“What about her?” she says. “What do you think her involvement is?”
Leo rubs his jaw. “Difficult to say. I don’t think she knew about the knife though, given her reaction.”
The patrol officer places his hand on the crown of Suleyman’s head and guides him into the backseat. Next, he turns to the girl but she refuses to get in the car. Crying, she pleads with Detective Muhtar and points to Julia and Leo.
Julia gets to her feet. “Something’s up.”
“She’s just pissed they got caught.”
“Maybe,” says Julia. “But maybe she knows something.”
Julia strides over to Detective Muhtar and the girl.
“What’s she saying, Detective?”
To Julia’s surprise, the girl answers in English. “I did not know Suleyman was planning that. I thought he would just get the money for the information. Please, he is not a bad person. He is a soldier from the war. He has mental problem now because of the war.” She grabs Julia’s hands and holds them between hers. “Please tell them to let him go. They will listen to you. He is the father of my child.”
“Enough of this,” growls Detective Muhtar, grabbing the girl’s upper arm. “You have caused these good people too many problems already.”
“Wait,” says Julia. “Where did Suleyman get the information about my sister?”
The girl hesitates.
Julia pushes. “Is Suleyman responsible for Toni’s disappearance? Does he know where she is?”
The girl shakes her head. “No, no, you have it all wrong. Suleyman never met your sister. My best friend works at Club Asena. She’s the one who see your sister.”
“Why didn’t she come forward herself?”
“She did not want to be involved.”
Leo looks disgusted. “So you thought you’d steal the information from your best friend to make a quick buck?”
The girl lowers her eyes. “We are poor. The baby come soon.”
Julia pauses, thinking. “If we help Suleyman, will you take us to your friend?”
Detective Muhtar gives Julia an exasperated look. “Dr. Norris, we cannot help him. He is a criminal. He tried to rob you.”
The girl starts to weep. “It is the war. It turn his mind. He saw things, terrible things. He scream at night like a small boy.”
Julia pulls Detective Muhtar aside. “Surely there’s something you can do. This nightclub worker may have valuable information.”
He lets out a breath and turns to the girl. “Get your friend to talk and I will let the judge know about your help. That is all I can do.”
Julia looks at her. “Do we have a deal?”
The girl casts a longing glance in Suleyman’s direction and then turns to Julia.
“Yes, we have a deal.”
32
The girl, whose name it turns out is Miray, rides in the front with Detective Muhtar, cradling the sleeping dog in her arms. On her left wrist, there’s a pretty pewter charm bracelet that jangles whenever it brushes against her pregnant belly. Julia watches from the backseat. She can’t imagine what it would be like to be so young and expecting a child. At thirty-seven, she still doesn’t feel ready. Not that she currently has any choice given the lack of likely father candidates. When she and Leo first got married, they’d had the “baby” conversation. He’d wanted kids but they agreed to wait until Julia finished med school and was established in her career first. But the timing never seemed right and Julia never seemed ready. Then it was too late and they were divorced.
Julia glances at Leo and feels a pang of guilt. He would’ve made a great father. Who knows, maybe if they’d had a family, the incident with Toni might never have happened and they’d still be together. Julia turns back to the window. Too late for what-might-have-beens now. She needs to focus on what family she has left.
“I have something for you,” says Detective Muhtar, reaching down in the front seat to retrieve a folder. “They have identified the body. They matched her to a missing person’s report filed a year ago by her mother.”
He passes the folder to Julia and she opens it to see a photograph of a pretty, blue-eyed fair-haired woman dressed in a white shirt with an embroidered collar of crimson roses. Unrecognizable compared to the body which now lies in the morgue.
“She was from Romania. They tell her to come to Turkey to work in a restaurant but put her to work in a brothel instead,” says Detective Muhtar, his distaste evident.
“That’s awful,” says Julia.
“At least her family can put her to rest now,” says Leo.
“Yes, that’s something.”
Julia returns the photograph to the file and feels the stir of disquiet. The entire incident with the body is strange. Something doesn’t fit. But she isn’t sure what.
Detective Muhtar doubles back through the web of streets then travels uphill toward Galata Tower, where the road for vehicles ends and the pedestrian-only entrance begins. He pulls into a side park and they get out, following Miray uphill past a clutch of shops selling traditional musical instruments. Julia’s eyes sweep the store fronts as they pass, noting the exquisitely carved Turkish teardrop mandolins hanging in the windows like art installations. There are darbuka drums too, animal skins on either end, small enough to place between the knees. Leaving the music shops behind, they crest the hill and the area opens out to Istiklal Caddesi, a sprawling open-air pedestrian mall that stretches well into the distance. It’s just after 9 p.m. on a Friday night and the place is bustling with people. There’s an almost festive atmosphere as the noisy crowds peruse the big-name chain stores or hunt for a bite to eat in one of the restaurants or bars in the lanes branching off from the main mall. Julia smells lamb cooking over coals and her mouth waters. But there’s no time to stop. Miray has picked up pace, forcing Julia, Leo, and Detective Muhtar to fight their way through the shoulder-to-shoulder
