THE whole city was buzzing, as if the very air carried Oswald Dino Escobar’s name on every whisper, every conversation, every news headline that rolled across TV screens in bars, restaurants, bus terminals, and public squares.

The grand announcement had spread like wildfire. The billionaire who never bared his private affairs, who ruled his empire with an iron hand and a tongue so sharp his own board trembled, had put out a public search for a girl, a maid. Not a socialite, not a lost heiress, not some priceless art, but a young maid named Orlanda Grimes. And not just a search, he had promised a handsome reward, a sum...