But in any case, Middleton needed information. He decided to play the man right back. He took a gamble. “I didn’t have any choice but to come here. My leads to the Scorpion dried up. Chernayev was all I had left,” he bluffed.

The reaction was subtle but telling. Trying not to sound eager, the man said, “What do you know of the Scorpion?”

“So he’s not bidding for me?”

No answer.

Middleton had a flash. And tried another gamble. “I don’t know much,” he said. “But I’ll tell you it was confusing. We couldn’t figure out how one individual could pay for all of Sikari’s education and then stake him after he graduated with start-up capital for his corporations? It had to be companies or foundations that were involved.”

The man replied as if the Scorpion’s support of Sikari were common knowledge. “You never thought that the companies he, or she, owns ultimately were set up as subterfuge. Layers upon layers of companies. Like BlueWatch.”

“BlueWatch?” Middleton frowned. “The security outfit in Dubai?” BlueWatch had been the subject of a number of investigations following the shooting deaths by overly enthusiastic employees around the world. Most of the investigations had ended without any prosecutions—some said the company had intimidated prosecutors and judges, forcing them to drop charges.

The man said, “But the cash ultimately came from one individual who controlled all the companies. The Scorpion.”

So he’d not only confirmed the Scorpion had paid for Sikari’s education and financed his companies but that, for some reason, No Name and his organization, whatever it was, had been following the Kashmiri’s story very closely. And undoubtedly they too were eager to find the Scorpion.

Which told Middleton that he—or she—was the answer to everything.

“Well,” he told his captor, “like I was saying, we weren’t successful in finding the Scorpion.”

No Name continued, “Do you know Sikari’s own description of his benefactor? He said he was ‘holy, but of this world.’”

“Yes, but I think that was a corrupted translation. The words Sikari used were jnana and vijnana. The prefix vi, when added to a noun, tends to diminish or invert the meaning of that noun. Jnana is spiritual knowledge. Vijnana, then, is practical or profane knowledge. Sometimes vijnana and jnana, used together, are meant to suggest knowledge and wisdom. All he meant was the man had not just a worldly but philosophical bent.”

No Name shrugged. “What more do you know about this Scorpion? Tell me and I’ll make your life here easier.”

“Not much . . . ” Another gamble. He thought of Felicia’s email to him. “Aside from the copper bracelet, of course.”