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The man with the pistol is talking excitedly into the phone, then he ends the call and seems to think for a few seconds before taking four quick steps forward and pressing the barrel of the pistol to Joona’s forehead.

‘I’m about to overpower you,’ Joona says amiably.

‘What?’

‘I had to wait,’ he explains. ‘Until I got the chance of direct physical contact.’

‘I’ve just received orders to execute you.’

‘Yes, the situation’s fairly acute, seeing as I have to get the pistol away from my face, and ideally use it within five seconds.’

‘How?’ the man by the door asks.

‘In order to catch him by surprise, I mustn’t react to any of his movements,’ Joona explains. ‘That’s why I’ve let him walk up, stop and take precisely two breaths. So I wait until he breathes out the second time before I—’

‘Why?’ the man with the pistol asks.

‘I gain a few hundredths of a second, because it’s practically impossible to do anything without first breathing in.’

‘But why the second breath in particular?’

‘Because it’s unexpectedly early and right at the middle of the most common countdown in the world: one, two, three …’