Page 47 of Stone Coast
"You said anything," I reminded him with a smile.
Ross matched my smile and replied, "I did, didn't I?"
After a moment's pause, he agreed.
Jared broke out the polygraph device and all the accessories. He rigged Ross up, and my section chief took a seat at the settee. There was enough room for me to sit beside Jared and keep an eye on the screen as I interrogated Ross.
"Are you ready to begin?"
Ross nodded.
“I'm going to ask a few baseline questions," I said.
"Whenever you're ready," he replied.
I went through the standard questions. Once I asked all my baselines and controls, I proceeded with the most important question. "Was the mugging an attempt on my life?"
"I don't have enough information to answer that. I assume that the attackers were after something valuable.”
"Did you have any involvement?”
Ross looked astonished by the question. "No.”
"Have you ever been involved at any stage in any plots or attempts to have me assassinated?”
He balked. "No."
"Please answer the question again.”
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive."
"Was the attack at Grayson's house carried out under your direction or control?"
"No."
I studied the monitor on the laptop for any signs of deception. Ross's vitals had remained steady, even through all of these questions. But I wasn't done yet.
“Do you believe I'm a threat to the agency?"
"After what I saw here today, no. But your memory problems make you vulnerable. And that is a threat."
"Have you ever taken steps to discredit me within the agency?”
"No."
"Have you, in the past, or are you now, planning on taking hostile action toward me?”
"No.”
"Do you have any personal vendettas against me?”
"No.”
“Do you have any reasons to want me dead?”
