Sam Fisher- Ames Interrogation

  "True. We can settle this pretty easily. We know Ames is working for Kovac. We have the proof. What we need to know is whether Kovac's just an ass or a traitor, and whether Ames is in on it."

  He nodded at Hansen, who walked to the canvas wall, picked up the straw mattress lying there, and shoved it beneath Ames's bunk. Fisher leaned down, picked up the two-liter bottle, and unscrewed the cap. Almost immediately the stench of gasoline wafted through the yurt.

  Ames's eyes went wide. "No . . . no!"

  "You've got a thing about fire, don't you?" Fisher asked. "Your family died in a fire, didn't they?"

  Gillespie said, "Sam . . ."

  Fisher kept going. "You saw it, too. Watched the whole thing."

  Ames was rapidly shaking his head from side to side. Fisher tipped the bottle over Ames's body and soaked him from head to toe. Ames sputtered and coughed and began bucking against his restraints. The bunk banged on the wooden floor. Ames started babbling, his words running over one another.

  Fisher told the group, "Unless I'm wrong, Kovac gave Ames the name of the man we're tracking. Aside from him, there are only three people who know it: me, Hansen, and Grimsdottir." Fisher knelt down beside the bunk. "Ames," he said quietly. Ames kept thrashing. "Ames!" Fisher barked.

  Ames stopped abruptly and looked at Fisher, who said, "Tell the name of the man we're tracking or I'm going to set you on fire."

  "Aariz Qaderi," Ames said without hesitation.

  Fisher stood up, tapped a few keys on his OPSAT, then nodded to the others, who studied their screens. Gillespie said, "I'll be damned."

  "Son of a bitch," Noboru muttered.

  To Ames, Fisher said, "Ben's going to ask you more questions. Answer him."

  Ames's eyes were glassy, but he nodded emphatically.

  Fisher nodded at Hansen, then led Noboru, Gillespie, and Valentina outside. They started back toward their yurt. Gillespie touched Fisher on the elbow and waited for the other two to get ahead.

  "Tell me the truth, Sam," she said. "Would you have done it?"

  "All that matters is that Ames believed I would."

  "Answer my question."

  Fisher considered the question. "Interrogation's an art, Kimberly. To be good at it you have to be able to stuff parts of your mind into boxes and use only the parts you need. The part I used in there would have done it. The part in charge of actually letting go of the match . . ."

  Fisher shrugged and walked away.

- Conviction, Chapter 34