She gave Jean-Michel her breakfast order—tartin, scrambled eggs, and café au lait—then walked over to the boutique. She stood outside for a moment, gazing at the shirts in the window, then slipped through the entrance. An attractive young woman with short blond hair greeted her in French. Sarah selected two shirts, one dark blue, the other pale yellow, and gave the woman Zizi’s measurements. The woman disappeared into a back room and returned a moment later with the shirts.

“Do you have a gift box?”

“Of course, Madame.”

She produced one from beneath the counter, then carefully wrapped the shirts in tissue paper and placed them inside.

“Do you have a gift card of some sort?” Sarah asked. “Something with an envelope?”

Again the woman reached beneath the counter. She placed the card before Sarah and handed her a pen.

“How will you be paying, Madame?”

Sarah gave her the credit card. While the saleswoman rang up the purchases, Sarah leaned over the gift card and wrote: Alain al-Nasser—Montreal. Then she inserted the card into the envelope, licked the adhesive flap, and sealed it tightly. The saleswoman then placed the credit card receipt in front of Sarah. She signed it, then handed the woman the pen, along with the sealed envelope.

“I don’t understand, Madame.”

“Sometime this morning a friend of mine is going to come here to see whether I forgot something,” Sarah said. “Please give my friend this envelope. If you do, you’ll be paid handsomely. Discretion is important. Do you understand me, Madame?”

“Of course.” She smiled at Sarah mischievously, then looked at Jean-Michel sitting in the café. “Your secret is safe with me.”

The woman placed the gift box in a paper bag and handed it to Sarah. Sarah winked at her, then went out and returned to the café. Her breakfast was waiting for her when she sat down.

“Any problems?” Jean-Michel asked.

Sarah shook her head and handed him the credit card. “No,” she said. “No problems at all.”

THIRTY MINUTES LATER Sarah and Jean-Michel boarded the launch and returned to Alexandra. Gabriel waited another fifteen minutes before entering the boutique. He collected the gift card from the saleswoman and gave her one hundred euros for her trouble. Five minutes after that he was seated at the tiller of a Zodiac, heading out of the inner harbor toward the anchorage.