small, compact meter with a wire running from it. Still dazed, he traced the wire to the electrode taped to the inside of his thigh. He was naked, he realized, his hands tied behind him on the chair, his feet pulled back and bound to the chair’s braces. He moaned, ‘Roger…’
‘Roger is indisposed,’ Debritto whispered in his ear. ‘If you make another sound, you will suffer. We’re professionals, Dredneau, you and I. I respect your intelligence enough to assume you know that you have lost. As you see, you are connected to a polygraph. You will answer my questions with the truth. If you refuse, or if you lie, I will remove a part of your body – a kneecap, say, or an eye, a testicle, a finger. Believe me when I say I know what I’m doing. I’ve kept men alive up to thirty hours as I’ve whittled them down to a head and torso. If you still refuse, it will make no difference, for in that case I’ll use pentothal – vulgarly known as truth serum. I’d prefer not to resort to an injection; while the information would be forthcoming, it is occasionally garbled. If you force me to use the pentothal, when I have the information I seek I will treat you accordingly. Further, if you
Dredneau nodded.
‘The first question, then: Who stole the diamond?’
Dredneau, trembling, bit his lip.
Debritto mused, ‘He must not have heard me. I better check his eardrums.’ He reached past Dredneau and removed a long silver pin from the case.
Dredneau quavered, ‘You’re going to kill me anyway.’
‘You didn’t listen, sir.
Dredneau shook his head.
‘Of course,’ Debritto whispered. ‘Given your situation, why should you take my word? Please note the polygraph.’ Debritto tipped the case so Dredneau could see it clearly. ‘The machine is state-of-the-art. Watch the needle – the red area indicates a lie. Is your name Paul-Paul Dredneau?’
Dredneau licked his lips. ‘Yes.’
The needle didn’t move.
‘Have you ever killed a man?’
‘Yes.’
The needle jumped into the red zone.
Debritto chuckled softly. ‘I didn’t think so. Next question: Are you a homosexual?’
‘No.’
The needle wavered near the red zone.
‘Now see, this is interesting. You seem to possess some profound sexual ambiguity.’ He pointed the pin at Dredneau’s groin as if to indicate the locus of confusion. ‘Let me rephrase the question: Have you ever had sex with another male?’
‘No.’
The needle shot into the red.
Debritto giggled. ‘Ah-ha! How many?’
‘Two. When I was young.’
The machine verified it.
‘I could ask you about women, but truly I’m not interested in humiliating you, and I’m sure you understand by now the machine’s capacity to discriminate. So, to my point.’ Debritto set the pin down on the table and deftly jerked the electrode from Dredneau’s thigh and held it to his own wrist. ‘The inside of the wrist is actually more sensitive than the thigh, but since your hands must be bound, I’d no choice. Now watch the needle while I make my statement.’
He paused, then with a calm formality said, ‘If you tell me the truth, I will not kill you, nor will I harm you in any way. If you don’t, you will suffer unto death.’
The needle didn’t move.
‘You see? The truth.’ He retaped the electrode to Dredneau’s thigh and picked up the stainless-steel pin from the table, idly testing the point against his own index finger. ‘I repeat: Do you know who stole the diamond?’
‘Yes.’
‘Very good. The truth is always good, isn’t it? Now, who stole it?’
‘His name is Isaiah Kharome.’
The needle quivered at the red edge.
‘That appears to be a partial truth. I asked for the complete truth.’
Dredneau said thickly, ‘The name is an alias I think, a constructed identity.’
‘Go on.’
‘This is a guess.’
‘Okay.’
