Page 3 of Agent's Integrity

Jordan brought Claude to a halt in front of one of the check-in stations and began the booking process. I transferred his possessions to the enforcer behind the desk and watched as Jordan and the enforcer collected scans, fingerprints, blood samples, and what personal information they could, though Claude wasn’t very forthcoming.

Eventually, the booking process was finished, and Jordan hauled him away to get him changed. Once Claude was dressed in neon orange, he’d be placed in either a holding cell or an interrogation room. I banked on it being a holding cell until Jordan and I could confer on how to handle the interrogation.

“Agent Carter.”

I turned to see Captain Bryan heading in my direction. I nodded at him. “Sir.”

He was looking at Jordan’s retreating form. “I take it you found your suspect.”

It wasn’t phrased as a question, but I nodded again anyway. “Yes, sir.”

“Excellent.” Captain Bryan rubbed the back of his neck. The skin around his jaw turned flabby as he arched his head, making him look something like a jellyfish. It wasn’t that the IPF captain was fat; he just had a little chub that was probably onset from age more than an unhealthy lifestyle. I hadn’t known the captain before yesterday, but as far as IPF captains went I thought he was rather good. We had communicated before Jordan and I had traveled to Lithios, and he had been helpful. Some captains didn’t like dealing with off-world agents, as we tended to come with extra paperwork and a lack of local knowledge, but Bryan didn’t seem to hold it against us.

“I would like to interrogate the suspect. His name is Claude Parkston. He has several outstanding warrants, and quite the record already. I think if I apply some leverage in the right way, we’ll get some information.”

Captain Bryan nodded. “Use whatever or whoever you need. If there’s anything else you need, don’t hesitate to ask. I hope he’s the break you’ve been looking for.”

I hadn’t shared much, but the captain knew Jordan and I were the lead investigators in the high chancellor’s case. Even if it might not have been as significant to someone from Lithios, he still knew the importance this case held. I was grateful for the cooperation.

“Thank you, sir. I’ll be sure to do that.”

The captain turned to catch another agent, and I took the opportunity to head down a hallway towards the interrogation rooms. I picked an empty one, checked it over, and then went into the adjoining room. Projection recording systems were set up in the interrogation room, and I checked the equipment to ensure it was all working properly and on standby. The session would need to be recorded, for a variety of reasons, and I didn’t want it to malfunction.

Jordan found me there not much later. He smiled. “I figured I would find you prepping a room.”

I nodded, not looking at him as I ran the last check on the computer. “I think it’s ready. I want it recording from the moment he’s brought into the room, not just while I’m in there.”

Jordan pulled out a chair beside me and plopped down. “Okay. What’s the approach you want to take with this guy?”

I chewed on my lip, thinking. “I need to establish a baseline, and then I want to see what he thinks about Santiago and the kidnapping. We might be able to trick him about the Conglomeration involvement to catch him in a lie. And I want to know what his reaction will be to Kit. She can identify him. That gives us a lot of leverage. And there are his other warrants, too.”

Thinking about it, I pulled up his record again. I read down through his warrants. “Check this out: he’s wanted for murder on Ascillon. Says here he bludgeoned a store clerk to death during a robbery. They have him on camera. And guess what Ascillon has?”

Jordan caught on and laughed harshly. “The death penalty.”

“Precisely. I bet he won’t be too hard to rope onto our side with a record like that. Not if we can take the death penalty off the table.”

“Looks like we might have this one in the bag.”

“Yeah,ifhe knows anything.” I tapped my fingers against the tablet. “If he doesn’t know anything then this will all be a waste of time. Just because Santiago trusted him doesn’t mean he told Claude who really hired them.”

“Think positively. I think we’ll get something out of this.”

“I hope so.”

“Want me to have someone bring him here?”

“Yes.”

Jordan left and came back a few minutes later, closing the door firmly behind him. “Someone will bring him in shortly.”

I moved closer to the virtual display, pulled up the software, and began recording. Before long, the door to the interrogation room opened and Claude was led inside by an enforcer. I was glad the holographic cameras could catch every angle because Claude turned his face away from the enforcer with a sneer, and I would have missed it otherwise.

The enforcer left, and Claude reclined in his chair, eyes roving the room. His hands were unbound, but that was by my request. It was always easier to understand someone’s body language when they weren’t being forcefully restrained. And he couldn’t leave; the room was locked. And I didn’t fear for my safety; I’d already proved he wasn’t a threat to me physically.

Jordan pointed to Claude on the projection. “He’s rubbing his thumb.”

I twisted the projection controls so it focused in on his leg. I squinted until I could see his right hand, sitting on his leg, absently rubbing his thumb with his forefinger. “Bingo. Self-soothing gesture.” That probably meant he was afraid, though it could just be a sign of stress. Given the circumstances, it was most likely both.

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