Poppy continued, "I like it that each time there is always an intermission, an amnesic period, I like to call it when you come into a fresh body until you begin to remember. I don't know, it's sort of nice to feel innocent and free for a while before you have to face your past again. Were you happier before you began to change?" she asked.

"Yes," I said without thinking, I didn't have to.

"Hmm, I suppose I am too most times. Have you ever tried caviar before?" she asked, placing a dollop of tiny black eggs on a cream cheese covered wafer.

"No."

"Really, Ninety-seven years old and you've never had this," she said, handing it to me. "you are lucky I found you."

I took a small bite. It tasted strongly of fish and salt. "It's good."

"Another?"

"Please. Speaking of finding me, how did you know I was like you?"

"I knew the first night."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise as I took another cracker from her.

"Yes, the first night. I suppose after so long I know what to look for. You may not remember, you were in pretty bad shape after you fell down the stairs, but you basically told me. Just as I was about to shoot you, at your request I might add, you told me that you would probably just come back anyway."

"I remember, but could you tell just from that?"

"I suspected after that. I knew after I gave you a cigarette. You don't speak, write or read Turkish do you?"

I was lost by her line of questioning. "I know a few sayings, I had lived in Istanbul for a while, before this life I mean."

"That's what I thought," she said excitedly. She reached inside her purse and removed a fresh pack of cigarettes. "Can you read what this says?" she asked, pointing to the small Turkish script under the English spelled 'Lendts'.

"No I can't read it, I've never been able to read it, but I know what it says."

"Do you?" she asked, challenging me.

"It says 'Centuries of Flavor'."

"That's when I knew. It used to say 'Centuries of Flavor'. They changed the slogan in the late 1960s before you would have been born this time. I was pretty sure after that, but I used the book to bait you even further. I had no doubt after your reaction. I don't think there is anyone alive who would stay up all night reading McTaggart unless he was like me. The man's writing style is so stilted and dry it can be maddening to read even a single chapter."

I guess she did know what to look for. I had no idea I had given any clues. "What does it say now?" I asked pointing to the pack of cigarettes.