“Sergius!” exclaimed Sim. “That sounds Russian to me.”
“Sergia,” Terry voted. “That’s also Russian, but one may be a woman’s name. How can we get around that? There’s no way of finding out from this list. It’s very impartial.”
“We can get around it this way,” Arden declared. “Just use Serg. Then we’ll be safe if it’s a man or woman. You know a boy’s name could be Ted, and they call some girls Ted. I’m in favor of just Serg.”
“It sounds good,” admired Terry.
“I’m for it,” added Sim. “But what about a last name?”
“There’s going to be a rub,” said Terry. “We took the easiest part first.”
“It seems almost impossible, doesn’t it?” sighed Arden.
“Yes, it does. It might be Smith or Brown or Jones,” Sim remarked. “This is quite an undertaking, I’m afraid.”
“Well, there’s no harm in trying,” Arden protested. “Working with Dimitri in mind, it’s logical to suppose that, being Russian, he’d have Russian friends or relatives, isn’t it?”
Sim and Terry agreed silently.