by Estelle Ryan
“This is where things get bad, dude.” Vinnie pushed his fists against his thighs. “There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to say it as it happened. The flat was cleared by the bomb squad. We went in and looked around for more clues. The fucker had two assault weapons rigged in a hiding space in the wall. He controlled it remotely and shot the shit out of the flat. The old man’s shoulder was grazed, but...” Vinnie’s nostrils flared. “Pink was badly injured.”
“How bad?” Daniel’s voice cracked, his face void of any colour.
“Bad.”
Daniel pressed the palms of his hands against his eyes for a few seconds, his jaw moving as he tried to control his breathing. “Tell me.”
“I’ll check in quickly.” Roxy took her smartphone from a fluffy pocket on her hip. We listened in silence as she received an update on Pink’s condition. She ended the call and put the phone on the table. “He’s out of surgery. They’ve managed to remove all bullet fragments from his spine. The next twenty-four hours will be critical, but Doctor Dupont is optimistic.”
“That he will walk again?” That was great news.
Roxy shook her head once. “No. It’s far too early to determine this. All his internal injuries will heal without any long-term effects. Doctor Dupont believes that Pink will have full mobility from his waist up. He warned me that we need to be very cautious about Pink’s ability to walk again. If he does walk, it might have to be with crutches.”
“He’ll walk again.” Vinnie stated it as fact. “That is one tough mother. He will not let this get him down.”
“The rest of the team is in the waiting room,” Colin said. “They wouldn’t leave until they knew Pink was going to be okay.”
Daniel nodded. He tried to speak, but couldn’t get past the emotion overwhelming him. Tears ran down his cheeks and he wiped them with the back of his hand. “Let’s get this sick fuck off the streets. Then I’ll be with Pink.”
It was quiet around the table for almost two minutes. I still had plenty of questions for Daniel and Amélie, but it was clear that Daniel needed this time to process everything. Not only the devastating news about his friend, but also the information about the case. I used this time to reflect on what they’d told us. If Fradkov’s plan was indeed for this weekend, we were running out of time to find connections between the elements to this case.
“Ooh!” Francine’s exclamation caused Nikki, Roxy and Manny to jump. She chuckled. “Sorry. I just forgot to tell you that I checked that computer that we found in Fradkov’s panic room. And at first I only found loads of files filled with rubbish. I almost thought the only useful information was the videos we found that led us to Fradkov’s flat.”
“You found something else.” I studied her face. “And you are confused.”
“Well, yeah.” She lifted her tablet from the table. “I don’t know what this is supposed to mean.” She swiped her tablet a few times, then handed it to me. “It was a file hidden in another file hidden in another file. Only photos, no video. There are seven images.”
I took her tablet and frowned when I saw the screen. “This is taken from the surveillance camera in Fradkov’s home office.”
“Yup.” She shook her head. “And it’s of Fradkov sitting at his desk, so I’m pretty sure he didn’t capture those images.”
I pulled my attention away from the discussion around the table and looked at the first image. Fradkov was at his desk, speaking on his phone. One by one, I studied each image and couldn’t find anything obvious in these photos that could lead us to Fradkov’s plan or his location.
Each photo showed a generic-looking middle-aged man sitting at his desk. From the higher angle, the slight loss of hair on the top of his head was visible. In the first photo, he was working on his computer, his brow furrowed, his focus intense.
In the second photo, he was wearing a suit that reminded me of the bespoke suits Phillip wore. It was of obvious quality, as was his tie. He was holding a pen against his lips, deep in thought. The other three photos were similar. In all of them, his posture was erect, his focus strong and his appearance well-groomed.
Keeping my eyes on the last image, I allowed Mozart’s Fugue in G minor to narrow my focus. My mind had registered something and I needed it to come to the fore. It didn’t take long, but when it did I gasped. My hands and feet felt cold and my mouth dry.
“Jenny?” Colin’s warm hand rested on my forearm. “What do you see?”
It was quiet around the table, everyone watching me. I swallowed away the fear and anger, and zoomed in on the left corner of the desk. “Look.”
“Talk to me, Doc.”
I shook my head. I couldn’t yet verbalise how manipulated I felt.
“Shit.” Colin jerked, then zoomed in even closer. “Is this one of those magazines you’ve been receiving?”
I nodded.
“What the hell?”
“What magazine?” Daniel asked.
“Jen-girl has been getting academic-type mags delivered to Rousseau & Rousseau one or twice a week for a few months now.” Vinnie’s fists clenched. “Are you telling me that fucker sent them to you?”
“It appears so.” Colin swiped the screen and zoomed the next image. “The five photos I’ve looked at all have a magazine that was either addressed to Jenny or that I know she’s received.”
The deep disappointment in myself that I had been so easily tricked felt heavy in my chest. Since the first journal had arrived, I’d become increasingly more resentful of the art crime cases that had been taking my attention away from my academic career. That had spilled over into the way I felt about the people in this room.
How had Fradkov known that I would’ve been susceptible to such manipulation? That the articles in the journals would skew my perception of my team and my work? I felt ashamed of myself.
“Fradkov knows where I work. He knows my interests.” I swallowed. “He knows that I would read these magazines.”
“You couldn’t have known, Jenny.” Colin handed Francine’s tablet to Daniel, not taking his eyes off me. “There was nothing suspicious about those magazines.”
“There was.” Why had I not followed up on my initial thoughts that there had been something strange about the deliveries? “I told you I never ordered those journals. I should never have read any of it.”
“What damage did reading them do?” Roxy’s expression was gentle. She was trying to comfort me.
Being around neurotypicals had taught me a few things. The most important of those at the moment was that I would cause unnecessary hurt if I shared with them that I sometimes felt paralysed by the emotions connected to their friendships. It wasn’t often that I curbed my responses, but I was glad that I was taking time to consider my answer. I didn’t want to cause my friends any emotional distress. So I forced myself to tell only half the truth. “I allowed him into my life, into my mind.”
“Did he write those articles?” Nikki asked.
“No. The journals were real, the professors who wrote the articles and the research they’d done were all real.” I could see no one understood my distress. I bit my bottom lip and wondered if Colin would understand.
“Huh.” Manny looked at me.
Francine took her tablet back and swiped the screen a few times. “All the files on Fradkov’s computer were created four days ago. They were made to look as if they were created over the last four years. But I’m not the queen of all things digital for no reason. I didn’t have to dig too deep to figure out that the computer and all its files were less than a week old.”
“Doc?”
“What?”
Manny’s lips tightened. “What are your thoughts on all of this, missy? On this computer nonsense?”
“It’s not nonsense.” I pressed my lips together to stop myself from continuing and also to organise my thoughts. “It’s too convenient.”
“My thoughts exactly.” Francine nodded as if she approved of my assessment.
; “I feel the need to qualify that what I’m about to say is not based on concrete evidence, but rather circumstantial evidence.”
“Duly noted, Doc. Now talk.”
“I’m having doubts as to Emad’s role in this case. He’s been presenting himself, not only now, but also when we first met him in the last case, as a villain. But now he’s also presenting himself as a victim. I don’t doubt that he smuggled numerous shipments of contraband across borders for many criminals. What I’m having trouble with is him claiming to have been under Fradkov’s control, that he was under Claude’s control and that he is a victim of his childhood and other circumstances.”
“Do you think he’s working for himself or someone else?”
I thought about this. “Someone else. Emad doesn’t have the same ambitions as Fradkov. Unlike Fradkov who takes work that will give him more power, as well as money, Emad is doing this for a higher purpose.”
“What the fuck can that purpose be?” Vinnie crossed his arms. “What is ‘high’ about killing people?”
“Hmm.” Colin leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. “People who go undercover often suffer from identity loss. They’re so busy being someone else that they forget who they really are. I’m assuming that Emad has had to take on quite a few identities over the years being a spy. That would confuse anyone, but someone who doesn’t have a very strong sense of self would suffer even more.”
“I’ve heard that some actors also struggle with this,” Nikki said. “Especially actors who play in a television series for many years. They’re in character eight or more hours a day and find it harder and harder to distance themselves from that character.”
“Doc?”
“I need to speak to Emad again.” I really needed to. “I need to re-evaluate how he used the app to send messages to Alain, the paintings, the computer we found in Fradkov’s house, the numbers, all the clues he used to give us insight into and information on Fradkov. Looking at it holistically, it is too neatly laid out.”
“Well, then we’d better get to the office.” Manny put his hands on the table to push himself up.
“No, wait.” Nikki raised both hands to stop us. She turned to Daniel. “You didn’t tell us how you escaped.”
“That’s all Amélie.” Daniel smiled at the scientist.
“Daniel makes it sound much more than it was.” She shrugged. “All I did was use science.”
“Do tell.” Roxy’s smile was excited.
“I was taken to the lab the moment we arrived. I had just enough time to have a look at what it stocked when I had the call with Fradkov. Then I met Fradkov’s scientist. Quite a clever man. He left as soon as I told him I was done and we had to wait for the polonium-210 to be ready. I had the lab to myself for two hours before I was taken to my room.
“I discovered that Fradkov had stocked xenon in the lab as well. I don’t know for what reason, because I was supposed to build a weapon that would infect people, not put them to sleep.”
“Xenon is a very expensive general anaesthetic,” Roxy said. “It’s not used often, but is considered to be a very safe alternative.”
“It can also be used in liquid form to measure gamma rays.” Amélie shrugged. “It could be the reason Fradkov stocked it. I didn’t care. I was just glad it was there. It didn’t take a lot of time or effort to use it for our escape. Once I rigged it, I took the masks from the lab as well as hydrochloric acid. I used a few drops of that to burn through the lock on Daniel’s door.”
“I was barely with it when she came into my room. All I remember is the mask over my nose and mouth and this tiny woman almost carrying me outside.”
“How did you get out?” Roxy asked.
“I opened the door.” Amélie shrugged again in a gesture that she seemed to use a lot. “I put the gas into the ventilation system and trusted that everyone in the building was affected by it. It worked.”
“No.” Francine raised one finger. “What I want to know is how you carried that big man. I mean, he’s twice your size.”
Amélie raised one shoulder. “Yoga. And adrenaline, I suppose.”
“You’re like totally MacGyver.” Nikki looked at Roxy and Francine, her smile wide. “A female MacGyver. So cool.”
“Who’s MacGyver?” Did this person have anything to do with our case?
“A TV character, love.”
“Oh.” I got up. I was no longer interested in the light conversation between Nikki, Roxy, Francine and Amélie. I wanted to have a quick shower and then go to the office. I wanted to check a few things in preparation, but most of all, I wanted to speak to Emad.
Chapter TWENTY
I paused the footage and leaned closer to the fifteen monitors in front of me. On screen, Emad had just proclaimed that he’d been under the control of Fradkov and, before that, Claude. A few clicks later, I replayed those forty-seven seconds in slow motion. I was seeing deception cues I had not caught before. There were so fleeting and well-disguised, even the most exceptional specialist would’ve missed it. But I wasn’t letting anything go unnoticed now.
“Doc, you’re going to get a video call.” Manny walked into my viewing room and lifted one eyebrow when I turned around, making sure my irritation showed on my face. “This is more important than re-watching those interviews.”
“What could possibly be more important?” Colin put down one of the journals I’d been receiving. Or rather, one of the journals Fradkov had been sending me. While I’d watched all the footage we had on Emad, he’d been reading about the influence of cultural background on nonverbal communication. I hated that there was value in things I’d received from Fradkov, things I’d started looking forward to.
These distressing thoughts were the reason I’d put all my focus on the footage of Emad. I’d isolated portions, played them again and again at different speeds, looking for every nonverbal cue Emad displayed. I’d learned a few things, but not as much as I had hoped. Emad had mastered deception.
It had taken us less than thirty minutes to get ready to come in to our team room. Nikki had taken Amélie to her room to shower. She’d been very pleased that her pre-pregnancy clothes fitted Amélie and had been happy to loan her whatever she needed, including shoes.
Vinnie had insisted that Roxy and Nikki also prepared to come with us. Daniel and Manny had agreed that, given the situation, they would be safest with us. I was glad they were here. I would’ve been distracted with concern had they not readily agreed to join us.
“Doc!” Manny sat down on the chair to my left and knocked on the desk. “Answer the bloody call.”
I turned back to the monitors and clicked on the icon to answer the incoming call. Even though I was most vexed that Manny was interrupting my viewing, I trusted him not to waste my time. The face that filled the monitor in the centre confirmed that. I raised both eyebrows. “Nikolai.”
“Good morning, Genevieve.” Russian Consulate General Nikolai Guskov’s expression caused me to jerk back.
“What’s wrong? Why are you terrified?” What I was looking at was not fear. It was stronger. Much stronger.
“My life is in danger.” He swallowed.
“Is that why you are in what looks like a hotel room?” Colin straightened in his chair. “Good morning, Nikolai.”
“Morning. And yes, that’s why I’m not going in to my office today and also why my family is now at a secret location.”
“Where are you?” Manny looked behind us to the door. Daniel and Vinnie were standing in the door, outside the view of the camera. Daniel was wearing Vinnie’s tracksuit pants and a long-sleeve t-shirt. Both were loose on him, but fitted well enough until he could get his own clothes. Manny turned back to the monitor when both Daniel and Vinnie nodded. “We can come and get you.”
Nikolai shook his head. “It makes me very sad to admit that I’ve prepared for a day like this. I’m still in Strasbourg, but no one will find me.”
“Are you sure all your devices are untraceable?” Francin
e pushed past Vinnie and Daniel into the room and stood behind Manny. “I’m Francine, by the way.”
The distrust on Nikolai’s face was immediate. His eyes shifted as if he was inspecting the monitor of his computer. He was most likely making sure there wasn’t anyone else in the room.
I loathed having to reassure people. “We’ve all been working on this case. Not just Colin, Manny and I. Our whole team. If you trust us, it is rational to trust my team too.”
Nikolai’s internal struggle was evident on his face. He sighed. “Okay, who else is there?”
Francine waved Vinnie and Daniel over. “Daniel and Vinnie.”
“Monsieur Gusko—”
Nikolai interrupted Daniel. “Please call me Nikolai. I can’t handle any formality at the moment.”
Daniel nodded. I recognised his expression. His eyes and mouth always contracted in this manner when he had made an astute observation and was about to suggest something potentially controversial. “Would you like to defect, Nikolai?”
“No.” His answer was immediate and genuine. But he closed his eyes, his lips pressed together to reveal only a thin line. Manny inhaled to speak, but I held up my hand. Nikolai was having difficulty verbalising a decision he had made. He needed time. A few seconds later, he opened his eyes. “I might not have any other choice. For the safety of my wife and children, I might have to do the very thing I’ve judged so many others for doing.”
“Whatever security you need, we’ll provide it,” Manny said.
“Like I said. I’ve prepared for this. No one will ever find my family’s location. Once I’m done here, I’ll disappear as well. At least until I’m sure it would be safe for my family if I defected.” His depressor anguli oris muscles pulled the corners of his mouth down. “My dream of showing the true beauty of Russia is going to disappear with me.”
