"In that case, we can proceed. I don't suppose you'd care to answer my questions without unpleasantness?"
"I don't have anything to tell you."
"The choice is yours." Cortin picked up a scalpel, pausing at the expression on Illyanov's face. "Is something wrong, Major?"
"That is not the standard way of beginning an interrogation."
"It will be, for me," Cortin said. "I'll do whatever is needed to stop criminals, but I have no intention of hurting innocents."
"He denied everything."
"But he only told the truth the first time. He's worked for the Brothers, even though he isn't one himself, and he has some significant information."
"You never told me you had truthsense," Illyanov said quietly. "That is a most useful talent."
"The subject never came up—but I can't be lied to, never could even as a child. If a question has a yes-or-no answer, it doesn't matter if he tells the truth or not. I'll know."
"As I said, a most useful talent. Not every Inquisitor can tell truth from lies intended only to stop the pain, and most of us who do have that ability have developed it through long experience." He smiled at her in a way Shannon sensed was intended to express only approval, but hid a degree of affection the Raidmaster found both disgusting and amusing. "Go on, then."