Page 55 of Shadow of Doubt

“What?”

“The guy who’s leaving the archives. Right there. He’s faking that limp.”

“How do you know?”

“I just know.”

MoMo leaned in and rewatched the footage. “You can’t fake your gait. At least not long enough to throw off the AI. Your brain can’t keep up the charade. You end up defaulting to your normal stride.”

“Unless you put something in your shoe.”

“Are you serious?”

Brunelle nodded. “All you have to do is put a rock in there. Guaranteed limp. And your brain won’t give you away. It’s enough of a change to throw off gait recognition.”

“The software guys neglected to mention that in our training.”

“Of course they did. They want the French government to think the AI’s bulletproof. It’s good, but it isn’t perfect.”

“So whose walk are we looking for?”

“Both,” she said. “Have the AI flag each of them. In the meantime, can you use the software to tap into the street cameras and see where the figure with the limp goes after the archives?”

“You mean the would-be bomber in our training scenario?” MoMo clarified, reaching for a fresh skewer. “Sure.”

A few moments later, he tapped into a series of neighborhood cameras and was tracking the man with the limp.

The man walked for several blocks before stopping in front of a narrow building with a tiny blue door. Producing a key from his pocket, he unlocked the door, stepped inside, and disappeared from view.

“What address is that?” Brunelle asked.

“One Rue de Chapon.”

“Run it for me.”

“Already ahead of you,” said MoMo. “And you’re not going to like it.”

She watched as a message popped up on his screen.

Removing her cell phone, Brunelle pulled up Gibert’s contact and hit dial. When he answered, she said, “I’m texting you a location. Meet me there. And bring a flashlight.”

CHAPTER 25

“You know there’s a much better bar right around the corner,” Gibert said as he joined Brunelle at her outdoor table.

She knew the one he was talking about. The Hotel Sinner was a kinky, very risqué, five-star hotel housed in a building that looked like it had once been a medieval monastery. All the cocktails had Latin names, the staff ran around in black cassocks, and the stained-glass mosaics were loaded with depictions of naked bodies. It was exactly her kind of place, which was why she had told Gibert to meet her at Café Berry instead.

The tiny café was open daily, only served brunch, and brewed some of the best coffee in Paris. In addition to a couple of tables on the sidewalk in front, there were a handful more in the partially covered Passage des Gravilliers next door. That’s where Brunelle was seated, working on her second coffee, when Gibert arrived.

He removed a small handheld flashlight and clicked it on and off to make sure it was working. “As requested. Now will you tell me what we’re doing here?”

“We’re delving into the underworld.”

“In that case, I think it really would have been much more appropriate to meet at the Sinner.”

“I’m sure you do,” Brunelle replied, paying for her coffees and standing up. “Let’s get going.”

As they walked to the end of the block, she explained what she had been able to uncover thus far and why she believed Figure One and Figure Two were the same man.

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