been contacted about interviews for a new online magazine should be identified. This could allow a sting to be set up. If this is done quickly, it may prevent a fifth killing.
Tony read over what he'd written, then sent it to Marijke and Petra, with a copy to Carol. From what Marijke had told him, it looked as if the cases were already getting bogged down in red tape, with everything being routed through a secure area in the Europol computing centre at Den Haag. He hoped that, between them, they could inject a sense of urgency into the investigation. Otherwise, they were all going to end up with more blood on their hands.
Tadeusz walked Carol to the door of the apartment block. 'Thanks,' she said. 'It's been an interesting evening.'
He took her hand and bowed deeply over it, planting a kiss on the back of her hand. 'Thank you for coming. I'll call you, yes?'
Chapter 14
Relieved that he wasn't angling to come up for coffee, Carol nodded. Til look forward to it. Good night.'
She took the lift to the third floor and let herself into her apartment. If he was standing in the street below watching, he'd see that she'd gone straight home. As she walked through to the bedroom, Carol unzipped her dress and let it fall to the floor. She wanted to see Tony, but she didn't want to go to him in Caroline Jackson's clothes that held a whisper of Tadeusz's cigar smoke. She grabbed a clean T-shirt and a pair of jeans and hastily dressed, then walked down the two flights of stairs to his apartment, taking care to check the hallway was empty before she stepped out of the stairwell.
He looked strained, she thought, as he opened the door. But then, he had spent the day probing the murder of a friend. It would have been more strange if he'd greeted her with a cheerful grin. She stepped towards him and kissed him on the cheek. He responded with a tight hug. 'It's good to see you,' he said. 'How did it go today?'
'Interesting,' Carol said. 'As in, "May you live in interesting times."'
Tony led the way back through to the living room where the curtains were already drawn, and they settled down at opposite ends of the sofa, both still more than a little tentative about the new shape of their relationship. 'Tell me about it,' he said, pouring her a glass of red wine from the open bottle on the table.
Carol filled him in on the events of the day. He listened attentively, head cocked to one side. Finally, he said, 'It had to happen. There had to come a moment where he suddenly freaked about the resemblance between you and Katerina and got suspicious.'
'Well, even though it wasn't entirely unexpected, it still threw me. For a moment, I couldn't think how I should react.'
'You ran with your instincts, which in your case is always a good way to go. You've got good gut reactions, Carol, and they worked to your advantage this afternoon. You didn't cave in, you turned it around on to him, which was the best possible way to distract him from what was niggling away at him. But don't be surprised if something like this comes up again.'
XSo what do I do next time? Take umbrage again?'
Tony ran a hand through his hair. 'I don't have all the answers, Carol. Tell you the truth, I've seldom felt less infallible than I do tonight.'
Carol's eyebrows rose. 'Hey, you were the one who said you wanted to help me with this,' she protested.
'I know, but I'm not sure I want to feel accountable if I suggest something that turns sour,' Tony said with a weary smile.
Carol unconsciously drew away from him. 'You could give guilt seminars to Catholics, you know. Look, Tony, I'm just asking for advice here. I take responsibility for my own actions.'
He cursed himself silently for striking the wrong note yet again. 'You want advice?' he said sharply. 'OK, entirely without prejudice, I'd say that if Radecki asks you again, you should tell him you didn't kill Osborne and that you don't know who did. And that you're as uncomfortable with the resemblance to Katerina as he is. That you don't want people thinking you're the sort of person who would exploit his private grief for business advantage. And frankly, it would be easier for you to walk away from this whole deal, because it's not like