Page 69 of The Final Vow (Washington Poe #7)

‘I’ve known you long enough to know when something’s bothering you, Poe,’ Flynn said. ‘Now isn’t the time to develop the subtle art of silence. If you know something, say something.’

‘What? You’re auditioning for the British Transport Police now?’ Poe said. ‘See it. Say it. Sorted.’

Flynn didn’t respond.

‘Fine,’ he said. ‘Ezekiel Puck is a careful man, yes?’

‘Agreed.’

‘Mathers has photos of him entering the building.’

‘She does.’

‘And what’s he wearing?’

‘A hat and glasses.’

‘No, he’s wearing a disguise,’ Poe said. ‘Up until then we only had an E-FIT, so it didn’t need to be elaborate.’

‘OK.’

‘Yet when he’s caught on the plant-room CCTV – a part of the building the public can’t access – he removes his disguise. Why?’

‘It’ll be hot up there, Poe,’ she said.

‘Wrong. According to Mathers, the plant room is designed to be cool. It has to be, otherwise the generators will overheat. But even if it was hot, why remove the glasses? The hat, yes. Lots of body heat escapes through the top of the head—’

‘That’s a common misconception, Poe,’ Bradshaw said.

‘It originated in the 1950s when military researchers exposed volunteers to freezing temperatures. They concluded that between forty and forty-five per cent of body heat was lost through the head, but that was simply because it was the only part of the body left uncovered. The head only represents ten per cent of the body’s surface area, so it can’t lose almost half the body’s heat. ’

Poe and Flynn stared at Bradshaw.

‘How do you know all this shit, Tilly?’ Flynn said eventually.

‘Poe enjoys being corrected.’

‘Do I fu—’

‘OK,’ Flynn said, nipping him off. ‘He removes his glasses and his hat, which I guess is kind of weird. Why?’

‘I think Puck wants to be seen, but only at a time of his choosing. He wears his disguise in public areas, but when he’s alone he intentionally allows his true likeness to get caught on CCTV.’

Flynn’s brow furrowed as she thought it through.

‘And the anonymous tip is bothering me,’ Poe continued. ‘The caller gave us exactly what was needed to bump it to the top of the list.’

‘You have a theory?’

‘No.’

‘A suspicion?’

‘No.’

‘Do you have anything I can take to Mathers?’

‘Just a general sense of unease,’ Poe said.

Flynn said nothing for almost a minute. ‘Great!’ she snapped. ‘Now I have a general sense of unease.’

‘You can’t take it to Mathers anyway. She has snipers training their rifles on the roof of that stupid building. She has undercover cops on the ground and more inside. She doesn’t need a doubting Thomas getting inside her head.’

‘Agreed,’ Flynn said. ‘So, what can we do?’

‘Nothing,’ Poe said. ‘Mathers is committed to this play now, and that means we have to see it out with her.’ He took a breather then added, ‘But, we keep our eyes peeled. This bastard is up to something.’