Lora entered the office and walked up to the secretary behind the desk. She placed a hundred-dollar bill on the desk. “I understand attorneys charge a minimum of four hundred dollars an hour. I wish to buy fifteen minute of his time. I know a way he might easily make a million dollars.”
The secretary asked, “Are you for real? Is this a joke some friend is pulling?”
“No. My name is Lora Trabell and I infallibly operate polygraphs.”
The secretary used the intercom. “I have a young woman here wishing to buy fifteen minutes of you time for a hundred dollars. Her name is Lora Trabell and she operates polygraphs.”
“Some buddy sent her. Tell her I’m busy.”
“She claims she know a way you can easily earn a million dollars.”
“Send her in.”
Bradford stood up when he saw Lora enter. He asked, “Have we met? I think I’d remember.”
“I sat in back of you.”
“In school? I must have graduated more than a dozen years ahead of you.”
“I mean at the murder trial of Mr. George Lamout. I sat behind you both. I could hear your discussions. Mr. Bradford are you a good man?” She expected no other answer than yes.
Instead, as typical, he dodged an answer by asking a question. “Have you talked to my father?”
“Of course, not. I do not know who he is or where he resides. Why do you ask?”
“He used to claim I was good for nothing.”
Lora knew he had just lied over a trivial question. She confronted him. “That isn’t true.”
Sidney Bradford smiled. “You’re absolutely correct. But, my mother never told him she paid me to be good. So why are you spending a hundred for fifteen minute of my time?”
“First I must know. Did you know that George Lamout did not kill his mistress?”
Sidney Bradford frowned. “You were at the trial. Why would I think him innocent? Certainly not because he said he was. The evidence against him was over whelming. It was my job to do the best for him that was possible. That was taking the plea bargain. It saved him a life sentence.”
Lora nodded. “Under the circumstances you did the right thing. But Mr. Lamout is innocent of the murder and the murderer is running free.”
Bradford exhaled an exasperated breath. “Your time is about up. Just how in the hell would you know Lamout wasn’t guilty? Did you test him with a polygraph?”
“No. Something more infallible. I just know.”
“Yeah? Where’s you crystal ball?”
Lora smiled. “I don’t fault you for thinking I’m crazy. May I prove to you I know when you’re lying or when you are telling the truth?”
Bradford checked his watch. “If it doesn’t take long. I have a lunch engagement.”
“Pick out six items in your office. Write them down on a paper. When I go out I’ll wait with your secretary. You touch three of them. Make a separate list of the three you touch and place it in your desk. Call me and answer yes or no when I question you. I will correctly tell you if you are lying or telling the truth.”
Lora left his office and sat down near his puzzled secretary. Lora explained, “We’re playing a game.”
“You must have bought more time.”
“The game is pro bono.”
Lora was called back in and looked at the first on the list. She asked, “Did you touch the vase?”
“No.”
“You told the truth. How about the typewriter?”
“I touched it.”
“You told the truth.”
He said, “Another lucky guess.”
“How about the guest chair I’m in?”
“I touched it.”
“Yes, you did. How about the coat rack.”
“I touched it.”
“Yes, you did. The license on your wall?”
“I touched it.”
“Yes, you did. How about the clock.”
“I touched it.”
“No, you didn’t. Do you believe me now?”
Sidney Bradford got out of his chair and walked to the window. He looked at the windows of the building across that leveled with his floor. He felt sure someone with a telescope had been watching him. He thought Lora must have a receiver planted in her ear or hair. He said, “Let’s do it again. I’ll use the same objects but touch different ones.”
Lora smiled. “If you insist.”
Sidney Bradford felt sure he could catch her this time. He sent Lora out to wait with his secretary and did not touch one of the six objects. He waited two minutes and brought her back in.
She began questioning him and went through the list of six, telling him he had not touched each one. When she finished he sat baffled with his elbows on his desk supporting his hands holding his chin. A young girl was fooling him some damnable way. He said, “Listen, Miss Trabell. You are clever, but there is no magic in this trick.”
“No, there isn’t.”
“We’ll see. This time I want you to pull your trick on my secretary. I’ll wait out at her desk.”
“No!”
“Aha! It is a trick that you are at present only able to pull on me.”
Lora smiled. “It is not a trick, it’s an ability to read faces. It doesn’t matter if a subject squints, frowns or smiles. I see a change in the set of a person’s face others do not notice. You are the only one I wish to know of my ability to read faces. I cannot read minds. I can only determine if a person is lying or telling the truth when questioned.”
Bradford asked, “Why choose me?”
“Why not? I had seen and heard you at the murder trial of George Lamout. If you still doubt I can read faces, let me ask you some personal questions. Like, have you cheated on your wife? I’d soon know all about you.”
“I believe you. Where do you come from?”
“I was born fourteen years old.”
Sidney Bradford sighed, “Oh, shit.”