“RUSSIA WILL INTERVENE IN THE NUCLEAR CRISIS”, he read the news on his cell phone.

“ALEXANDRE DUVAL, THE NEW RONALD?” The note had been published in the most important newspaper in Spain and highlighted a positive change in his game.

He and Victoria had planned a trip to Paris for the next weekend. It was the city that she liked the most.

Alexandre dedicated himself to studying what followed in the book, which was more epistemology, so he racked his brain. But time was becoming increasingly scarce due to the call-up to the French national team, so he had to stay up late at night many times because time was not enough during the day.

“WE NEED TO TALK. SIROB”

The message was from Boris. Written backwards, it was the key to meeting at a secret time and place they had agreed upon beforehand.

When the time came, he put on his hood and went incognito to a restaurant. Boris was in the corner at a table that was hard to see.

“Sit down,” he said, taking out a photo in which Lenel appeared with three young people walking down the street at the side of a sport clothes publicity photo.

“Do you know them?” he asked, handing him it.

“Apart from Lenel, no. Why do you ask?”

“I have spied on Lenel lately and recorded, with the directional microphone of my camera, what he said in that place,” said Boris, taking out a paper from his pocket that said: “Someone has to put out small fires before they become big fires”.

Boris explained that when Lenel said it, he stopped and made a gesture with his hand, as if he was writing a book in the air.

“What does Ronald have to do with a book?” Boris asked.

“I don’t know,” Alexandre said, he remembered Francisca and thought, I lied again.

“Did you notice the publicity photo behind them? Boris asked.

“Is there something important to see in it?” Alexandre asked looking at it.

“It’s a sportswear advertisement with Ronald’s image. Lenel made that gesture of writing a book in front of his image, do you understand?”