“He does run the business actively-we know the factory bosses don’t make any of the important decisions themselves-but he is rarely seen.”

S. and company decide to set up camp at the end of the day and discuss their strategy for moving on, however, they quickly realize that, essentially, their sole plan is simply to go. Over a dinner of bread a cheese, Corbeau explains to S. why no one expected Vévoda to be so dangerous. She portrays him as a particularly mysterious man, claiming that when they were younger he rarely came into contact with other children and even as an adult, despite playing such an important role in his company, is still rarely seen.

Eric makes a connection between Hermes Bouchard‘s son and Vévoda in his pencil notes, which sparks the only dialogue between Jen and Eric on this page.

Do we know that Bouchard had a son?

We don’t know. But when USSR fell + many Kremlin docs released, there was one from 1957 about managing the “commercants B.” transition (see Desjardins 1986). Have heard there’s a similar doc in Eisenhower’s archives, which is interesting–both sides worrying about Bouchard continuity.

We already know that Bouchard was the owner of a giant company that dissolved at the end of WWI, but we know nothing about his son (if he even exists). Eric seems to think he does, but Jen is a bit more skeptical. Considering that Hermes Bouchard was a pretty evil guy, it would add a whole new dimension to the story if his son was still alive. If he is, there’s a good chance that he’s part of the broad mystery behind Straka’s identity.