She nodded. ‘He had some reason for believing the mission with Bramnik might have been sabotaged, but he wanted to find proof before he started throwing accusations around. Except he went and got killed himself, not long after. Nadia figured that, in itself, was also more than a little suspicious, so she decided to see what else she could find out on her own.’ She shrugged, her expression bleak. ‘And now she’s gone, too.’

I put my hands up in a stalling motion. ‘Wait a minute. Why are you even telling me all of this?’

She frowned. ‘Jerry – I mean the first Jerry – was a good friend of ours.’ She looked down, and I saw she was trying hard to suppress tears. ‘You were. Seeing you alive like that, when you and Nadia both turned up in that EV, when I thought me and the others were goners for sure . . .’ She hugged the coffee close to her. ‘It was a shock, I’ll tell you that, even though I already knew they’d retrieved you from your alternate, and that I’d have to meet you eventually.’ Her eyes met mine. ‘I’m also telling you all this because you saved my life, and you deserve to have someone tell you the truth for once.’

I thought for a moment. ‘So did everyone else know Nadia was asking questions?’

Rozalia shook her head. ‘She didn’t announce it publicly, if that’s what you mean. She just made a few careful, casual enquiries so as not to arouse suspicion.’

‘But not careful enough, you think?’

Rozalia gave me a hopeless shrug. ‘She also visited the alternate where the other Jerry died, I know that much. To be honest, I’m not clear on exactly who she might or might not have talked to.’

I got up and scraped my uneaten eggs into the bin before dropping both our dishes in the sink, just to give myself time to mull over everything I had just been told.

‘I’m sorry about your loss,’ I said, turning back to her, ‘truly sorry. I liked Nadia a great deal. I’m not in the least surprised she and my predecessor were good friends, because you’re clearly both good people. She made a real effort to make me feel welcome, even though it must have been like seeing a ghost. If there’s any reason to think foul play was involved then, believe me, I’ll be the first to want to know who’s responsible.’

I drained the last of my coffee and dropped the mug in the sink along with the dishes before continuing. ‘But none of this means anything unless you can prove there really was foul play involved. Just for a start, what possible motive could anyone have for wanting to sabotage any of the missions in the first place?’