“Mr. Köhler, this is a key corroboration we needed. Henry signed it knowing Maria had asked him to.”
“Most of the time, he didn’t know what he was signing.”
“He knew Maria had asked him.”
He looked at the fireplace. “Yes, that’s why I thought it was important.”
I nodded.
“You’ve given us what we needed.”
“I should have given you all of this four months ago.”
“You didn’t know what you had.”
“I should have.”
I let it sit. I couldn’t argue him out of the fault he’d assigned to himself.
By eight p.m., the house had turned quiet. Reed was at the door. Vega sat with Wiley, Köhler, and Samuel in the downstairs parlor. Farrow and I were in the back office talking with Michael on a laptop screen.
“Father-and-son shop in Lowell,” he said. “Annual revenue under four hundred thousand. The son has a clean record. The components on the order have legitimate uses.”
“Michael, you do amazing work,” I said.
“It’s a pleasure.”
He was gone.
Farrow stood and placed his hand on the back of my neck. I exhaled and turned to face him.
“Back bedroom?” I asked.
Farrow smiled. “Back bedroom.”
“Door locked?”
“Door locked.”
***
As soon as I turned from locking the door, Farrow backed me up against it.
“Blaise,” I said as I looked into his eyes. I liked the sound in my mouth.
“Dane.”
“Hi.” I put my hand flat on his chest, over his heart.
“I changed the sheets,” he said. “I don’t know when someone last slept in here, but it’s ready now.”
“You planned ahead.”
“While you were on the phone with Eamon.”
I laughed. “The professional in me is alarmed by how much logistical planning you put into this.”
“The professional in me wants to be alarmed by you for the next hour without interruption.”