Whack-a-mole!
Written by — Yours TrulyInspector Ryan brought in two suspects today. They are likely to be behind the uproars in midcity, causing all sorts of troubles for the running senator. The problem is, the police picked them up from separate parts of the city and whether they are indeed the duo behind the rallies and secret meetings cannot be determined. We must establish a connection between the two first, to make any progress. I questioned both of them separately, but none of them yielded any useful information.
I observed the two suspects again sitting at the other sides of glass walls of our cells. One of them is short and bald, has a stocky figure. He's a calm looking fella. The other one is tall, muscular. A nervous agitation is always about his gait. I looked at Inspector Ryan and said,
-- What if we bring them together and interrogate?
-- What? No! That would be a mistake, they might signal each other and the whole thing goes haywire! No dammit, Jed, I'm not risking that.
-- There's a way. They don't know that we know they are the two suspects. What if we bring another suspect of our own and question all three together?
-- What? Like a mole?
-- Yes! Officer Jerry can do that. He's amiable. He'll do fine. What if we make a scenario, you know, like we can insinuate that our Jerry and the tall guy are the two suspects we're looking for and we'll observe the short guy. If he reacts in the way he's not supposed to, we'll find our link!
-- Geez, that's not bad plan. You got a brain there pal!
Saying that, Ryan went away hurriedly to find Jerry. He's probably out at the front, flirting with the young receptionist.
At any rate, a smile beamed on my face at Ryan's last remark. He and I go way back after all. I'm godfather to his firstborn.
As planned we brought Jerry and our two suspects in the same room, took a mugshot photo. Two suspects laid eyes on each other but I don't see any sign of recognition. Hmm, I was expecting that. These people are supposed to be good at hiding things. Ryan started poking the tall guy, suggesting he and Jerry are in this together. Jerry was told to be pensive and docile and he put on a surprisingly good act. The tall guy lost control in a bit and was sweating, he was looking at Jerry and back at Ryan--denying the charges all the while. Of course, I wasn't looking at him. I was watching the short, bald guy with the eyes of a hungry hawk! My palms are sweating with anticipation!
Finally I saw some tension in him. He was inquisitive and glancing at the tall man. I finally saw some recognition in his eyes. Yes, that's it! But what exactly was he seeing? I draw some lines on my imaginary blackboard, from the baldy's eyes to his target. He was looking at the tall guy's chest. Yes, he definitely knows him and from the look on his face, quite intimately. Still, I hesitated for a second, why was he looking at the other guy's chest?
But no time to hesitate. I burst into the room and with that cue, Ryan and Jerry too took their position and we faced the duo.
We charged them with treason and conspiracy against the government. For a second they were dumbfounded. A very puzzled look on their face. Then they looked at each other, and back to us.
I lost my temper, looking at the short guy I said,
-- Oh come on! Do you honestly think we wont notice how worried you were seeing your partner in crime in peril, eh? What were you looking at his chest for? His rapid heartbeats? He's not how we got you two, buddy!
The duo looked at each other, and their chests respectively, looked at each other at the face again and then faced us.
And then they started laughing. Slow bursts at first, and then rapidly, like maniacs! They kept on laughing and laughing, the room shook with their laughter. The tall guy was trying to stop himself from falling from all those shakes, the short guy was rolling on the floor.
Then I noticed, they both have Stanley Kubrick t-shirts on them.
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