Chapter 64
Thedifference in Henning Stahl was remarkable. The first thing Poe noticed was that you saw him before you smelled him. That alone was worth the detox unit’s exorbitant fee. He was wearing clean clothes and he’d had a shave. His hair was washed and combed. And while he wasn’t yet bright of eye and rosy of cheek, at least he no longer looked grey and blotchy.
Poe shook his hand. It was dry, not wet.
‘You look better, Henning.’
‘We need to talk,’ Stahl replied.
‘What do you mean, “The old price isn’t the new price”?’ Poe asked.
They were driving back to London and Poe had been stuck in first gear for twenty minutes. He thought there might have been an accident, although it was the tail end of rush hour so the reason for the delay was anybody’s guess. His mood hadn’t improved with Stahl’s statement.
‘I want something,’ Stahl said.
‘Of course you do.’
‘Look, I’m aware that your intervention probably saved my life, Poe, but I feel I have more cards to play now.’
‘It’s not a game, Henning.’
‘No, it’s not. And this is why I deserve more.’
‘What do you want?’ Poe sighed.
‘Exclusive access to the investigation.’
‘And why would we do that?’
‘Because it’s the right thing to do.’
‘It is?’
‘This man has killed two people so far and—’
‘Three,’ Poe said. ‘Karen Royal-Cross died this morning.’
‘He got to her in hospital? Despite all the security you’d put in?’
‘Yep.’
Stahl said, ‘I’m sorry to hear that, but it makes my request more reasonable, I think.’
‘Go on.’
‘You say you don’t know why he’s chosen me.’
‘We don’t.’
‘But you agree there are other, less … compromised journalists he could have sought out?’
‘That’s an understatement,’ Poe said.
‘So if he could have chosen someone—’
‘Who isn’t an arsehole?’
‘I was going to say more suitable, but we’ll go with your definition if you prefer. If he could have chosen someonewho isn’t an arsehole, he would have, and that means either he knows me or he wants to kill me. You’re an intelligent man; I know you’ve already arrived at this conclusion. And yet, you still want to go ahead with the meeting. That means, to a certain extent, you think I’m expendable.’