“As soon as I saw it, I felt something was wrong with it,” Middleton said. “But I just chalked it up to a bad forgery.”

“Jedynak didn’t say anything?” Faust asked.

Middleton shook his head. “When we were going over all the manuscripts, he seemed very interested in the Chopin in particular. He insisted I take it back to the States for authentication. Even though I told him I was sure it was a fake.”

“Maybe he was trying to get it safely out of the country. Maybe he was trying to keep it out of the wrong hands.”

“Jedynak knew the VX formula was encrypted in it?”

Faust shrugged.

Middleton sat back in his chair. “So I was supposed to be some fuckin’ mule?”

Faust said nothing. Which angered Middleton even more.

“Can I see it?” Faust asked.

When Middleton didn’t move, Faust gave him a sad smile. “I told you. I am desperate. I need your help.”

Middleton reached down to the briefcase at his feet and pulled out the manuscript. He handed it to Faust across the table.

Faust looked at it for a moment then his dark eyes came back up to Middleton.

“I know chemistry. You know music.” He pushed it across the table. “Tell me what you see.”

Middleton hesitated then turned the manuscript so he could read it. The paper and ink alone were enough for him to offer Jedynak his initial opinion that it was probably a forgery. A good one, yes, but still a forgery.

But now, he concentrated on the notes themselves. He took his time. The quiet bustle of the waiters clearing the cutlery and linen fell away. He was lost in the music.

He looked up suddenly.

“There’s something missing,” he said.

“What do you mean?” Faust asked.

Middleton shook his head. “It’s probably nothing. This is, after all, just a forgery. But the end of the first movement—a piece of it is missing.”

“But you’re not sure,” Faust asked.

“I wish I had . . . ”

“You wish you had another expert eye?”

“Yes,” Middleton said.

“I have one for you,” Faust said. “Come. Let’s go . . . But we go alone. Not with any visitors.”

“Who else would go with us?”

Faust smiled and glanced toward the front of the restaurant, where Tesla and Lespasse awaited. “Alone . . . That is one of the immutable terms of the deal.”

“I’ll follow your lead.”