Page 84 of Bonded in Death

He sat, folded his hands on the table.

“It may be difficult for you to believe,” he began, “but I’m very sure Conrad Potter is still alive, that he calculated how to simulate his death and escape. And he himself killed Giovanni.”

“Is that so?”

“I’m sure of it. If you’d let me explain how I believe this was accomplished—”

“The ashes buried as Potter are being exhumed and transported to our expert at our lab in New York.”

He blinked again, slowly, then smiled. “I should have expected you to see through his ploy. This is hopeful news.”

He looked, Eve thought, like someone’s uncle who probably raised orchids and had a pair of goldfish. Not at all like a man who’d spent most of his life in covert ops, who invented weapons, one who’d fought, one who’d killed.

“Mr. Draski, this interview will focus on your time with the Underground during the Urbans, and most specifically with the unit known as The Twelve.”

“Yes, whatever I can tell you that helps.”

“Can I get you coffee, tea?”

He looked at Peabody. “Oh, I would love coffee if it’s not too much trouble. Just a bit of cream or milk, if you don’t mind. And could I ask,when it’s appropriate, if I could express my condolences to Giovanni’s family? He made such a happy family, and his loss will be considerable.”

“I’ll let you know. As part of this Underground unit, you worked closely with Conrad Potter.”

“I did, yes. We all did. Synchronization was essential. Trust, essential. While I became trained in combat, in weaponry, my primary role involved science and invention. I had a small, well-equipped lab and work area in our HQ. I often worked and stayed there alone, with my work. I had rudimentary quarters for sleeping when necessary.”

“Potter found your work interesting?”

“Thank you very much,” he said when Peabody brought him coffee. “He did. He would often come in, ask questions, look over my records.”

“What did you make in your lab?”

“Various drugs. To render someone unconscious, to block or blur memory, to cause physical reactions such as nausea, a sudden headache, or other discomforts. Paralytics, poisons, hallucinogens. Medicines as well,” he added. “So what could harm, and what could heal.”

“And he was interested?”

“He was. And in weapons I worked on. Weapons that used sound or light, or both. Weapons such as—very much like the stunners that are now standard issue for your police department. Weapons that can disable, even kill, from a distance, without a projectile and in relative silence.”

“You explained your work to him.”

“I did. I found it satisfying to have someone interested. He was older, you see, and experienced. I felt, well, honored he’d take such an interest in my work.”

Ivan picked up his coffee. “He used me, and I believe he used whatever he learned from me, from my records, from even my musings, on others. What I created was meant to be used for fighting a war, for ending it. Not for personal reasons, personal gains.”

“You spent a lot of time with him. Maybe more one-on-one than the others.”

“He also spent time with Sylvester, and now and then with Leroy, with Alice. They were explosives. And Leroy was also a mechanic. Conrad appeared to want to learn more about explosives, about mechanics. And then, I recall Gio mentioning to me that Conrad had wanted a kind of primer on tech. What was current, possible, what might be possible.”

Shaking his head, he looked down at his hands. “I thought him brilliant. I thought that as I saw him as a knowledge-seeker. I followed his lead, learned more.”

“If you learned more,” Peabody put in, “you’d be a better asset to your team.”

“Yes, thank you, that was my hope. My wish. I was so young. Iris and I were the youngest, barely twenty. I had a little crush on her, but was far too shy to approach her in that way. Then, before long, we became friends. Good friends, too much like family for crushes.”

“When he came into your lab,” Eve continued, “did you only talk about your work?”

“Oh no, he was very, ah, personable with me. Older, as I said, and experienced. With women.” A smile ghosted around his mouth. “I was shy and not experienced. I felt comfortable asking him about women.”

“And what did he say?”

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