Stephen Leather - True Colours

The skill of the technician was in analysing the responses of the subject while being asked the relevant questions and assessing whether they were more similar to the baseline or to the established lies. It wasn’t something that Shepherd could do just by observing body language or listening to their voices. Lie detection was a complicated business, and even a skilled practitioner like Jules Lee had to proceed slowly and methodically. He was now on his third set of baseline questions to Serov, and if previous experience was anything to go by he’d be doing it at least another two times.

Shepherd’s Bluetooth earpiece crackled. ‘What the hell’s happening? Vlad, can you hear me?’ It was Popov, clearly anxious.

There was no answer from Molchanov.

‘Vlad, what the hell is going on?’ said Popov. ‘Boris, are you in the security centre? Will someone talk to me?’

Shepherd put his hand up to his earpiece. ‘Dmitry? It’s Tony. What’s wrong?’

‘The power’s gone down here,’ said Popov. ‘Where are you?’

‘The library,’ said Shepherd. ‘Everything’s OK here.’ The lights were all on and Lee’s equipment was functioning perfectly.

‘Thomas, do you have power in the guardhouse?’ Popov asked Lisko.

‘Yes,’ said Lisko. ‘And there are lights on in the house, too.’

‘It must just be underground that has the problem,’ said Shepherd. ‘But the emergency lights are on, right?’

‘Nothing’s on,’ said Popov. ‘We’re in complete darkness. Vlad, what the hell’s going on? Is anyone in the security centre? Boris, Alina, Max? Where the hell is everybody?’

‘Dmitry, who’s with you?’

‘Just Leo.’

‘Where’s Ivan?’

‘Basement Three, outside the pool.’

‘Ivan, are you there?’ asked Shepherd.

‘I’m on Basement Two,’ said Koshechkin.

‘What are you doing there?’ interrupted Popov. ‘You’re supposed to be outside the pool.’

‘He’s doing lengths,’ said Koshechkin. ‘He’ll be another half an hour.’

‘Not in the bloody pitch dark, he won’t,’ said Shepherd.

‘Where exactly are you, Ivan?’ asked Popov.

‘The games room,’ said Koshechkin. Shepherd could hear the embarrassment in the man’s voice.

Popov said something to Koshechkin in Russian, clearly giving him a major bollocking. Deservedly, too. Koshechkin was supposed to be a bodyguard and a bodyguard was never, ever supposed to leave his principal unprotected.

‘Ivan, can you get down to the pool?’ asked Shepherd.

‘I’ll try.’

‘Have you got your phone? You can use the light from the phone, enough to see in front of you, anyway.’

‘It’s in my locker,’ said Koshechkin.

‘Get to Grechko as quickly as you can,’ said Shepherd. ‘Dmitry, can you get to the security centre?’

‘It’s pitch black. We can’t move around.’ Shepherd heard a muffled thud followed by a loud Russian curse. ‘Stay where you!’ shouted Popov. ‘Leo’s just tripped over something,’ he explained. ‘Somebody’s going to get hurt.’

‘Have you got torches?’

‘No, no torches,’ said Popov. ‘There’s a back-up for the main electricity supply and there are two emergency circuits. It’s impossible for all three to go down at the same time.’

‘Impossible maybe, but that’s what’s happened,’ said Shepherd. ‘Where are your mobiles?’

‘In the changing rooms,’ said Popov.

‘So make your way there and get your phones out. See if you can get out of the gym and into the security centre. I’m with Konstantin, I’ll see if he can get some torches down there.’

He looked over at Lee. ‘We’re going to have to stop this for the moment,’ he said.

‘Problem?’ said Lee, peering over the top of his glasses.

‘Power failure downstairs. I need Konstantin to get down there with some lights.’

Lee nodded and began removing the straps from Serov’s chest. ‘See if there are torches or candles in the kitchen, then get them down to Dmitry,’ Shepherd said to him. ‘He’s in the gym. And make sure the security centre is OK, they’ve gone quiet.’

‘Will do,’ said Serov. He took the sensor from his finger and handed it to Lee, then pulled the electrodes off his shoulder blades.

Shepherd went out into the corridor and took his phone out of his pocket. He had to call Shortt to tell him to postpone the Khan business. He frowned as he saw that he had no signal. He went back into the study, picked up a telephone and put it to his ear. There was no dial tone.

Shepherd put a hand to his earpiece. ‘Ivan, be careful down there, OK? This might be more than a power cut.’ He started walking to the door. ‘Dmitry, we might have a problem. The phones are out. And I’ve lost my mobile phone signal.’

‘The landlines too?’

‘I’ve just tried the phone in the library and it’s down.’

‘But all the power’s on upstairs?’ said Popov.

‘No problems here at all.’

‘It could just be some fuses have blown.’

‘That wouldn’t explain the phones,’ said Shepherd, pushing open the library door. ‘Something is jamming our mobiles.’

‘Can you get to Mr Grechko?’ asked Popov.

‘I’m going to try,’ said Shepherd.

Monotok walked down the stairs. As he reached the door to Basement Three he heard a noise from above. He froze and held his breath. Someone had opened the door on Basement Two. He heard the shuffle of feet and then a hand brushing against the wall. It could only be Koshechkin, making his way down to Basement Three. Monotok started breathing again and turned to look up the steps. Koshechkin was moving so slowly that he must have been totally unable to see. Monotok drew his knife and waited.

Shepherd walked down the corridor towards the lift, taking another look at his phone. There was still no signal. The killer must have been using a cellular phone jammer. He put the phone away as he reached the lift. He pressed the button but the light didn’t come on. He pressed it again but nothing happened. He put his ear up against the door but couldn’t hear anything. The lift had been put out of commission, probably by cutting its power. He touched his earpiece. ‘Ivan, where are you?’

‘In the stairwell heading down to Basement Three. The lifts aren’t working.’

‘Yeah, the power’s been cut. Get to Grechko as quick as you can.’

‘Tony, it’s pitch black down here. I can’t see a thing.’

‘Quick as you can,’ repeated Shepherd.

‘Tony, if I slip I’ll break my neck.’

‘Just do it, Ivan. Grechko’s in danger. This isn’t an accident.’

‘You think the killer’s down here?’

Shepherd could hear the uncertainty in the man’s voice. ‘Don’t think about that,’ he said. ‘Your job is to protect Grechko. Now go ahead and do that.’

He put the phone in his pocket and headed for the emergency stairs.

Monotok smiled when he heard Koshechkin ask whether the killer was in the basement. Part of him wanted to whisper ‘yes, I’m here’, but he knew that if he did he’d be making it difficult for himself. As it was all he had to do was wait in the dark with the knife and Koshechkin would come to him. It was almost funny watching the man make his way down the stairs, one at a time, feeling ahead with the toe of his shoe and keeping one hand flat against the wall. He’d reach out with the toe of his right foot, then tap it against the concrete step and only then would he place the foot down. Then he’d put his left foot next to his right foot and then start the whole process again. It was taking him a full five seconds for each step. Tap, step, step. Tap, step, step. With the hand scraping against the wall each time he moved. Monotok gripped the knife and waited.