Nod.
'Who?'
'My father petitioned the waqf. They appointed righteous old men.'
'To pray for Shahin?'
Nod. 'And?'
'And what?'
Barakat started to cry again.
'What is it, Abdin?'
'I-prayed for her too. I recited every surah in the Quran in one long night. I chanted the zikr until I fainted. Allah shut his ears to me. I am unworthy.'
'It was a strong djinn,' said Daoud. Playing his part well, thought Daniel. He knew what Christians thought of Muslim spirits.
Barakat hung his head.
Daoud looked at his watch. 'More water, Abdin? Or something to eat?'
Shake of the head.
'Did Shahin ever consult a doctor?'
Nod.
'Which doctor?'
'A herbalist.'
'When?'
'A year ago.'
'Not more recently?'
Shake of the head.
'What's the herbalist's name?'
'Professor Mehdi.'
'The Professor Mehdi on Ibn Sina Street?'
Nod.
Daoud frowned, as did Daniel, behind the glass. Mehdi was a quack and illegal abortionist who'd been busted several times for fraud and released when the magistrates took seriously his lawyer's claims of ethnic harassment.
'What did Professor Mehdi advise?'
Shrug.
'You don't know?'
Shake of the head.
'She never told you?'
Barakat started to throw up his hands, got midway to his shoulders, and let them drop. 'He took my money-it didn't work. What was the use?'
'Did she see a medical doctor?'
Nod.
'After she saw Professor Mehdi or before?'
'After.'
'When?'
'Last month, then later.'
'When later?'
'Before she?' Barakat chewed his lip.
'Before she left?'
Nod.
'When before she left?'
'Sunday.'
'She saw this doctor the day before she left?'
Nod.
'Was she going for treatment?'
