The Pinocchio Bomb

The bomb squad technician came out of the courthouse still wearing his blast suit and helmet, looking more like an astronaut than a police officer, with the disarmed device that had been found under the stand dangling from his hand and walked straight up to Senator McGill who was waiting nearby to do one of his usual outraged press interviews condemning the bomber.

“Is that it?”, said the Senator, surprised to see the technician but curious about the bomb that had come so close to ending his life.

“Yeah. It’s what we in the bomb squad call a Pinocchio bomb, Senator”, replied the tech, smiling.

“Pinocchio?”, asked the Senator, laughing, “How come?”.

“Because it’s detonated by a lie detector. Each time a person lies, a light on the bomb lights up. The third time they lie, the bomb detonates”, replied the bomb expert.

The senator coughed nervously, “Well. Thank god it’s been deactivated. I’ll speak to whoever your superiors are and make sure you get a commendation for this, young man. You’re a hero”.

“That would be nice”, said the tech, “But I’m afraid I’m going to have to arrest you, Senator”.

“Arrest me?”, yelled the Senator, angrily, “What the hell for?”.

“Well, according to the court report, you said two things in that court room, Senator”, replied the policeman, “When you were on the stand, you swore under oath to tell the truth and then you denied any involvement with the crimes you had been charged with”.

The tech tapped the side of the bomb, “And there were two lights lit up on the bomb. That means you must have lied twice”, he said.

Just then, the TV people said they were ready to do their interview and the senator groaned. The bomb may not have killed him but it had still managed to blow his political career sky high.