“I’m a reporter, you idiot. And when I get out of here, I’m going to find out who you are and destroy you.”

“But you’re not really a reporter at all, are you, Zoe? Your job at the Financial Journal is nothing but a cover. Two years ago, you were ordered by your superiors at British intelligence to form a sexual relationship with Mr. Landesmann in order to spy on his business operations. You made contact with Mr. Landesmann by expressing interest in interviewing him. Then, twenty-two months ago, you made contact with him in Davos.”

“That’s madness. Martin tried to seduce me in Davos. He invited me to his suite for dinner.”

“That’s not the way Jonas Brunner and the rest of Mr. Landesmann’s security detail remember the evening, Zoe. They recall that you were very flirtatious and aggressive. And that’s what they’ll tell the Swiss police.” He paused, then added, “But it doesn’t have to come to that, Zoe. The sooner you confess, the sooner we can resolve this unpleasant affair.”

“I have nothing to confess other than foolishness. Obviously, I was a fool ever to believe Martin’s lies.”

“What lies are those, Zoe?”

“Saint Martin,” she said, her voice dripping with contempt.

The man was silent for a moment. When he finally spoke again, he did so not to Zoe but to the gun in his hand.

“Say the words, Zoe. Confess your sins. Tell me the truth. Tell me that you’re not a real reporter. Tell me that you were ordered by your superiors in London to seduce Mr. Landesmann and steal his private documents.”

“I won’t say it because it’s not true. I loved Martin.”

“Did you?” He looked up from the gun as if genuinely surprised, then at Mikhail. “And what about your friend, Mr. Danilov? Are you in love with him, too?”

“I hardly know him.”

“That’s not what he says. According to Mr. Danilov, you two are working together on the Landesmann case.”

“I’m not working with anyone. And I don’t know anything about a Landesmann case. I don’t know why there would even be a Landesmann case.”

“That’s not what Mr. Danilov says.”

Zoe looked directly at Mikhail for the first time since the interrogation had begun. He held her gaze for a few seconds, then almost imperceptibly shook his head. Zoe’s inquisitor noticed. He walked slowly over to Mikhail and struck him hard across the face with the butt of the gun, opening another gash high on his cheek. Then the man took a fistful of Mikhail’s hair and pressed the barrel of the gun against his temple. A guard standing on the opposite side took a hasty step backward. The man holding the gun screwed the barrel into Mikhail’s skin, then turned his head and looked at Zoe.