“She should be scared,” Nemo said. “And we warned her.”

Outside the room, she took hold of the cleaning cart and wheeled it in front of them.

“What do we need that for?” Max asked.

“You ever heard of the Trojan horse?” Nemo said.

“Sure,” said Max. “Supposedly, a million years ago the Greeks tricked somebody into letting them into their city by building a giant wooden horse and hiding soldiers inside of it. The people thought it was a gift, brought it into the city and, bam, soldiers everywhere.”

“It wasn’t a million years ago, and the city was Troy, but yes, that’s basically it,” Nemo said.

“What does a wooden horse have to do with this cart?” said Max.

“This cart is a lot like a wooden horse,” said Nemo as she stopped at the elevators and pressed a button.

“Except it’s not wooden and it’s not a horse,” Max pointed out.

Nemo lifted the top of the cart, which held things like little bottles of shampoo and tiny wrapped soaps. Underneath was an area partially filled with wadded-up sheets and towels. There was more than enough room for two people to hide inside.

The elevator came and they got in.

“Okay, but how are we going to get Magdalena, or whoever is in there, to bring the cart inside?”

By the time the doors opened on the seventy-first floor, Nemo had thought of an idea. She just needed a little bit of good luck to make it work.

She got it when she saw some dishes sitting on the floor outside of a room. She pushed the cart over and swept the toiletries from the top of it onto the floor.

“Get in,” she said to Max.

“What about you?” Max said.

“Someone has to push this thing,” Nemo explained. “I’m going to take it to the door of 7192 and tell them room service is there.”

“What if they didn’t order any room service?” Max argued. “I mean, this is kind of a weird time to be doing that, what with those monsters running around. I think they have bigger things to worry about than scarfing down some burgers and fries.”

“Have you got a better idea?” Nemo asked.

Max thought for a moment. “No.”

“Then get in.”

Max did. Nemo shut the top and arranged some dishes over it. They had metal cloches on them, so it wouldn’t be immediately obvious that there was no food. And the room’s occupants had left enough food on the plates that they at least smelled like a meal.

“If they open the door, I’m ramming this cart into whoever is standing there,” Nemo told Max as she wheeled him down the hall. “And if they tell me to leave it, you wait until they bring it inside. Then jump out and—”

“And what?” Max said.

Nemo thought. “And keep them busy until I can get in there and help you,” Nemo finished.

“This is the worst plan you have ever had,” Max said as Nemo turned a corner and headed for the part of the hall where room 7192 was. “You’re going to get us killed.”