Nir stepped in. “Enough about the cake. Dafna, the guys have already told me they’re bringing in the treat of your choice for a day-after-birthday celebration tomorrow. Right, Yaron?”

Yaron leaned toward Nir and whispered, “It’s only a stupid cake.”

“Right, Yaron?” Nir repeated loudly.

Yaron turned to Dafna. “Sababa. Just let me know what you want.”

Yossi said with a laugh, “Oh, she is going to make you pay.”

Nir took over the meeting. “I filled the ops team in. It’s been two hours. Let me hear what you have.”

Liora began. “Name, Ali Kamal. Age, 48. He’s the eighth son and ninth child of the late Prince Mutaib bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and who knows what number grandchild of King Abdulaziz, also known as Ibn Saud.”

“Ibn Saud was the father of a bunch of other kings, right?” asked Doron.

Dafna answered using her notes. “He fathered King Saud, who reigned in the ’50s and ’60s, and King Faisal in the ’60s and ’70s, and King Khalid in the ’70s and ’80s, and King Fahd, who brought it all the way up to 2005. Then King Abdullah took over and was on the throne up until 2015.”

“Another son of Abdulaziz?” asked Yaron.

“Of course. When he died, King Salman took over—another Abdulaziz son. But when he goes, which everyone thinks won’t be too much longer, Salman’s son Mohammed bin Salman will take over.”

“The infamous MBS,” Liora said. “He of the sexy beard.”

“I thought that was me,” Yossi said.

Ignoring him, Dafna added, “It will be the first time since 1932 that neither Abdulaziz nor one of his sons is on the throne.”

“So I got a little lost in there,” Nir said. “And, Liora, cool it with the knowing look to Dafna—it got genuinely confusing. What exactly is Ali Kamal’s relation to the Saudi throne?”

Nicole spoke up. “When they told me all this, I had to work it out in my head too. Ali Kamal’s real name is Ali bin Mutaib Al Saud. He’s a grandson of King Abdulaziz. That makes him a nephew of the current king, King Salman, and a cousin of MBS.”

“But MBS wants him offed?” asked Imri.

“I guess when you have that many cousins, you don’t care if you lose a few.”

Yossi jumped in. “It’s all tied to a falling out that started with Mutaib bin Abdulaziz, Ali Kamal’s father. Mutaib was always a bit of a dissident. A pesky fly buzzing around his brothers calling for reforms and a constitution. In order to keep him out of his way, King Khalid named him Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs in 1980, a post he held until 2009.”

“Okay, boring. Jump ahead,” Nir said.