"Actually, Jones listens to me because of Minnie," Loa explained. "You might not know this, sir, but Jones and Minnie are twins!"
"What? Seriously?"
Zephyr's eyes widened. He stared at Loa in disbelief.
He had seen Jones's photograph plenty of times. That old man in the picture was Minnie's twin brother? You've got to be kidding me.
Zephyr didn't say it aloud, but the doubt in his eyes was unmistakable.
Loa took the Pocket Watch Jones had given him from his coat, opened it, and handed it over. "See for yourself. Jones always carries this. The photograph was taken when they were five."
"Let me see." Zephyr took the Pocket Watch and studied the photograph in the moonlight.
It was true. They looked very different now, but certain details of their faces still matched. Even if they weren't twins, they were undoubtedly close blood relatives.
"Believe me now?" Loa shrugged. "I threatened Minnie's safety to force Jones to work for me. As long as we have Minnie, he won't betray us."
"Even so..." Zephyr closed the Pocket Watch, his face clouded with worry. "We can't keep this up forever. Now I feel awful every time I see Minnie."
He sighed. "I thought you might come back with some advice to help me decide what to do about her. Instead, you've given me another problem. Honestly..."
"Well, you are my teacher." Loa spread his hands. "A teacher's either cleaning up after his student or on his way to do it."
"Shut up now, and I won't hit you."
"Uh... all right."
Silence fell for a moment. Then Loa cleared his throat and continued.
"As for Minnie, she was planted in the Marines by the World Government, but she confessed the identities of the other spies as soon as she was caught.