Page 124 of Chameleon Killer

“You’re doing it again.”

“Doing what?”

“Making me build the accusation for you.”

“A responsible accusation should survive construction.”

“And an honest source should answer questions.”

“I am not your source.” The five words were so hard they were almost brittle.

“Then what are you?”

The monitor inside the room brightened. Mallory’s face changed. She recognized something on the screen we couldn’t see.

The voice said, “That is the question Agent Brewster has spent years answering incorrectly.”

Brewster reached for his earpiece. This time I caught his arm before he touched it. “Wait.”

His head turned with lethal slowness.

“He knows we’re here,” I reminded him.

“You don’t really know that.”

The screens in the van went black. Not gray. Black. Then white text appeared across all three at once.

MR. CARTER.

My name vanished. A new line replaced it.

YOUR CONCERN IS UNDERSTANDABLE.

Brewster stared. The words disappeared. Another name appeared.

AGENT BREWSTER.

The next sentence arrived one letter at a time.

YOURS IS NOT.

Brewster stopped breathing. The speakers crackled. The Auditor’s voice no longer came from the live feed.

It came directly into the van.

“Gentlemen,” he said, “since neither of you understands the meaning of alone, you may as well listen.”

The video returned.

Mallory remained seated beneath the light, unaware that the audience had expanded.

Or perhaps she knew.

With Mallory, certainty was always dangerous.

On the screen, she tilted her head.

“Who are you talking to?”