Devious Encoder?

This quote comes from a TV show I like. It doesn't make too much sense written out of context, but I like the way multiple incomplete questions strung together can make a sentence sound dramatic, even mad.

"Although I admit this one item confounded me. Just another of your tools of spy-craft I imagine. A sinister communication device? Some kind of devious encoder?"

The item in question was a small metal cube. It turned out to be a box of mints.

The questions lend a paranoid tone to this, and the words aren't ones we would generally use every day. "Spy-craft" sounds like witchcraft. The words "sinister" and "devious" coupled with "encoders" and "communication devices" create images from Star Trek or some other science fiction. I'm not even sure what a devious encoder would look like, and clearly the speaker doesn't know either. He's essentially a mad scientist by the way. I like the way language can directly influence characterization.

Although this one item did give me pause. Just another implement of your witchcraft I expect. A corrosive flesh-eating poison? Some sort of devilish potion?

It's not much of an imitation, but you get the idea.