Ursula Archer - Five

He swallowed a sob, not voicing the question in his mind – Answers to what? ‘If I tell you what you want to know, will you let me live?’

The silence was as complete as before, as if the man behind him wasn’t even breathing. Then he felt a hand on his head.

‘I’ll tell you how it’s going to be. First, you’ll lie. Then you’ll tell the truth. Then, at the end, you will die.’

The clock on her computer said 01.26. Little by little, the space around Beatrice was losing its sharp contours. She had planned to drop by the office only briefly after visiting the children, to pick up a few files, but she had discovered two new reports. They had drawn her into some research, and now four hours had passed. She resolved to go home as soon as she had sent the text message. Let us help you, she typed into her mobile, only to delete it again. It was roughly her twentieth attempt at formulating a message which would provoke the Owner into conversing with her. But she couldn’t find the right tone. The messages she came up with either sounded ridiculous or overbearing. The last one topped them all, as it implied he was crazy.

‘Although he is, of course,’ mumbled Beatrice.

‘Pardon?’

‘Sorry, Florin, I was just talking to myself.’ She tried to smile, but it felt like a pathetic attempt. ‘Shall I make us some coffee?’

He glanced at his watch and raised his eyebrows. ‘Suicide by caffeine, eh? I could actually do with one too, though. Stay where you are, I’ll do it.’ The espresso machine rumbled back to life. ‘You’re still battling with the text message, right?’

‘Yep.’

‘We should come up with one together.’

‘I’m not so sure.’ She looked out of the window into the darkness, but her own pale reflection in the glass obstructed her view of the night. ‘Kossar advised me to be authentic and honest. And personal too, but I don’t want to mess around – this is about saving Sigart’s life.’ She tossed her mobile onto the table. ‘Maybe there are some magic words, some code that will unsettle the Owner so much it stops him from committing another murder.’

The steam pipe made hissing, spitting noises, transforming the milk into a cloudy froth.

‘I think the Owner’s going to see through the message no matter what you write. He’ll know what you’re trying to achieve, so you might as well spell it out.’ He placed a cup in front of her. ‘But forget Kossar – don’t go in for anything personal, Bea. Don’t give him any incentive to get to know you better.’

She let his words go in one ear and out the other, then pulled the mobile back towards her. That’s what I want , she thought, one to one .

I’d like to speak to you and understand why you’re doing what you’re doing.

Now add something personal.

21 May, 08.41 a.m.

She drank the cup of coffee down in three long gulps and sent the message off before she had the chance to change her mind. He wouldn’t know what to make of the date; a little puzzle for the Owner, for a change. Yawning, she stretched her arms. ‘I’m going to head off, Florin. And yes, I will let you know when I get there.’

The memories filled her mind as she got in the car, summoning up images that Beatrice hadn’t pictured this vividly in a very long time.

She turned the car radio on and allowed the music to chase the ghosts from her head at eighty decibels.

The answer came at 5.43 a.m., as the gleaming red display of the radio alarm clock betrayed when Beatrice opened her eyes. The text message tone had haunted her dreams, so she didn’t realise at first that her phone really was making a noise.

Her hand fumbled around, grasping the mobile and nearly knocking it off the bedside table. She managed to get a grip on it just in time, then held it up in front of her face.

If you want to talk, then you come to me, said the Owner’s message. You’d be able to if you drew the right conclusions. An interesting date – a shame that you omitted to mention the year, but I think I recognise it all the same.

From one second to the next, Beatrice was wide awake. She read the text again and again. The right conclusions, sure. If they had already reached them, then any conversation between them would be taking place in the interrogation room. But at least the Owner had responded to her message, and with an answer that referred back to what she had written. They had entered into a dialogue.

Feeling slightly dizzy, she got out of bed and padded into the kitchen. She filled a glass with cold water and drank it down in long gulps.

He liked taking things literally. And he wasn’t willing to admit that he didn’t know what the date referred to. If he had even an inkling of what significance it held for Beatrice then his message would have read differently, she was sure of that.

In the hope of being able to get back to sleep, she lay down in bed and closed her eyes. She had set the alarm for seven. But sleep had now escaped her, and unfortunately without taking the tiredness along with it. Beatrice stayed in bed regardless, mentally scanning every single word in the Owner’s message.

What would he say if she asked him about Sigart, whether he was still alive? Or if she asked him for another clue for Stage Four?

He would continue to be cryptic, just the same as always. You come to me – how original.

With a deep sigh, Beatrice turned onto her side. Her instinct was urging her to forget the search for Stage Four temporarily, to leave Liebscher’s remaining body parts to their vacuum-packed fate. Because if there was any conceivable pattern at all, it was that the Owner waited until the police made a find before he pounced. In all likelihood, the best thing they could do to protect the people he had chosen was to play dumb.

‘I have a used-car salesman, a sales coach and a calendar salesman, each of whom have two sons including one called Felix.’ Stefan beamed as he held some papers under her nose. ‘Now, is that good work or what?’

‘It’s –’ Beatrice glanced quickly through the pages – ‘wonderful, Stefan.’

‘I carried on researching from home until I found them. Who do you think we should start with? Look, here are the addresses, so if we visit the calendar guy first—’

She held her hand up to interrupt him. ‘Not today. We’ll discuss it with the team, but I think we should hold off with Stage Four for now.’

‘What? Why?’

His obvious disappointment made him look even younger than he did already. She patted him gently on the shoulder. ‘We need to be cautious. It didn’t turn out too well for Beil and Sigart after we spoke to them.’

‘You think—?’

‘I’m not sure. But it seems like the Owner just wants to shove people under our noses before ultimately killing them. So we’re not going to play that game any more.’

Stefan mumbled something that sounded both dejected and acquiescent at the same time.

‘Come to the office for a bit.’ She pulled him gently along the corridor. ‘I’ll make us some coffee.’

Kossar agreed with her entirely. Their new approach was not giving the Owner what he wanted, but instead luring him out of his hiding place. The psychologist was wearing different glasses today: blue frames with a dark red pattern. They clashed intensely with his green eyes.

‘This is the most personal message he’s sent you yet, Beatrice. He’s spurring you on, reacting to the date you gave and inviting you to come and find him. That goes far beyond merely transmitting information.’

‘It’s just that I don’t believe I can coax him into giving up Sigart, no matter what I write, and that’s really—’ She saw Stefan and Kossar exchange a brief glance. ‘I see. You both think he’s already dead.’ The memory of that April night twelve years ago fought its way back into Beatrice’s mind. The memory of Evelyn’s face – first alive, then dead. She pushed the image away, forcing herself to think of Sigart, his pale expression, devoid of all hope. She cleared her throat. ‘I’ll repeat myself as often as I have to – so long as we haven’t found a body, I won’t give up on him.’