“Because if you’re not sure, tell me right now. It’s costing me money.”

“It’s him. He has that little mole on the side of his face.” The tears were falling down her smooth brown cheeks. “I’m sure.”

Donatti took the phone away and looked at the newspapers, then looked at the printed copies he was holding in his hand. The copy of the Times of India matched the newspaper that Devek was holding, headline for headline. He showed Juleen the copy he’d made of the front page of Dainik Bhaskar, a widely circulated Indian newspaper written in Hindi. Then he showed her the newspaper that Devek was holding.

“Do these two papers match?”

She wiped her eyes and looked them over. “The headlines match.”

“Read the lead article. Tell me if it’s a word-for-word match.”

Juleen read for around thirty seconds, her eyes dancing between the two copies. Then she looked up. “The image is pixelating … dispersing.”

“Did they match?”

“From what I saw, yes.”

“Okay.” He waited a few minutes, tapping his toe. The girl sat quietly, fresh tears down her cheeks. Donatti’s phone dinged. New images popped up. He showed them to the girl. “Who’s this?”

Her lower lip trembled as she scrolled through the images. “It’s my father and my brother.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.” She let out a small sob. “He looks happy. Sanjay. He’s smiling.”

“I’m sure he’s very happy to see your dad. I’m sure it’s a relief. Now go to your room, and don’t come out until I tell you. Not like last time. No eavesdropping on my conversation.”

Her head drooped. “Yes, sir.”

Donatti caught her arm. “Juleen, it’ll be okay.”

She bit her lip and nodded. He let her go.

A moment later, his phone rang. The voice on the line said, “Satisfied?”

“I need a video of the two of them from you. I need to hear their voices.”

“That wasn’t part of the agreement.”

“Well, now it is. You change conditions all the time and so do I. This is what I want on the video. I want the two of them to be comfortable. I want them to be smiling. I want the boy to say, I’ll see you soon, Mommy. I want the man to say, Thank you, Chris, for all your help. Then afterward, I want you to take the man and put the fear of God in him and get him to sign the papers he needs to sign. I’ll send you one hundred now and four hundred when I get the video.”

Donatti hung up and was about to knock on Juleen’s door when his phone rang. The voice said, “Four hundred now and one hundred after I send you a video. It will take time. I have to make it first. I need to charge you extra for it.”