Chapter 71: Interrogations & Betrayals

by John Dent

Panties finally trotted into the stable yard of the Cunningham Estate, an arrival that caused some consternation amongst the staff for she was without either the trap or the Young Mistress. The head stable man, when he had been summoned away from his evening copulation with one of the young female slaves who usually spent her time tending to the needs of the real horses, demanded of Panties to know what had happened. The ponygirl tied to answer but she couldn't get a clear explanation passed the bit that was still secured in her mouth. The man in charge of the stables didn't have the keys with which to unlock the harness and so he summoned his direct superior, the head gardener... who also didn't have the keys and so passed on the problem to his boss, the Outdoor Overseer... who had too summon Sue-Li who arrived shortly afterwards, a spare set of keys in hand.

Once freed of the bit, Panties blurted out her story and she was immediately taken off the Master Cunningham's office where she had to tell the story all over again to an increasingly furious Miles. Once Panties had finished, she was ordered out but told to remain close by... and, it has to be said, she was very pleased to escape the oppressive atmosphere of the room. Behind her a red faced Miles was already calling the main police station and giving the duty desk sergeant an ear bashing, demanding to know where his daughter was and wanting to know just how dare they have the audacity to arrest one of his relatives. Totally overwhelmed by the tirade that was washing over him, the sergeant eventually managed to get Miles to hold on long enough to pass the call onto the Watch Captain who, after checking into the matter, informed Miles that, as far as he was aware, no Gill Cunningham had been apprehended on any charge this day or, indeed, in the past week.

Miles went ballistic upon hearing this and demanded to speak to someone in higher authority... who also denied any knowledge of the matter. Eventually Miles lost patience and called the Chief of Police on his direct line. "Look, Miles, if my people say that there's no record of your Gill being arrested, I'm sure that she hasn't been..."

"I don't give a stuff what your records say, Mike, my little girl's missing and I've got a slave who says that two of your officers took her way in the truck of their car!"

"Miles... calm down. I'll check... I'll check personally. You have my word... I'll be back to you within half an hour, I promise."

Slightly mollified, Miles calmed his tone and agreed to wait. "Half and hour, Mike - no more. I mean it, you know I do."

A bead of perpetration appeared on the Chief's forehead and slowly trickled down. "I know you mean it, Miles... and I know what you're telling me. I'll be doing everything I can - everything!"

"Good," snapped Miles as he cut the connection. Sue-Li, standing patently in front of the desk, studied her now silent master. "What do you think it means, sir?" she asked in puzzled tones.

"I don't know," admitted Miles, "but I am beginning to suspect that the police don't have Gill. They owe me too many favours to fuck me about over this." He fell silent for a time, deep in thought before rousing himself and telling his overseer to bring Panties back in. Very soon, a nervous pony found herself facing her master again and repeating her story. "Now, Panties, think very carefully and then give me a description of the two officers and their vehicle."

Closing her eyes in order to envision the scene better, Panties thought hard and gave out every detail that she could recall. When she finished, she opened her eyes again just as Sue-Li confirmed to the Master that she had got it all written down.

"And you're certain about all that, Panties?" Miles pressed his slave.

Puzzled, Panties glanced at Sue-Li but found no help there. "Yes, Master," she said, "I'm certain of it."

"Then you'd be surprised to know, Panties, that the police deny all knowledge of the events that you are describing in such detail!"

"But... but... that's impossible!" blustered a clearly flustered slave-girl. "I saw it... I saw it all! That's how it happened, Master - I swear it!"

Just then Miles' direct line rang and, instantly, he answered it. The face of the Police Chief formed in mid air. "Sorry Miles, I've checked really closely... there's not record... all our cars have been accounted for and, at the time you claim, there wasn't any in the area that you say incident happened in. I don't know who your witness is, Miles, but he's mistaken... or outright lying to you!"

Hearing this accusation, Panties' stomach flipped over for she correctly guessed that the Master was far more likely to believe the Chief of Police than he was her.

"Well, thanks for your efforts, Mike. Sorry to have troubled you. Oh, just one last point - I'll fax you the descriptions that my witness supplied for the supposed officers and the vehicle that were allegedly connected with the event. Check 'em out, will you? It strikes me that there's two possibilities now - that my witness is lying for reasons of her own (in which case I'll soon find out the truth) or Gill has been kidnapped by two men posing as some of your officers in order to allay suspicion... in which case these descriptions will be those of the kidnappers." With that, Miles cut the connection again and turned to face Panties.

Unable to help herself, Panties fell to her knees before her Master. "Please, Mister Cunningham, you've got to believe me! It all happened like I said!" she grovelled frantically.

Ignoring his slave totally, Miles pressed a button on his desk and, shortly afterwards a pair of muscular male slaves entered. "You summoned us, Master?" asked the slightly larger of the two though both were tall, fit and very well muscled.

"Take this female away and use your skills on her - she's told me that the police have arrested the Young Mistress and I want to know if she's lying to me or not. I expect a report within three hours."

"Yes, Master," the two slaves chorused before they each grabbed one of Panties arms and pulled her from the room backwards, her heels dragging along behind her.

Once the slaves had all left and closed the door behind them, Sue-Li coughed lightly and, when the Master looked up, she asked him what possible motive Panties might have had for harming Gill.

Miles gave his overseer a pitying look. "Don't be stupid, Sue-Li... or try to pull the wool over my eyes. I know that Panties is your latest concubine... and I also know that my daughter enjoyed taking the piss out of Panties. I would imagine that Gill is hated by Panties, which would give the slave quite a motive for trying to get back at Gill."

"But why would she come back, Master? Why wouldn't she simply go with whoever took the Young Mistress? If she were mixed in with the kidnappers, she must have known that you'd check out her story..."

"I'm not sure, Sue-Li... maybe she is telling the truth... or maybe she's just plain stupid. But, one way or the other, Pain and Suffering will get to the bottom of things..."

The slaves known as Pain and Suffering dragged the still protesting Panties down into their dark domain where, with little ceremony, they literally cut her out of the leather harness she was attired in using a pair of shears. Once they had their victim naked, they secured her by her wrists and ankles against a wall with a large curve in it that was covered in wet clay so that she was effectively hugging the wall, the cold and slightly slimy muddy substance coating her skin. A bucket of freezing cold water was then thrown over her body, instantly bringing out the goose-bumps all over her skin. "Now, just before we start asking some questions, we'll give you a demonstration of what you can expect to endure for the next few hours until we are convinced that you're telling the truth. Hit it, Pain," the one called Suffering explained to his victim.