“Then you know what we’ve been through. What we are going through. Here, the past and present are so terrible that we’ve got nothing but the future.”

“I get what you’re saying. Some monumental events have been taking place in your part of the world.”

“That’s right. Problem is, when monumental events take place, they usually end up being violent events. People end up moving around, mostly against their will. People try and get away from the violence, and if they can’t, they try and send their family members to other, safer places. For the future.”

“So what happened?”

“What happened is, the girls started disappearing.”

“Disappearing from where?”

Leila said, “You already know that Karim had been a Baath party member. More than that, he was a member of the security services. After the American invasion, the party members were ejected from military and security roles, so Karim, like others, went private.”

“Like a mercenary?”

“No, the war changed him. He made the decision to switch, to work for good. He wouldn’t turn mercenary or help the Americans, or the Iranians, or anything else political. Karim was done with politics. He joined my outfit.”

“What’s that?”

“We help people who have lost loved ones.”

“Like a private investigator?”

“Yes, like a private investigator. Difference is, I don’t do infidelity, or digging up dirt, or any of the other bullshit that goes on between unsatisfied people in the world. I focus on one thing, and one thing only. Finding missing people who’ve been lost since the war. I focus on bringing closure to families and loved ones, so that they can move on and start concentrating on the future.”

I said, “And you’re all by yourself, now that Qadduri’s gone?”

“I’ve got fifteen investigators working with me in the Baghdad office. We’re a small outfit, but we are professional.”

Nazari cut in, “The girls.”

“That’s right, it all started with the girls.”

I said, “So tell us about the girls.”

“Let me start by painting you a picture. I think that will be helpful, for the context.”

“Ok.”

“Think of two phases. Phase one was the American invasion. What the American invasion really did was kick off a civil war in Iraq. We went at each other’s throats. One side against the other, roughly along religious lines. Shiite versus Sunni, with the Americans stuck in the middle, clueless pretty much. Problem was that before the invasion, both sides had lived in the same neighborhoods, so that got all pulled apart. People had to up and leave at a moment’s notice, or risk being killed by their neighbors. A very real risk, and they started to go missing. Phase one was all about us killing each other, and people going missing internally. You following me?”

“I’m with you.”