The next day, at five in the afternoon, Lars returned to the Bavarian State Library.
He sat at one of the long wooden tables in the reading area, a thick book open in front of him and his laptop glowing softly. To anyone watching, he looked like a focused graduate student — reading, typing, occasionally jotting down notes.
There were only a few people in the room at that hour. The quiet was deeper than usual, broken only by the turning of pages and the distant rolling of a book cart.
But Lars wasn't working.
Everything was an act.
He was there to observe Lukas' schedule.
Earlier, when he had arrived, he stopped at the reception desk and spoke to the same librarian who had helped him the day before.
Grace.
He had asked casually what time Professor Lukas usually worked.
She had answered without suspicion.
"He arrives at eleven in the morning, goes out for lunch at two, comes back at five, and finishes his workday at nine at night."
Now Lars waited.
