GREGORY EVANS SUFFERED from a rare anomaly called Hyperthymesia, so he could remember everything he had seen in his life as if it were in real time.
I missed something...
He closed his eyes and saw everything in real time again, everything that had happened and put the pieces together, one by one...
The effort continued until he reached the moment when he threw on the table the photos that showed Allison performing the operation and also some objects that were found in her closet, he observed every gesture, every word and look of the girl, who seemed to be extremely scared by all of that.
— So far she is behaving normally. She hasn't lost consciousness yet — Gregory observed.
— Greg, you...
The President put his hand on his chest and shook his head. He had already heard about Greg's unique way of putting the pieces of the puzzle together.
Greg continued his meeting with himself:
— Which means that seeing things didn't trigger anything in her mind, although she's here very psychologically shaken.
Gregory tried to organize things by making mental notes:
She didn't react when she saw the images, normal behavior.
No loss of consciousness.
Poor memory.
After that, he continued until the moment when she tried to remember what had happened. He asked questions and cited data and facts from his investigation, until he told her the title of the book where he had found the hidden communication equipment, which was War and Peace. It was at that moment that she lost control and began to scream insanely nonsense.
— It was here! — Greg exclaimed — I found our proof!
— What did you find? — the President asked.
— It was only after hearing me say that that she lost control...
— But couldn't it have been the excess, the accumulation of emotions and information in her mind?
Gregory thought for a moment, shaking his head, went back into his mind and saw it again. Finally, he answered:
— She changed instantly! Her features, gestures, and I could say that even her senses changed from one moment to the next when she heard me say the name of the book...
The President looked at Floyd who said:
— She became possessed, Sir...
— I believe that if the disorder was caused by some progression of incitements, it would be gradual...
— That may be true, Greg, but then, what would be the trigger for this?
— She seemed to lose her mind when I said the name of the book... That's it! It was exactly the name of the book where the equipment was stored, War and Peace! This was the key to her case!
— Really? — Floyd asked, still in disbelief.
Gregory Evans insisted:
— Just like Agent Adams suffered the change on the plane when he heard the word Check! Both reacted after certain words!
Gregory then made a new mental note:
War and Peace.
He lost consciousness and kept repeating "remove from there".
Was it because he heard it?
Was it the order he had received?
Gregory Evans was already celebrating the certainty of his theory when the President raised another doubt:
— Forgive me for doubting so much, Greg, but what about the case here on Fifth Avenue?
— What do you mean? — Gregory asked, somewhat stressed.
— In both cases, there was a key word, theoretically, that triggered the loss of control in both people. On Fifth Avenue, however, this did not happen, the terrorist finished talking his crazy stuff and let out that damned noise in everyone's ears...
— That's right, it's true... — Greg said disappointed.
— What would be the key word there then?
Gregory leaned against the wall, resting his elbows on his knees and pressing one hand against the other, in a detective pose from decades past. He frowned over his eyes centered on the screen and muttered a few things to himself. He stayed like that for almost a minute, until, in a sudden outburst, he exclaimed:
— I think I figured it out...