She made her way through two more theaters but she never found him. Had she got it wrong? There was a chance the accuracy of the location could be off by meters, leading from the theater to the building next door, but she didn’t want to think about that. She still had five more rooms to visit.

The next one played Kiss Me Deadly, a 1955 black and white film featuring Mike Hammer. It was the type of movie Liam would enjoy. Again she walked up to the front and made her way back. She only had to cover half the theater because in the middle sat Liam. He didn’t notice her because he stared intently at the screen. A woman screamed for her life. Sophia made her way down the aisle and sat next to him.

If he noticed her, he didn’t say anything.

She watched the movie for a few moments as well. For although she had decided to go to him there, she hadn’t thought out what she would say when she met him. Finally, she turned to look at him. He didn’t turn his head, but she saw his right eye twitch. He knew.

“When does the movie end?” she asked.

“It only just started.”

“Oh.”

“Why aren’t you in the office?”

“Why aren’t you?” She looked ahead. “You’re not here to meet anyone, are you?”

“If I was, it’s pretty stupid for you to interrupt a meet like this.”

“Yes. So, am I interrupting?”

“You are interrupting the movie,” said Liam.

A man five or six rows up turned around to give them a dirty look.

“Are you going to stay and bother me?” Liam asked.

She hadn’t decided. The movie became interesting and before she realized it, she had sat through the rest without talking to him. As the credits started to roll, he stood up beside her and started walking down the aisle away from her. She quickly rose and followed him.

“That was a good movie,” she said. “Have you seen it before?”

“Why did you come?”

“I thought we should discuss what happened a few days ago. I tried to contact you but you’re obviously avoiding my calls.”

“So you thought you would track me down.”

“I did learn from the best.” She gave him a smile. He didn’t reciprocate.

“Look,” she continued, and grabbed his arm to halt him. “Look, it’s awkward to work together if we don’t get this sorted.”

“I agree, that’s why I put in for a transfer.”

“That’s a bit extreme. What went wrong? What did I do wrong?”

“Do you know something, Evans? I can’t even really remember what we had a row about.”

“That’s wonderful. Then we’re all right, right?”

“That’s the thing, we’re not. I thought I could make this work but I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because you remind me too much of my wife. And you know what? After realizing that Stewart is behind this, you might be wise to stay away from me.”

“I’m not worried.”

“Yes, neither was my wife. This is a dangerous game we play. Hell, we shouldn’t even consider it a game. It’s serious. People get hurt, especially those who are not trained to . . . You should know this best of all.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I’m muddled. I need some space and time to think, sort it all out. I’m not angry at you, I’m worried about you.” He turned around and started walking away down the pavement.

She didn’t follow. He was right. It was a crazy world and she wasn’t just behind a desk anymore, viewing it through rose-colored lenses. It had become violent in the past and it would again if she wasn’t careful. He was only trying to protect her.

He stopped and turned around. “Are you coming?”

“No, because I agree with you, Foxton. It’s better if we keep our distance.”

He approached, nodding.

“When do you transfer?” she asked.

“I don’t know. It has to be approved and I’m not sure they’ll think of approving it until after the case is over. Even then . . .” He paced back and forth. “Do you want to grab a coffee?”

She nodded. “It’s really cold.”

They walked to a coffee shop two streets over and stepped inside. Immediately the warmth hit her and she shivered. She found them a table in the almost empty cafe and sat down.

“Why couldn’t we arrest Gikhrist before?”

“We could never tie him to the crimes. He started with fraud and slowly worked his way up. He’s brilliant with computers and various forms of technology—made millions of pounds. I kick myself when I think I didn’t realize sooner that it was him behind the events at the flat. He probably had a laugh when he found out I was on his trail. He’s an arrogant bastard. The problem is that he doesn’t have a conscience, he has no problem killing to protect himself or for that matter, just for kicks.”

“Why did he go after your wife?”

He stared at her for a minute, probably debating whether to go further or not, but finally he replied, “To get to me. And it was a warning first. He made it clear that if I pursued him, he would go after all that was near and dear to me. I don’t even, to this day, know how he knew Kendra was my wife . . .”

“Is that your wife’s name?”

He nodded.

“Some believed he got access to our computers or had a man on the inside. We never found a leak. I actually believed Kendra was safe—I came home late and she wasn’t there. Instead of checking in on her or ringing to make sure she was all right, I went to bed. I just thought she popped out to the shops.”

“You can’t blame yourself.” It explained why he checked up on Sophia regularly.

“It all happens so fast. I didn’t believe it at first. I wanted to punch the person who told me such a sick joke—my wife couldn’t be dead. We made a point of it, my wife and me, to lower the risk after we got married. She held a desk job, like you. She wasn’t meant to be put in danger. I never meant to put her in danger. But it was the job. It was me.”

“You can’t blame yourself.”

“But I do, And one does not get over the death of one’s wife. Especially when the killer is having a laugh about it over tea.”

Sophia put her hand on his arm. It shook. “I can’t possibly say I understand because I don’t. I lost someone close to me, only I was the bloody killer.” She took a sip of her coffee. Her lip was beginning to quiver. “We have to be smarter than him. I’m sure we are. If he can get to us, we can get to him. Crystal and I can make it a priority to find him. And not only that, we’ll find out how he managed to get away with things for so long and catch him.”

“That’s not your priority—you have other cases you need to work on. They don’t like me taking you away from your assignments. I can’t ask you to do that. If they wanted the team to find him that way, they would have made it a priority for you. Right now they are more interested in the weapons. I have to follow orders.” He looked at his mobile. “I can’t ask you to look into it.”

She understood. “All right. I will tell Crystal what you told me.”

“Sophia, you can’t get too involved, do you understand? If you do, he’ll come after you. You have to be very careful. He will have no qualms holding a gun to the back of your head and blowing your bloody brains out.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

Theo, and for that matter, Dorland, did not have much experience with autopsy. “Experience with autopsy.” What a way to describe it—as if it was something to be desired. The room was sterile except for the naked man that lay on the table. Theo watched Dr. Alfred Waynton lay out all his utensils one by one, picturing what each was used for, imagining the knives slicing through human flesh. His stomach turned over.

“Would you like a glass of water, Theo?”

Theo looked up at Waynton and swallowed sharply. “No. I’m all right. Just tired.”

“Well, don’t fall asleep during the autopsy. I don’t want to have to repeat myself.”

Dorland seemed happy in the room, laughing, making jokes. Theo supposed it was his uncle that calmed him. What must family dinners be like? Did they let him carve the turkey? De-bone a ham? One by one, each organ was removed, weighed, and examined.