Professional agents (3)
Florian reached the side exit of the building, feeling like a thief. He wasn't doing anything illegal, was he? He was just following orders: the boss wanted a complete report with all the details.
But... Was it worth it? Just to make him read twenty pages of useless details, he went as far as to wait for half an hour out of two girls' rooms. It was a little creepy, Florian realised.
Just when he thought his day was over, he opened the door. The smog from outside hit his face, and he found two amber eyes staring at him.
Vera Bogdan was in front of him, her arms crossed and her expression annoyed.
«What a coincidence,» she exclaimed. She didn't put much effort into looking surprised.
Florian sighed. He had attracted too much attention... However, how could she find him like that?
«Would you like to have a chat?» she inquired. «Ask me what you're curious about, and then let's part ways. I don't like being followed.»
«I wasn't going to follow you,» he rebuked.
He had decided not to, in the end. Even though his initial intention was different.
«Have you solved the case?» he inquired. It was the only question he could think about at that moment. He couldn't ask Vera what she was going to do, where to go, and with whom.
«Yes.»
«For real?»
«Yes, I did,» she said. She didn't say we, which confirmed Florian's suspicion.
Sara Troisi knew nothing about the house ghost.
«It's a kikimora,» Vera said. «We can't just throw her out, it's impossible. But I'll teach the Kaplans how to cohabit. House spirits aren't necessarily evil, even though they're easy to anger. I'm just not clear, yet, why the kikimora took her anger out on the family... They spent a few days there, but it's not enough to scratch them. Something must have happened, which I couldn't find out with a chat. I need to see the house.»
«So, it's not over.»
«I hope I'm wrong,» Vera said. «I hope I'm just overthinking, and that the kikimora was angry because the Kaplans were fighting.»
«Is that a thing?» Florian asked.
«Yes, it is. A kikimora is dissatisfied when the house is dirty, the people are spoiled or don't get along. She dislikes asshole husbands and lazy wives.»
«I... I don't think it's the case with the Kaplans.»
«I don't think so either, but I don't know them well enough to be sure. Maybe, they become horrible when they fight.»
Florian shrugged. He wasn't sure how the Kaplans were while fighting, so he had to change the topic with a question.
«So, you could find out everything after a chat with Helena Kaplan?»
«Yes, that's right. Why are you surprised? It's just my job.»
«Why not ask Mark Kaplan, though?»
Vera curled the tip of her lips.
«Ask a man whether he has any issue with his wife? Would he have answered? Also, there was the chance he hadn't noticed the crisis... Aren't men like that?»
«Not all men,» Florian said, and he wasn't sure who he was trying to defend.
It was not like Vera explicitly said anything about Herr Kaplan. She just expressed her doubt.
«It was faster like this, and Frau Kaplan will feel better if she knows she helped us solve the case. Also, I have something to ask you, Herr Fiser.»
«Yes?» he said, cold sweat running down his back.
«How much are the children spoiled from one to ten?»
He blinked, surprised.
«I can't ask the parents,» Vera said, shrugging.
He nodded. She was a good agent, and she was taking that chance - catching him doing something immoral, if not illegal - to question more about it. He could understand why the agency had sent her there with all the insurances.
If there was someone who could solve the case, it was her.
«Well, they're not bad kids,» he started.
He had to answer that question, but he feared saying too much. On the other hand, he wasn't sure about it. Were the kids spoiled?
«Just the usual,» he said. «They have everything they need and have never lacked anything.»
«So... Seven out of ten? Eight?»
Eight was a pretty high number.
«I think you should confirm with Frau Kaplan. I don't interact with the kids often.»
«It's funny, though.»
«Funny?»
«You call them kids. How old are they? I thought they were teens now.»
«Didn't you receive any kind of information prior to your arrival?» he asked, fixing his glasses.
A shadow passed in his eyes while he thought he could survive that meeting. However, Vera Bogdan wouldn't feel shy and retreat, letting him go home.
She was a little stubborn, wasn't she?
«I received no information before arriving. All I know is what you told me, more or less,» Vera chuckled.
Florian furrowed his eyebrows, surprised. Did she solve the case with no information? But, more than everything else: the agency didn't tell her where she was going and what for?
How odd. Very, very odd.
That was going to end in his report.
«So, how old are they?»
Differently from her, Florian did receive intel before his task started.
«The boy is sixteen, the girl seventeen. Aaron and Lora.»
«I see... I better remember this for later.»
That said, Vera turned and left Florian there, still dumbfounded. He didn't even think to follow her - he wasn't stupid nor a criminal. In the end, she wasn't working. She had every right to her private life.
However, it was a pity for the report. Should he have mentioned it? Better, yes. Just so the boss knew everything and could decide whether to change his mind.
Not that it was going to happen. Some things were getting clearer little by little. Vera Bogdan wasn't just a good agent and a beauty.
She had the abilities of a detective, the charisma of a politician - even though hidden most of the time, and that cold determination which reminded him of someone...
The boss's future wife was a genius.