Noel picked the pen back up and wrote below it.
'Second step — Lose the case.'
Bennett opened his mouth. Then closed it. Then opened it again. "You want to lose—"
Cedric spoke.
"Third step," he said quietly. He was looking at the paper. "Get Rowan executed."
Noel pointed at him.
"Bingo," he said.
Bennett stared at them both.
"You want Rowan to be publicly executed," he said, very slowly.
"For show," Noel said. "Public show only. We are not actually going to kill Rowan. The execution will look real to everyone watching — the papers, the public, the killer especially." He set the pen down properly. "When the killer sees Rowan die, he stops worrying about loose ends. He thinks he's won. He gets comfortable." He looked up. "That's when we have him."
Bennett sat back. He was thinking about everything Noel had said and how they were going to execute it. It sounds like a perfect plan but a perfect plan needs a perfect execution.
He looked at the paper and looked at Noel.
