you about any of them except to say that most don’t get very far.
And that there’s certainly always plenty of hatred involved. But
usually it’s well hidden, down at the conspirator level. They
whisper among themselves. All we ever see is the result. But
this time the hatred is right there in our face. They’ve gone to a
lot of trouble and taken a lot of risks to make sure we know all
about it.’
‘So what’s your conclusion?’
‘I just think the early phase was extraordinary. The messages?
Think about the risks. Think about the energy required to
minimize those risks. They put unbelievable resources into the
early phase. So I have to assume they felt it was worthwhile.’
‘But it wasn’t,’ Neagley said. ‘Armstrong has never even seen
any of the messages. They were wasting their time.’
‘Simple ignorance,’ Swain said. ‘Were you aware we abso
lutely won’t discuss threats with a protectee?’
‘No,’ Neagley said. ‘I was surprised.’
‘Nobody’s aware,’ Swain said. ‘Everybody’s surprisedl These guys thought they were getting right to him. So I’m convinced
it’s personal. Aimed at him, not us.’
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‘So are we,’ Reacher said. ‘You got a specific reason?’
‘You’ll think I’m naive,’ Swain said. ‘But I don’t believe anybody
who works or has worked for us would have killed the
other two Armstrongs. Not just like that.’
Reacher shrugged. ‘Maybe you’re naive. Maybe you aren’t.
But it doesn’t matter. We’re convinced anyway.’
‘What’s your reason?’
‘he hyphen in the second message.’
q’he hyphen?’ Swain said. Then he paused. ‘Yes, I see.
Plausible, but a little circumstantial, wouldn’t you say?’
‘Whatever, we’re working with the assumption it was personal.’
‘OK, but why? Only possible answer is they absolutely hate
him. They wanted to taunt him, scare him, make him suffer
first. Just shooting him isn’t enough for them.’
‘So who are they? Who hates him that bad?’
Swain made a gesture with his hand, like he was pushing that
question aside.
‘Something else,’ he said. q’his is a little off the wall, but
I think we’re miscounting. How many messages have there
been?’
‘Six,’ Reacher said.
‘No,’ Swain said. ‘I think there have been seven.’
‘Where’s the seventh?’
‘Nendick,’ Swain said. ‘I think Nendick delivered the second
message, and was the third message. You see, you got here and
forty-eight hours later you got to Nendick, which was pretty
quick. But with respect, we’d have gotten there anyway, sooner
or later. It was inevitable. If it wasn’t the cleaners, it had to be
the tapes. So we’d have gotten there. And what was waiting for
us? Nendick wasn’t just a delivery system. He was a message in
himself. He showed what these people are capable of. Assuming
Armstrong was in the loop, he’d have been getting pretty shaky
by that point.’
q’hen there are nine messages,’ Neagley said. ‘On that basis,
we should add in the Minnesota and the Colorado situations.’
‘Absolutely,’ Swain said. ‘You see what I mean? Everything
has fear as its purpose. Every single thing. Suppose Armstrong
was in the loop all along. He gets the first message, he’s
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worried. We get the second message, he’s more worried. We
trace its source, and he starts to feel better, but no, it gets even
worse, because we find Nendick paralysed with fear. Then
we get the demonstration threat, he’s worried some more.
Then the demonstration happens, and he’s devastated by how
ruthless it was.’
Reacher said nothing. Just stared at the floor.
‘You think I’m over-analytical,’ Swain said.
Reacher shook his head, still looking at the floor. ‘No, I think
I’m under-analytical. Maybe. Possibly. Because what are the
thumbprints about?’
Fhey’re a taunt of a different sort,’ Swain said. ey’re a
boast. A puzzle. A tease. Can’t catch me sort of thing.’
‘How long did you work with my brother?’
‘Five years. I worked for him, really. I say with him as a vain
attempt at status.’
‘Was he a good boss?’
‘He was a great boss,’ Swain said. ‘Great guy all round.’
‘And he ran random-observation sessions?’
Swain nodded. ‘They were fun. Anybody could say anything.’
‘Did he join in?’
‘He was very lateral.’
Reacher looked up. ‘You just said everything has fear as its