Page 94 of Mastermind

“Yours won’t work, either,” says Heywood. “This apartment’s a kind of Faraday cage.”

“Unbelievable. Fine. Get to your feet. We’ll go to the lobby. Theo, get the door.”

I reach for the door handle, but it won’t move. “I believe he has us locked in,” I tell her.

“Actually, it’s me who’s locked in,” says Heywood. “There are cameras controlled by a computer designed to keep me from leaving but not you. If Jessica releases me, you’ll find that the door will open. If you try to prop it open, the elevator won’t operate.”

“Why?” asks Jessica, holstering her gun.

“I wanted you to hear me out. Both of you.”

“Tell DHS,” says Jessica. “We’re done playing games.”

“This isn’t a game. This is a promise. Just let me say what I have to say and I’ll deactivate the system and surrender,” Heywood tells her.

“Theo, take a look around. If you see anything that looks like a computer, hack it or break it.”

I start to search the room before moving to the rest of the apartment. The decor is sparse and modern without a lot of ornamentation. I knock on the walls, looking for hidden panels.

“The controls are inside a walk-in safe in the bedroom closet. It would take some time to get to them. Considerably more than it would take to hear me out,” says Heywood.

Jessica glances in my direction. She really doesn’t want to give Heywood his chance to monologue for us. I understand, but I don’t think it’s going to change the outcome one way or another.

“Give him ten minutes,” I reply. “Then leave the room and I’ll beat the access code out of him.”

“Dr. Cray, your capacity for violence amazes me,” says Heywood.

“It’ll more than amaze you when you discover my capacity for throwing you out an eighty-fifth-story window.”

“Do you know what the amazing part is, Jessica? Dr. Cray thinks he’s bluffing, but he’s actually secretly afraid that he’s capable of doing it,” says Heywood.

“It’s no secret.”

Heywood is still lying facedown. “May we move ourselves to the couch? I have something to show you. No tricks. I promise.”

Jessica grabs the chain between the handcuffs to control him. “Get up. Move the wrong way and I shoot you.”

She walks him over to the couch and pushes him into a seated position, then sits opposite him. I slide a chair between him and the door and take a seat, concerned that a trapdoor or spikes will be sprung at any moment.

“This is better,” says Heywood. “I’d prefer it if my hands were in front of me. But I understand. Fortunately, I anticipated this and acquired exceptionally well-padded furniture.”

“Nine minutes,” says Jessica.

Actually, he has eight minutes left, but I don’t correct her.

“Fine. First, I don’t expect you to believe anything I have to say. In time you’ll find that it’s true. Right now, I just want you to hear it in my own words. My virtual avatar didn’t come off as sincere as I would have liked, and I’ll be honest, I was stalling for time.”

His voice and body language seem sincere. But so do those of a sociopath. Jessica is watching him carefully, not reacting. She’s waiting for the trick. I have the sneaking suspicion that this is the trick—some kind of mind game.

“I am very sorry for everything I’ve done. To you and to all . . . my victims. I can’t even describe what I feel. But if you think that I have no remorse, please know that that’s all I feel.”

“Right. Is that it? Can we go now?” asks Jessica.

“There’s so much more.” He glances in my direction. “We could talk about the unusual nature of my ventromedial area, couldn’t we?”

“What’s he talking about?” Jessica asks me.

“It’s the part of the brain that controls moral judgment,” Heywood answers for me. “It’s what Dr. Cray was afraid was deteriorating in his own brain after he was exposed to the Hyde virus.”