“We will think of something,” says Detective Muhtar.
Ada speaks. “He is right, Julia. Do not lose hope.”
Detective Muhtar’s phone chirps with a message. He reads it and sighs. “I am sorry. I must go.”
Julia looks at him. “You’re leaving?”
He nods. “Unfortunately I am needed elsewhere, but I will return later. Take some time, let the news sink in.” He pauses in the doorway. “Dr. Norris, this is a setback, yes, but I will not give up on finding your sister. You have my word.”
*
Julia stares numbly at the wall. She’s been here for the past two hours on the end of her bed. Just sitting and staring. Staring at the flyer of Toni she had stuck there all those days ago, now slightly lopsided and curling at the edges. Like a fallen leaf gradually being dried by time. She looks at that flyer and thinks that maybe that’s all she has left. That maybe it’s all she will ever get.
“Hey.” It’s Leo at the shared door. “You know what day it is?”
She glances at him briefly then returns to the wall.
“Your birthday,” he says.
Oh, her birthday. She’d forgotten. She’s now thirty-nine.
“It doesn’t matter,” she says.
Leo hands her a steaming cup of tea. She takes it and feels a burst of warmth against her skin.
“Of course it matters,” he says, sitting next to her. He leans over and kisses her cheek. “Happy Birthday.” He takes a sip of tea. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine.”
He looks at the flyer then quickly glances away. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t say anything. This isn’t something you can fix.”
“I still can’t believe they killed Saat. And Beren…”
“These are bad people, Leo. Bad people do bad things.” Julia places the tea on the floor by her feet and stands. “Listen, I’ve been thinking, maybe it’s better if you go back home, to San Francisco. I’m very grateful for your help but you must need to get back to your business. I can take things from here.”
Leo gives her a look. “Julia, come on.”
“I know your clients have been calling you. I never expected it to take this long. Like I said, I’m grateful but now I think it’s time for you to go.”
She can hear her voice. So clipped and businesslike.
“You’re doing the thing with the eyes again,” he says, “when you look at me but don’t really look at me. It’s remarkable how you can do that. Shut me out so completely.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He takes a breath and softens his tone. “Julia, I want you to consider something.”
She folds her arms. “I’m listening.”
“Maybe both of us should go back.”
She turns away, shaking her head. “Out of the question. I’m not going anywhere until I find Toni.”
Leo looks at the water stain around the mini-fridge. “Think about it for a second, Julia. Where’s our time better spent? Not here handing out flyers on street corners, that’s for sure. We’d be far more effective back home, doing the media circuit, putting pressure on the government.”
She scoffs. “Don’t be an idiot, Leo. That won’t work. No one cares. Not the Turkish government. Not the US government. Not the police. Mustafa was the only real leverage we had and now he’s gone. If I leave now, Toni will be just another missing foreigner who’s never found.” Julia sweeps the hair from her eyes and lifts her chin. “I’m not giving up on her.”
“No one said anything about giving up.”
“She isn’t dead, Leo. I know that’s what you really think. But Toni isn’t dead and I’m staying here until I find her.”
59
The buzz of Julia’s phone jolts her. Unable to sleep, she’s been replying to work emails in an effort to distract herself, not that it was doing much good. She reaches for her mobile and answers.
“Hello.”
Detective Muhtar’s voice fills the line. “I have information. Important information. It could be both good and bad depending.”
She sits up. “Tell me.”
“We found the hotel where Mustafa Saat said he dropped Toni off. I am there now, reviewing the security camera footage. It was as he said. He let her out, he drove away, she went to her room. No problem.”
“He didn’t go inside the hotel with her?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
There’s some chatter in the background. “I am needed,” he says. “I must go.”
“Detective, wait—”
But it’s too late, he’s already hung up. Julia rises from the chair and knocks on the shared doorway.
“Leo.”
A few seconds later, Leo appears, frowning when he sees her face.
“What’s happened?”
“They found Toni’s hotel. There’s footage of Mustafa dropping her off then leaving right away.”
His brown creases. “What? That doesn’t make sense. If Mustafa left Toni at her hotel unharmed then where is she?”
“You tell me.”
*
Blue and white police tape sections off the small hotel room. The room itself is basic with a single inner-sprung bed, a simple chest of drawers, and walls badly in need of paint. A dusty window overlooks a spare parts factory next door. The only thing bringing cheer to the space is a faded print of the Blue Mosque in a cheap faux brass frame above the bed.
By the time Julia and Leo arrive, forensics are busy at work. Bundled up in their paper Tyvek suits, drawstring of their hoods pulled tight around their faces. Detective Muhtar is there, donned in a paper suit too, trailing the technicians. From behind the tape, Julia and Leo watch as doorknobs and jambs are dusted, and the bed is stripped of linen, and items are placed in clear plastic evidence bags. Everything from a lamp, alarm clock, cushions, even coat hangers and the extra pillows and blankets on top of the wardrobe.
One of the technicians opens a black case and takes out a spray can and some sort of tool shaped like a paddle.
Detective Muhtar approaches Leo and Julia. “We must shut the door.”
“What are they doing?” says Julia.
Detective Muhtar pauses. “Checking
