it was too late. He knew.
“You issued one to Marivic. Why?”
“Instructions from Manila.”
“This office has been open how long?”
“About seven months.”
“And in all that time, how many other applicants got the same treatment as Marivic?”
“I can’t say any more. Please go now. I know nothing about any of this. I take applications and send them on, that’s all.”
“Was Marivic unusually qualified? Gifted? Exceptional in some way?”
The woman shook her head. No. No. No. Not so much answering him as trying to refuse him.
She said, “Please. I have no part in this.”
“What was special about Marivic? What made her different?”
“Nothing,” she said. ”Nothing that I could see. Please go now. Please.”
Favor got up from the chair and walked out, with Mendonza following. On their way down, they met a young woman, college age, headed up. She was holding a clipboard with an application form. On the inside of her left forearm, visible to Favor as he stepped aside, was a gauze pad held in place by a piece of surgical tape.
Favor said, ”Miss? Excuse me? Your arm, did you hurt it?”
She paused.
She said, “Not at all, sir. It’s from the examination. The physical exam, the doctor takes a blood sample.”
“You were required to take a physical?”
She said, “All applicants are required, sir.”
They watched her go up the stairs and into the Optimo office.
Among several offices at the bottom floor, Favor found one with a hand-lettered sign, CLINIC, taped to the door. He opened it, peeked in, found a nurse in a small waiting room.
He said, “I woke up this morning with a sore throat and a headache. I think I’m running a fever. Can I get an appointment this afternoon?”
The nurse looked up and said, “I’m very sorry, this is a private facility.”
“Associated with the agency upstairs?”
“That’s correct.”
He went out and joined Mendonza on the sidewalk.
“It’s an Optimo clinic,” he said. “I don’t see how that pays off.”
“Sending people overseas, you want to make sure they’re healthy,” Mendonza said.
“Yeah, when they’re actually ready to go,” Favor said. “I get that. But most of these people will wait weeks or months for a job. By then you just have to do it all over again. I’m guessing most won’t ever get that call. So why would they do the exams now?”
They walked along the front of the office building. Just above eye level was a row of windows. Favor knew that one or two of the windows must belong to the clinic.
He crossed the street to the pension house, with Mendonza following. MIRADOR PENSION said the sign above the front door. Inside looked like the film noir set of a cheap hotel. The desk clerk appeared stunned to see them, even more surprised when Favor said that he wanted to see a room. Second floor, street side.
The clerk plucked a couple of keys off a peg-board and led them up to the second floor. He told Favor that the street-facing rooms were six hundred pesos a night—about twelve dollars—but the rooms at the back were larger and quieter, just one hundred pesos more.
“American style,” he said. ”Much nicer.”
“I prefer the street side,” Favor said. “I’m on a limited budget.”
The room had a dank and musty smell. One small bed, an ancient armchair. Favor went to the single window, parted the drapes, and looked out into the street.
“Perfect,” he said.
“It is?” the clerk said.
“Exactly what I want,” Favor said. He stripped some bills from a wad of cash, gave it to the clerk, and said, “My friend will be down in a while to check us in.”
The clerk walked out and shut the door behind him.
“Remind me why we’re here,” Mendonza said.
Favor pushed the drapes open a few more inches. Across the narrow street was the building they had just left. From here he could see two windows that opened onto the clinic. The windows were set above sidewalk eye level, but from up here they allowed a perfect angle down into the clinic.
“I like the view,” he said.
For about an hour after the two men walked out of the office, Lisabet Bambanao resumed her usual routine, acting as if nothing unusual had happened. She continued to handle applications while interacting with the applicants as little as possible. When she received completed applications, she fed them through a document scanner, checked to be sure that the files had been saved to the appropriate directory on her computer, and then filed the paper originals in a cabinet beside her desk.
Outwardly, she continued to function