“Let’s see…” María José rubbed her dry palms together, trembling with excitement.
She straightened the four-legged magnetic board, adjusting it carefully so it wouldn’t wobble. She stuck two packs of smiley-face magnets—each one about the size of a soda bottle cap—onto the top-right corner of the board, and arranged three freshly opened markers along the bottom ledge.
Ludmilla watched her friend’s fussing with growing impatience, then shot an irritated glance at the living-room clock. To her relief, only a few minutes had passed since María José had arrived. They still had plenty of time before Israel came home. She had even given the housekeeper the day off—no one was allowed to interrupt a meeting of this magnitude.
“I’m starting,” she announced in a tone that allowed no argument.
She tapped her fists together, vibrating like someone waiting for an invisible starting gun.
“Easy, Ludmillita! You’ll get your turn in a second—just calm down first,” María José scolded her gently, though she herself was practically buzzing. Every movement of hers quivered as if a little worm of excitement had taken up residence inside her.
Ludmilla finally lost patience. She nudged her friend aside—politely, but firmly. Then she snatched up the stack of photographs from the coffee table and began with an air of great importance.
“So,” she said, raising a photo of Noud and Bernard, “these two are the main troublemakers. They’re the ones pulling the strings from the shadows.”
She pinned the picture to the top center of the board with a smiling magnet.
“They’re keeping tabs on Ted, Carlos, and the Slovaks.”
“And on me!” María José squeaked, almost bursting with excitement.
Ludmilla gave a tiny, dismissive grimace.
“No, darling…” she drawled. “Carlos bugged you himself—because you stole Ted’s notes from him.”
María José inhaled sharply to protest, but Ludmilla silenced her with an upraised finger.
“Wait your turn, please.”
María José obediently nodded.
Ludmilla continued as she added the remaining surveillance photos to the board.
“Ted’s being watched because he’s wanted internationally—Esteban told us that. Which means Bernard and Noud must be some sort of investigators.”
“Exactly, exactly!” María José chimed in far too loudly. “And we thought they were petty thieves! Pff!”
Hands on her hips, Ludmilla gave her a stern look. María José instantly cast her eyes downward.
“Carlos is in their sights,” Ludmilla went on, “because as a retired agent turned overzealous private snoop, he simply cannot keep his nose out of anything. He scurried around with his bugs until Bernard and Noud had enough—and knocked you both out and hauled you off to Bangkok.” A deep sigh escaped her.
“The Slovak cleaning-and-maintenance couple, though? We still have no idea what’s going on there.”
She straightened proudly, her eyes gleaming as they swept up and down the cluttered board full of photos and arrows. Then, with a theatrical flourish, she gestured to her friend.
“And now, the floor is María José’s.”
The elderly confectioner cleared her throat. She drew a long, steady breath and stepped up to the board.
“Recently, we’ve taken note of Ted’s mysterious disappearance,” she announced with great importance, then drew a big red X over his photo.
She grabbed the green marker and drew another arrow from Ted’s picture down to the bottom of the board.
“But then Viktoria appeared. She comes and goes from Ted’s house as if she lived there—or as if she were his lover.”
She glanced at Ludmilla, cheeks flushing, then continued:
“I found out that our German neighbor has been telling everyone that Viktoria is looking after Ted because they’ve run into financial trouble. But honestly…”—she chuckled—“two clever old foxes like us won’t swallow such nonsense. Ted would never let a stranger into his house…”
“Especially not someone from this complex,” Ludmilla cut in.
A sly smile tugged at María José’s lips.
“If you don’t mind,” she said coolly, “try not to interrupt.”
A flush of anger darkened Ludmilla’s face, but she stayed silent.
“To sum up”—María José tapped the board, basking in the spotlight—“we need to keep a very close eye on Viktoria and the Slovaks. Therefore, we are founding the L & M Agency, which will launch an immediate, top-secret operation. We will uncover Bernard and Noud’s true identities, expose the truth about Ted and Viktoria, and get to the bottom of whatever is going on with that suspiciously ‘ordinary’ Slovak family. Let’s get to work!”