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“I have many hidden facets. Just field the ball, Peabody. I want to dust this son of a bitch at the plate. You’ve read the report, you know the drill.” She signaled for the suspect to be brought in. “Let’s cook him. If he lawyers up, we’ll have to juggle. But I’m banking on him being too arrogant to go that route initially.”
“Mostly, I like cocky men. I guess I’ll have to make an exception here.”
“And he’s got such a pretty face,” Eve added, then moved aside as a uniform delivered her man. “How’s it going, Jess? Feeling better today?”
He’d had time to regroup and time to stew. “I could hang you on undue force. But I’m going to let it pass because before this is done, you’ll be the top joke of your idiot department.”
“Yep, he’s feeling better. Have a seat.” She stepped to the small table, engaged the recording unit. “Dallas, Lieutenant Eve, with Peabody, Officer Delia, as aide. The time is oh nine hundred, September 8, 2058. Interview subject Barrow, Jess, file number S-one nine three oh five. Would you please state your name for the record?”
“Jess Barrow. You got that much right.”
“I have, during our previous interview, given you your rights and options under the law, is that correct?”
“You gave me the drill, sure.” For all the good it had done him, he thought, and shifted carefully in his seat. His cock ached like a rotted tooth.
“And you understand those rights and options as stated?”
“I got them then; I get them now.”
“Do you wish, at this time, to make use of your right to an attorney or representative?”
“I don’t need anybody but myself.”
“All right then.” Eve sat, linked her fingers, smiled. “Let’s get started. In your previous statement, you admitted to the design and use of equipment built for tampering with personal brain patterns and behavior.”
“I didn’t admit to shit.”
She kept smiling. “That’s a matter of interpretation. Do you now deny that during a social gathering at my home last evening, you utilized a program you have designed to make certain suggestions, subliminally, to the subject Roarke?”
“Hey, if your husband took you off and tossed your skirts over your head, it’s your business.”
Her smile never faltered. “It certainly is.” She needed to hang him here, on this one point, to hang him on the rest. “Peabody, perhaps Jess is unaware of the penalty for giving false statement to a police official during Interview.”
“That penalty,” Peabody said smoothly, “carries a maximum term of five years in full lockup. Shall I replay the pertinent data from the initial interview, Lieutenant? The subject’s memory might be faulty due to the injury received while assaulting an officer.”
“Assault, my ass.” He snarled at Peabody. “You think you can double-team me this way? She struck me without provocation, then let that bastard she married come in and . . .”
He trailed off, remembering the warning Roarke had issued in a soft, silky voice directly in his ear. While the pain, almost sweet in its intensity, had radiated through his system.
“You wish to make an official complaint?” Eve asked.
“No.” Even now, a light line of sweat beaded on his upper lip and made Eve wonder just what Roarke had done to him. “I was upset last night. Things got out of hand.” He took a steadying breath. “Listen, I’m a musician. I take a lot of pride in my work, in the art of it. I like to think what I do influences people, touches them. My pride in that might have given you the wrong impression as to the scope of my work. Basically, I don’t know what all the fuss is about.”
He smiled again, with a good deal of his usual charm, and spread his handsome hands. “Those people you talked about last night. I don’t know them. I’ve heard of some of them, sure, but I didn’t know them personally or have anything to do with their decision to self-terminate. I’m against it, myself. In my opinion, life’s too short as it is. This is all a misunderstanding, and I’m willing to forget it.”
Eve leaned back in her chair, sent a look toward her aide. “Peabody, he’s willing to forget it.”
“That’s generous of him, Lieutenant, and not surprising, under the circumstances. A stretch for breaking the statute on personal privacy through electronics is stringent. And, of course, there’s the added charge of designing and implementing equipment designed for individual subliminals. Right there, with the multiple counts, you’re looking at a ten-year minimum in the cages.”
“You can’t begin to prove any of it. Any of it. You’ve got no case here.”
“I’m giving you a chance to roll over here, Jess. They go easier on you when you roll. And as to the civil case that my husband and I are entitled to bring against you, I will state here, for the record, that I will waive that right, contingent on your admission of guilt on the criminal charges—if that admission comes in the next thirty seconds. Think about it.”
“I don’t have to think about anything, because you’ve got nothing.” He leaned forward. “You’re not the only one with people behind you. What do you think will happen to your big, bad career if I go to the press with this?”
She said nothing, just watched him, then glanced at the time count on the recorder. “Offer is rescinded.” Eve nodded at the monitoring camera. “Peabody, please uncode the door for Captain Feeney.”
When Feeney walked in, he was beaming. He set a disc and file on the table and stuck out his hand to Jess. “I’ve got to tell you, your work’s the best I’ve ever seen. It’s a real pleasure to meet you.”
