The Cartographers(86)

“Out of everything so far, that part is the most confusing to me,” Naomi said. “Now not one, but two scholars have been killed there, and the building has been broken in to three separate times—what the hell could this burglar be after?”

You wouldn’t believe it even if I told you, Felix thought. None of them would.

“You look troubled, Felix,” William said to him then, noticing his expression. The Haberson Map dinged on his tablet with another update before Felix could answer.

“And how could they be leaving no trace every time?” Priya asked, turning back to Naomi.

Another update came through as Naomi and Priya continued to debate the strange crimes, and then another, until they all looked to William, waiting for him to pass along the information. But he was just staring at his tablet, his eyes glued to the screen. He’d been silent for a very long time, Felix realized.

“William?” Priya prompted softly.

Felix couldn’t read William’s expression at first, until he finally looked up from his tablet.

“What is it?” Naomi asked.

“It’s done,” William said. “The Haberson Map found the burglar.”

“That’s great!” Felix cried, spinning toward his own screen, where the map was also open.

But William didn’t look happy.

“I’m sorry, Felix,” he finally said.

“Why?” Felix asked. Warily, he clicked on the Haberson Map, but William was already reading aloud.

“According to the algorithm, the map has designated Dr. Helen Young as the primary suspect in Dr. Daniel Young’s case, as well as the attempted burglary of the library the day after, and the murder of Irene Pérez Montilla tonight.”

WHAT?

“What the hell?” Felix gasped, unable to stop himself.

It wasn’t true.

He turned away from his computer, his hands scrambling across his desk for his phone.

It couldn’t be.

He had to call her. Warn her.

You can’t warn her, she’s about to become a suspect, he thought as he continued to scramble anyway, unable to stop.

“Felix, what are you doing?” Naomi asked nervously.

He shouldn’t do this, he knew. The Haberson Map automatically updated Ainsley’s team and the police—a warrant could be out for Nell’s arrest in no time. But he didn’t want to warn her because she was a criminal. He wanted to warn her because she wasn’t.

His hand was already moving, unable to resist.

<Nell, this is an emergency. You’re about to be named a suspect.>

He sent the message, then fired off another immediately.

<This has to be a setup. You have to tell the police about Wally, before he uses this to find you.>

He hesitated, but then at last added:

<I’m so sorry about earlier. Please let me know you’re okay.>

After he sent the third message, he looked up at William, who was studying him intently, as if watching Felix could help him understand what was going on better than even his own tablet.

“The Haberson Map is wrong,” Felix said.

“Felix . . .” Naomi hesitated. “I can’t imagine how you must feel, but the amount of data the map has, the places it can pull from and the probabilities it can run . . .”

“It’s wrong this time,” he insisted. “I can explain.”

“I think first, you need to call the police,” William replied. “At the very least to tell them you just messaged her. The Haberson Map has already pushed its search results to them—they’re going to be looking for her. If they find your communication in her cell records before you disclose it, you could become a person of interest in the case.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Felix said, even though he knew William was right. “I had nothing to do with this!”

“I know. But they don’t. And if it’s true that you were trying to rekindle your relationship, it could come across as suspicious,” William continued, as diplomatically as he could.

“And you both worked at the library before,” Priya added. “They could argue that you both would have known the Map Division’s pre-Haberson security systems inside and out.”

“You have a great job now, but they could argue that if she was still bitter about her termination all those years ago, and you had recently gotten back together . . .”

“No.” Felix groaned. “Stop. Just stop.”

He was becoming more desperate by the minute. The truth was that in the right light, Nell did seem horribly suspicious. But he knew it couldn’t be true. He’d seen the confusion on her face the first night he’d gone to her apartment and seen the Agloe map—it was as intense as his own. He’d heard no trace of dishonesty in her voice each time they’d met after that, as her findings became more and more strange. She was as lost and innocent in all of this as he was.

And now, with a target on her back, she was in even more danger than she had been before. If the police arrested her, Wally would know exactly where she was, and where the map was. If he could break in to the New York Public Library, could he break in to a court room, or a prison? Could he have been the one to cast suspicion on her in the first place?

“Felix . . . ,” Naomi began.