Page 186 of King’s Ransom

‘You think I’m some doe-eyed billionaire’s ex-wife who’s going to be cowed by a sleazy private detective?’

It was the recording I’d made at Winnie Tan’s place the previous day.

Using a camera-equipped pen I’d taken from the Tech Detect’s offices that had poked inconspicuously out of the left shoulder pocket of my Patagonia jacket, filming my entire encounter with Winnie Tan.

The crowd of guests started murmuring, confused but also interested.

My voice: ‘After you reconnected with Aristo King, did you want him back?’

At the front of the room, Winnie Tan whirled. ‘What’s going on? Who’s doing this!’

But beside her, even Aristo King was now staring at the TV screens, watching and listening.

The Winnie on the TV filled the screen, her face twisted with fury.

My voice was saying: ‘You were a new woman, fit and gorgeous, and now you were banging him every chance you could get.’

Winnie: ‘Ari is the smartest and most charismatic man I’ve ever met. He’s the most brilliant person in any room. I never stopped loving him, not even after we divorced all those years ago.’

Me: ‘And so this year, when you started sleeping with him again, you thought you could get him back. And you’re a billionaire, which means you’re used to getting what you want.’

Beside me, FBI Deputy Director Longmuir swapped a glance with Trey Hooper. ‘What is this?’

‘Speedman brought it, sir.’

On the screens, Winnie and I were still talking.

Me: ‘But Yasmina Ivanova was in your way. You’d never met Yasmina, but you despised her because she had something you wanted: Aristo King. So you found a company on the darknet, Modern Alchemical Solutions, and submitted your proposal to them, a proposal to get her out of Aristo’s life. And Modern Alchemical Solutions took on your case.’

Winnie: ‘You said he was clever. Solve this. Now.’

Now, the crowd was whispering animatedly.

Winnie—exposed in front of them—looked like a trapped animal.

On the TVs, the off-screen Unperson said: ‘Hello, Samuel.’

Me: ‘Have you got a name or do you just want me to stick with “Unperson”?’

Unperson: ‘I quite like Unperson. It suits me.’

On the TVs, Winnie turned to him. ‘You said this would be clean. That it would never be traced back to me. You said I would get satisfaction. Now this fucking private eye turns up at my house!’

Unperson: ‘He won’t be staying long.’

Winnie: ‘He knows fucking everything!’

Unperson: ‘Not everything. Isn’t that right, Samuel?’

Me: ‘I know you had three clients on the 21st and, so far, I’ve found two of them: the Chinese Ministry of State Security working out of Doyers Street in Chinatown and now her. There’s still one to go.’

Winnie: ‘I want him dead and buried and never seen again.’

At that, the watching crowd gasped audibly.

Me: ‘Like you wanted with Yasmina Ivanova?’

Winnie: ‘Yasmina Ivanova is a stupid classless Russian whore. A dipshit model! No education, no substance, just sharp cheekbones and a hot body. She banged everybody on her way up, from modelling agents to Russian mobsters. I have three degrees in computer engineering. I have a brain. Can you imagine what it feels like to see the love of your life married to a woman like that? I needed her gone, forever, out of Aristo’s life. So, I hired him to set her up on December 21st. And it all worked great until you came along.’