Tony went across the Cell. "John Edward Haley," he said.
The man moved a nervous tongue over dry lips.
"John Edward Haley, you have been sentenced for Execution. Now hear these final words of the State as directed by Presidential order from Responsibility Official in the City of Greater New Denver, this night."
He took two small steps toward the man in the chair. He held out the red rose, put it in the hand of the other. Then he stepped back two steps until his toes were just touching a small plaque built into the floor. He looked down, read from the plaque:
"The giving of this rose. A symbol for the red of the blood of your brothers that you have let by treason and/or treachery. A symbol that as the rose is red, so are the unclean acts of your own hand, of your own mind. The State has so spoken."
He looked up. A nice way to kiss a guy off. Might as well tell him he bit his brother's finger, too, when he was a kid.
"Have you anything to say?" he asked.
The man's nervous tongue worked again. He said quickly:
"Yeah. Look, guy, just one thing. Just one favor. I don't give a damn what happens to me. Sure, I'm guilty. So you caught me, and so I take it. So what? A guy expects that. But the wife...."
Tony's teeth came together hard.