Kennet showered and shaved. He dressed in Minor’s best clothes as if donning armor. He walked over to the hotel, went up to the second floor and knocked on the door of the second-best suite.

A woman with all Astrid’s features but none of her silvery allure opened it.

“God kväll,” Kennet said, smiling. “Jag—”

She slammed the door in his face.

“Mor, släpp in honom,” Astrid cried faintly from the other side.

Let him in.

Kennet counted five, then knocked again. “Mrs. Virtanen, I need to speak with you, please.”

Raised voices within, but it was in Portuguese and he couldn’t understand. He only knew a handful of words in that language. He could sing the lyrics to “South American Way,” but that wouldn’t do him much good right now. But he did know another word: desenrascanco. Slapping together a solution with no plan and with whatever was to hand.

“It’s a very Fiskare word,” Astrid had said. “You’re all so resilient and resourceful.”

Kennet went on knocking and calling politely. He was perfectly calm. When Liisa opened the door a crack, put out a single pointed finger and said he was to leave this instant or she would call the police, he went on smiling and speaking politely. Again, the door slammed on his nose, but he wasn’t upset. He was resilient and resourceful and he’d find another solution.

He left the hotel and walked to the riverfront. He noticed a penny in the dust and smiled as he picked it up. He threw it as far as he could into the St. Lawrence.

“Mrs. Virtanen, I’m a fisherman and a pirate,” he said quietly. “I was conceived in a casino in Aix-les-Bains. The gold in my veins is inherited from my father, who got it from a Hun’s tooth. My namesake uncle is king of the river. I do not give up my treasure to the likes of you…”

By the next morning, Liisa had taken her daughter not only out of the hotel, but out of Clayton. When Kennet telephoned the Riverview Inn in Alexandria Bay, he was told Miss Virtanen was accepting no calls.

Desenrascanco, Kennet thought. Next plan was to go to the inn in person. If that failed, he’d have to get creative. No worries. He had three brothers: two to hold the ladder, the third to drive the getaway car.

He went to Emil and asked for Ingrid’s engagement ring.

“Gullgosse,” Emil said softly. “Sit down and let’s talk about this.”

“Ma left me the ring in her will. To give to the girl I want to marry.”

“I know, but—”

“I’m going to marry Astrid.”

“This isn’t how it works, son.”

“It’s how it worked with you and Ma.”

“That was different. It was war.”

And she was pregnant with me.