The librarian in the first panel is a mini cameo of Violet, from Leif & Thorn.
Have we seen Jany’s phone change? I don’t remember if Walker bought her a better one, among all the other upgrades Walker’s bought, or if Jany had a decent one from the start. (In contrast with Timothy, who, as we saw earlier in the chapter, doesn’t even have a smartphone.)
Either way, she’s considering that Walker might’ve had it bugged. And/or might be tracing all traffic on the wifi in the buildings she owns.
Public libraries to the rescue.
In the original version of this chapter, Jany was sending an email to spill everything to Bianca. Another doubled Big Reveal. In the remaster, I switched this to just be Jany’s first round of undercover research — now there’s a few chapters of buildup before the reveal.
Jany: You’ll take a work visa as ID, right?
And nobody else is allowed to look at what books I check out, or what else I do with my account . . . ?
Sparrow: Look, I’ll be honest, I’m not gonna make it to Zimbabwe. Even for a rescue mission.
Jany (typing):
Search: Beings
Search: Bearded Vulture
Search: Near Eastern History professor Heidelberg University
Search: how do I tell if a conspiracy theory is true
Welcome to your new Woohoo Mail account! Enjoy the week of peace before spammers find the address. What would you like to do next?
> Set up an alert
> Send me news articles about: Walker Being Research
> Send me . . .
Sparrow: But maybe there’s dangerous stuff closer to home that I could help out with?
It’s not like I’m doing anything else with my life. I was helping with a campaign, but it’s over. I have a job, but not one with, you know . . . security. Or healthcare. Or a pension plan.
And Mom did always say she’d be happy to take in my stuff if I wanted to travel! . . . so, okay, I’m pretty sure she was thinking of a Birthright trip. But we’re not so Jewish that she’ll be heartbroken if I do something else.
