She sat up straight and turned an appraising glance on each of the guests. That was a critical part of the plan. As her eyes met those of each guest, I carefully did my own appraisal of their reactions.

“We found some important papers among Faruk’s documents. At first we didn’t know what they were. Then, a note in Volkan Bey’s safe-deposit box and a detail found among the phone and computer records compiled by Kemal Bey helped us connect the dots. We’d overlooked a certain detail for quite some time. But now we’re sure.”

Silence!

She turned to me. We were both certain now.

“Someone had been extorting money from Faruk Bey for a considerable time,” I said.

It was important here to note the reaction of each and every guest. We’d decided beforehand who would observe who.

Impatient Ponpon jumped straight in, of course: “Gigolo Volkan!”

“No, not him,” I said. “He was an intermediary. In fact, he was just a tool.”

“What?” reacted Sami Bey, wiping his misty eyes with his handkerchief. “That couldn’t have happened without my knowledge. We kept meticulous accounts.”

“Correct, Sami Bey,” said Nimet. “It happened without your knowledge. You, too, were used.”

Sami waved his large handkerchief, avoiding eye contact.

“Well I never, hanımefendi!” he objected.

“But why?” insisted Nimet Hanım. “You knew Volkan better than anyone. You may have availed yourself of his services more than anyone else… Which is why you’re sweating now.”

Nimet fixed her honey eyes on his. “I had no knowledge of your preferences. Nor was I interested in them. That is, until today. The bedroom is private. I don’t care who does what. Nor do I have the right to… But someone turned your head.”

“Those are baseless insinuations!” Sami shouted.

So he was a hothead, just as I’d thought. I’m never wrong when it comes to men.

Now it was Refik’s turn to kick up a fuss. The suggestion of a relationship between Sami and Volkan had been too much for him.

“Slandering the dead like this! How dare you…” he began, before Okan deliberately cut him off.

“Leave my brother out of this!”

“No one knew him or loved him like me. Don’t you see?” mumbled Ziya from the back. Then came the sound of choked sobbing.

“The murder of Volkan Bey is another matter entirely,” Nimet said evenly and calmly. “Everyone had a motive for killing him. Wouldn’t you all agree?”

I picked up where she’d left off.

“Ziya Bey, you were in love with him,” I began. “You’d do anything to keep him with you always. When he left you, you threatened him with a knife. How are we to believe that you didn’t kill him?”

“How could I bring myself to harm someone I loved? Could this hand have stabbed him? I swear, I’d cut it off first!” he sobbed.

“But you were the one who got him mixed up in all this. Admit it. It was you!” cried Okan, beginning to lunge at Ziya. Refik and Selçuk forced him down into his chair.

“What about you, Okan?” I asked. “You adored your brother, but he couldn’t keep up with your demands for drugs and cash. After he died, you went through his things, hoping to find someone to shake down. Why did you come here before the body was even cold? It wasn’t over grief for your brother; it was to demand money from Faruk and Nimet.”

“That’s a lie!” he snarled.

“I’m still here,” Nimet quietened him. “You said you had damaging evidence and tried to bargain with us. Don’t deny it. There’s no point.”

Selçuk winked at me to indicate that he was ready to step in. I winked back, as we’d agreed beforehand, to let him know that it was still too early and that everything was going as planned.

Ziya was dumbfounded. He’d even stopped crying, and was staring at Okan.

“You bloodsucking leech!” he said. “You did it. It’d be just like you…”

For some reason Refik was the most affected. Tears streamed down his cheeks. I wondered why. What was it to him?

Nimet continued playing her role to perfection in a flat voice devoid of emotion, hands folded in her lap. She’d pause from time to time to look over our guests, then look directly into the eyes of the person concerned as she resumed her speech. There wasn’t a hint of malice, hatred, pity, or condemnation in her voice or words. She was enviably austere and unpretentious. She turned to Okan.

“It was through you that we learned about the blackmail of your brother’s clients, the money that was extorted. His death would have meant a new life for you. Only your brother stood between you and what you would have considered to be a fortune.”

“And your income from the minibus wasn’t half bad either,” I added.

“What do you mean? Are you accusing me now?” asked Okan, in a panic.

Refik had frozen. Mouth open, jaw slack, tears halted midway down his cheeks, he stared at Nimet.

“No,” said Nimet. “We’re not accusing you. We only point out that you had motives of your own. That doesn’t necessarily mean you did it. And it would also, in a sense, have meant killing the goose that lays the golden egg. You’re too smart for that.”

“It wasn’t him then, was it?” asked Refik. At a sign from me, he contentedly returned to loud sniffing and crying.

“This thing is dragging on longer and longer. And the longer it goes on, the more disagreeable and messy it’s becoming,” said Ponpon.

“Shut up and listen,” said Hikmet, surprising everyone with his beautiful baritone. He had huge fingers and big hands. Turning to Nimet, he added, “Please, go on.”

Nimet looked at me. It was my turn.

“If I may continue,” I said, clearing my throat. “It gets a little confusing at this point, because we haven’t yet put all the pieces together. But it involves Canan Hanım.”

There was no special reason for my voice to crack when I mentioned her name. I wasn’t used to sitting near an open fire. Or it may have been the smoke, those fumes.

Canan Hanoğlu Pekerdem’s cold eyes latched onto mine like a lethal weapon.

“Nonsense,” she said, tossing her head. “You can’t prove a thing.”

Reaching into her jeweled evening bag, she pulled out a cigarette. Her hands didn’t tremble once as she lit it with a Dupont lighter. Crossing her legs, she looked at Nimet. What perfect legs!

“We can prove it,” said Nimet, sounding a bit excited for the first time. “The telephone records tell us a lot. You arranged everything. You had your eye on your brother’s-my husband’s-money. Faruk had to bail you out after all your failed business schemes. Just to protect the family name, our name. The slightest whiff of scandal and it would have been over for us all. You were always the darling of the family, and Faruk may have had a soft spot for you, too. I don’t know. You tell me. Faruk gave you free rein. Never held you to account. But you kept sinking one business after another. You took on too much, more than you could handle. And it always ended in catastrophe. It’s all been recorded in Faruk’s ledgers and notebooks. Hard facts and cold sums. How much Faruk spent to bail you out… I’ve got it all upstairs.”

Unfolding before my eyes was a regular family feud, one that had probably been brewing for years.

“Like you said, we’re a family and he bore responsibility for the family name. Of course he backed me up,” said Canan.

“But then things changed,” said Nimet, who was now looking directly at Canan. “Sami, in his capacity as junior partner, noticed what was going on. Capital that could have been bringing in high returns was being used to bankroll you. Someone had to stop it. He confronted you. But you knew all about his weakness for gambling and for strapping young men! You set him up by arranging gambling partners, and drove him into debt. He couldn’t play openly because he had a reputation and a business to protect. And as he got in deeper and deeper, he became your plaything. As for the young men, we don’t know how you met Volkan, or who slept with him first. But we have receipts for the hotel rooms you both shared with him.”