„It’s a lot like voodoo. Nedda has to believe in the polygraph. When he guesses her card, that’s supposed to convince her that the machine can read her mind. But see? She’s not buying it. This test is only as good as the examiner, and Mallory made him look like a moron.“
„So it’s true what they say,“ said Charles, and by they he meant the Supreme Court of the United States. „A polygraph has the same chance of detecting a lie as the flip of a coin.“
„Right, but that’s not why we use it. When a cop does this test, it’s a fullblown interrogation without a lawyer. Sweet, huh?“
„But this examiner isn’t – “
„No, he’s an independent. That was the deal we did with Bitty Smyth. We picked the time and place – she picked the examiner. This guy’s only experience is interviewing applicants for low-level jobs.“ Riker leaned back and closed his eyes, saying, „Let me know when Mallory takes over. I’ll turn on the volume again.“
While Riker slept, Charles watched the tableau in front of him. The lame card trick was set aside, and they were moving on to other questions. After each response, the examiner made notations on the rolling paper. Mallory was drumming her nails on the clipboard, regarding the man as a bug. Nedda always glanced at the detective before answering a question. And now Charles intuited Mallory’s stance as a prelude to a lunge. He nudged Riker to wake him. „She’s almost ready.“
Riker’s eyes opened. „Good. Time to rock ‘n’ roll.“ He turned on the volume.
The examiner asked his next question. „Did you ever kill anyone?“
„You know I did,“ said Nedda Winter. „I already signed a statement to that effect.“
„Once again, if you could confine your responses to yes or no.“
„Yes,“ said Nedda.
Mallory stood behind the examiner, watching over his shoulder as the paper scrolled across the top of his machine. „You’re botching it.“ She ripped the paper out. The man half rose in protest. She glared at him. „Sit down.“
And he did.
The detective made her own notations, matching up the responses with respiration and heartbeats, then tapped the different spikes on the chart each time she said, „Inconclusive, inconclusive, inconclusive.“ She turned on the examiner. „You don’t know what you’re doing.“
Riker turned the volume off again. „That might be the last true thing you hear from that room.“ He looked back to the glass as Mallorv slapped the top of the polygraph machine. „She’s telling him his equipment is crap.“
„I think I guessed that,“ said Charles.
The examiner’s mouth had stopped flapping. He could only gawk at the detective in disbelief.
„Fortunately,“ said Riker, „she just happens to have a brand-new.;n;r;: of-the-art polygraph parked right outside the door. Our machine doesn’t work any better, but it has more bells and whistles. So Mallory won the pissing contest. The guy’s out of the game, and he knows it. There’s no way to make a recovery now that Nedda thinks he’s a clown. But don’t feel sorry for him, Charles. He’s young. He can still find honest work.“
Mallory carried a heavy suitcase into the room and placed it on the table. She undid the snaps and opened it with a sideways glance at the civilian examiner, saying, „Now this is a lie detector.“ She held up a large clip of plastic and metal trailing a wire. „And this is a transducer.“ She attached it to Nedda’s thumb, treating the woman as an inanimate part of her show-and-tell exhibit. „This is what we use for cardio readings in the twenty-rirst century.“ The detective proceeded to strip Nedda of all the paraphernalia that belonged to the independent examiner, then neatly packed it away in the man’s suitcase.
She spoke to Nedda for the first time. „We can put this off for another day or get it over with now. Up to you.“
„I’m ready.“
When Mallory turned around again to face the examiner, she feigned surprise to see him. „Still here?“
The man slunk out of the room, lacking the energy to entirely close the door behind him. Mallory slammed it shut. Her voice was icy when she turned to the woman seated in the chair and said, commanded, „Take off your shoes.“
Charles turned to Riker. „Her shoes?“
„Yeah.“ The detective shrugged as he slouched lower in his chair. „Some perps use countermeasures like a tack in the shoe. It jacks up the response to a control question. Any question that raises a real sweat looks kind of pale by comparison.“
„So the response to a small anxiety disguises the larger one.“
„Now you got it.“ The detective was watching the other room as Nedda, following another order, dragged her chair across the floor. Barefoot and wired to the machine, she sat down with her back to the wall. „That chair is set up with a stress plate to catch muscle tension. That’s another trick the perps use to beat the box.“
„But I] m guessing that you’re not actually worried about Nedda using countermeasures.“
„No.“
„In fact, Mallory’s not even certified for this sort of thing, is she?“
„Charles, it doesn’t matter. No polygraph exam is admissible in court. But now we get to ask questions that no lawyer would ever let her answer.“
„I can’t believe that Bitty Smyth would allow her to take this exam.“
„Bitty’s a contract attorney. Never handled a criminal case.“ Charles watched Mallory fasten restraints to the older woman’s legs. „I think I can guess what that’s for. She’s pinned now, helpless.“ He turned to Riker in the dark. „You know this isn’t right.“
„I know, but it’s what we do.“
Nedda Winter stared at the wires that made her seem part machine.
„Bitty arranged for the independent examiner. Maybe I should talk to her before – “
„Good idea.“ Mallory stood before her suspect. „But I need answers today. Your niece is downstairs. If you don’t feel up to this, I can strap her in instead. I’m sure she’ll be happy to take your place if this is too stressful.“
Yeah, right.
No lawyer ever born would consent to a polygraph examination, but Nedda was nodding her head, wanting to spare Bitty Smyth any – unpleasantness. Barefoot and pinned by rubber tubes and wires, restraints on both her arms and legs, the old woman would not be able to imagine her timid niece in that chair.
Mallory sat down at the table before the equipment. She gave a cursory glance at the sheet of paper she had torn from the civilian’s machine. „You’ve got too many mixed responses here. We have to start over. If you like, we can wait a few hours while we find an independent who knows what he’s doing. Or would you rather get this over with?“
„I said I’d take the test, but I don’t – “
„Fine.“ Mallory reached into the back pocket of her jeans and pulled out the deck of cards she had stolen from the civilian examiner. „Let’s try another trick. That fool only used four cards.“ She shuffled the deck as she spoke. „Let’s try it with fifty-two possibilities. Pull out a card, any card.“ Fanning the cards, Mallory held them just far enough away to make the older woman strain to reach one. Nedda had no sooner taken her selection from the deck, when Mallory said, „Seven of hearts.“
Nedda nodded, surprised.
„I palmed the only cards you could reach, and I memorized their order.“
Riker leaned far forward in his chair, caught between surprise and confusion. „You heard right,“ said Charles. „She just told the truth.“ And he understood why. Nedda must believe in Mallory. Hang the damned machine.
„The examiner your niece picked out was a useless cheat,“ said Mallory, setting the deck on the table. „Bad card tricks are a hack’s game. He wanted you to believe that he could read your mind. Now me? I don’t care what you believe.“ She pointed to the waving lines at the top of the machine. „If you hold your breath, I’ll know.“ One long red fingernail moved down through the other lines. „If your heart beats a little faster, I’ll know. When you break a sweat, I’ll see it on the machine before it shows up on your face.“ She held up the sheet she had torn from the examiner’s machine. „His last question was inconclusive, so we’ll try it again.“ She wadded the paper into a ball and threw it across the room. Nedda Winter flinched, perhaps believing that it was aimed at her.