‘But no bodies?’

‘None.’

‘Then they took them with them,’ Lourds said. ‘That’s easy to explain.’

‘Is it?’ Ersoz leaned back in his chair.

During several hours of questioning by the Ersoz and his partner, Lourds had learned that Ersoz was intelligent and good at his job.

‘Do you know of another way six or seven dead men could have gone missing?’ Lourds asked. ‘Outside of a stage magician’s routine?’

‘No. Of course not.’

‘Then they carried them away.’

Ersoz nodded. ‘The crime scene techs assured me they found much evidence of this. Footprints in the blood. Drag marks. Many things.’

‘Then what is the problem?’

‘My superior is very uncomfortable with the idea of a group of people that would go to such lengths to keep from being identified.’

‘Me, too,’ Lourds confessed. ‘And let me assure you – and your superior – that it’s even more uncomfortable knowing that group of people is looking for me.’

‘I imagine it would be.’ Ersoz paused. ‘Even more mysterious, we’ve not been able to identify the two men found in the wreckage of the vehicle you were transported in.’

‘In a city this size, you’d have to expect that,’ Lourds said.

‘But the kind of men who kidnap people off the street in broad daylight? Who kill other people with no compunction?’ Ersoz shook his head. ‘No, those kinds of men aren’t often without records of some kind, not even in Istanbul.’

A tingle of dread shot through Lourds as he contemplated that.

‘Have you given any thought to leaving Istanbul, Professor?’ Ersoz asked.

‘I have.’ The only problem was the manuscript. If he left, maybe he couldn’t take it with him.

‘And will you?’

Lourds hesitated. ‘I don’t think so.’

‘Why?’

‘I don’t understand.’ But Lourds was afraid he was starting to.

‘A rational man,’ Ersoz explained patiently, as if to a child, ‘would already be throwing himself at the mercy of his embassy to get out of this country after such an ordeal. At the very least he would seek asylum there. Yet, you have done neither of these things.’

‘No.’

‘Why?’

Lourds thought quickly. He wasn’t going to tell them about the manuscript. He’d already made his mind up about that. If he told them about it, he might as well surrender it and reconcile himself to the fact he’d never see it again.

‘What’s to say I’d be safer anywhere else?’ Lourds said finally.

‘I’ve reviewed your records, at my superior’s insistence,’ Ersoz said. ‘When there was trouble in Jerusalem, you decided to forego your trip. When the team you were part of in Iran was attacked, you also chose discretion as the better part of valour. In all your endeavours, Professor, you’ve always chosen the path of the wise and careful man.’

It pained Lourds to hear a note of contempt in Ersoz’s voice.

In those instances, nothing important had been at stake. In none of them had he any real reason to stay and fight. This felt different. The book felt different…

It felt like history in the making. And he had it in his control.

‘In this instance,’ Ersoz said, ‘you choose to foolishly risk your neck. I don’t understand your decision.’

‘Is there any reason to think those men would come after me again?’ Lourds’ pulse beat at his throat and temples. If he had been in Ersoz’s shoes, he would have been suspicious, too. The last thing he needed was eyes upon him while he was trying to be secretive. Stealth wasn’t his greatest skill.

‘I don’t know, Professor. Is there any reason to think these men continue to have an interest in you?’

Lourds didn’t say anything.

Ersoz crossed his legs and his eyes bored into Lourds with a steady gaze. ‘Those men had you for some time, Professor. It’s hard to believe they didn’t talk about what they hoped to gain from taking you captive.’

‘As I told you, I was unconscious most of that time. They drugged me. I thought they were going to kill me.’ Thankfully, that was the truth.

‘At some point, though, you became conscious enough to run for your life.’

Lourds nodded and his throat became dry as he felt the detective closing in on him. He wondered how many people were on the other side of the one-way glass watching him answer Ersoz’s questions.

‘I don’t think you have to be very conscious to know to run for your life when you’re being held against your will by people who might kill you,’ Lourds objected.

‘Yet they didn’t kill you, did they? In fact, they went to great lengths to keep you alive. Killing you would have been much easier.’

Lourds couldn’t argue that point.

‘They must have wanted something from you,’ Ersoz insisted softly.

‘I would agree.’

‘But you never found out what it was.’

Lourds tried to keep his face neutral. He didn’t want to be caught lying to the Turkish police, but he didn’t want to tell them the truth. He hated it when his life got this difficult.

‘The woman interfered with whatever plans they had,’ Lourds said. ‘I told you that.’

Ersoz nodded. ‘You did. But that’s even more troublesome. Why was she there?’

‘She was working with them.’

‘And then she wasn’t.’

‘So I said. But she got into an argument with them over money.’

‘Her fee. Yes. You said they weren’t going to pay her the rest of the agreed amount. They were going to kill her.’

‘Yes. They admitted this.’ Lourds nodded. ‘These people didn’t bother to hide that fact.’

‘She was foolish to work for them.’

‘I would think so.’

‘But not so foolish as to get herself killed.’

‘She was lucky.’

‘It wasn’t luck that made her take you as a bargaining point. She knew those men wouldn’t risk killing you.’

Too late, Lourds saw the box he’d put himself in.

‘My question to you is, how did this woman – whose identity you don’t know and whom you say you’ve never seen before – know those men wouldn’t kill you both?’

Lourds tried to think of what one of his celluloid or print spy heroes would do in this case. He came up with nothing.

‘I suppose she knew,’ he replied lamely.

‘Everyone knows but you?’

‘Well, you don’t know either.’

Ersoz smiled and leaned back in his chair. ‘No, we don’t. And that troubles my supervisor greatly. Everything you’ve told us would lead someone to believe this is some kind of conspiracy.’

Lourds didn’t know what to say to that, but the mention of everything being a conspiracy said out in the open like that made the ordeal somehow even more chilling.

‘My supervisor wants to deport you,’ Ersoz said. ‘He has made this very clear.’

Fear rattled through Lourds and he sought desperately for some argument that might allow him to stay in Istanbul. Somehow the fact that he was scheduled to do presentations at the local university didn’t seem compelling enough.

‘However,’ Ersoz went on, ‘your government has interceded on your behalf.’

Lourds was stunned. ‘They have?’

‘Yes. Your state department has been very persuasive in this matter.’ Ersoz held his hands palm up. ‘So, in the interest of good political relations, you’re going to be allowed to stay in Istanbul.’

Relieved, Lourds let out a pent-up breath. He didn’t know what he’d have done if they’d handcuffed him and thrown him on the nearest plane out of the city.

‘Personally,’ Ersoz went on, ‘I like you very much.’ He smiled. ‘My wife would like to meet you. But…’ Lourds waited, torn between dread and elation. ‘I fear for your safety within this city, Professor Lourds. I should hate to see anything untoward happen to you.’

So would I. Lourds nodded. ‘I appreciate those sentiments, Detective Ersoz.’

The policeman dipped his head in acknowledgement. ‘I understand you don’t know who the men were that kidnapped you. We’re working on identifying them. But we have managed to identify two of the men who sought to apprehend you at the airport.’