“You’re wrong,” Kevin said. “I’ve got the instruments they use for retrievals.” He got up from the computer and went to his desk. When he returned, he was carrying the locator and the directional beacon that Bertram had given to him. He showed the apparatuses to Melanie and explained their use. Melanie was impressed.

“Where is that girl?” Melanie asked as she checked her watch. “I wanted to get this island visit over during lunch hour.”

“Did Siegfried talk to you this morning?” Kevin asked.

“No, Bertram did,” Melanie said. “He acted really mad and said he was disappointed in me. Can you imagine? I mean, is that suppose to break me up or what?”

“Did he give you any explanation about the smoke I’ve seen?” Kevin asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Melanie said. “He went on at length how he’d just been told that Siegfried had a work crew out there building a bridge and burning trash. He said it was being done without his knowledge.”

“I thought so,” Kevin said. “Siegfried called me over just after nine. He gave me the same story. He even told me he’d just talked with Dr. Lyons and that Dr. Lyons was disappointed in us as well.”

“It’s enough to make you cry,” Melanie said.

“I don’t think he was telling the truth about the work crew,” Kevin said.

“Of course he wasn’t,” Melanie said. “I mean, Bertram makes it a point to know everything that’s going on about Isla Francesca. It makes you wonder if they think we were born yesterday.”

Kevin stood up, fidgeted, and stared out his window at the distant island.

“What’s wrong now?” Melanie questioned.

“Siegfried,” Kevin said. He looked back at Melanie. “About his warning to apply Equatoguinean law to us. He reminded us that going to the island could be considered a capital offense. Don’t you think we should take that threat seriously?”

“Hell, no!” Melanie said.

“How can you be so sure,” Kevin said. “Siegfried scares me.”

“He’d scare me, too, if I was an Equatoguinean,” Melanie said. “But we’re not. We’re Americans. While we’re here in the Zone, good old American law applies to us. The worst thing that can happen is we get fired. And as I said last night, I’m not sure I wouldn’t welcome it. Manhattan is sounding awfully good to me these days.”

“I wish I felt as confident as you,” Kevin said.

“Has your playing around with the computer this morning confirmed that the bonobos are remaining in two groups?”

Kevin nodded. “The first group is the largest and stays around the caves. It includes most of the older bonobos, including your double and mine. The other group is in a forest area on the north side of the Rio Diviso. It’s composed mostly of younger animals, although the third oldest is with them. That’s Raymond Lyons’s double.”

“Very curious,” Melanie said.

“Hi, everybody,” Candace called out while coming through the door, without knocking. “How’d I do timewise? I didn’t even blow-dry my hair.” Instead of her normal French twist, her damp hair was combed back straight off her forehead.

“You did great,” Melanie assured her. “And you were the only smart one to get some sleep. I have to admit, I’m exhausted.”

“Did Siegfried Spallek get in touch with you?” Kevin asked.

“At about nine-thirty,” Candace said. “He woke me up out of a sound sleep. I hope I made sense.”

“What did he say?” Kevin asked.

“He was very nice, actually,” Candace said. “He even apologized for what happened last night. He also had an explanation about the smoke coming from the island. He said it was from a work crew burning brush.”

“We got the same message,” Kevin said.

“What’s your take on it?” Candace asked.

“We don’t buy it,” Melanie said. “It’s too convenient.”

“I sort of assumed as much,” Candace said.

Melanie grabbed her paper bag. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

“Do you have the key?” Kevin questioned. He picked up the locator and the directional beacon.

“Of course I have the key,” Melanie said.

As they went out the door Melanie told Candace she’d brought some lunch for them.

“Great!” Candace said. “I’m famished.”

“Hold on a second,” Kevin said when they reached the stairs. “Something just dawned on me. We must have been followed yesterday. That’s the only way I can explain the way they surprised us. Of course, that really means I must have been followed, since I was the one who talked about the smoke situation with Bertram Edwards.”

“That’s a good point,” Melanie said.

The three people stared at each other for a moment.

“What should we do?” Candace asked. “We don’t want to be followed.”

“The first thing is that we shouldn’t use my car,” Kevin said. “Where’s yours, Melanie? With this dry weather we can manage without four-wheel drive.”

“Downstairs in the parking lot,” Melanie said. “I just drove in from the animal center.”

“Was anybody following you?”

“Who knows?” Melanie said. “I wasn’t watching.”

“Hmmm,” Kevin pondered. “I still think they’ll be following me if they follow anybody. So, Melanie, go down and get in your car and head home.”

“What will you guys do?”

“There’s a tunnel in the basement that goes all the way out to the power station. Wait about five minutes at your house and pick us up at the power station. There’s a side door that opens directly onto the parking lot. You know where I mean?”

“I think so,” Melanie said.

“All right,” Kevin said. “See you there.”

They split up at the first floor, with Melanie going out into the noonday heat while Candace and Kevin descended to the basement level.

After walking for fifteen minutes, Candace commented on what a maze the hallways were.

“All the power comes from the same source,” Kevin explained. “The tunnels connect all the main buildings except for the animal center, which has its own power station.”

“One could get lost down here,” Candace said.

“I did,” Kevin admitted. “A number of times. But during the middle of the rainy season, I find these tunnels handy. They’re both dry and cool.”

As they neared the power station they could hear and feel the vibration of the turbines. A flight of metal steps took them up to the side door. As soon as they appeared, Melanie, who’d been parked under a malapa tree, cruised over and picked them up.

Kevin got in the back so Candace could climb into the front. Melanie pulled away immediately. The car’s air-conditioning felt good given the heat and hundred-percent humidity.

“See anything suspicious?” Kevin asked.

“Not a thing,” Melanie said. “And I drove around for a while pretending I was on errands. There wasn’t anyone following me. I’m ninety-nine percent sure.”

Kevin looked out the back window of Melanie’s Honda and watched the area around the power station as it fell behind, then disappeared as they rounded a corner. No people had appeared, and there were no cars in pursuit.

“I’d say it looks good,” Kevin said. He scrunched down on the backseat to be out of sight.

Melanie drove around the north rim of the town. While she did so, Candace broke out the sandwiches.

“Not bad,” Candace said, taking a bite of a tuna fish on whole wheat.

“I had them made up at the animal-center commissary,” Melanie explained. “There are drinks in the bottom of the bag.”

“You want some, Kevin?” Candace called.

“I suppose,” Kevin said. He stayed on his side. Candace passed him a sandwich and a soft drink between the front bucket seats.

They were soon on the road that led east out of town toward the native village. From Kevin’s perspective, all he could see was the tops of the liana-covered trees that lined the road, plus a strip of hazy blue sky. After so many months of cloud cover and rain, it was good to see the sun.

“Anybody following us?” Kevin asked, after they’d driven for some time.

Melanie glanced in the rearview mirror. “I haven’t seen a car,” she said. There’d been no vehicular traffic in either direction, although there were plenty of native women carrying various burdens on their heads.