Sherlock locked her eyes on Angela Storin when she walked into the conference room. She saw what she’d expected to see, a plain, proper woman of a certain age who looked faded, disapproving, ultimately forgettable. She wore a beige suit, beige low-heeled pumps, no jewelry. Her eyes were a flat light brown, hard to get a read on her with the oversized black-framed glasses. She wore her hair pulled back into a tight bun, and no makeup. Sherlock stared at her for a long moment, hoping to see a flash of nerves, a hint of some anxiety, but there was no outward sign the woman felt anything at all other than boredom. Storin looked back at her, placid and disinterested as a cow.

Special Agent Kelly Giusti slowly rose. “Mr. Clooney, Ms. Storin, this is Special Agent Sherlock, who has kindly come up from Washington for our meeting.” Abel Clooney rose, shook her hand. “Agent.”

Sherlock gave him her sunny smile. “Counselor.” He looked like Matlock in the old TV series, with his silver hair and his comfortable paunch, artfully minimized in a dark pin-striped thousand-dollar Hugo Boss suit. He looked pleased with himself, quite happy to be who he was, confident he’d close down whatever this latest summons of his client would bring. He was giving Sherlock an appraising look, doubtless deciding how to deal with her. Clooney knew who she was, of course, but why ask her in particular?

Sherlock nodded to Benjamin Varno, the federal prosecutor. He was younger than Clooney, tall and fit with hair as black as sin, with only a few silver flecks at his temples. He was endowed with an evangelist’s deep voice that would resonate in the courtroom. He knew what was coming, of course, and looked hungry for blood.

Clooney sat down again, leaned back, and tapped his Mont Blanc pen on the tabletop. He said to Sherlock, “I do not understand why you are here. There are no terrorists for you to take down.”

Sherlock said, “Believe me, Mr. Clooney, if I never see another terrorist in my lifetime, I will consider myself blessed. It was all a case of being in a certain place at a certain time.”

“Then why are you here?”

“I was asked to provide a new eye.” And she said nothing more.