حادثه در آناتولی

Chapter twenty two

Incident in Anatolia

Mrs Upjohn was sitting by the side of a road somewhere in Anatolia. She and a large Turkish woman were talking, partly in French and partly by using their hands.

The other passengers were sitting nearby, watching the bus driver trying to start the broken-down bus. Mrs Upjohn’s journey had also been delayed by heavy rain and blocked roads.

‘Mrs Upjohn?’ said a very British voice, which didn’t sound as if it belonged in Anatolia.

Mrs Upjohn looked up. She hadn’t noticed that a car had arrived, and an obviously British man had got out.

‘Mrs Upjohn,’ the man said again. ‘My name’s Derek O’Connor, from the British Government. We’ve been trying to contact you for days.’

‘Contact me? Why? Is it Julia?’ Mrs Upjohn said sharply. ‘Has something happened to Julia?’

‘No, no,’ said O’Connor. ‘Julia is all right. No, there’s been some trouble at Meadowbank and we want to take you there as soon as possible. I’ll drive you back to the nearest airport, and you can get on a plane in a few hours.’

Mrs Upjohn opened her mouth and then shut it again. She stood up, collected her luggage and said goodbye to the Turkish woman. She followed O’Connor to his car without asking any questions.

O’Connor thought that Mrs Upjohn was a very sensible woman.