Page 61 of King’s Ransom

The nanny’s boy was five.

Yasmina’s (still missing) girl Katya was also five.

That meant Aristo King had knocked up the nanny while Yasmina had been pregnant with Katya.

Heidi was clearly thinking the same thing.

‘Was there any chick this guy didn’t bang?’ she muttered.

‘We need to go to the 44th floor,’ I said. ‘Mrs King, I know this apartment looks pretty awful right now, but you and your boy should stay here with these cops. Heidi, Bill, stay with her, don’t let her out of your sight, and keep an eye out for bad guys with silenced machine guns.’

‘Copy that,’ Bill said.

‘We need some guns,’ Heidi said.

Like me, she and Bill had come to New York unarmed, so she hurried into the living room and grabbed a couple of pistols from the bodies of the two dead bodyguards there. She returned and threw one to Bill.

Yasmina King nodded to me. ‘Please, you must find my little Katya.’

‘We’ll do our best,’ I said. Then, to Audrey, Garrett and Xiao: ‘Come on.’

We raced for the elevator.

No sooner had the elevator started downward than I did something that surprised everyone.

I hit the emergency stop button.

And opened the elevator’s roof hatch.

‘Sam, what are you doing?’ Audrey said.

‘I’m starting to see a pattern in our tormentor’s games,’ I said. ‘He’s been here in this building with us the whole time. He’s also had total control of this building from minute one. Every person he’s grabbed was living here: Aristo King, his two younger kids, his older kids Ajax and Cassandra, and now, ­possibly, his illegiti­mate kid, too. And while our kidnapper’s been sending us to different floors of this building, he’s been doing stuff on other levels.’

‘So, what are you doing now?’ Garrett said.

‘While you guys go down to Level 44, I’m going to sneak back up to the penthouse and see if our riddle-maker turns up.’

‘That’s a good idea, but you can’t do that on your own,’ Audrey said. ‘I want to go with you, if only just to watch your back.’

‘Thanks, Audrey, but I think it’s better if I do it by myself. I’m going to be sneaking around and that’s better done solo.’

Audrey wasn’t convinced or pleased. ‘All right, but . . . be careful.’

‘Good luck on 44,’ I said.

Then I clambered up through the hatch and scaled the emergency handholds on the wall of the shaft, heading back up as, beneath me, with a soft whoosh, the elevator shoomed away, heading to the 44th floor.

A minute later, I quietly opened the elevator doors on the 93rd floor and stepped out onto the lowest floor of the three-level apartment.

It was empty.

Silent.

Still.

I led with the little pistol Merritt Garrett had lent me.

I recalled that this level housed Aristo King’s private office, plus a gym, sauna, steam room and golf simulator.