✏️ The Littlest Spy

29. The Committee

Near the front of the room, Arrencani entered and began talking with one of the other board members. Donovan, maybe? Again, Isadora knew that she should have been able to place him in a heartbeat. But this meeting seemed to include all the movers and shakers of the neighbourhood, and they were mostly people who hadn't come to the housewarming. There were dozens of people here, and recalling any one person's details would need some time to think, when she'd walked into such a busy room.

The man exuded a kind of easy authority. Whether that was a demeanour that had made it easy for him to lead a crime family, or was something he had picked up after years of people hanging on his every word, would be a question for the psychiatrists. Isadora couldn't make out what they were talking about right now, and hoped it wasn't something that would have been useful to them. But there were a dozen other conversations going on which could have been equally interesting; if she'd just been able to pick out the people who were connected to the Arrencanis. She didn't know where to start.

"Should we try to get closer?" she murmured. She was already weighing up the potential risks if they didn't behave as expected, against the potential for gathering more intelligence. She'd read so many books about this during her field training, and done exercises picking out the correct moment to approach from a video of a meeting, but she also knew that Brock had been doing this job for years. These kinds of decisions would be second nature to him, if the alcohol hadn't already gone to his head.

"Let's mingle a bit before the meeting starts," Brock said. "If we can't make our way over there naturally, it would only cause suspicion. And I think..." He trailed off into silence as the rest of the crowd did. The cue for this seemed to be Arrencani taking a seat in the middle of his table, sandwiched between his brother and Frank Donovan. While everybody waited for the last few stragglers to realise that the meeting had started and wrap up their conversations, Isadora cast her eyes along the line. There were eight members of the board, it seemed, and she paused on each one long enough to recall their names and the few details she knew about each man. The sudden wave of silence just drew attention to the whispered words "...property values..." coming from a woman a little way in front of Isadora and Brock.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Lorenzo's voice cut effortlessly through the last few fragments of conversation. This was a man who never needed to raise his voice. "If we could all take our seats, we'll begin the meeting." He hesitated for a second, but everyone had stopped moving around in the time it took him to finish the sentence. Arrencani just clasped his hands together, and beamed at everyone.

"Now," he greeted the room. "I believe the first order of business on our agenda tonight is the Andersons' new gazebo. However, before we start I would like to welcome new members to the committee. I'm sure I join the whole neighbourhood in extending the hand of friendship to Bernard Klein, an import broker hailing originally from Quebec, and his lovely wife Estelle."

Brock half rose from his seat, nodding and waving so that everybody could see him. The response from the room was a mixture of uncertain "hello"s and half-hearted applause, giving the impression that this was a rare enough occurrence that most members weren't entirely sure which was appropriate. Isadora found herself blushing, and couldn't find the nerve to stand beside her supposed husband right now. She had never seen him act remotely awkward before, so she wondered if the situation might be more serious than it initially seemed. And what was with the intense stare from Marco, sitting over to one side of the room?

Brock squeezed her hand between their chairs once he was sitting again, and realisation dawned. Bernard was nervous here. He was a businessman, but not used to being the newcomer in a situation like this. Brock was just playing the role; and maybe emphasising it a little more so that Isadora's nervousness wouldn't be so obvious to their new neighbours. Arrencani went on to remind them that their presence at the Committee wasn't required, but that they were welcome to attend just like every other resident. He also reminded them that they would receive copies of the minutes of each meeting, as well as summaries of any new rules which they were expected to abide by. Bernard and Estelle nodded quietly, showing their gratitude for a chance to take part in the administration of this community.