Iron Orchid

SEVEN

HOLLY CALMED HESELF, taking deep, regular breaths. She had taken a polygraph before, in the army. She had even attended a class where she learned to administer them. She forced herself not to think about the money in the Grand Cayman bank account or the credit card in her purse. She was not able to prevent herself thinking about the statement she had signed, under penalty of perjury, that she had divulged all her financial information.

A man opened a door and beckoned her inside a small room. A woman was sitting in a chair next to the machine, and a large mirror was built into one wall. Holly assumed that this was a one-way mirror that allowed others to monitor her performance.

“Please remove your upper body clothing down to your bra and sit down,” the woman said.

Holly pulled off the sweatshirt she was wearing and sat down facing the mirror.

“You are here to take a polygraph examination. Have you ever had a polygraph before?”

“Yes, once, in the military.”

“This will be different from that experience,” the man said. “Much more sensitive. We’re going to wire you up now, so just relax and take a few deep breaths.”

The man and the woman began attaching devices to her body: a strap around her chest, probes like those used in an EKG to various parts of her torso, clamps on her fingers and something glued to her throat. Both of them sat down behind her.

“All right, we’re ready,” the man said. “It is very important to your career with the Agency that you not lie on any question, unless instructed to. Periodically, throughout your career, you will undergo polygraph testing as a security measure, but this is the most important one you will take. Is that clear?”

“Yes.”

“I’m going to ask you some questions, which will be easy to answer truthfully.”

“All right.”

“Don’t speak, except to answer yes or no.”

Holly sat quietly, breathing slowly and evenly.

“Are you sixty-four years old?”

“No.”

“Are you a male human being?”

“No.” She was breathing rhythmically and answering on her exhales.

“Have you ever served in the military?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know how to drive a car?”

“Yes.”

“Do you own a pet?”

“Yes.”

“All right, now I’m going to ask you some questions, and I want you to lie on each one. This is to help establish a baseline. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Is your mother living?”

“Yes.”

“Is your father living?”

“No.”

“Did you have sex with a man last night?”

“Yes.”

“Did you have sex with a woman last night?”

Holly tried not to laugh. “Yes.”

“Did you eat steak for lunch today?”

“Yes.”

“Did you lie on all these questions?”

“No.”

“Very good. Now we will begin. Answer yes or no, and always tell the truth. Some of the questions will be personal, but you must answer them. ”Is your name Holly Barker?“

“Yes.”

“Is your father’s name Hamilton Barker?”

“Yes.”

“Is he retired from the military?”

“Yes.”

“Are you retired from the military?”

“Yes.”

“When you were in the military, did you ever steal anything?”

Holly paused.

“Yes.”

“Did you ever steal anything worth more than one thousand dollars?”

“No.”

“Do you know how to drive a car?”

“Yes.”

“Have you ever fired a weapon?”

“Yes.”

“Have you ever had sex with a woman?”

“No.”

“Have you ever stolen money entrusted to your care?”

It hadn’t been entrusted to her care and, she told herself, it wasn’t stealing. “No.”

“Have you ever committed murder?”

“No.”

“Have you ever killed anybody.”

“Yes.”

“Was the killing in the line of duty?”

“Yes.”

The questioning continued for more than an hour, and Holly became very relaxed, answering the questions easily, hardly thinking about them.

“In the questionnaire you answered about your background, did you lie about anything?”

“No,” she said easily.

“Anything at all?”

“No.”

“When you were younger than twelve years, were you ever sexually molested by anyone, male or female?”

“No.”

“As an adult, were you ever sexually molested?”

“Yes.” It had eventually caused her to leave the army.

“Were you molested by a superior officer?”

They had read her military record. “Yes.”

“Did you testify at his court-martial?”

“Yes.”

“During your testimony, did you ever lie?”

“No.”

“During the accused’s testimony, did he ever lie?”

“Yes.”

“Did another female officer testify against him?”

“Yes.”

“Did she, during her testimony, ever lie?”

“No.”

“Was your superior officer convicted?”

“No.”

“Did you feel that justice had been done?”

“No.”

“Did you leave the military as a result of his acquittal?”

“Yes.”

“Did anyone pressure you to leave the military?”

“No.”

“Did you feel that, if you remained in the military, there would be prejudice against you, because of your testimony against a superior officer?”

“Yes.”

“Did you feel that it was impossible to advance in the military because of this testimony?”

“Yes.”

“Was major your highest rank held?”

“Yes.”

“Do you feel that if you had not testified against a superior officer you could have advanced in the military?”

“Yes.”

“During your time in the military did you ever have voluntary sex with another officer?”

“Yes.”

“During your time in the military did you ever have sex with an enlisted man?”

“Yes.”

“Did you ever have sex with an enlisted man while you were an officer?”

“No.”

“Did you ever have sex with a female officer?”

“No.”

“Did you ever have sex with an enlisted female?”

“No.”

“During your time in the military, were you ever insubordinate with a superior officer?”

“Once.”

“Answer yes or no. Were you ever insubordinate with a superior officer?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have sexual intercourse on a regular basis now?”

“No.”

“Are you seeing one man to the exclusion of other men?”

“No.”

“Do you consider yourself highly sexed?”

She paused. “Yes.”

“Have you ever had sex with a married man?”

“No.”

“Do you have any homosexual tendencies?”

“No.”

“Have you ever slept with more than one person of either sex at the same time?”

“No.” She had thought about it, though. God, they were really interested in her sex life.

“Have you ever had a strong desire to sleep with more than one person at the same time?”

She paused again. “No.”

“Is your net worth more than two million dollars?”

“Yes.”

“Do you own stocks and bonds worth more than one million dollars?”

“No.”

“Is your income more than two hundred thousand dollars a year?”

“No.”

“Do you owe any unpaid taxes?”

“No.”

“Did you lie on your last income tax return?”

“No.” There had been no place on the tax return to list illegally obtained assets.

“Did you recently buy a new car?”

“Yes.”

“Did you pay for it with illegally obtained funds?”

“No.” Thank God, she thought.

“Did you pay cash for it?”

“Yes.”

“Did you obtain the cash legally?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have any foreign bank accounts.”

She exhaled slowly. “No,” she breathed.

“Do you have any overdue debts?”

“No.”

“Do you carry any large credit card balances?”

“No.”

“Have you ever forged another person’s signature to obtain money?”

“No.”

“Do you owe any person money?”

“No.”

“Do you own a house?”

“Yes.”

“Is there a mortgage on the house?”

“No.”

“Have you lied about anything during this examination?”

“No,” she breathed.

“That concludes the test,” the man said. “You are a liar.”