Once I got that, I started pushing her to where we need her to go. It’s not enough for her to be ready to rush to the helicopter with Leo. If Grigor is off with Pavel and Tomas is at the chalet, that leaves Yvetta and Lev. I told her she had to seduce Lev. She looked at me like it was the sort of thing she simply doesn’t do. You know what, I suspect that she doesn’t. It’s the curse of great beauty, homage without effort. I said, “You do realize he’s head over heels in love with you.” She looks at me again like I’m telephoning in from Andromeda. “You don’t see how he glances at you, how he tries to almost touch you.” Again, she looks blank because men look at her that way so often she can’t even see it. I explained it to her. And that the way Lev dotes on Leo is part of it. Then she slowly starts to get it. She says, “He’s always saying things like, ‘If I had a son, I’d want him to be just like Leo.’ ‘I hope, someday, to have a boy like Leo.’ ”

I said, “Yes.”

Then she said, “You want me to have sex with him?”

“I want you to look at him, very occasionally, the way he looks at you.”

“How many times would that be, very occasionally?”

Phew. Wow. OK, we only have a couple of days to make this happen. I told her four times today and eight times tomorrow. She nods and I can see she’s making little notes in her head. She will, exactly that many times. She will do it well, too. It probably won’t be with feeling, but it will be sort of perfect. Also, I told her, “You have to touch him. Very slightly, like the edge of your hand to the edge of his. For him, it will be electric. Adjust his shirt, like it’s askew, even if it’s not. And once, just once, something with his hair. It’s really short, so it doesn’t get mussed, but do it anyway.”

I told her, “That’s part one of your plan. It starts today.

“The middle of tomorrow, you meet him and Leo, after Leo’s morning session, and you talk to him. Tell him how good he is with Leo. Then say that you’re sure that a man as young and strong and kind as he is will find a wonderful woman to have a son with. Like Leo. Say it wistfully like you wish it was really yourself. Whatever he says, you look very sad, and say, ‘You will. I know it.’ He’ll reply. Whatever he says, you say, ‘You’ll be gone and I’ll miss you.’ After that, cut it off, go away.”