Page 63 of King’s Ransom

I mentally kicked myself.

Merritt Garrett had guessed earlier that there must be more than one bad guy in the building and in my haste to pursue the man in white, I’d forgotten about any potential partner of his.

Then, to my surprise, a voice came from the other side of the door.

‘Hello, Dr Speedman.’

Like most sauna doors, this one had a small double-paned window at about head height.

The speaker stood off to the side, keeping himself out of my view.

‘I’m armed!’ I called.

I tapped my pistol against the window.

In response, he tapped a silenced MP5 submachine gun against the other side.

‘But my gun is more powerful than yours,’ he replied, his voice muffled.

It was not the cultured AI-doctored voice from the phone calls.

It was his actual voice.

I detected the hint of an accent, Eastern European, maybe.

‘If you come in here, I will open fire!’ I declared.

‘Then it seems we’re at a bit of an impasse, Dr Speedman. Come now, there’s no need for things to be this way. Why don’t we have a little chat instead?’

He paused.

‘This was very clever of you, to come here while the others took the bait downstairs. I’m good at anticipating things but I wasn’t expecting this move. Very clever.’

‘Why are you doing all this?’ I asked.

Another pause.

‘Why do anything? Because I’m bored. Because I’m paid to. Because I can.’

‘Do you have an axe to grind against Aristo King? You’re a clever guy. I mean, you were able to kidnap him even with all his security and steal one of his attack drones.’

‘That was easy. The countermeasures on his drones are poor; a child could hack one.’

‘So why not just kill him and be done with it? Why play all these games?’ I asked.

‘There are many people who have issues with Mr King,’ the man on the other side of the door said. ‘As for the riddles, maybe they amuse me. Maybe they have a purpose.’

He still wouldn’t reveal his face.

That told me something.

‘Are you Sergei Kazan, the Grandmaster?’ I said.

He chuckled.

‘Is this, like, your magnum opus?’ I pressed. ‘Your big riddle game?’

‘Let me ask you a question, Dr Speedman. You came to this floor while an innocent child—King’s bastard—is in potentially serious jeopardy on the 44th floor. Tell me, are you more interested in finding me than in saving that child? This seems rather selfish and egotistical: prioritising the glory of catching me over the life of a hostage?’