Bamboo and blood

5

There were no other cars in the parking lot, and the inn was completely dark. Jeno pulled around back under a covered shed. "Nice and cozy," he said. "They'll figure out which road we took, but it will take them a while to find us." We walked to the back door. "I hope you like lamb, Inspector, because that's what they serve here. Lamb this and lamb that. It's a specialty of the house." Jeno opened the door with a key, waited for me to step inside, then locked the dead bolt. "The stairs to the basement are off the hall," he said. "Careful not to trip. I'll be down in a second."

Ahmet was waiting for me in the hall. It was hard to see much in the dark, but it didn't look like he was smiling. "Downstairs," was all he said, and so I went, my head suddenly full of images of ribbons. It seemed like a lot of trouble to go to over an unsuccessful effort to dance with his daughter, but you never know with some people. When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I turned to Ahmet to ask where I should go next.