Platinum-Mongoose

She sat alone on a couch in the hotel lobby, opposite the main entrance. By all observations-and the men who passed by certainly made a point to observe her-she appeared to be casually reading a newspaper, glancing at a wristwatch from time to time as if she was waiting for someone. Her attention was not, however, fixed upon the paper in front of her. Instead, her focus spun rapidly about the room, taking in details. The floor tiles were three feet to a side, she knew by her walk from the door to the couch, which took fifty-four carefully measured one-foot paces and crossed exactly eighteen tiles. The reception desk had four clerks, each with