Chapter 3: Interrogation

Heavy machinery was running outside the room. It sounded like some sort of production line. Perhaps this was a car factory, a canned-meat factory, or a beverage plant. These were the unimportant things occupying Dewitt's mind.

An hour earlier, a black hood had been pulled over his head and he had been brought here, to an empty room of roughly ten square meters. The windows were sealed, and the only light came from a hanging lamp overhead. It failed to reach the walls and corners.

Dewitt was tied to a chair. Once the hood came off, the big thug who accompanied Sonny began beating him. The thug's name was Gava, an amateur boxer who, judging by his size, was at least a middleweight. He wrapped gauze around his hands and spent a full forty minutes punching Dewitt in the stomach, chest, neck, and face, plus another twenty minutes or so asking questions. The answers he got were mostly along the lines of “You punch like a drunk” or “You look out of breath. Want to take a break?”

The cigarette butts littering the floor showed that Sonny was running out of both time and patience. Gava, too, seemed to have given up on the interrogation. He walked over to Sonny and leaned in to murmur in his ear. “I don't think beating him any more will get us anywhere. I met someone like him in the Middle East once. Two hours of electric shocks, and we couldn't even get his name.”

Sonny pushed Gava aside, drew a pistol from inside his jacket, and pressed it against Dewitt's forehead. “Listen, asshole. This is your last chance. Give me your superior's name.”

“I've already told you. If you'd made even a little use of that organ inside your skull, you'd have ruled out the possibility that I'm a cop long ago.”

The pistol butt slammed into Dewitt's jaw. “Fine. Since you won't talk…” Sonny said furiously. Turning, he dragged another chair out of the shadows in a corner of the room. Mike was tied to it, though he didn't appear to have taken a single punch yet.

“Sorry, pal. I'll have to see what I can get out of you.” Sonny beckoned Gava over. It looked as though they were about to start on Mike.

“Hey! Hey! What's this?! What have I got to do with any of this?! You're the one who introduced him to me! I've known him less than twenty-four hours. I don't even know his last name,” Mike cried hastily. “Besides, I've told you everything I know!”

“Yes, you've told us everything. You said he killed every last one of the Genovese family's delivery men all by himself, dumped them in Lake Michigan, then took the money and escaped with you while nearly half the city's police force was chasing you. Do you think this is a video game or a movie? Do I look like a three-year-old? Mike, my friend, we've done good business together. But if you keep making up stories, you can't blame me for forgetting our old friendship.”

“You're not a three-year-old. Just a bit stupid,” Dewitt said with a laugh from behind Sonny.

“You bastard!” Sonny flew into a rage, rushed over, and landed two heavy punches on Dewitt.

Gava unwound the blood-soaked gauze from his hands, threw it on the floor, and wrapped them again with two clean strips. He had long since taken off his shirt. His arm muscles bulged, veins standing out. With this broad-backed brute standing in front of the pale, skinny Mike, the bespectacled student looked frailer than ever. Even if they untied him, Gava could probably put him down in three punches.

“Kid, want me to take your glasses off? I'd hate to have you squealing like a woman when the lenses get stuck in your eyeballs.” Gava knocked his right fist against his left palm twice, apparently ready to begin.

Mike said hastily, “Wait, wait, wait… Hold on. Don't hit me. I can explain.”

Sonny came back over. “I'm listening.”

“Since you don't believe what I told you earlier,” Mike said, “I can help you work through the worst-case scenario you're worried about. It can only be… Dewitt's a cop, a government agent, or someone from HL, and I've made some kind of deal with him to help cover up what happened yesterday. But think it through. That's absolutely impossible.”

“Why?” Sonny said. “Just because you only met him yesterday, I'm supposed to believe there's no way he could have bought you off? I've seen plenty of kids like you. So proud of your higher education, doing a little illegal business on the side. The moment the cops turn up and threaten you with prison and a ruined future, you roll over like a whore and become an informant, hoping to put someone like me behind bars in exchange for witness protection or something. Isn't that right?”

Mike swallowed. “Mr. Lucchese, I have to remind you again. You're the one who sent him to me.”

“Yes, because I thought he was a fraud,” Sonny said. “He actually called himself ‘Consultant’…” He turned, grabbed Dewitt by the hair, and spoke right into his face. “You think I haven't heard of Consultant? If a man of about forty had walked up to me, there might have been a one percent chance I'd believe him. But don't you think you're a little too young to be passing yourself off as a legend?”

Dewitt merely smiled, not bothering to answer.

Sonny returned to Mike. “So I told him when and where Tony was making his delivery, and I said, ‘If you're really Consultant, you know what to do to prove it.’”

“Then you introduced me to him,” Mike replied, “because I know something about all the deals going on in the city. If Dewitt really did call the cops to bust the deal, you could wash your hands of the whole thing afterward.”

Sonny smiled. “Good guess.”

Mike continued, “Tony might end up under arrest, or simply get shot dead resisting arrest. Even if he survived, or the police couldn't make a charge stick and let him go, that line of business would certainly be finished. Tony would have a rough time within the Genovese family, too. You'd have your revenge.

“But whatever happened, the Genovese family would suspect you were behind it, because you've always had a grudge against Tony. You could play innocent. Even if Dewitt identified you, you could say he was a fraud trying to get the Lucchese family's protection. Then, at the right moment, you could put me forward as some sort of proof that the information about the deal hadn't come from you.”

Dewitt spoke up from behind Sonny again. “Sonny, this kid's a lot smarter than you.”

“Shut your mouth, you bastard, or I'll cut your tongue out,” Sonny threatened over his shoulder.

Mike changed tack. “But what you didn't expect was that Dewitt wouldn't call the police as you'd imagined. Instead, he chose to rob the crooks himself and managed to escape. Because you don't believe he could have pulled it off, you suspect he's working for the police, and that whatever he did last night was only possible because they secretly helped him.”

“Right,” Sonny said. “So aren't we back where we started? Kid, what did this cop offer you? What really happened last night?”

Mike let out a long breath. “If the city of Chicago is still functioning normally, I imagine you read about everything that happened last night in this morning's paper.”

Sonny's expression shifted slightly.

Mike went on, “The media should have reported two burned-out vehicles. One was a van. The other was the vehicle involved in the hit-and-run that caused all that traffic chaos in the afternoon. Some footprints were found at the scene, but no people.” He paused. “Don't you think that matches exactly what I told you happened?”

Sonny snorted. “Matches? Seems to me it fits better if the cops arrested Tony and his crew, deliberately let you two go, and then suppressed the news.” He looked at Mike. “Besides, you came to see me at eleven this morning. It would've been perfectly normal for you to read a few papers beforehand.”

“Then let's follow your theory exactly,” Mike said. “Assuming Dewitt is an undercover officer sent by the police, this is how it must have happened…

“First, Dewitt tries to infiltrate your family in a truly astonishing way—by impersonating Consultant. I think any undercover detective in his right mind could do better just by throwing peanuts in your face at a bar.

“And you didn't believe him from the start, so his very first move failed. Then he walked straight into your obvious trap. He also used threats and inducements and so on to buy me off, someone he'd known for less than half a day. Next, after setting everything up last night, he came back to see you, practically walking into a trap, with me, someone completely untrained whose loyalty he couldn't possibly count on. And he wasn't the least bit worried that I'd betray him because I couldn't stand up to torture.”

Sonny's expression changed several times. He seemed to be wavering, and Mike wasn't finished yet. “Mr. Lucchese, you ought to think this over carefully. Your suspicions are groundless and illogical. Besides, even if you insist on saying he's a cop, I strongly suggest you stop torturing me, someone who had nothing to do with this in the first place. Just shoot him and be done with it. He's got nothing to do with me. The only reason I came here with him today is that the bastard refused to pay me.”

At this point, a fifth voice sounded in the room, low and deep. “That's enough, Sonny. You and Gava go outside. Don't forget to close the door.”

Sonny acknowledged the order, glared once more at the two men in the chairs, and left with Gava.

There was another person in the darkness in a corner of the room. He had been there from the beginning, but neither Dewitt nor Mike had noticed him, and Sonny and Gava had deliberately acted as though there were only four people present.

A white-haired old man with a full beard stepped out of the shadows. He wore a suit that would cost an ordinary worker a year's pay. He pulled up a stool, sat down in front of them, and began to speak. “I admire you both. You should know that when I was your age, I spent my days fooling around, living the life of a playboy and worrying my parents terribly.” His gaze shifted to Dewitt's face. “I hope you can forgive my suspicions. I fully believe that Consultant is exceptionally talented and very young. I simply detest undercover officers.

“We're a large family. It's inevitable that a few people with ulterior motives will slip in. I welcome them and treat them as family, yet these traitors think only of damaging the family's interests, sending their older brothers to prison, and hurting our feelings and our pride.”

Dewitt spat the blood from his mouth. “So was that performance the final test, or will there be more to come?”

“I think that's enough, my boy,” the old man replied. “If you were some top student secretly selected from the police academy by a superior, you wouldn't have had that look in your eyes with a gun to your head.”

“Oh? What look?” Dewitt asked with a smile.

“I've seen plenty of undercover officers facing death. At a time like that, a man thinks of his family, his mission, or his superior. In any case, he recalls something meaningful. Even if he seems calm and ready to face death, some emotions can't be hidden.

“A falsely accused criminal would show anger and resentment at that moment. The crazier ones, like you, look as though they're thinking about something pointless, such as what they'll be having for dinner tonight.”

“Uh… sir, may I ask who you are?” Mike interrupted from beside Dewitt.

“Joseph Lucchese. I imagine you've heard the name, young man,” Joseph replied.

Mike lowered his head and laughed. “Heh… An honor to meet you, sir. I imagine that if I get out of here alive today, I won't be able to live as a law-abiding citizen anymore.”

“You stopped being a law-abiding citizen a long time ago, Mike,” Joseph said.

Dewitt, meanwhile, seemed rather excited. “What made the boss of the Lucchese family decide to see me in person? When you first sat down in this room, you couldn't have heard Mike's account yet. You'd only read the papers. Could it be…”

Joseph picked up the thought. “Even I suspected Sonny first when I read the reports. And he doesn't dare lie to me.”

“Hmph… I see. Even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, you wanted to gamble on my being the real Consultant, because you need ‘Consultant’ right now.”

“Young man, I've already looked into you a little,” Joseph said. “The name Dewitt Lyle is just a symbol, like the title ‘Consultant.’ It doesn't establish anything. At present, I'm ninety percent certain you're not working for the police, but I'm not even thirty percent certain you're Consultant himself.

“Perhaps you really did rob those criminals last night. But as I understand it, there are people in this world with special talents. Some call them superpowered people, ability users, or simply freaks. If you're one of them, then I imagine dealing with Tony, Joe, and those few others would be possible. Escaping ordinary police officers would make sense, too.”

“You don't need an ability user,” Dewitt said, “because that would bring in agencies on the level of HL. It's taboo in organized crime, a dangerous line to cross. You need Consultant's intelligence, his strategies for committing crimes. That's what you want.”

“Exactly,” Joseph said. “You approached Sonny of your own accord yesterday, which means that, in the short term at least, you only want to work with our Lucchese family. And we've just tested where your loyalties lie. Now, I don't care whether you're one of these so-called ability users. If you're Consultant, I'll hire you. Of course, all I need are your plans.”

“And if I'm not?” Dewitt asked.

Joseph stood and untied Dewitt and Mike himself as he spoke. “You'd better prove you are, because my expectations are very high now.” Then he told Mike, “And you will work exclusively for the Lucchese family from now on. With your talents, I imagine you'll soon outrank Sonny.”

“Sir, Sonny's a Lucchese,” Mike said. “He's a blood relative of yours…”

Joseph shrugged. “Of course. Otherwise I'd have thrown an idiot like that into the sea long ago.”

“Heh… heh heh…” Mike laughed stiffly.

Dewitt stretched his limbs. “I do have a big deal to discuss with you, Mr. Lucchese. But before that, since you still have doubts about my identity, I'll do one more thing for you free of charge while Tony and Joe are barely cold.”