Larnaca, CyprusA
t lunchtime, Fatima Osman came by carrying a copy of the Times’ crossword puzzle for each of them and two sandwiches. “Time to beat is twenty-three minutes. Do you want to lose here or outside?”
Chan stood up from her desk and looked out the window. “Depends—have you been cheating again?”
“I never look before you do, my friend. There’s no need for that, and I’ve had no time anyway. Let’s go into the sunshine.”
“OK. Just give me a minute to shut down a thing or two.” Chan bent over her laptop as Fatima dropped into a chair. She unfolded a slip of paper from her pocket and examined it for a few seconds.
“I took a look at the texts from the Scimitar source that you gave me.”
“And?” Chan looked up at her friend frowning over the paper in her hand.
“And I suppose one can
