The first person to run up to him was the head of the hotel's security service, the same Mr. Spencer. He quickly took Solomon by the arm and led him aside.
–Mr. Grande, please calm down and explain what it all means?
–I want to ask you, what does it mean when I wake up and see a rat in the toilet bowl?
–Sir, you understand that with your obscene appearance and the word "rat", you are spreading panic in our hotel and scaring off visitors.
–I understand everything very well, but, what can I do, if I have a rat in the toilet? Do not doubt that if there were an elephant, I would gladly say the word “elephant”.
–Mr. Grande, understand. Our hotel's 100-year reputation is at stake. Rats can't just show up here. This is a carefully planned provocation, and therefore, I ask you to describe in detail everything that happened to you.
Solomon told everything that had happened to him, not forgetting to mention Yesenia, her friend Carlos, the messages sent by Yersinia, and even more so, yesterday's terrible communication on the computer.
Spencer listened to him attentively, took some notes, and said:
–Sir, you will now go to the conference and behave as you did yesterday. I mean to take part in scientific meetings and also to continue the carefree pastime with Yesenia. I asked for one thing, so that no one would know about our conversation. No one should suspect that you shared your doubts with me with your friend Yesenia. It is possible that she is involved in this case. Yesenia is the only one in this city who has complete information about you. Is it true?
–Yes, it is!
–Do you already have my card? Now you write down your phone number.
Solomon came to the conference. At last came the solemn moment, which he had been waiting for all his life. At a highly professional forum in the imperial capital, his name and the name of the country were announced.
He ascended the pulpit.
–Dear chairman, ladies and gentlemen, Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to speak at this prestigious forum.
The fact that our society has forgotten about the plague is the great merit of doctors of several generations, including ours. However, such well-being can lull our vigilance and cause the plague to reappear with even greater force. After all, it is enough to steal or buy a developed antibiotic-resistant strain of the plague bacillus, inject it into a chicken embryo, dry it, place it in an aerosol can, and inject it into the ventilation system of any institution, or just a residential building. You know, colleagues, how contagious the plague infection is. Of course, modern medicine will be able to weaken and localize the focus, and if earlier the death rate from the plague was up to 90%, now it is much lower at up to 10%. However, I think that none of those sitting in this hall doubts that fear and panic will seize our society if plague patients appear among us.
