“Speaking of night, I saw you looked into our detective friend’s files. So you are curious.”

“I was bored. It’s not a big deal.”

Crystal raised her eyebrows. “Yes, but did you see the pictures of the art?”

“I did. And what’s up with that?”

Liam appeared. He briefly glanced Sophia’s way but then said, “So, is everyone ready for this? We may not have a second chance to get this right, so no screw ups. Evans, have Crystal pull up the cameras, I want eyes as soon as our friend Miles leaves his house. And what are these chocolates? Anyone?”

“We don’t know, sir,” replied Bert. “We think they could actually be . . . chocolates.”

“Well, if we’re right, he’s wanting a lot of money for these so-called chocolates.”

“Does anyone know how she plans to pay for these chocolates? Electronically, or has she been seen with money?”

“No. Must be electronic, like before.”

“Can we get a trace on the funds?” This time the question was directed at Sophia.

“We have access to her computer. Everything she does will be recorded and traced. We should be able to see who sent the money and from what account. However, in my experience, it will never be as simple as that. For someone who is determined to keep his identity hidden, he will not send the funds from a traceable bank account. He’s probably got accounts all over the world, impossible to trace. Well, not impossible but it will take time, and perhaps more time than we have.”

“And time is not on our side. The key will be to catch them as they pick up the weapons. That means we need to find out where the guns are located. Miles has to give her some indication to where they are, so watch closely and listen carefully.”

At 9:50, a message came in, “Miles has left his flat. He’s carrying a cardboard box and is getting into his car. We’re tailing him.” Every time Miles made a turn the radio came alive.

“He is turning onto Elaine Smith’s street. Expect him in ten seconds.” Shortly, the little car came into view on the screen. Miles found a place to park three doors down. Inside his car, they watched him lean over and open the cardboard box before exiting the car.

“He’s got a small black box in his hand. Is that the chocolate box?” asked Liam. Bert leaned in closer to the screen, Melony pushed past Sophia and also moved closer to the screen.

“I think so, sir,” she replied. “What could he possibly do with a box of chocolates? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Maybe he knows she likes chocolates,” suggested Bert. “A lot of women like chocolate. Just because you don’t, doesn’t mean everyone doesn’t.”

Melony gave him a slap across the arm.

“Stop it,” Liam yelled. “He’s approaching the front door.”

Miles knocked and tapped his army boot while he waited. He wore a baseball cap and blue wool pea coat. On the other screen they watched Ms. Smith rise from her kitchen table. She peered into the living room before she came to the door.

“Well, come in.” She led him to the living room. The man handed her the box of chocolates and she carefully placed them on her table. When she lifted the lid, all the officers leaned in closer to the monitor.

“What’s in the box?” Liam asked. “Do you see anything?”

“It’s too blurry and dark inside the box. All I can see is black, but it appears to be just chocolates.”

Ms. Smith scanned the box slowly with her finger and said, “Oh, you don’t have any of those cherry-filled ones I like.”

“They didn’t have any available. However, I got you a few more caramel.”

“I see that.”

The man sat there quietly before he finally asked her, “Well, I hope you like what you see.”

“Yes. I’m sure they’ll be wonderful,” she said. “How about a spot of tea?”

“That would be lovely.”

Ms. Smith moved into the kitchen, poured water into the kettle and placed it on the hob. Then she went toward her computer and sat down. Every key stroke was recorded. They watched her pull up a bank website and recorded the account number and password. Then into the column of transfer she entered a long line of digits and under amount: 1.5 million pounds.

“She transferring the money now.”

“That’s a lot of money.”

“What’s Miles doing?”

All eyes turned toward the other monitor. Miles was walking about the room, looking at photos, picking up little knick-knacks off the shelf and examining them. Finally, he sat back down on the sofa. He spied a deck of cards on the table and picked them up. He started placing them down in rows.

“He’s playing solitaire.”

“How will he be relaying the information to her? Is he waiting for confirmation that the money is being transferred?”

“He must be.”

Finally, Ms. Smith stood from her computer and re-entered the kitchen. She placed two bags into a kettle and then the hot water. Placing two cups and the pot on a tray, she carried it to the living room. After placing the tray on the table beside Miles, she went over to the box of chocolates and helped herself to one.

“Because there are so many caramel, I’ll try one of them. If you keep bringing over chocolates, I’ll be very fat, very soon. Well, anyway, I’ve transferred the money and everything looks to be in order.”

The watchers leaned in, straining to hear every word.

Miles continued to play his game.

“That’s wonderful,” he finally said. He put the pile of cards down on the table and dropped three cubes of sugar into his tea and stirred it with the small spoon beside the cup. In two gulps, the cup was empty. “I should be going.”

“All right.” She had barely poured the milk into her cup before she stood. “I’ll see you to the door.”

The watchers turned their attention to the camera in the front hall. The two walked quietly to the door.

“Thank you,” Miles said and started down the walk.

Ms. Smith shut the door behind him.

“What just happened?” asked Liam. “Did we miss something? When did he tell her where to pick up the shipment?” Liam leaned back and examined each of his team one by one. “Did anyone notice?”

They all shook their heads.

“It must be with the chocolates,” suggested Sophia. “Perhaps we should go retrieve the box.”

Liam put his hand to his mouth. “I don’t know, I don’t know. If we’re wrong and we put her guard up, it could ruin everything. We need to surprise them when they retrieve the shipment or we will lose both. Team one, you need to be on Miles everywhere he goes. We can’t lose him, when he speaks to someone on his mobile or in person, I want to know details. He has to inform her or someone in the organization in some way.”

“Yes, sir,” resounded the voices over the radios. He has driven away but he has not rang anyone yet. We will follow and listen.”

“In the meantime, we have to watch her every movement. What is she doing now?”

“She’s cleaning the teapot.”

“Has she rang or texted anyone? Come on, people, what’s the key here? Crystal, did either of them use sign language?”

Crystal twisted her head to the side when Sophia signed the question but then Crystal just shook her head and signed, “I didn’t see any sign language.”

“Neither did I,” said Sophia.

“All right. Crystal, make copies of the meeting. I don’t want us to miss anything. I want to make sure he didn’t put a note in her hand or in one of her pockets or hidden it in one of the bloody knick knacks.”

Sophia signed the instructions to her and immediately Crystal started working. Liam started pacing in the living room.

“What are we missing?” he asked. “Crystal, are you done copying the files?”

“It’s being transferred. This all takes time.”

“We may not have a lot of time.”

“Why is it taking so long to transfer?” Sophia asked Crystal when Liam went into the kitchen for coffee.

“It’s slow. Something is really causing a lag. I’ll look into it as soon as the transfer is complete.” She went back to work.