“We’ll see.” She headed for the bathroom. “I’ve been getting a different viewpoint about him lately. Jill trusts him.”
“Eve,” Joe said. “Don’t do this.”
She stopped at the door of the bathroom. “I know you’re unhappy about it. But I can’t do anything else.” She opened the door, and added simply, “Because whenever I close my eyes, I see that schoolroom, Joe.”
Chapter
13
Jill was waiting when Eve came out of the bathroom forty-five minutes later. She was staring at the reconstruction and looked up as Eve crossed the room toward her. “You really think it’s the brother?”
“I do. I’m surprised you didn’t think of it before I did. You’re the storyteller. It’s definitely a macabre twist on the story of Varak.”
“It probably would have come to me eventually. I was just upset and a bit scattered at the time. But it does make sense.”
“Now we have to find proof that Varak murdered his brother or try to discover when and where he disappeared. Hopefully, it will be about the time that helicopter exploded in the mountains.”
“Quinn and Novak are already working on it. Dobran took a flight somewhere the day after he accepted that statue. It would be logical if it was to Johannesburg to examine and accept the body of Oscar Varak and prepare it for the DNA implant,” Jill said. “Why do you think I’m here? Quinn came storming down to the village and told Novak that he had to put a trace on Varak’s brother and determine if this is really him.” She nodded at the reconstruction. “He wants all the puzzle pieces we have to be in place before anyone discovers that the skull is gone from that U.N. headquarters.” She grimaced. “I got the impression he was trying desperately to stave off having you tossed in jail. I told him I wouldn’t allow that to happen.”
“If I remember correctly, you didn’t give me the same promise,” Eve said dryly. “You just said you’d be in the cell next to mine.”
“Well, I didn’t think that would go over well with him. He’s still very tentative with me. Instead, I decided I’d come here and let Novak deal with him and see if you need any help.”
“Only with information. What’s been happening? It seems as if I slept for a long time.”
“Not for a normal person.” She shrugged. “I managed to get a reporter friend, Matt Kimbro, to go and squeeze information out of the local Cairo police. The police did collect all the security videos in the château, but they hadn’t gotten around to viewing them yet. They’re still in the evidence room.”
Eve stiffened. “But they will view them. It’s only a matter of time. And they’ll find out it was Joe in that gallery.”
“Maybe.” She paused. “I told Kimbro it was important to me that I get hold of those gallery tapes. The evidence room might not be a problem for him if his contact is on duty. It’s like the rest of the police department in Cairo. Bad and good. It’s not that unusual for things to go missing…if the price is right. He said he’d let me know.”
“A very good friend,” Eve said. “To risk getting arrested.”
“Yes. But he’s smart, and I told him if it gets down to taking any serious chances, he’s to call me, and I’ll get him help. I’ll go myself if necessary. Together, we’ll be able to do it.”
“And get yourself arrested, too?”
“We have to get those security tapes. It could hurt Quinn and you.”
“Then let Novak go help your friend Kimbro.”
“I will if it’s more efficient. But Kimbro trusts me, and he was more likely to be accommodating if I was in the background. He’s my friend, and he owes me, not Novak.” She smiled. “And Kimbro might not need help. I told you, he’s smart.” She changed the subject. “Now, what other information do you need? Oh, Gideon has already gone to the presidential palace in Jokan to see what information he can gather about Zahra Kiyani. That’s all I know right now. Sorry, more later.”
“Nothing to be sorry about. It’s fairly substantial.” She was rifling through her cabinet and pulling out the reconstruction she’d begun on Mila. She carefully put the Varak reconstruction in the cabinet in its place. “And certainly more productive than what I’ll be doing.”
“I can’t believe that.”
“Believe it,” Eve said curtly. “Sitting here and working is the only