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“And Davy furthermore says this Vlad he’s befriended is certain beyond all hesitation that the
revolution is right,” Tom said.
“Again, it is easier to be certain when you are young,” Trevor said. “As we age, life has a way
of heaping examples on our heads, and in many ways, the more examples we have, the harder it is to
draw a conclusion. One fact always manages to contradict another.” He looked about. “But criminal
profiling wasn’t all that I hoped to discuss. I was saving the real business of this meeting for the
moment when everyone arrived, but it appears Emma and Davy have both been detained. Unfortunate
indeed. I feel it’s been days since I’ve had a proper conversation with either of them, especially her.”
“She has been preoccupied, it would seem,” Rayley mumbled around the scone in his mouth.
“Yes, and solely by the fate of her dance master,” Tom said. “In this complicated case, the
future safety of Konstantin Antonovich is her overriding concern.” For once his voice carried not the
slightest trace of sarcasm or flippery. It was the flat clear observation of a man stating a fact.
Trevor looked at the other men with surprise. Surprise that Emma might have changed without
him noticing and further surprise that Tom and Rayley must have seen this before he did.
“But the question is, why should he have such a hold on her thoughts?” Rayley asked with a
swallow. “She has known him scarcely a week.”
“He has no hold on her,” Trevor said quickly. “We’re all in agreement that Konstantin is most
likely innocent but that, unless someone intervenes on his behalf, he may still be arrested. So why is
it odd that she might rally to the man’s defense?”
“It’s not that her desire to protect an innocent man is odd, it’s that she’s changed her behavior,”
Tom said. “She hasn’t ventured an opinion on anything since she started waltzing with the man. And
Trevor, don’t tell me that you haven’t noticed that she has become rather misty and distant. Like a
heroine in one of those novels for ladies, you know the sort, where the hero starts out looking to be
the villain but in the end is revealed to be a lord of the manor in disguise. Soon she shall be
announcing to us all that the Siberian has touched some previously unexplored part of her soul.”
“I haven’t noticed such a change because there isn’t one,” Trevor said, with more confidence
than he felt. “Or at least no more of one than could be expected after such a long journey to such a
strange place. We are all of us changed by every case and I daresay also changed by the people we
find along the way.”
“Well, I have something a bit more definite to report,” said Tom, pulling to a full sitting position