Читать книгу Deadline Istanbul (The Elizabeth Darcy Series) - Peggy Hanson - Страница 40

CHAPTER 36

Tell us, giddy goats, the tale of Midas.

Tell about the awful thing

That happened to our noble King

The day he stepped between two gods.

Güngör Dilmen, “The Ears of King Midas” (play)

Faye Mollington sat in the Altın Küpe, her favorite little restaurant up the hill from Cağaloğlu. The owners knew her preference for an anonymous corner half-hidden behind a screen and saved her that seat every day.

Another set of regular customers played tavla, backgammon, at a table in the front. She could hear the roll of the dice and subsequent click of the wooden pieces counting down their moves on the inlaid board.

It wasn’t time for dinner, but delectable smells seeped out from the kitchen not too far from her table. Köfte, lamb patties, vied with deep-fried potatoes and simmered eggplant mousakka.

Faye enjoyed the smells and the presence of distant waiters who gave her warm smiles when she came in. Here, she could be alone but not alone, able to work in privacy without retreating into isolation.

In many ways, working in plain sight was safer than hiding in a room, anyway. People don’t see what’s right before their noses.