Charlie must enjoy being surprised--he could have asked a much more specific question to determine what Parson was up to, such as "what do you estimate your chances are of having captured/croaked Ansom and obtaining the Arkenpliers by the end of this turn?" Since Parson specifically claimed that he could get the Arkenpliers, that would have been a reasonable question and would have inevitably revealed more about Parson's plans (since he would have had to mention the operational contingencies, as he did with the scenario Charlie actually gave him [Stanley's survival, no interference from Charlie]).