Chapter 3

“A lie-detector? Britain does not-”

“Oh shut it, officer. We are smugglers, as I am sure Brand told you. We have many such items. You agreed to the interrogation. I hope you will keep your end of the deal?” The smuggler asked George.

“Like we had a choice,” Jim muttered under his breath.

Clenching his fists, George nodded. Then he murmured to Jim, “I don’t trust them Jim; be careful.”

“Well, we have already stepped foot into the lion’s den. Nothing we can do anymore. Besides,” Jim looked at the leader of the bodyguards who had approached them, “Bruno over there said we can go free if he’s satisfied.” Shrugging helplessly, the detective walked away.

Within five minutes all preparations were complete. Then the interrogation began.

Bruno: Did you kill Derek Johnson?

Jim: No.

Bruno: Did you meet him somewhere before yesterday afternoon?

Jim: Never.

Bruno: Where did you go after your meeting with him?

Jim: First to our inn and then to the harvest festival.

Bruno: At what time did you return to the inn after meeting Mr. Derek Johnson?

Jim: 6 pm.

Bruno: Who can testify to your statement?

Jim: The lady running the inn, ‘Hearth and Ale.’

The questions went on for ten more minutes. After the test was over and the polygraph given over for testing, Bruno brought out a vial. Smiling wickedly he said, “This vial contains Sodium Thiopental.”

Jim’s eyes widened and the smuggler nodded “Yes, this is a truth serum. Even if you managed to lie and escape notice during the polygraph test, there is a very slim chance that you can beat both of these tests consecutively!”

Jim started to speak but Bruno interrupted him, “Relax, if you are not the killer, both of you will be set free.” Glaring at the man, the detective slumped into his seat. Bruno inserted a syringe containing the drug into Jim’s bloodstream.

Jim winced when the needle pierced flesh and then felt a weird sensation in his head. Within five seconds the interrogation was underway. Deliriously Jim answered every question with what was at the tip of his tongue. He wasn’t able to concentrate and could barely keep his eyes open. The detective was fast asleep under half a minute and Bruno rose saying, “Match the results. Meanwhile, the officer can get some beauty sleep.” Turning on his heel he left the room.

*****

“So we are free, right?” Jim asked Bruno after an hour. The two detectives and the smuggler leader were standing in the interrogation room. It was evening and the test results had just come.

Bruno was glaring daggers at Jim. “Yes. You are free to go, just like I promised. You didn’t lie a single time.”

With that the smuggler went out of the room, slamming the door.

“He doesn’t seem happy,” Jim remarked sardonically.

Within a few minutes, the two Scotland Yard detectives were strolling back towards the inn where they had lived for the past three days. Once inside, both men went up to Jim’s room to watch the CCTV footage since Jim had bought his laptop with him.

Just after they stepped into the room, Jim’s gaze fell onto a framed photograph that was laying face-down on the side-table. He put it back up and his eyes caught it. It was an old press clipping of a man stabbing another in the abdomen with a knife in a café.

The moment he laid eyes on it, different images started flashing in front of his eyes: Two adults and a young girl bound with ropes, and then a bear of a man raising his fist, a moment later of the same man lying helplessly tied to a bed with a knife in his stomach.

Luckily, the Scotland Yard detective had a very good poker face because he soon figured out what the images really were- memories. It took a moment before the memories arranged themselves perfectly but then Jim felt like laughing out loud when he replayed the whole sequence of events in his head.

Calming himself and countering the adrenaline rush he suddenly felt, Jim offered George a drink and inserted the pen drive containing the CCTV footage into his laptop. Settling down, he pulled out another bottle for himself.

“From which point do you want to start looking?” he asked his lanky partner.

“Let’s begin from the point you left the room. There’s a slim chance that we will be able to figure out how the killer entered the room.”

The video started playing. Sipping their beers the detectives stared intently at the screen for any possible clues that might help them.