"Coffee. Will you make some fresh coffee before you leave? Hmm, and please put it in a thermos in case I want some later."
Petra"s face reveals her confusion. She knows how much he hates coffee that isn"t fresh. But she has no time to comment, as he quickly reaches the door to the private part of the house and enters.
"Oh, I would also like a fresh cup."
Petra looks surprised as he closes the door.
"Now I"ve seen it all."
He"s usually very particular about eating healthy and exercising. Actually, she admires him for his efforts. But today she has smelled cigar smoke, seen a half empty bottle of whisky, and he has eaten aspirin and drunk coffee as if he couldn"t care less about his health.
Petra didn"t hear him return to the office, but he is sitting at the table bent over a blank piece of paper when she comes back a moment later. She carefully puts down the thermos and the fresh cup in front of him and starts to pour the coffee when he holds up his hand.
"Well, the coffee is fresh. It can wait a while."
There"s a smile in her voice, and Nathan looks up at her, returning the smile. Petra sets down the thermos. He nods, and she picks up the used cup.
"Just leave it Petra. Go home, you deserve it."
Puzzled, she leaves the office. He can hear her packing up. Then he hears the door, and it"s quiet again. She moves in her usual pattern: Packing her bag, going to the toilet, switching off her computer, waiting for it to shut down.
Then he hears voices, and instinctively turns his wrist and looks at his watch.
"Much too soon."
"Nathan."
Petra is crossing the floor on her way to him. He looks at her and sees that she is holding a letter.
"This just came. It"s from Walter, Walter & Walter."
He looks at her with surprise.
"Well, well, I wonder what they want. I don"t think we have any cases where they"re represented."
Petra shakes her head. Nathan looks at the letter with curiosity.
"Maybe it"s a new case, Nathan. It could be great to have them on the other side."
"They"re good, Petra."
"So are we."
She laughs and holds out the letter as she walks the rest of the way. Nathan smiles and feels how instincts are stirring. He has always wanted to face them. They had been a thorn in his side for a long time. Stuart had used them too and that had always annoyed him. So if he had the chance, now that Stuart was no longer there to dampen things, he wouldn"t think twice. He didn"t owe Walter, Walter & Walter anything. It was a chance worth taking, even if he lost. But if he won, his name would be on everybody"s lips in lawyer circles.
"Mr. Jones is here."
Nathan is focused again, and he looks at her.
"How long has he been here?"
"Five or ten minutes. He wanted to wait because he"s early. He arrived together with the messenger delivering the letter."
Nathan laughs.
"Just show him in."
The thought of taking on Walter, Walter & Walter suddenly makes him feel strong and full of life.
"Finally."
"But you only just got his number yesterday..."
Nathan is confused and looks at Petra. Then he shakes his head, dismissing her words.
"Walter, Walter & Walter, dear Petra."
They smile at each other.
"Show him in."
He hears Petra"s voice and gets up and stands with his back to the door, as if he"s looking at something in the garden. He breathes deeply a couple of times, then he hears her steps and he turns when he knows that she"s only a few feet away.
"Marc Jones."
Nathan nods.
"Now, get out of here. You"ve earned it."
She nods and smiles as she walks swiftly toward her office. He can see a figure in the door as Petra leaves. She has to slip herself around him as he is already entering the room.
"Oh, Marc Jones?"
Nathan"s voice is loud.
"Please, come in."
The agile figure moves across the floor with quick, firm steps, before taking Nathan"s outstretched hand.
"Should I call you Marc? I mean, is Jones a cover?"
Their eyes meet and they nod at each other.
"It"s not a cover."
Nathan is startled at his voice, which is surprisingly melodic.
"Oh, please sit down. Coffee?"
The man shakes his head.
"As far as I know, I"m not on a job right now. So just call me Marc."
With his hand, Nathan shows him to the chair in front of his desk. He sits down in the leather chair on the opposite side, and as he gets comfortable, he can still feel Marc"s hand shake. Nathan looks down at his palm, and there"s a little fresh blood showing in the cut from yesterday. He takes out his handkerchief and wipes the cut dry. Marc looks at him briefly before looking down at the desk. Nathan leans forward and lifts the paper knife.
"I had a small accident with this yesterday."
Nathan puts down the paper knife and looks at the fit, dark blonde man in front of him. Marc meets his eyes without hesitating.
Nathan feels some discomfort when he suddenly realizes that he doesn"t know who is watching who. He slowly folds up his handkerchief.
"Coffee?"
Marc shakes his head as his eyes scan the room before returning to Nathan.
"Nice."
Nathan clearly feels how he is being watched and feels increasingly uneasy.
"I was somewhat surprised by your text message."
Marc nods, waiting for Nathan to continue.
"I understand that you have followed her before, and there"s no doubt that..."
Nathan puts his handkerchief in his breast pocket.
"...it"s the same Evy we"re talking about?"
Marc opens his tan suede jacket. Nathan twitches a little when he realizes that he"s alone in the office with him. Marc gives a crooked smile.
"Don"t worry. I"m not armed."
He gets more comfortable before opening the worn leather bag he had thrown on the floor next to the chair as he sat down.
"Let"s answer your question."
He puts a blue plastic folder on his knee and throws the bag back on the floor. Nathan admires the way he handles all the papers in the folder while trying to figure out how old he is.
"The case was open for many years."
He gathers the papers and gets up. He puts a picture in front of Nathan of a blonde girl in a floral dress standing in a playground.
"Is that her?"
He puts another picture in front of Nathan. This one shows two girls sitting in a very special swing with bars. Bright red and yellow colors are the first things that Nathan notices in the picture. Another picture. In this one, the two girls are sitting on the steps in front of a house that is painted yellow and has white window and doorframes. And finally, a picture of a woman with the two girls. Nathan stares at him. He is met by Marc"s calm eyes that don"t look away.
"Is that her?"
Nathan can"t speak.
"Oh, perhaps you recognize her better here."
Marc hands him a picture of Evy in her early teens.
"It"s probably easier to recognize her in this one if you have met her as an adult."
Nathan nods silently, examining every detail in the pictures in front of him.
"In these pictures they are probably around ten."
He points to the first pictures he put on the table.
"And in this one, hmm, if I remember correctly... I can look it up if you want. But I think she"s around 26 today, so in this picture I guess she"s around 20, maybe a little younger. But I can look in my notes for dates and ages if you want."
He stops.
"There she is."
Nathan interrupts him.
"Why do you have these? Who was your client?"
"Do you recognize the woman?"
Marc points to the woman between the two children. Nathan looks again, and then shakes his head. He picks up the pictures of the children and feels a stab to the heart. He lets out a deep sigh and falls back in the chair.
"But you recognize the kids?"
"The blonde one. And that"s her?"
He nods at the picture of an almost grown-up Evy. Marc turns around and brings his plastic file over to Nathan"s desk.
"Yes, that"s the Evy you asked me to investigate."
He puts away the file and Nathan can see more pictures sticking out. Marc pulls his chair closer to the desk, and then he sits down, watching Nathan. Another picture is placed in front of Nathan. It"s as if all air has been pushed from his lungs, and he holds the pictures close to his chest. Marc presses his lips together.
"Yes, I thought this might be unpleasant for you. Denize was a beautiful woman. You met her late in life, didn"t you? Did you ever do a background check on her?"
Nathan shakes his head.
"No, well, that shouldn"t have been necessary. In fact it wasn"t. But someone else did. Or rather paid me to."
"I see that you recognize yourself and Denize in the car in front of the house with the two girls sitting on the steps."
"We had agreed not to have any children."
Marc nods.