Chapter 8 - The Interrogation

Phantom was sat in a small room, only about four to five metres across, his feet scuffed at a dark grey carpet as he surveyed the matching dark grey walls. He was sat on a cold stainless steel chair resting his handcuffed hands idly on a stainless steel table. The interior decorated must of had an off day when they designed this room. A closed-circuit surveillance camera hung from the ceiling, blinking a little red light to show it was on, it reminded him of one of his gadgets. A single 100watt bulb glowed in a table lamp, the only source of light in the room, casing distorted shadows around only his half of the room. No matter where you go in the world, interrogation rooms are all the same the only difference is the degrees of dried blood on the floor but Phantom wasn't worried about that, that was a perk of 'civilised' countries, the prospect of torture was very unlikely. Not that it mattered to him most torturers didn't even bother starting once they had seen his face. After a few minutes the door on the far side of the room opened, a man walked in and leant against the wall he stayed in the shadows, a text book intimidatory device. "So 'Phantom', that is your name isn't it ?" he didn't wait for a response, "do you fancy a drink, coffee ? or perhaps a cigarette ?" phantom knew by the voice that his interrogator was Janus Zeal and that he didn't really care for his welfare, it was to put him at ease, to create a re-pore, to lure him into revealing information but Phantom knew this so accepted a cigarette just to appear to play the game. The cigarette burned slowly in his fingertips, he tried not to smoke it, it was a cheap brand which told Phantom either 'Rook' wasn't a smoker or had no taste for the finer things in life. Rook took a seat opposite Phantom leaning back, is body language casual and relaxed, it was obvious Rook had studied body language and it's effect on people. "So... you were caught huh, bummer, are they treating you alright ?" once again he didn't wait for a response, "Want to tell me anything ?" Phantom knew the torment that must be going on in Rooks head to force him to act the 'good cop', Phantom was almost insulted that Rook would bother playing these games. "You smoke an awful brand, if you give me back my possessions I can show you what a decent cigarette tastes like," Phantom decided to test the water see what a little gouging would get him. Rook was too controlled to accept such a childish bait but Phantom did notice him shift in his seat. "You will get your things back when you finally get released from our custody. Come on lets cut a deal, you tell me where the gun is being kept, I'll put in a good word with the boss and you be back on the streets in no time." "Of coarse... because right know you have no evidence to actually hold me and since when have you ever had a good word to say about me," Phantom fancied seeing how far he could push his luck, he had known Rook for a long time and knew that he would snap sooner if he kept up the cocky attitude. Rook slammed his fist on the table and leaned forward and Phantom could breifly see the anger in the mans face but then he exhaled and leant back again, regaining his original posture. Phantom smiled to himself. "Your not helping yourself, fine how about telling me where to find Ms. Sandiego ? or are you not important enough in the 'gang' to know that sort of information." Phantom almost burst into laughter at such an appalling attempt to get a rise out of him. "Oh didn't you know, I'm only the cleaner. Sorry for the mistake." Rook stood up and walked back over to the door, purpose in each step. The door opened only a crack to allow a whispered conversation between Rook and someone Phantom couldn't see. The red light of the surveillance camera blinked off and stayed off. Phantom raised an eyebrow, so the fun was going to begin so soon, Rook was more impatient then the last time they met. "Right you want to play it like this, then I'll play by your kind of rules," Rook circled around and stood behind Phantom and placed his hands on Phantoms shoulders. "Where is the gun?" "I'm not sure, have you checked the Imperial War Museum? I believe they had one going spare." Phantom wasn't scared by such primitive scare tactics, he'd seen worse then this man could ever imagine, let alone attempt. Rook's grab became tighter. "You could make this so easy on yourself. Just give me an address." This time Phantom actually burst out laughing, his bark echoed in the near darkness, "What before you get the basin of water or perhaps a two pound hammer? How about you put cling film over my mouth and pour water over me so my body believes I'm drowning. Have you ever looked into the effects of senseory deprivation or the psychological stress caused by sleep deprivation. Should I go on or do you want to get a notepad and take down pointers." Phantom was now bored of this amateur and wondered how long it would take to push this man so far, the men out side had to intervene. Rook tensed and forced phantoms head into the stainless steel top of the table. With his head flat against the cold surface, he could taste blood and felt it soak into his bandages. "So you think your an expert in these things do you? No I won't torture you but I can make sure your feeding through a straw and no-one would ask how it happened." He pulled Phantom back to a sitting position. "And I could have you dissapear and no-one would ask how it happened," Phantom lapped at the blood trickling down from his nose, savouring its metallic taste. "Are you threatening an ACME agent, an agent of the law?" Rook slammed phantom against the table again, a fresh flow strouted from his eyebrow added to the blood from his nose. Rook put his hand on the back of Phantoms head fixing it to the table as he whispered "I've had enough of you, we have all the information to put you away for a long time, just give me the god damn info on the gun, don't make it harder on yourself !" "The breech loading 5.5 inch Mk I naval gun was originally designed for the Greek navy..." his words were cut off as his head was lifted up a foot or so from the table and then brought roughly back down. Phantom looked down to see a small dent in the, now spinning, table. "Not interested in history then," Phantoms spoke with a slight lisp were he had bitten his tongue. "You remember what I said to you the first time we met in Germany all those years ago," Rooks voice had returned to its previous calm state, moving round the table and sat face to face with Phantom. "Wollen Sie ein Bier?" phantom chuckled but this time Rook didn't hit him, which Phantom found interesting and started to wonder what Rooks next plan of attack was but his thoughts were interupted by a sharp rap at the door. Rook stood up slowly and went to answer it, once again it only opened a crack and whispers were exchanged but then Rook exploded spitting with fury, "What do you mean let him go, he's mine, I'm seeing him go down for this !" The door was flung wide, bouncing on its hinges as Rook rushed down the corridor, Phantom could hear the echo of a slamming door and laughed out loud, which made the female officer, who was uncuffing him, jump with a high pitch squeak of alarm. Phantom felt for his bandages, to make sure they were still properly in place, feeling the wetness of his own blood with relish. Without a word or even a glance to the young officer, he stood up and walk calmly out of the room. Into freedom.