Their rented apartment in one of the 18 th district of Vienna was on the top floor of a rather quiet Altbau building- high ceilings, creaky parquet floors, with windows that commanded snow-covered rooftops and the distant Danube.Two days after the meeting with Sacher they had moved.No one followed them. No black cars. No late-night knocks.Nothing but the regular noises of a city in the winter: trams rattling away in the distance, kids screaming in the yard below, and the dull bang of snow falling off the roof.The room is the smallest of all, belonging to Luca--just room to fit in one bed and one desk that Julian had dragged up the four flights of stairs. The boy had already made it his command center: two monitors, three external drives, cables that have been carefully tied with twist ties. There was one pushpin that was stuck on the wall above the desk as he had pinned the silver bell.Julian gave a knock, then forced open the door.Luca did not raise his eyes on his screen. "It'

The initial titles were like the waves of a thunder--heard before heard.On the Lisbon rental house Jules had wakened up early in the morning, the sort of place with terra-cotta tiles and the Tagus River glittering in the morning sun. He made his way to the kitchen, brewed a cup of coffee, opened his computer on the scratched wooden table.The display was full of notifications.Luca turned up in the door a few minutes later, still wearing pajamas and with sticking hair. "It's starting."Lila had come with them and wrapped a robe around her. "Show us."Luca dragged up the tabs which he had bookmarked the night before.First: Portuguese daily, front page online: Hale Papers' Rock European Finance - Millions in Secret Money Revealed.The article also used anonymous sources, described the initial arrests: two low-level bankers in Vienna, who were dragged out at dawn and questioned on money laundering charges.Julian scrolled. "They

The Lagos house was unlike the Lisbon house.It was smaller, older and behind a high wall in Ikoyi. Bougainvillea was extravagantly set on the gate with its bloody pinks and purples. It was acrid with diesel, damp clay following the rain and the slight sweetness of frying plantain of the street seller two corners away.Three weeks ago they had come--no trumpet-tongue, no advertisement. Nothing more than a silent flight out of Lisbon, new names on the passports, and a cash lease.Luca had usurped the back room that had the mango tree view. On the first day he would set up his desk and then he would put the silver bell above his desk and then he would be monitoring the fallout as though it was a living being.Julian and Lila occupied the front bedroom. The bed creaked. The ceiling fan rattled. Neither of them minded.To-night there was no power on--NEPA once again--and they sat on the veranda under a solar lantern. Cicadas sang in the dark. Somewhere

It was the end of the mango-tree in the courtyard. The tree tops now appeared in the nakedness of nearly pregnant expectation, anticipating the arrival of rains, and the persuasion of new leaves.Luca was sitting under it with a plastic chair, silver bell in his left hand and the phone on his right. The screen was displaying a silent news feed one no breaking news alerts, no new arrests, just follow-up articles in the interior pages.He scrolled slowly.Julian emerged with two glasses of cold zobo the condensation already streaming down the sides. He gave one to Luca, and himself took the vacant seat next him.“Anything?” Julian asked.Luca shook his head. “Quiet. The property belonging to Hale Junior is not yet liquidated. The EU new register was launched last month- more than two hundred thousand trusts reported in the first week alone. A few small fines. Nothing big.”Julian took a long sip. The zobo was bitter, sw

The morning was puffy-looking--great drops of rain beating impatiently against the tin roof.  They had half packed everything out of the house already: the suit cases were zip-zipped, the boxes were taped, the mango sapling was neatly potted and wrapped in burlap to travel.Luca was in the court and the drizzle was rolling over the eaves onto his shoulders. He gave a parting glance to the little tree--it was still small--and turned to Julian.But I know it would not move, would it?Julian waited on the pot-side, and examined the ground. "It's tougher than it looks. Like us."Lila came into the door with the raincoat on and three umbrellas in her hand.  "Car's outside. Driver's waiting. Forty minutes to make the airport.Luca nodded once.  He approached the tree and stroked one of the leaves.  "Grow strong," he whispered. "We'll be back."They didn't linger.It was a slow approach to Murtala