“This is my grandson, Turan.”
More child than man, Turan is obviously intellectually disabled, and he grins at Julia and Leo through his misshapen jaw as he plucks the chest of his Incredible Hulk pajamas.
“Merhaba, Turan,” says Julia.
Turan reciprocates with a strange kind of moan and a string of drool spills over his bottom lip. He holds something up for her to look at. It’s a little toy car, gripped between his twisted fingers.
“Turan likes Matchbox cars very much,” says Detective Muhtar.
Turan laughs and claps his hands. He gently wheels the toy car across Detective Muhtar’s shoulders, but his fingers are too distorted to grasp the toy properly, and the car falls to the ground with a clang.
Reyhan appears. “I will give Turan his bath now.” She takes Turan’s hand, then pauses to look at Julia and Leo. “Please do not make trouble for us. We are good family.”
“Reyhan,” says Detective Muhtar, eyes gentle.
She doesn’t say anything further, just gives Detective Muhtar a look, then closes the door softly behind her.
“Forgive her,” he says. “She has been through a lot.”
Julia looks at him. “What’s going on, Detective? Why have you brought us here? Who was the man with the gun?”
Detective Muhtar sits in the chair opposite and places his hands flat on his knees.
“Yes, you have waited long enough for an explanation.” He pauses and takes a breath. “I take money. I take the money from your government and it pays for Turan, this apartment, and sometimes special things like Matchbox cars and physical therapy to help with Turan’s joints. His mother, my daughter, committed suicide a week after Turan was born. My wife and Turan depend on me. Only me. I am telling you this.”
Julia and Leo look at each other. Any doubt about Beren’s story vanishes.
“There is more,” says Detective Muhtar. “The man in the Lamborghini is called Mustafa Saat. He is a very bad man. He abducts foreign women and rapes them. The US government protects him because he gives them secrets. The US government gives Turkish police bribes to keep him out of prison.”
Julia shakes her head, disgusted. “By Turkish police, you mean you.”
Detective Muhtar nods, grimly. “Me, others. It does not matter. It is all wrong.”
Julia stands up and turns her back. There’s a hard, angry lump stuck in her throat.
“That bastard did something to Toni and you covered it up.”
“No. You are mistaken. At first we do not know for sure that Mustafa had anything to do with your sister’s disappearance. Because his other victims were raped and let go, we never made any link between him and Toni. The first time we realized that he might be involved was the CCTV video.”
Julia faces him, heat flushing through her body. “And what did you do then? I’ll tell what you did, you sat on the information and did absolutely nothing.”
He looks at her earnestly. “I wanted to bring him in for questioning, but those above me would not allow it.”
“Christine Fletcher knows about this, doesn’t she?” Julia demands.
Detective Muhtar nods. “The Turkish police take direction from her.”
Julia has to sit down because she’s shaking so much. “I don’t believe this. You’ve both been deceiving us all along. Playing us for fools. You both have.”
“It is not like that.”
She glares at him. “Oh no? Then why don’t you tell me what it is like, Detective, because it sure as hell feels like deception to me.”
“Where does the guy with Toni’s penny necklace fit in all of this?” says Leo. “Does Mustafa know him?”
Detective Muhtar frowns. “That’s the strange thing. There does not seem to be a connection between Asen Cevik and Mustafa Saat.”
“So Asen could have simply found the necklace on the street after all?” says Leo.
“It is possible.”
“But he won’t talk?”
“No.”
Suddenly Leo pauses, contemplating something. “Wait a minute, do you think the US Embassy trashed Julia’s hotel room? Was the guy with a gun an agent?”
Detective Muhtar shakes his head. “He was more likely to be a Mustafa’s thug. Mustafa is connected everywhere. He is trying to scare you into leaving Istanbul.”
“So you do think Mustafa is responsible?” says Julia.
Detective Muhtar exhales. “At the very least, he’s our best suspect. Although it is a departure from his usual modus operandi, perhaps this time something went wrong. Toni could have fought back and he killed her. Or maybe he is holding her captive somewhere.”
Julia stares at him. “If something has happened to Toni because of this delay I will never forgive you.”
He lowers his eyes. “Yes, I am responsible. Yes, I am ashamed of what I have done. But I have been truthful with you now and I want to help you find your sister.”
Julia laughs sharply. “Help? Oh, it’s way too late for that, Detective.”
Leo looks at them both. “I think I might have a way.”
52
Beren enters Detective Muhtar’s apartment just before midnight smelling of stale cigarettes and orange blossom. She has taken the time to apply a layer of purple lipstick but she’s less put together than the last time Julia had seen her, dressed only in a gray T-shirt and jeans. There’s a flush to her cheeks and a gleam in her eye. Julia can’t blame her. She’s about to break the biggest story of her life.
Beren introduces herself to Detective Muhtar and he apologizes for the late hour. She waves him away with a hand.
“Justice never sleeps.”
Then Beren drops onto the sofa and pulls out her phone and opens the recorder app.
“Let us begin,” she says.
The plan is simple. Detective Muhtar will be Beren Aslan’s anonymous source. He will tell her everything he knows about the US government’s involvement in the cover-up of Mustafa Saat’s crimes and the link to Toni. Beren will then break the story,
