Chapter 74 Chapter 73 Torture

On the small pier of Alice Island, there is a two-story building for "management personnel", that is, special agents, to work, live, eat, entertain and exercise, hidden among green trees.Among them is a movie theater with a shell-shaped plan and a beautifully decorated interior with dim lighting.On both sides are soft-packed dark walls, several imitation bronze statues and a dozen wall lamps; there is only a white screen on the huge wall in front.The room is not big, it can accommodate up to thirty or forty people watching movies, and there are three rows of black leather sofas. Lolita led Ding Jieqiong to the screening room and motioned her to sit in the middle of the first row of sofas.This is the only single sofa in the front row.There is a cup of green tea on the coffee table in front of him.

Four unknown men entered the screening room before her.Three of them were relatively young, one in his early forties, one in his early thirties, and one in his mid-twenties; only one was a little older, probably in his fifties, and he seemed to be the leader of the group.They were all neatly dressed, with rigid expressions, and were silent, but they all cast inquiring gazes at Ding Jieqiong.Apparently, they were all agents.No one else can be seen on Alice Island, only agents.Three younger men and Lolita quietly sat on the second and third rows of sofas.Only the "boss" sat on the sofa to the left of Ding Jieqiong, with only the armrest of the sofa between them.The female scientist didn't even look at this guy, but she could feel that his face was serious and his eyes were shining with an indescribable luminescence...

The agents were male and female, some appeared only once, some appeared several times; some became "acquaintances" and interrogated the female professor for hours, days, weeks or even years.However, it was the first time seeing these men today; it was also the first time for Ding Jieqiong to watch a movie with the agents.She had no time to think about what was happening in front of her eyes, nor could she think about it.She has two sharp eyes to explore the structure of the atomic nucleus, and she has a panoramic view of the appearance and temperament of the four uninvited guests with just a few glances.The boss and the female professor are the protagonists of this "movie".The "zero distance" between the two shows that he is trying to observe closely in order to achieve some kind of "breakthrough" in close combat.In the nearly four years of Alice Island, there have been countless "close battles" with the agents, and they have not gotten anything useful.What do you want to achieve today?Especially in a place like a movie screening room...

I don't know what the other party thinks or thinks, anyway, Ding Jieqiong has "observed closely" and came to the conclusion: the boss in front of her is incomparable to all the secret agents and officers she has ever seen.He is tall and burly, with regular features, a broad and thick face, and a cold expression, appearing extremely calm, treacherous, tenacious and dangerous. After all six "spectators" sat down, the lights were turned off, and a pale cone-shaped light was projected from the hole in the back wall onto the screen in front, mixed with a slight rustling sound.Ding Jieqiong temporarily forgot about the guy on the left, immersed in the novelty.Really, this is the first time she's seen a movie in over a year... ah, it's finally showing, and it's black and white, with voiceovers, and pictures.But, my God, what picture is that?Isn't that the guillotine?A young prisoner in a white shirt, with his hands behind his back, was led to the guillotine.The executioner took scissors and cut a circle along the neckline of the young man's white shirt, pushed him down, and stuck his neck in a round hole.A broad and heavy slanted knife had long hung high on the top of two door-frame-like uprights, and now it fell heavily.With a loud bang, the camera cuts, but the prisoner's head immediately rolls down into a big basket...

Hollywood movies are thrilling.But man, this footage is so realistic and scary!No matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like a feature film, but like a documentary. The "voiceover" sounded, a man's rough voice, rough like a real executioner, with a thick Texas accent: "The death penalty is synchronized with the history of human civilization; in a sense, it is still human A form of civilization. The earliest death penalty was the expulsion of tribe members, because individuals in primitive societies could not survive without the group. Later, this 'indirect death penalty' evolved into direct death penalty."

Death penalty, death penalty, what do you mean?Is it a film about the death penalty?So, is it a feature film, a documentary, or..."popular science film"?There are many popular science films in the United States, with various themes, and Ding Jieqiong also likes to watch them; but this is the first time I have seen a popular science film that introduces the death penalty. According to the introduction of the Texans, the ancient death penalty included "frame punishment", in which the prisoner was bound or crucified, and allowed to die in pain; there was "stoning", in which the prisoner was stoned to death; Or immerse the whole body in water to drown him; there is "cliff punishment", pushing the prisoner off the cliff and falling to death...

The Texan spoke unhurriedly.The pictures of the above-mentioned punishments are superimposed on the screen.Arms are like "stoning by stoning". One method of execution is to bury the prisoner in the soil, leaving only the head outside; the other method is to tie the prisoner with ropes and fix it in one place; to cause immediate death.Voiceover: "But because the prisoner may be knocked unconscious when he is hit on the head, this execution sometimes prolongs the death time." Some scenes are obviously not original and real, but are cut from feature films or played by actors.Ding Jieqiong knew that what this guy said was purely "Western style", so he didn't mention the Eastern "che crack", "Ling Chi", "cut in half" and "peeling" and so on.Even in terms of "drowning punishment", there are also some in the east, called "sinking pond", which used to be a lynching used in some rural areas in southern China. into the pond...

The advancement and evolution of human beings are so difficult, so cruel, and so bloody! The voice-over goes on to talk about the scene at the beginning of the "film": "The guillotine began in lawless France before the Great Revolution, and has been used in France where the rule of law is strict today. During this period, it has been improved, for example, the straight blade has changed to a slanted blade. The first executioner to use the guillotine Once exclaimed! 'This is a good thing, but it can't be used frequently!' A few years later, he himself died on the guillotine. Before that, common beheadings were usually carried out with knives or swords." Voiceover: "The original meaning of beheading It is to make the prisoner die immediately to avoid pain. But sometimes it takes several cuts to achieve the goal, which increases the pain of the prisoner and the cruelty of the scene. directly related to..."

Ding Jieqiong often closes her eyes quietly.She was nervous and unbearable, but she had to hold on. A scholar said that compared with the common hanging, beheading is in line with the principle of humanity, and the lightning execution minimizes the pain of the prisoner.However, in 1905, Dr. Polio, M.D., came to the exact opposite conclusion.The doctor squatted in front of the guillotine, holding the freshly severed head and laying it flat.The eyebrows on the head trembled irregularly, the lips twitched rhythmically, and calmed down after five or six seconds; the face was loose, the eyelids were half-closed, and only the whites of the eyes could be seen...

"I called out his name. His eyelids actually opened slowly," Dr. Polio described. "I must stress that it was not a spasm or a convulsion, but a look awakened from sleep or contemplation." , calm and lucid, with normal vigor. His pupils were dilated and more focused, and he was staring at me. It was not the cold and expressionless eyes of a dead man. I dare say, it is true, Those are the eyes of a living person!" The film is changed to color.A human head appeared on the screen, but it looked a bit like a model, like a cartoon, not like a real, freshly severed head that was still bleeding.

But even so, Ding Jieqiong was still confused and terrified, his face was pale, he was out of breath, and his body and mind trembled.This is a small projection room, the screen is close at hand, and the head that was just beheaded and still dripping blood seems to be getting closer, getting closer, and is about to touch her forehead and the tip of her nose! The face was still alive, just a little distorted, the eyes fixed on her, the lips twitching as if they were about to open and pounce... Ding Jieqiong has been living alone.Watching movies has become her favorite way of entertainment, not to mention that many Hollywood movies are indeed intoxicating.But she never watches horror movies.When encountering horror scenes in ordinary feature films, she would close her eyes and cover her ears while watching.There was nothing she could do, so she left the table.After all, she is a woman and a scholar. From the classroom to the laboratory, she has never been on the battlefield, never been a soldier or police agent, and she can't stand the bloody scene.But now she has been a person who has lost her freedom for a long time, even the right to refuse to watch this kind of "movie" has been deprived!Just now, when the so-called "Punishment", "Punishment by Stone", "Punishment by Drowning" and "Punishment by Cliff" began to be superimposed on the screen, she tightly closed her eyes.But no, all kinds of harsh sounds filled my ears: prisoners screaming; iron nails being struck through their limbs and pierced into the wooden frame; sound, until all things cease, and a mound of such stones is piled up... Now, Ding Jieqiong wants to close her eyes and cover her ears again.But in an instant, she felt some kind of indescribable luminescence flickering around her, it was the eyes of cold-blooded animals like vipers or iguanas!At this moment, the female scientist suddenly became vigilant, and realized that everything was carefully arranged by the "viper" and "iguana" around her, trying to make her shake, fear and submit... The United States basically does not impose the death penalty on spies, and it does not easily impose the death penalty on women.However, the case of the Rosenberg couple broke the convention and became the only espionage case in which the death penalty was imposed in the United States during peacetime. Rosenberg's wife Ethel was also sentenced to death when the crime was clearly insufficient.The newspaper published Eisenhower's letter to his son: "In this case, a woman will be sentenced to death... The woman has a strong, stubborn character, while the man is weak. Everything that is done in their spy network During the event, this woman is clearly the mastermind." He also wrote: "If the woman's sentence is commuted but not the man's sentence, from now on, the Soviets will look for spies among women!" Ike's words are really not wise. The Soviets are the only ones who "seek spies from among the women". From ancient times to the present, conspirators from all over the world have done this, and the Americans are no exception.But it is a well-known and common phenomenon that women are far stronger than men at critical moments.If the Rosenbergs were really spies, it would be credible for Ethel to act as the "mastermind" and be stronger than her husband... Ding Jieqiong thought: Do you also regard me as a dangerous woman with "strong and stubborn character"? From the perspective of this "movie", it is obvious that this is the case. But Ding Jieqiong knew that he and the Rosenbergs were not the same at all!Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the Rosenbergs do control a spy network that steals atomic information for the Russians, while Ding Jieqiong only wants to be a scientist and never wants to be a spy—whether the spy is for money or for Realization of "International Soviets".Yes, she wants to go back to China, to make China stronger, and let China have atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs.But is there anything wrong with that?Why can't China do what the United States can do?Americans love America, why can't Chinese love China?Moreover, she should dedicate herself to the cause of making the motherland strong with her own knowledge and experience, not with espionage.Indeed, much of her knowledge and experience was obtained in the United States; but Bohr said well that science has no borders, and scientific achievements belong to all mankind.What's more, she has made the greatest contribution a woman can make to the United States, to the "Manhattan Project", to the victory over fascism!She neither "stolen" anything from the United States, nor owed anything to the United States.She has always insisted on retaining her Chinese nationality, sticking to her loyalty to the motherland and love, and never concealed or changed her will to go back to China after she completes her studies! Yes, she made that phone call to Professor Ling Yunzhu, and wrote those one hundred and eighty-seven "love letters" to Guan Lan—but all of these were obviously out of necessity.All of these are expressions of some kind of emotion, not espionage. The "Manhattan Project" is over. Others can leave Alamos, so why do they use any means to detain her?Other women have already become wives and mothers at her age, and she can only write letters to relieve her inner depression and pain, let alone such letters that cannot be sent at all!Even if she leaves to return to China, these letters will obviously not be able to be taken out of customs.She understands this.In her vision, the final outcome of these "love letters" is nothing more than burning them, and only keeping love deep in her heart, just like the letters she wrote to Guanlan before she went to Alamos... Yes, she wasn't a spy, and what the FBI couldn't prove for seven years, it never could.However, if there is also something about her that "the government has enough evidence, but this evidence cannot be used in the trial", then it will be another ending! The one hundred and eighty-seven letters as "criminal evidence" reminded Ding Jieqiong of Guan Lan again, and she couldn't help her eyes moisten thinking of this.But she immediately became vigilant: don't let the guy next to you see it.She glances to the left.As expected, the eyes of the two pairs collided, just like two swords slashing at each other violently, almost sparks!The two pairs of eyes just remained deadlocked, neither refusing to avoid or back down.The female professor's pupils were dark brown and blue, as deep and clear as a lake in a snow-capped mountain, and as cold as a lake formed by melting ice and snow.Finally, some flesh on the opponent's face twitched slightly, and his whole body shivered, as if he couldn't stand the cold, and turned his gaze back to the screen. "The United States is a country that advocates the rule of law and humanity, which can be seen from the application, procedure and execution of the death penalty." Ding Jieqiong heard the Texas accent again.He said that there is no rule in the United States that minors should not be sentenced to death; if a person under the age of 18 commits a corresponding crime, he will be sentenced and executed.Therefore, dozens or hundreds of juvenile death row inmates have been held in American prisons for many years, awaiting execution.Two states in the United States have abolished the death penalty, and the heaviest penalty in those two states is life imprisonment without parole forever; although the death penalty has not been abolished in more than 40 other states, the trial process is meticulous and lengthy, and few cases have actually been executed. In particular, the methods of execution vary, generally from cruelty to mildness: some states use gas, some use shooting, some states use hanging, and some states let criminals be killed by shooting and hanging. Choose one, but in times of war, they will all be executed by shooting.Many more states have adopted "advanced" electric chair executions. "Hanging is one of the oldest execution methods, which was once popular in Europe. The usual method is to put a noose around the prisoner's neck, and then kick off the pads under his feet to mechanically suffocate him to death. The prisoner often has to go through a long period of time. The pain of time. Later, some improvements were made. The weight of the prisoner was weighed before the execution, and then heavy objects were tied to the prisoner's feet according to the weight to ensure that the prisoner was hanged immediately. But accidents often happened, and the hanging of the corpse was not very decent. '; Therefore, the nobles in the French Revolution would rather be guillotined than hanged. Starting from humanity, Britain in the mid-nineteenth century improved hanging again: the gallows was very high, and there was a trap under the prisoner's feet; 'Ready 'Afterwards, the trap was suddenly opened to make the prisoner fall from a height. The intention of doing this was to let the prisoner die immediately. However, due to the great distance of the fall, the prisoner's cervical spine was either severely deformed or broken immediately. One execution made the prisoner's neck An artery ruptured, and blood sprayed up to more than ten feet; another time, a prisoner was strangled off his head, the scene was thrilling!" This "commentary" is mostly accompanied by cartoon pictures or photos.The reason is simple: "Revolutionary" France and "mid-nineteenth-century" England were not yet capable of filming.But then there was a movie: "The United States has used hanging for a long time to execute prisoners before and after the founding of the country, and some states still use hanging, but compared with Britain in the mid-nineteenth century, it has made improvements again." The "improvement" in the United States is that the prisoner is first put on a black hood and then put on a noose, and the second is that the prisoner's falling distance is shortened from 30 feet to 10 feet. "The humanitarian principle in the death penalty is to let the prisoner die as quickly and painlessly as possible. This is how shooting is adopted. There are different execution methods, and the following is one of them—" The footage shows the criminal tied to a concrete or wooden pole and standing facing the muzzles of the five executioners: "Of the five guns, one was unloaded. Also, the Japanese way during the Meiji Restoration... ..." The "Japanese way" is to take a kneeling criminal, cover his face with a white cloth, bind his arms to the crossbar of a low cross, and face five gunmen... One bullet fired by one gunman is enough to kill a criminal, why so many gunmen and bullets are used?No instructions.Maybe it was to make the criminal die "real" immediately.The gunmen on the screen fired - this is a live documentary: the criminal's head was smashed and his chest was bloody!Especially the "Japanese way": the criminal's neck became a rotten cloth dyed red.Commentary: "However, in many cases, execution by shooting cannot cause the criminal to die immediately; in addition, the destruction of the corpse by this execution method is also obvious, cruel and inhumane. Therefore, the execution method that does not destroy the corpse appeared. This is gas execution. It is still used in some states in the United States today.” Picture and commentary: The criminal was locked in a stainless steel chamber and fixed on a stainless steel execution chair.Cameras were installed on the walls, ceiling and other corners to film the execution from all directions.The executioner opened a valve, and the hydrogen chloride liquid was poured into a disc under the execution chair; another valve was opened, and potassium cyanide or sodium cyanide was dripped into the disc, and the poisonous hydrogen cyanide gas began to rise and diffuse; the prisoner had no time to struggle , only twitched for a moment and stopped moving, his whole body was stiff, his complexion turned blue... The screen successively showed images of four criminals being gassed, including one white and three blacks.It is not easy to see the change of skin color of black people, but it is clear at a glance that white people's "skin color turns blue" or even turns purple. "When using this method of execution, most prisoners lose consciousness when they inhale the first gas, and die after a second or two." The Texan said, almost with a little "sense of humor": "The biggest shortcoming of the gas chamber , is reminiscent of the Nazi method of killing Jews." "Finally, the execution by electric chair. This method of execution first appeared in the United States in 1888. Today, it is adopted in more than half of the states in the United States." The Texan's tone was steady, as if he was criticizing a certain brand of Normandy white Wine: "The theory is that the speed of electric current is seventy times the speed of nerve conduction; therefore, before the criminal has time to feel it, death is already a fact." The commentary commented fairly: But this is just a "theory".The electric chair is an artifact, and like all artifacts, it malfunctions.There was once such a case: the criminal was "waiting to die" on the electric chair, and it took an hour to troubleshoot, and during this time, the poor death row prisoner fainted several times due to extreme fear! The commentary is "equipped" with the corresponding picture: the execution room is brightly lit.Several executioners in dark gray "tools" talked in low voices and were busy with each other.The huge, heavy, all-metal, gray-black electric chair was fixed on the solid concrete floor.Electrical equipment such as electric wires, cables, electrodes, indicators of various colors, switches of various sizes, and other electrical equipment are covered around the upper, lower, and surrounding walls of the electric chair.A black man was forced to sit in an electric chair. His neck, waist, elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles were all fixed or bound by thick metal belts, and he could not move at all.Then a piece of scalp was shaved off, and a layer of conductive liquid was applied there; then, an "iron bowl" on top of the head was manipulated to slowly lower until it covered the prisoner's head, and pressed down hard, pressing, pressing!Although the black man was thick, his cervical spine made rattling noises due to being compressed... "There is a button in front of each of the three executioners, but in fact only one button 'works'." The Texan said, his voice obviously raised: "Okay, please pay attention: the execution time is up, and the power is on! Please Look, under the strong stimulation of the high-voltage current, the prisoner's upper body straightened up, but he couldn't make any more violent movements. Please see, the prisoner was vomiting, and the filth was sprayed forward about two feet, and flowed to his own chest and abdomen—this It's a reaction that occurs in most criminals, some also become incontinent. The strong current sometimes ruptures an artery, causing blood to spurt from the mouth and nose, but this criminal has no such reaction." Shots of electric chair executions in other cases began to be superimposed on the screen, and the commentary was played simultaneously: "The electric current cauterizes the human body to expand the muscles. Please look at this murderer named McCann - after the electricity is applied, his subcutaneous fat oozes and emits a strange smell. The color of the skin is constantly changing, and its process and shape are a bit like 'roasted whole lamb' or 'roasted suckling pig'. There are great individual differences in people's ability to withstand electric current. Please look at this rapist named Northens, He's been electrified for twelve minutes and he's still alive; and here's this guy, Garza, who kidnapped and killed a two-year-old boy for extortion money, and he's been electrified for thirty-five minutes and he's still alive , sweating profusely, gasping for breath, it is a miracle! Also, please see, Rich, the famous gang leader in San Francisco, has committed eleven arson, explosion, and robbery cases, killing and injuring more than 300 people in total , was a white man; but after only one minute of electrification, he turned out to be 'black' - burnt to coke! Here, another time, the criminal's hair smoked and burst into flames as if by magic..." Lolita tiptoed to the sofa on Ding Jieqiong's left, and whispered to the agent leader, "Telephone." The guy gestured: "Okay, stop." He got up and went to answer the phone. "Movie" has stopped showing.The wall lamps on both sides of the hall and the overhead lamps on the ceiling were lit together. Ding Jieqiong raised her wrist to look at her watch, hey, the screening lasted for two hours—these were the most painful, difficult, and tormented two hours in her life.Facing the cruel and bloody scenes one after another, she was extremely frightened and almost had a nervous breakdown.She wanted to close her eyes, cover her ears again and again, and even rushed out of the screening room desperately.But she also knew what the gang was up to.She told herself again and again: Hold on, hold on, hold on, and never let them succeed!So, miraculously, she persisted, staring directly at the screen expressionlessly, showing no wavering or terror.But she knew that in the years to come, she would never forget today—the terrible night of June 19, 1953... The guy with the thick face and the cold expression came back and stood in front of the coffee table, looking directly at Ding Jieqiong. Ding Jieqiong got up slowly.She straightened her back, put her hands in her pockets, and looked indifferent and arrogant; she turned slightly to the left to meet the gaze of the viper or iguana a few feet away. The two sharp swords slashed at each other violently again, sparks almost burst out! The three male agents and Lolita stood around, dumbfounded and silent. "I am honored to inform you, ma'am," the guy finally spoke, his expression and tone were very calm, treacherous, tenacious and menacing, "Just now, the Rosenbergs were executed in New York's Xinxin Prison. Julius Rosenberg was officially pronounced dead at 8:06 p.m., and Ethel Rosenberg at 8:16." "Mr. Edgar Hoover," Ding Jieqiong's eyes were like lakes of melting ice and snow, "really, I really don't know how to congratulate you!" Edgar Hoover seemed taken aback. "Tell me," the female scientist smiled slightly, "what kind of death penalty do you plan to arrange for me?"