Shit, he thought, growing anxious. Well, maybe my attorney can get me off on some sort of technicality.
When it was over, Williams raised his head.
“I’m done,” he called.
The door opened and a man dressed in the same Imperial Marines uniform with the fancy braided shoulder decoration entered.
“Who are you?” Williams wondered, blunt.
“My name is Captain David Mercer, of the Imperial Guard,” the man replied. “My colleague, Lieutenant Cox, also of the Imperial Guard, is monitoring the telemetry from your chair with the help of the ICPD staff physician Dr. Martin, on the other side of that window.” He gestured to the one-way glass framed on the side wall. “I’ll be interrogating you.”
“The hell you will. Where’s my lawyer?”
“Your lawyer has already been sent home, Mr. Williams.”
“…The hell?!”
“Counsel is always waived in any case that goes before the Throne, Mr. Williams.”
“Before the Throne?”
“You are being tried in the highest court available, Mr. Williams. The Emperor himself will determine your case.”
“Oh shit,” Williams whispered.
“Now, Mr. Williams,” Mercer said, once he had seated himself and gotten a few things organized in VR. “You are accused of being an accomplice to first-degree manslaughter, as well as with sedition, conspiracy to subvert a government organization, four counts of conspiracy to murder, conspiracy to bomb an Imperial City Police building, and treason against the Throne. We are about to commence your interrogation. I will ask the questions, and you will answer, taking as long as you need to fully answer each question.”
“No.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I’m not answering any questions. Not until my lawyer is here.”
“I’ve already told you, Mr. Williams, your lawyer is not here, nor will he be here.”
“Then I’m not talking.”
“Oh, I’m afraid you will,” Mercer said, growing grim. “I’ve already had my instructions from General Daggert, who had them directly from the Emperor, not half an hour ago.”
“And those instructions are?”
“Resistance to providing the Emperor with the truth of the matter will be considered an additional charge of treason, and grounds for execution. If you – or any of your co-conspirators – refuse to cooperate, the answers are to be drugged out of you. If you die in the process, too bad. Should you continue to resist, somewhere along the way you will lose your mind first, however. This is usually not pretty, and based on my experience as an interrogator, you are likely to consciously realize it is happening, but be completely unable to stop it.”
Williams paled.
“Now, let me say again: We are about to commence. I will ask the questions, and you will answer, taking as long as you need to fully answer each question. Cooperation with the interrogation will be considered by way of possibly mitigating any sentence. Refusal to cooperate is an automatic death sentence on the grounds of treason. Do you still refuse to answer?”
Dumbfounded, and uncertain what to do, Williams simply sat there, mute, gaping. If I don’t, I’m a dead man, because this Emperor won’t hesitate to have me executed. If I do, I’m a dead man, because either this Emperor will have me executed, or the remaining ‘oldies’ will take me out. What the hell do I do?!
Mercer allowed fully three minutes to pass for the accused to process the situation and respond. Williams tried to speak, but still uncertain what to say, nothing would come out, so he offered Mercer a pleading look, but Mercer took no regard of it. Finally the Imperial Guardsman waved a dismissive hand.
“Very well, then. Dr. Martin,” Mercer directed his comment to the microphone near the ceiling in the corner, “would you please come in and facilitate the interrogation?”
In the end, Williams was a lightweight; the first drug administered opened his mouth and mind, rendering him unable to resist the interrogation. Mercer got to work.
“What is your full name?”
“Hunter Allen Williams.”
“Were you a former IPD Headquarters staffer?”
“Yes.”
“What was your rank?”
“Corporal. I was one of the senior beat cops.”
“What is your current rank?”
“it’s still corporal.”
“Military-style rankings don’t exist under the current leadership of the IPD. What is your current rank?”
“I guess it’s just officer, then.”
“How did you survive the destruction of the original Headquarters?”
“I was away from Headquarters on my beat when the Emperor initiated the attack. When I got back, there wasn’t much left of the building except the foundation, and not many people left, either.”
“Were you approached by any of the Imperial Marines securing the area?”
“Yes.”
“Did they ask you what your business was there?”
“Yes.”
“What did you tell them?”
“That I was reporting back at the end of my shift, and didn’t understand what had happened.”
“Was that true?”
“Yes.”
“Did they ask you if you were a legitimate, straight cop?”
“Yes.”
“How did you respond to that question?”
“That I was a straight cop.”
“Did you lie when you told the Imperial Marines you were a straight cop?”
“I was straight enough.”
“Did you ever accept a bribe?”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever plant evidence at a crime scene, or on a witness?”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever hire enforcers for yourself or your superiors?”
“Yes.”
“Which?”
“Both.”
“Did you lie to the Imperial Marines about accepting bribes, using enforcers, and planting evidence?”
“…Yes.”
“So did you lie to the Imperial Marines about being a straight cop?”
“Depends on your definition of straight, I guess.”
“Did you commit corrupt acts?”
“Yes.”
“Were you a corrupt cop?”
“I suppose.”
“Did you lie when you told the Imperial Marines you were a straight cop?”
“…Yes.”
“Were you sincere when you swore the new Oath to the Throne?”
“No.”
“Why did you swear the Oath to the Throne?”
“To get my job back.”
“Why did you want that job back?”
“I earned that job. I deserved it.”
“Why didn’t you just get another job.”
“Dunno. Liked this one.”
“Who contacted you about this ‘oldies’ gathering?”
“Carr.”
“Could you be more specific? His full name, please.”
“Lieutenant William H. Carr.”
“Who else showed up at this ‘oldies’ gathering? Be specific.”
“Captain Ted Bradly, Inspector Winston Peabody, and, um, Officers George Holland, David Seeger, Noah Warner, uh, Matthew Lowe, and uh, Theodore Wang, and enforcers Peter Brandt and Joseph Hennig.”
“Did you bring Hennig and Brandt to the meeting?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you bring Hennig and Brandt to the meeting?”
“Because Carr said he and Bradly were looking for some enforcers.”
“Why?”
“To do the dirty work.”
“Why couldn’t it be done by the officers?”
“They didn’t want any obvious connections to us.”
“How did you find Hennig and Brandt?”
“I used to hire the various enforcers for the higher-ups. I had contact information for all of ‘em. I just went down the list until I hit somebody.”
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“Who was running the meeting?”
“Carr and Bradly.”
“Was former Inspector Winston Peabody there?”
“Yes. I think I already told you he was part of the group.”
“Was Peabody involved in running the meeting?”
“No.”
“Did you think that was odd?”
“No, not really; a lot of the old HQ leads used to delegate, especially their dirty business. That way, they could claim they knew nothing about it. You know what I mean.”
“Yes. Was Carr doing more of the running of the meeting, or Bradly?”
“No, Bradly did most of the talking, and most of the planning. Carr just took notes.”
“Did Bradly work out a verbal contract with Hennig and Brandt to kill Director Lee Carter, Colonel Maia Peterson and Detectives Dominick Ashton and Callista Ames?”
“Yes, he did.”
“What did this contract consist of?”
“In exchange for killing Carter, Ashton, and their detective wives, Hennig and Brandt would get their old jobs back as enforcers in the ‘new’ IPD Headquarters organization, either under Peabody or Bradly, at their original rates of pay.”
“So Bradly considered himself in the running for the director’s office?”
“I guess so.”
“Why?”
“I guess if Peabody didn’t actually want the top office, Bradly would have it.”
“Why wouldn’t Peabody want it?”
“I dunno. Maybe he liked being a detective.”
“Did you have any follow-up meetings after the first one?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“Two.”
“What happened in those?”
“In the first, the enforcers reported back that the house had been compromised, and we looked at extending the plan to ensure we stayed in control. In the second, we watched the explosion from a rooftop bar.”
“What was the extension to the plan?”
“Getting rid of the ICPD.”
“And in the second meeting, you say you watched the explosion. You personally saw the explosion?”
“Yes.”
“So you believed that your assassination plan succeeded?”
“Yes.”
“When did you realize you were wrong?”
“Not until the lot of ‘em showed up in the office the next morning, after Bradly took charge.”
“Who did you think would become the new director?”
“Peabody.”
“So you were unaware of the orders Bradly issued to have Peabody assassinated as well?”
The lightly-drugged Williams became agitated at that.
“WHAT?! You’re shitting me, right? Bradly was aiming for the top all along? Oh damn!”
“is that a ‘no’ response?”
“W-what, now?”
“Were you, or were you not, aware that Bradly issued orders to have Peabody assassinated?”
“No, I was not!”
“Were there discussions on eliminating all of the Imperial City Police Department?”
A slightly disoriented Williams struggled to regain the original flow of the interrogation. Mercer waited patiently.
“Uh. Damn. Hang on a minute. Um. Eliminate the ICPD…? Yes,” he finally admitted.
“How did your conspiracy plan to do so?”
“Bomb their headquarters precinct, over in Park West.”
“I see. When did you plan this?”
“During the second meeting, like I said.”
“Did you plan for more eliminations during that meeting?”
“Yes.”
What did your group plan after that?”
“It would depend on what happened next.”
“In what way?”
“If the Emperor went along with us, we’d just go back to the way things were. If not, we’d be looking for a way to take him out, too. Then we’d probably find someone to take over for him and work with us.”
“Had you considered the near-impossibility of the task?”
“What do you mean?”
“Your people already assassinated Emperor Trajan’s sister, the Empress Ilithyia II, as well as Trajan’s wife and brother-in-law. It was he who put down the insurrection – personally – by wiping out the Imperial Council and IPD Headquarters. Do you think he is so naïve as to fail to consider the possibility of an attempted coup upon his own person?”
“Oh. Um, I dunno. I...don’t guess we’d really gotten that far. I wasn’t one of the main planners.”
“I see. Who was the main planner?”
“Bradly.”
“Did he have an assistant?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“Carr.”
“Lieutenant William Carr was Bradly’s assistant?”
“Yes.”
“Whose idea was it to do all this?”
“Carr’s.”
“Carr, not Bradly?”
“No, it was Carr. He told me that when he first told me about the ‘oldies’ meeting – that it was his idea, that he’d had the idea for what he called ‘helping Carter get out of the way.’ And so he told Bradly his idea, and Bradly decided to act on it.”
“What were the rest of you there for?”
“To help out where we were needed, and to throw our weight behind… I guess it was Bradly all along,” Williams said, head wobbling slightly as he worked out the real plan in his drugged, dumbfounded mind. “To make sure he was the one who made it into the Chief’s office, once Carter and his boy Ashton were dead. And then stay there, by getting rid of the opposition.”
“All of the opposition?”
“All of the opposition, yes.”
“ICPD?”
“Yes.”
“Emperor Trajan?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you, Mr. Williams,” Mercer said. “Dr. Martin, would you please come administer the antagonist?”
Moments later, Williams was back to normal.
“Oh shit,” he whispered, realizing what he’d just done. “Oh shit.”
“Mr. Williams,” Mercer said then, “you will be escorted back to your cell, where you will wait until the Emperor has had time to consider the full case. He may wait to hand down a sentence until all of the conspirators have been interrogated, or he may not; that is not in my hands.”
And with that, Mercer rose and escorted Dr. Martin out of the room.
Five minutes later, the ICPD street officers were back, uncuffing Williams from the chair, returning the leg irons and handcuffs to him, and escorting him back to his cell in the lockup.
The Other Conspirators
No word came down from Emperor Trajan after Williams’ interrogation, save one: “Continue.”
The rest of the conspirators’ interrogations went very similarly. All found themselves without counsel, all were shocked to discover they were being tried in the High Court, and all resisted interrogation. Several fought the drugs the entire time; it did not go well for them, and in the end, they all talked, though none went as far as a certain spotter on Ashton’s first High Court case had gone.
“Who was running the meeting, Officer Holland?”
“Captain Bradly.”
“Who assisted him?”
“Lieutenant Carr.”
“Officer Lowe, who did you think was running the meeting?”
“Captain Bradly.”
“Who was his assistant?”
“Lieutenant Carr.”
“Who ran the meeting, Officer Wang?”
“Ted, no doubt.”
“That would be Theodore Bradly?”
“Yes.”
“Was he assisted by anyone?”
“Yes.”
“Who was his assistant?”
“Bill Carr.”
“That would be Lieutenant William Carr?”
“Yes.”
“Mr. Seeger, who did you feel was in char
ge?”
“That would have to be Captain Bradly, though Lieutenant Carr helped.”
“Officer Warner, who was in charge of the plan to kill Director Carter and the others?”
“Captain Bradly, sir.”
“Was he assisted by anyone?”
“Lieutenant Carr.”
As one of the leaders of the conspiracy, it was Carr’s turn next. He got the same treatment as the rest of the conspirators, but reacted far worse.
“Get the hell away from me!” Carr snarled, as soon as Mercer entered the room. “You’ll get nothing from me! Where the hell is my lawyer?”
“You are being tried under the auspices of the Throne, Mr. Carr. This is the High Court. You are accountable to Emperor Trajan alone, and he is accountable to no one. He will decide your fate, based on the information you provide him, and he will have that information. There is no counsel, and no appeal.”
“The hell you say! I know my rights! I’m not saying a damn word until you get my lawyer in here!”
“That will not be happening. Resistance to providing the Emperor with answers will be considered treason, and grounds for execution. If you refuse to cooperate, the answers will be drugged out of you. We will use successively stronger drugs until we get the answers the Emperor requires, regardless of the consequences to your person. Possible repercussions include insanity and death. If you die in the process, it will be considered the fulfilment of the execution. Do you understand?”
“That’s illegal!”
“In the lower courts, yes. In the High Court, no. Do you understand?”
“You and your bastard Emperor can go to hell!”
“Do. You. Understand?”
“Yeah, you damn bastard son of a bitch cock-sucking scum, I understand! I understand you and your damned Emperor are a couple of spineless pricks, along with all the rest of the ‘Emperor’s’ toadies, including Carter! You can do whatever you damn like! You still won’t get anything outta me!”
“Oh, I think we will, though you may not like it. Very well. Dr. Martin? I require your assistance to facilitate this interrogation, please.”
Moments later a middle-aged man in a dark suit with a small black bag entered the room, along with two Imperial Guardsmen. The guards held down Carr while Martin withdrew a pulse injector and loaded it with a specific ampoule displaying a bright yellow label marker, then injected it into Carr’s arm. Carr began to curse violently, struggling fiercely to free himself, but the guards held him fast… barely. Unfortunately, that also meant that he was not staying in firm contact with the chair, and his vitals telemetry was intermittent at best.
EMPIRE: Imperial Detective Page 14
