SIXTEEN
Returning to your hotel with a gramophone wasn’t easy. These objects were associated with riches and luxury and it would be a source of worry and suspicion in such a cheap hotel. You would not be able to hide it, because it was a talking metal contraption that would cause a hubbub. So the only solution was to advertise it instead of hiding it, to tell the hotel owner and his companions about how this gramophone had come to you in a way that made your possession of it seem natural and not worth bothering over.
As you were still in a bad mood after your visit to Haj al-Mahdy’s house, you felt like stirring up the hotel owner’s playful sense of humour. Perhaps it would cheer you up. As usual, al-Kubran’s wide girth took up most of his office, which faced the entrance so he could see
