“How is Elham?” asked Saber dejectedly.

“Not so well. The story in the papers, it seems, brought her father back from Assiut, and he insisted on taking her back with him, for a change of air.”

“So he crept out of his hole!” Saber cried out. “But my father…”

The lawyer smiled. “That reminds me. Would you believe that I have some news of your father?”

“No!”

“Yes.” The lawyer continued: “Did you ever hear of a newspaper commentator who used to sign his column ‘The Old Pressman’? Of course not; that was long before your time. He stopped writing twenty years ago. Well, he’s my neighbor in Heliopolis. He was also my teacher at the Faculty of Law. We were talking about your case, and I mentioned your father. He then cut me short and said, ‘Do you mean Sayed Sayed el-Reheimy? Well, I know him. The rich, handsome Reheimy. He was about twenty-five years old. That must have been over thirty years ago.’ ”

“But didn’t your friend see the photograph in the paper?”

“He hasn’t picked up a paper in twenty years. And besides, he’s blind!”

“But the name, the description, the age.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“Where is he now?”

“I’m afraid he doesn’t know.”

“Did he tell you about my father’s first marriage?”

The lawyer smiled. “He told me that his only pleasure was love.”

“But my mother deserted him. Surely that’s something he wouldn’t forget.”

“In the life of a man like Reheimy, women change daily. You can’t distinguish between the deserter and the deserted.”

“My mother never spoke to me about this aspect of his life.”

“Maybe she didn’t know about it.”

“But you cannot hide marriage.”

“My friend, Aly Borhan, I mean ‘The Old Pressman,’ said that he married, very frequently, all sorts of women, old, young, rich, poor, widowed, married, divorced, even maidservants and prostitutes.”

“Amazing!”

“True.”

“But didn’t this pose problems?”

“Nothing stood in his way.”

Saber could not believe his ears. “What work did he do?”

“He was a millionaire. Love was his sole profession. Every time he was trapped, he just moved away somewhere else.”

“But my mother’s marriage certificate, I’ve still got it.”

“You’ll probably find countless others.”

“Was he never sued in court?”

“Who knows? He is divorced, that’s quite sufficient.”

“And what about the law?” said Saber sarcastically.

“He was never caught. Mr. Borhan said that once he had trouble with a virgin girl from a wealthy family. He left the country at the appropriate time.”

“When did he return?”

“He didn’t. The world became his playground. He could afford to pursue his hobby anywhere.”

“How did your friend know all this?”

“They used to correspond occasionally.”

“Does he have any idea where he might be now?”

“No. He never gave his address. And he never stayed too long in one place.”

“He must be well known abroad.”