched and that the school had signed parental permission given at the time of enrollment. They found an apron and surgical gloves in Gloria’s locker. More important: they found a knife in Juliana’s locker. This did not come out in the questioning sessions. Gloria said what was overheard in the toilet was the four of them working on a play.
Rebecca Masters, Gloria’s mother, is a CEO of a company which she started. She did not respond well to not being in control. She refused to have her daughter participate further without an attorney. The father did not attend.
Recommendation: If Gloria is re-questioned, I suggest that her mother not be present and be replaced by an attorney of the family’s choosing to meet the legal requirement of an adult present. Since both Juliana and Gloria mentioned that the girls were writing a play for a contest of their drama group, that needs to be verified. Lieutenant Reardon asked Dr. Elise Hanson, headmistress of HJPS, to check on this. Lieutenant Reardon told me that a group had discussed it, but nothing had been cemented. As I understand the dynamics of Friday afternoon special groups, the girls might have gone ahead and developed a play anyway. The school encourages this type of project. However, they could have made up the story to cover their attempted murder.
Recommendation: Perhaps the four girls could be asked to put on the play they claim to be working on by Detective Lee. This needs to be checked thoroughly.
Observation: Juliana Beaudoin
The child showed hostility to her mother. She selected a seat where there was a chair between them. She kept her body slightly tilted away from her mother. When she left the room, her mother Anne-Marie Beaudoin confirmed her daughter was ashamed that her mother was “only a caterer” and that Juliana was a scholarship student.
Juliana also claimed that the girls were only working on a play and the knife found in her locker was a prop. Detective Lee said it matched the knife set that she had noticed in the Beaudoin kitchen.
Questions that need to be answered:
· Were the girls only play acting?
· Were they really planning a murder?
· Why had they gone so far as to have props in their lockers?
· Was Clay Franklin ever in danger?
· Is Clay Franklin still in danger?
· Are the four equally responsible?
· Is Amanda Lander the leader?
· Why did Amanda Lander act so differently?
· If the girls were really planning a murder, what next?
· If the girls are to be charged, when does the district attorney get called in?
· Is this a situation for Clinical Support Services, who deals with troubled kids?
If you have any more questions on this report, or want me to provide additional information or observations, please contact me.
I will be at your disposal.
Respectfully submitted.
Dr. Patrick F. Kelly
Ph.D. Psychology Harvard University
Licensed Child Psychologist
Member American Psychological Association
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