I knew she was in cahoots with Minister Szymanowicz! She’s a walking, talking natural disaster.

“You are to leave here immediately,” said Larissa. She sounded way angrier than I remembered. Even when we were in prison she didn’t sound this annoyed.

Mom tried to speak.

Larissa held up her hand to stop her.

“We know that you are—how did the fifth clue put it? Ah, yes, ‘searching in the wrong place.’”

“Whoa,” said Tommy. “You read that message from Dad?”

“Da.”

“But that was private and confidential!”

“So?”

Tommy looked very disappointed in his Russian crush. “That’s… that’s…spying.”

“Da. Something your mother and father are quite familiar with. We also, of course, picked up your earlier satellite-phone text communication with Professor Thomas Kidd. The message where you confess that you are, and I quote, ‘no longer actively searching for missing Russian masterpieces at the North Pole.’”

“The most recent clues from the Enlightened Ones suggest we are looking in the wrong spot,” explained Mom.

“Of course they do!” snapped Larissa. “You, your husband, and your children have been playing us for fools. Creating this Enlightened Ones conspiracy-theory nonsense. Leading us on what you Americans call a wild-goose chase so your husband can abscond with our historic treasures!”

“That’s not true!”

“Pack up your things. We are taking you back to Russia! Minister Szymanowicz and Inspector Gorky would like to speak with you. You are never, ever to return to the North Pole. Ever!”

So we were basically given ten seconds to grab our go bags. Then we were marched across the ice to that floating airport, where a Russian cargo plane was waiting with its engines running.