“I stay out of the gossip. But I’m sorry to hear. It’s certainly his loss.”
She gave a half smile—enough for Cain to think he might be able to win her over after all.
“My ex and I were once vacationing in the Jewish quarter of Kraków. It was a quaint neighborhood with that old-world charm. The lovely waitress had placed a basket of bread and a plate of cheese on the table for us. I was devouring what I thought was the best cheese I had ever had. I mean, I can’t express how delicious this cheese was. I pushed the plate over and told him he had to try it. He took one bite and started dry heaving. I thought he was about to throw up right there on the table. He yelled out, ‘That’s not cheese! It’s butter!’”
Cain laughed heartily. “Well, I gotta put butter on everything—even my vegetables. I’m from the South. At least I’m not as bad as the Georgians who run the chow hall at FLETC—they consider mac and cheese a vegetable!”
Cynthia laughed until she seemed to remember that the exam was being recorded. At that moment, she quickly returned to her stoic and professional demeanor.
She grabbed a checklist. “Okay, Agent Lemaire. The Secret Service considers this an administrative inquiry, not a criminal matter. Therefore, I will not be reading your Miranda rights. However, I will be providing you with your Kalkines warning and then asking you a series of test questions to establish a baseline. Just answer them with a simple yes or no. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Is your name Cain Michael Lemaire?”
“Yes.”
“Are you currently employed as a United States Secret Service special agent?”
“Yes.”
“Have you ever dived with sharks?”
“Yes.”
She looked up from monitoring her machine to study Cain. She appeared surprised by his answer. “Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“For pleasure?”
“I thought it would be.” He gave an impish smile.
“Have you ever climbed Mount Everest?”
“No.”
“Okay. Now that I’ve established a baseline, we’ll move on to the specific questions that are for the purposes of this examination,” Cynthia said. “Have your actions in a professional capacity ever made you vulnerable to blackmail?”
“No.”
“Have your actions in a personal capacity ever made you vulnerable to blackmail?”
“No.”
“Have you ever paid a prostitute?”
“Not for sex.”
“Agent Lemaire, please answer the question with just a yes or a no.”
“It’s not that simple of a question. I didn’t pay for sex, and I didn’t know she was a prostitute.”
Cynthia inhaled and exhaled deeply. “Agent Lemaire, have you ever given money to a woman who could have been a prostitute?”
“Yes.”
“Did you give her that money to cover the cost of a sexual exchange?”
“I didn’t have sex with her.”
“Agent Lemaire, again, this is a yes or no question. Did you pay a prostitute to cover the cost of a sexual exchange?”
“I have no information about any sexual exchange.”
“I’ll rephrase my question. Yes or no answer only. Did you give money to a woman who you believed was receiving money for sexual activity?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you, Agent Lemaire. This concludes the scope of this polygraph examination.”
“That was the quickest poly ever,” Cain said in frustration. “That was completely politically motivated.”
Cynthia unhooked the instruments dangling off Cain and provided him with a list of instructions.
“This is an ongoing internal investigation. You are not allowed to discuss this with any other agents. Supervisory Special Agent LeRoy Hayes will be in touch with you regarding the outcome of this investigation.”
“Can I talk with my supervisor about this test?”
“Yes, but only your management team.”
“How long do you think the results will take? When do you think I’ll be reinstated to return to work?”
“Agent Lemaire, neither I nor the test detected any signs of deception from you. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean you are clear. My results will be evaluated by another examiner, and the Service will have your results by close of business today.”
Cain stood and shook her hand. “Thank you for your time today. Wish I had seen you under different circumstances.”
He went to the bathroom in the hall and splashed cold water on his face. He might not have sweated, but he had certainly started warming up in there despite the cold. He wiped the water off his face with a brown paper towel. It felt like wiping his face with sandpaper. The government spared no expense on many things, but