This time Leo wasn’t going to Harlem alone. Seated beside him was Nara. As a trainee in Kabul she’d only ever been involved in one case – the arrest of a love-struck defector that led to his execution. It felt appropriate that Leo should offer her the chance to close her brief detective career with a case against someone who deserved to be caught. That high-minded notion aside, the truth was he needed her. Nara’s command of English was far more advanced than his own. She’d worked tirelessly to improve it, keen to fit in, to make New York City her home and to find a job. In addition to her fluency in English, she was beautiful and charming, whereas he was gruff and scraggy, and she might succeed in persuading people to talk where he had failed. Logically he should have asked for her help from the outset but he’d felt uncertain whether it was wise to involve her. She would feel obliged to support him, regardless of whether or not she agreed with the investigation. As it was a clear violation of the terms of their asylum, seeking sensitive information, he did not want to incriminate her.

Returning from Washington DC, Leo accepted that he didn’t have time to waste and couldn’t do this without her. Nara listened as he told her everything, the research in the library, his failed interviews in Harlem. She was shocked that his many hours away from home had not been spent exploring the city but delving into the past. As expected, he could tell that she was concerned about upsetting their American hosts. After all, she was a mother now and had Zabi’s future to think of. However, she felt a duty to support Leo. She owed him her life. It was with mixed emotions, a sense of foreboding and reluctance, as well as a sense of duty and curiosity that she agreed to participate in the search for Raisa’s killer.

The cab stopped. Leo stepped out, holding the door for Nara. He reached into his pocket to pay the driver. Pressed beside his money were the notes he’d copied from the diary and the page he’d ripped loose. In that final, crucial entry, Elena had mentioned that a man had shown her into Jesse Austin’s apartment, an angry old man referred to as number 111. Jesse Austin had explained the man’s anger to Elena by pointing out that he owned a local hardware store and considered Communism bad for business and bad for the community. It wasn’t much of a lead.