And now that I knew I was being observed, I could play a trick or two on them. I turned off my phone to keep its signal from giving away our position and rejoined Ernie. His hulking Chevrolet was parked just down the street. Rosie was curled in the driver’s seat. With her straining to lick my face, I lifted her up and put her in the back. I headed to Dias’s apartment along the Rua da Escola Politécnica. Twenty minutes later, I squeezed into a parking spot by the São Carlos Theatre. ‘Stay here,’ I told my brother. ‘I’m going to take a quick look around.’ I didn’t dare tell him that whoever had been listening to my calls might confront me, but he must have figured that out, because he touched his index finger to his forehead, which was our sign for: Be very, very careful. ‘Always,’ I replied. ‘But listen, I’m going to call you in a few minutes and tell you I’m headed somewhere crazy.’ ‘Where are you going?’ he asked suspiciously. Hearing the discomfort in Ernie’s voice, Rosie sat up in the back seat and barked.
