Page 122 of Chameleon Killer

The voice on the screen continued. “You came.”

“You invited me.”

“That’s a false equivalency.”

“Are you going to spend the entire night correcting my syntax?”

“Only if your imprecisions interferes with true understanding.” The man’s voice was clear, distinct and—utterly unremarkable.

Mallory leaned back slightly, then crossed one leg over the other. She was far from relaxed, but this was her interview pose. She was settling in to tackle the subject at hand.

Brewster raised his hand toward his earpiece again. I didn’t touch him this time.

I only said, “Don’t.”

His gaze remained fixed on Mallory. “I can trace the feed.”

“He just took over the monitors in here to beam us this interaction, I’m pretty sure he can tell when you decide to track him.”

Brewster sighed. “That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t.”

“It means whatever you find will be what he wants you to find.” I shrugged. “If you want a wild goose chase, you do you.”

“Every signal originates somewhere.”

“Every story does too. That doesn’t make the first source reliable.”

His jaw worked once. He lowered his hand.

On the screen, Mallory looked directly toward the unseen man. “Did you kill Colin Thorne?”

Straight to it. No warm-up. No negotiation.

The voice answered with a question. “What evidence tells you that I did?”

Mallory’s hands flexed on the chair arms.

Brewster’s breathing changed.

Mallory said, “The scene was designed to implicate you.”

“Designed by whom?”

“That’s what I’m asking.”

“No. You are asking me to validate a conclusion you no longer believe.”

“You are avoiding a direct answer.” Silence followed. Mallory didn’t look away from the screen. “Did you kill him?”

“No.”

One word. No qualification. No evasion.

Brewster’s face emptied.

The voice continued before Mallory could respond. “I did not kill Colin Thorne.”

Mallory’s mouth parted slightly.