Tanya giggled. "But the tags are all loose. I'm afraid it's going to be surprises, all the way." She lifted the lids and sniffed the contents of each container.
"It's supposed to be super, anyway. And you usually eat anything that's put in front of you, so dig in."
"What's first?"
"Let's see. The galette looks like humble pie-we could start with the meat."
"Great," Tanya said, helping herself to the duck. "Now, what's the good idea you mentioned?"
"I called the head of the 'Invicta.' That's the agency of the camp where I trained."
"I remember," Tanya said, putting a large forkful of duck into her mouth.
"I told him I was going to accept the offer and join the agency. He seemed pleased. Then…" She paused, glanced at Tanya as if to weigh her reactions. "I briefly mentioned your accidents. He knew about them. In detail." She paused again to scoop some food on to her plate, and take a small bite. "The man's sensational. He knows everything, no matter where it's happened. I think, sometimes, he knows about things that haven't happened yet." She paused for another forkful of food. "He's willing to listen to you and advise you." She ate a bit of a croquette. "I can introduce him to you, right away." She put her full attention on her plate.
"What? I don't understand. I'm not even dressed yet." Tanya said, her eyes wide.
"We don't need to go anywhere," Judith replied. "Take your plate and follow me. I'll just show you his Web page, on my new computer."
She picked up her plate, added a few more scoops of food, and left the table. "Come and see," she said, preceding Tanya into the den.
Judith turned the machine on, then struck a few keys to connect her new Packard Bell Pentium to the local Internet supporter. She typed a few commands and the screen flashed on the word 'Invicta.' It glowed in huge letters, surrounded by a string of international flags parading around it in a circular motion. Directly under the blazing logo was the name of the director, Malcolm Clark, and his picture. Following those were the agency's telephone number, fax numbers, electronic mail addresses, and Web links.
Judith clicked on a link, which brought them to an abridged bio of Malcolm Clark: "Former Chief of Police, Metropolitan Toronto Police Service, Malcolm Clark cooperated with Interpol, with the government of Mexico, the United States, Brazil, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Germany.