With a sharp snap, the incandescent bulb hanging from the ceiling flickered to life in the dark room. The light was anything but soft; it was almost painfully glaring.
Amanda Waller sat on one side of the table, while Schiller sat on the other. The heavy collar around Schiller's neck was secured to the back of his chair. Amanda held a remote control in her hand as she looked at him and said:
"The switch holding your jaw in place will be released, Professor. You can speak now, but you'd better not try to persuade me. Being electrocuted can't feel very good, can it?"
With a click, the lock opened. Yet Schiller remained silent. Amanda stared into his eyes and said, "Do you think you have nothing to say to your former student? Or are you too ashamed to speak because of what you did?"
Amanda's eyes were fixed on Schiller, on the pupils hidden beneath the shadows cast by his brow ridge. She enunciated every word:
"You stopped me from taking revenge on those lunatics because you were one of them too. You were in league with them, and you have to pay the price for it."
"Amanda..."
The instant Schiller's deep, hoarse voice sounded, Amanda felt cold sweat break out all over her body. When she looked at his face again, it was as though she no longer recognized this professor.
Amanda found her teeth chattering and her fingertips trembling. She desperately told herself not to be afraid, but panic still swallowed her whole.
"I'm sorry your family died in such a brutal serial murder case, but I did nothing for you. I even stopped you from continuing your investigation into the killer."
Amanda stared hard into Schiller's eyes and said in a slightly trembling voice, "You said