Do you have any pets at home? A cat, maybe?”
Svensen suddenly looked up at Jake. “How…How did you know that?”
“There’s a small amount of gray cat hair on your shirt. I don’t want your cat to starve. I can take it to a shelter.” The guy seems to be mostly a loner with very limited emotional bonds. So who does he care more about? His supervisor, or his cat?
“But I…”
“You aren’t going back home, Mr. Svensen. You’ll never see your cat again. You’re going to prison for the rest of your life.”
“You don’t have any proof that I did anything wrong, you can’t…”
“You ran. That’s actus rea, the act of a guilty person. Plus, you have mens rea, a guilty mind, knowledge of wrong doing. I can see it all over your face. You also gave your old supervisor the password to the project you were sent in to work on, in a different department. That’s also a violation of the National Security Act.”
The shock was starting to settle into Svensen’s face and body. He was beginning to tremble. Not a criminal master mind, Jake thought. It looks like he cares more about the cat than he does about his supervisor. Time to push him closer to the edge.
“I just hope they don’t euthanize your cat at the shelter. That would be a shame. What’s your cat’s name?”
Svensen glanced around the room. Looking for a way out, Jake thought.
“Scooter,”
“What kind of cat is Scooter?”
“He’s a gray tabby.”
“Like the cat on TV with the cat food?”
“Yes. He looks just like the cat on TV.”
Time to make him choose between his cat and his supervisor.
“Look,” Jake said in an understanding tone. “I don’t want anything to happen to Scooter. I can help Scooter out, but you have to help me out, too. You understand?”
Svensen nodded rapidly, tears welling up in his eyes. “What do you want to know?”
“I need to know everything about your old supervisor, Sylvia Cuthbert. How you passed information to her, how you got into this mess in the first place, how long this has been going on. Everything. Plus, you’ll have to testify against her in court.”
“You’ll take care of Scooter?”
Bingo, Jake thought. “I’ll take very good care of Scooter. I love cats too. If you give me permission to search your apartment, I can get Scooter help right away.”
“Okay.”
An hour later Jake and Honi walked out into the hall.
“So how did you get a read on him so fast?” Honi asked.
“Single guy, your basic loner, with limited social connections. Only two emotional-based things in his life. His supervisor and his cat. One or the other was going to be the stronger emotional bond. I figured he would care more for his cat than he did for his supervisor.”
“Good call. Now for Cuthbert. How do you see her?”
“Probably come off tough as nails, but she’s got nowhere to go. With the testimony of Svensen, we’ve got her. She just needs to understand that.”
They entered the interview room and sat down. Jake could see what Giles Svensen saw in her. He plopped his ID and badge pack in front of her. The FBI badge was heavy, so it made quite a thump on the table, demanding her attention.
“Giles Svensen has been arrested,” Jake said. “He’s being charged with multiple counts of violating the National Security Act. What can you tell me about him?”
She looked tense, untrusting. “Well, he’s worked for me about three years now. He’s always done a good job. I had no idea he was, you know, violating security. That comes as a complete shock to me.”
“Did you know he had a cat?”
She broke eye contact briefly and then looked back at Jake. “A cat? He had a cat? No, I didn’t know. How odd.”
Her first lie, Jake thought. “Did he make any suggestive remarks or advances toward you?”
“Advances?”
“You know.”
“No, not that I recall.”
“Did he make any contact with you outside of work?”
“Like ask me out on a date? That kind of thing?”
“Anything, phone call, note, birthday card?”
“Nothing comes to mind.”
Cool and evasive, Jake thought. She’s the one in charge of the relationship.
“Ever bump into him accidently at a public function?”
“I’d have to think about that, it doesn’t seem like it, but it could have happened without my noticing it.”
They heard a gentle knock on the door. Honi got up and answered. Pettigrew handed her several sheets of paper and then closed the door. She glanced through the sheets and handed them to Jake. He took several minutes to go through the list on the sheets. It was the inventory list compiled by the FBI forensic team that executed the search warrant on her apartment. The three things he was looking for were on the list: a small amount of gray cat hair, tying her to Giles Svensen, a burner cell phone not authorized by the NSA, and a watch that ran backwards. She’s connected to the criminals we’re investigating, he realized. She’s a spy. Jake took his ID pack and put it back in his pocket. He looked at her watch. It was a typical lady’s watch.
“That’s a nice watch,” Jake said. “May I see it?”
Sylvia extended her arm across the table. Jake held her hand and pulled her a little closer. He examined the watch and looked over at her.
“At least it doesn’t run backwards.”
She jerked slightly. He tightened his grip and whipped the handcuffs out from the back of his belt and snapped them around her left wrist. He stood and came around the table.
“Stand up.”
She stood slowly.
“Sylvia Cuthbert, you are under arrest for violation of the National Security Act of 1947.”
He finished placing her in handcuffs.
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to talk to a lawyer and have him or her present with you while you are being questioned. If you cannot afford to hire a lawyer, one will be appointed to represent you. Do you understand these rights?”
Sylvia simply stared back at him.
“Having these rights in mind, do you wish to talk to us now?”
She stood silently, her gaze fixed on a spot on the wall.
“Now’s your chance,” Jake said softly. “It’s only going to get worse from this point on.”
“I want my lawyer.”
“Yeah, about that. I’m afraid that is going to take a while.”
“But you said…”
“Sylvia Cuthbert, you are also under arrest for treason and conspiring with terrorists under the Patriot Act of 2001. You will be held in solitary confinement and without communications of any kind until the Government of the United States no longer deems you an eminent threat to the security of this nation. You can talk with me now, or later. Now will be much more pleasant for you.”
“Enhanced interrogation?”
“Is definitely on the table.”
She looked deeply shaken, breathing rapidly.
“I’ll tell you what. You think about it overnight. We won’t start until tomorrow morning.”
Jake opened the door. Pettigrew took Cuthbert by the arm and led her down the hall, deeper into the security office.
“You’re going to water board her?” Honi asked.
“No,” he said. “That won’t be necessary. She’s already filled with fear. That’ll just get stronger overnight. She knows we water board terrorists. Let her imagination do the rest. She’s not really a terrorist. She’s a lead to a terrorist. She acts tough, but she doesn’t have the resolve.”