A man with a piece of string

He sat waiting, his outward demeanor not betraying his smug state of mind. He held a singular purpose for today's meeting: to give his subject enough rope to hang himself.

His opening serve was an expertly dispatched invitation for his opponent to self-incriminate. The return was so gracefully returned that he suspected it was a genuine rather than intentional deflection. He relished vanquishing his adversary all the more for the naivety he had shown.

Relentlessly he pursued and from multiple positions he sought entrapment. But the target of the deception was not obliging. He toyed with him back and forth for two hours sure that if not his will his temptation to fall for ever more appetizing bait would be forthcoming.

But it was not to be. He was never to know that it was at breaking point not 10 minutes from the conclusion of their time that he turned and headed back to the mainland, convinced that his subject was true to his intent and purpose and so began the steady path of reconciliation that conceded no ground yet sought to affirm their union and commitment towards a shared end.