Hello Ester (Evening, Day 9)

I almost didn't open the door. After dinner, I came back upstairs, put my stool out on the balcony and sat down to contemplate the city in the coolness of autumn and to reflect on what Mehmed Esad had said to me. He wanted me to work with him but he hadn't told me what kind of work it was going to be. But seeing as I had rejected his offer and there was little he could do about my decision, there was actually no reason for me to worry. What was troubling me was the matter of Major Cezmi. For instance, why hadn't Mehmed mentioned his murder? Surely the fact that our old commandant had been killed was a more urgent issue than the meeting and dinner I had attended at Ahmet Şükrü Bey's house just before the assassination attempt in Izmir. Had they wished, they could have easily pinned the blame for the murder on me. Who knows, perhaps Mehmed Esad wants to keep the murder for a rainy day, another ace up his sleeve to be used when he sees fit…

Anyway, those were some of the issues I was pondering when there was a knock on the door. It was late in the evening but again, I wasn't that worried as I had met with Mehmed Esad in person, as per his request, so there was little point in the police bothering me now. And indeed, when I opened the door, it was Reşit. Assuming he would be beside himself with worry because of the police visit earlier this afternoon, I began thinking about how to calm him down when he blurted out, ‘I've just come back from the police station.’ He walked in and slumped into the grandfather chair. ‘A full one hour I spent talking to them’.

There was no panic or fear in his expression. On the contrary, he looked calm and relaxed, and in his eyes were the relief and happiness of a student who has passed a particularly difficult exam. I sat on the edge of the bed and listened.

‘When I got back to the hotel, I called you but you had already left. Ömer filled me in on the situation so I went over to the police station. They directed me to the officers that wished to speak to you.