She opened Letter Z and tapped straight on Christina’s avatar.
Her fingers moved across the screen quickly and precisely, as if every word had already been prepared long ago, waiting inside her head from the very first moment.
[Nerd.]
The first message was sent.
The second followed immediately, without a single pause for breath:
[Access the data centre of Ignaz Semmelweis University of Medicine for me.
Filter third-year, fourth-year, or students with outstanding credits.
Prioritise the Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care.
Search for the name ‘Andrea E.
Gar’.]
Avis paused for a beat.
Not from hesitation, but to arrange the deductions in her mind more cleanly.
She typed on:
[She is connected.
The killer may be a male medical student very close to her.
Also find Andrea’s home address while you’re at it.]
Another message.
This time a little slower, as if she were checking every smallest detail:
[Once you find a matching name, go into her FN.]
[Look for photos with a white rubber wristband.
Check whether the lettering on it is a man’s name.
According to Milio, the killer has moss-green hair and wears a wristband engraved with her name.
If that’s correct, they must have photos together.]
[Also check which department he is studying in.]
The messages were sent.
Christina replied at once:
[Ok.
Wait 30 minutes.]
When they reached the computer room, the camera extraction team was already present.
Cold light from the monitors reflected on everyone’s faces.
The room was completely silent except for the whirring of surveillance footage being fast-forwarded.
Then Avis’s phone vibrated.
Christina messaged:
[Found it, boss.]
[There’s a third-year psychology student, Andrea Emily Garvic.
I checked her FN: she really does wear a white wristband.
Engraved on it is the name ‘Steven Harmus’.]
[He is friends with her on FN.
Further check: he is a third-year student in the Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care.]
[On his right wrist he also has a band engraved ‘Andrea E.
Garvic’.]
Immediately below were two photographs.
Andrea red hair, amber eyes.
Steven moss-green hair, pale green eyes behind glasses.
Christina sent more:
[I scrolled through their social media.
They’ve been close for a long time.
But earlier this year it seems she got a boyfriend.
Here’s the home address I traced via IP.]
[Camepot Apartments, Tesla District.]
Avis did not read it a second time.
She asked nothing, nodded at nothing, hesitated at nothing.
She turned, shoved the computer-room door open hard enough that the hinges gave a soft protest.
Then she ran.
Mariana, Knight and Thomas only managed to exchange a glance none of them understood what had just happened but both men followed almost by instinct.
A short while later the group returned to the reception room.
White opened her smartphone and turned the screen toward the victim’s friends.
Steven’s face appeared clearly under the white light.
“Milio.
Is this him?”
Milio stepped forward.
He lowered his head and narrowed his eyes, as if trying to drag a face already blurred by time back up from the bottom of his memory.
Only a second.
Then his expression hardened.
“That’s him.
Mark and I saved this guy.”
White gave a slight nod.
No change of expression, yet enough for everyone to understand that she had fitted one more final piece into the picture.
“Thank you for your cooperation today.
Leave the rest to us.
From this moment on, you may go home.
But you must not reveal any details of the investigation.
Do you understand?”
Milio stepped in front of her and placed a hand on White’s shoulder.
Not heavily more as if entrusting something important.
His eyes were full of hope.
“We understand.
We’re counting on all of you.”
Larxus stood up.
He set his glass down lightly, his voice low.
“This is as far as we can help.”