Page 158 of King’s Ransom

Not one single bit.

This man had never met me before in his life, even though I’d been right there with him during the harrowing events at 59West on December 21st.

Key moments from December 21st flashed across my mind.

‘Quinn McCade’ refusing to pay the ransom for the bodyguard hanging from the underside of the express elevator with Alexei—saying that Sinclair & Loewe’s Kidnapping & Ransom policy only covered Aristo King’s direct family members.

‘Quinn McCade’ making a call to his office seeking authorisation from Sinclair & Loewe’s board to pay the forty-million-dollar ransom for Alexei.

‘Quinn McCade’ getting slapped in the face by Yasmina Ivanova after failing to get that authorisation in time.

He’d even been there when I’d leapt across the elevator shaft to save Alexei when the boy had been dropped from the elevator.

Who would forget that?

Answer: someone who had never been there.

The Unperson’s voice echoed in my head.

‘I had a front row seat to it all. I was mildly impressed with you when you leapt into the elevator shaft to save the boy, that was brave . . .’

Then later, on the roof—after saying he’d paid $80 million for King’s first wife, Winnie Tan, to be released from the chopper—‘Quinn McCade’ had refused to pay any more for Yasmina, saying that King’s policy maxed out at $90 million.

I wondered now if there’d been anyone on the other end of that phone line at all.

There probably hadn’t.

I recalled ‘Quinn McCade’ getting more and more flustered and shaken—and at one point, wanting to seem invisible—as that day had gone on.

What a performance.

The ‘Quinn McCade’ who had been at 59West had been the Unperson, inserting himself into the drama, enjoying himself.

Just as it had been him—as Quinn McCade—who had shoved me into the sauna and chatted with me, keeping himself out of sight.

Which meant there had been no money transferred from the insurance company for any of the ransoms.

(Indeed, as far as I could tell, only one payment had actually been made that day: the direct payment of $40 million in bitcoin made by the panicked Ms Kimura from King’s own account, giving the Unperson a very substantial payday.)

No wonder Aristo King was suing Sinclair & Loewe and no wonder Sinclair & Loewe were confused.

I tried to recall the very last moment I’d seen ‘Quinn McCade’ on December 21st at 59West.

That was it.

He’d left with Director Longmuir and the others to go to St Patrick’s Cathedral, thinking that was where Aristo King was being kept.

Only St Patrick’s Cathedral had been a decoy site.

King had been at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

But that urgent dash to St Patrick’s had been the perfect time for the Unperson—his face possibly surgically altered to match that of the real Quinn McCade—to slip away unnoticed.

‘I’m sorry, what was your name?’ Quinn McCade said, interrupting my tornado of thoughts.

The real Quinn McCade.

There in the reception area of Sinclair & Loewe Insurance.