13
“I don’t,” I said. “But I have to. I have to know what I 14
got down here. I can’t be too afraid to ask.”
15
“Why not, Charles?”
16
“Because it’s here. I took your money and now I have to 17
know what I sold.”
18
Bennet’s face was filled with an emotion that I could 19
not decipher.
20
“It was a device,” he said. “A device that could cause 21
terrible damage if put into the wrong hands. I knew 22
about a youthful indiscretion of a man who had some 23
overseas contacts, influence. We knew each other socially, 24
as chance would have it. But it was through e-mail, 25
anonymously, that I delivered my threat. It wasn’t black-26
mail exactly because he stood to become a wealthy man 27 S
with our transaction. But circumstances threw the deal 28 R
out of whack. It didn’t work out.”
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The Man in My Basement
“What circumstances?”
1
“A case of conscience and subsequent suicide.” Bennet’s 2
words were completely emotionless.
3
“So he saved his name without giving in to you.” I felt 4
the victim’s triumph.
5
“He didn’t give in,” Bennet agreed. “But his secret was 6
still leaked. It was in all the papers nine months ago. I had 7
to punish him even though he was dead because there 8
would be other candidates and they should realize that 9
consequences go beyond the grave.”
10
“You
11
“I’m a tool, Charles. A precision tool. A tool of de-12
struction. A tool of the dollar and the euro and the yen.
13
But my actions are not mine alone. All the possibility of 14
the world exists without me. That man would have died 15
anyway. And the target of that device will one day be 16
destroyed. That’s the way of the world. It’s not a question 17
of good or evil. It’s a question of humanity and what is 18
done in that name.”
19
