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"It would be, but he wants the exchange to be at night, when the palace is closed to outsiders." Gabriel pointed to a different area on the picture. "Look at the saltire. Two legs of the diagonal cross have been highlighted with extra lines. If you imagine the face of a clock, the shorter one points to ten and the longer to eight, or in this case, forty. We think he wants the exchange to be at ten forty."

"How do you know it's at night?" Sin asked.

"We don't, we're just assuming." Gabriel set the picture down.

"Can you tell us what Sokolov said to you, lass, when he had you? Any bit of information would help." Alex stood by the fireplace.

"No," she said quickly.

"I know you remember bits because you told us about Imogen. Perhaps if you sit and we revisit it, you'll remember more. I'll pour us all a drink," Alex suggested.

She felt cornered with no place to go, and her stomach, tied up in knots, began to throb. Sin stood up and came over to her. "You don't have to do this," he whispered to her. "I don't want you to feel pressured."

"But I do feel pressured." She looked him in the eyes but all she saw was concern and worry. "Imogen's life is at stake."

"Sokolov is an evil man. He likes to play games. We're just going off assumptions right now. Anything you remember will be helpful," he said, taking her hand.

She walked with him over to the couch, sitting down. Gabriel handed them both a cut-crystal glass. She looked down at the amber contents and sniffed. Smokey malt, harsh and herbaceous drifted up to her nose—whiskey. She took a small sip to be polite and set the glass down.

"You said you saw Imogen?" Alex started.

"Yes. When we arrived at the distillery, I was locked in a room. Imogen was there curled up in the corner. It was dark, so I couldn't see much, but they had cut off all her hair and beaten her up pretty badly." Her voice came out low and hollow, the sound strange to even her ears. Sin placed his hand over hers.

"Did she say anything to you?" Gabriel asked.

"She only asked me to help her. The Russian man who pretended to be the detective came back to get me. He injected her with something and said he would be back. He grabbed me then and led me out to the main room where the casks were stored." She shook her head, blinking several times to clear her mind. "Sokolov was seated at a table." She looked up; all three men were listening intently. "He had my driver's license and all my money in front of him. He wanted to know who I worked for but was thrown off by my eyes. He kept going back to the color of them. Then he started questioning me about the night in the pub. He wanted to know your name." She glanced at Sin. "I'm sorry, but I told him."

He squeezed her hand. "You did the right thing."

"He didn't seem surprised, though, like he already knew the information. He was getting angry because I couldn't give him anything more. He said I owed him a painting." She paused, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose before continuing. "He had me stand up while he removed my clothes." She stopped. "I'm sorry; that's all I remember until I woke up."

"Woke up?" Sin asked softly."

"I was on a table. My stomach burned like fire and I was lightheaded and nauseous. Sokolov was there. He said I was to take a message back to you. That you were to meet him in five days with the picture and I was to deliver it. I asked him where and when. He said you would figure it out."

"Did he drug you, lassie?" Alex asked.

"No."

"But you don't remember anything else?"

"Maybe I don't want to remember," she said, standing up. "Do you think I want to relive getting my stomach carved? I've told you everything."

"You've done fine," Sin said, pulling her back down. "We still need to come up with a plan for tomorrow."

"Aye, we do," agreed Gabriel, refilling the drinks.

"I'll head to Edinburgh first thing in the morning. Carmichael can meet me there. Where's Wraith?"

"In Glasgow," Gabriel said, sitting back down. "With Primrose."

"Is he available?" Sin asked.

"Yes. What are you thinking?"

"I'll take the print to Sokolov. Dougie can deal with security and find us a place we can cross over the wall surrounding the palace."

"Sokolov's not going to let you get near to the abbey armed."

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