Page 42 of Girl, Unseen

Accountability. A rare sight in interrogation rooms. ‘How’d that make you feel?’

‘How do you think? It depressed me, but I understood his decision. Rules are rules.’

Ella watched his body language. No spike in breathing, no muscle tension, none of the tells that usually came with lying. She didn’t like it. Either Felix was a good actor or he genuinely didn't harbor any grudge against Marcus.

‘These restricted materials. What exactly were you looking for?’

‘Nothing specific. I was just curious.’

‘Curious?’

‘I guess. All that old knowledge gathering dust. It seems a waste.’

‘Though it's probably for the best. Most of that stuff is nonsense anyway. Medieval pseudo-science.’

The hook was baited. If Felix was their alchemist killer, he'd bite. No true believer could resist defending their faith.

But Felix just nodded. ‘Yeah, probably.’

Ella shot Luca a look. He raised an eyebrow a fraction of an inch. He was clearly thinking the same thing as her. Either Felix was playing them, or something wasn't adding up.

New approach.

‘Have you seen Dr. Thornton recently?’

‘No one has. He’s dead.’

The words came out with noticeable indifference. Apart from trying to kill her back at the farm, it was the first sign of potential psychopathy Ella had seen.

‘You don’t seem too torn up about your old professor being murdered.’

‘News says he fell down a hole.’ A muscle jumped in Felix's jaw. ‘Doesn't sound like murder to me.’

‘Did you send Dr. Thornton any emails recently? Maybe with some interesting photographs?’

‘No.’ His nose had started bleeding again. He wiped it with his sleeve, leaving another rust-colored smear. ‘I stay away from the internet.’

‘Because it's poison.’ For the first time, real emotion crept into his voice. ‘Everyone connected but nobody talking. Just bots and propaganda. It doesn’t reflect the real world.’

It was the longest string of words he'd offered yet. Ella filed that away – Felix had strong opinions about modern communication.

‘Well, if you did check the news, you might have heard about the murder of Sarah Chen.’

Felix's forehead creased. No flash of recognition, no quickened breath, nothing that suggested he was hiding knowledge of the second victim. ‘Who?’

‘Marine biologist. Found dead yesterday.’

‘Am I supposed to know who she is?’ Felix asked.

Ella watched him closely. The human face was a terrible liar - micro-expressions, muscle twitches, involuntary tells that broadcast deception like a radio tower. But Felix's face remained genuinely uncomprehending.

‘Are you telling me you don’t?’

‘Nope.’

Luca shifted in his corner. They'd developed a language over their short partnership – a lift of an eyebrow here, a slight head tilt there. Right now, he was telling her the same thing her gut already knew: Felix wasn't lying about Sarah Chen.

Which made no sense.

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