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“Eighty-six at last count,” said Armand.

“Monkeys?” repeated the Asshole Saint.

“Not real ones,” snapped Ruth. “And not imaginary.”

Now Vincent Gilbert was genuinely interested. “Then what are they?”

“Drawings mostly,” said Stephen. “Poor one must’ve lost her mind.”

“A lot of that going around,” said Gilbert, glancing over at Abigail Robinson.

Armand gave a small hum. In his experience there was almost always a reason for what people did. And often a rational one, if they could just find it.

“I wonder if there’ll be a hundred monkeys,” said Gilbert. “That would be interesting.”

“And eighty-six isn’t?” asked Ruth.

Jean-Guy moved to step between Abigail and Idola. But Annie put a hand on his arm and whispered, “Ça va bien aller.”

It’ll be okay.

He held her gaze, then stepped aside.

“Why do you say a hundred monkeys would be interesting?” Stephen asked.

Seeing Abigail Robinson reach out to move the blanket around Idola, Ruth started forward, clutching her cane and her duck. Rosa was looking very determined. A battle duck.

But Armand put out his hand. “Non. Let them.”

“Idola—” Ruth began.

“Is safe.” Though he didn’t take his eyes off them. He wasn’t sure what he was afraid of. He knew Abigail Robinson wasn’t going to harm his granddaughter. Not there. Not then.

They watched Robinson lean in. They watched her straighten up. They watched as she said something to Annie and Jean-Guy. And Annie responded.

Armand saw Reine-Marie smile. Only then did he return his attention to Gilbert.

“The hundredth monkey theory?” Vincent Gilbert was saying. “Never heard of it?”

“Should we have?” Stephen asked.

Gilbert laughed. “I guess not. Living on my own gives me time to read obscure articles. This one’s on human nature and crowd mentality.”

“Wait a minute,” said Stephen. “Is it the study from those anthropologists in Japan?”

“Yes. I’m not even sure it was a real study,” said Dr. Gilbert. “It seems like bullshit, and yet . . .”

“Maybe not.” Stephen turned to the others with enthusiasm. “It was passed around in the investment community years ago. It’s pretty odd, but some think it explains why certain stocks, certain industries or products, like bitcoins, suddenly get hot. Why some ideas take hold, no matter how crazy, while other, even better ideas, just die.”

“Like Betamax,” said Ruth. It was her answer to everything that should have succeeded but didn’t. That and the Avro Arrow.

“What is this study?” Armand asked. Anything to do with human nature interested him.

“Back in the nineteen fifties, I think it was,” said Gilbert, “sweet potatoes were dropped on a Japanese island for the monkeys that lived there. The monkeys liked the taste but hated the sand that covered the food. Anthropologists studying the monkeys noticed that one day a young female washed a sweet potato in the ocean. A few others eventually did it too, but most just watched and continued to eat the sandy potatoes. Have I got that right?”

“That’s what I remember,” said Stephen.

“Not much of a story,” said Ruth. “Have I ever told you about the Avro Arrow?”