13
I WOKE UP WITH A SHOCK.
For a moment, I lay on my back, wondering where I was, trying to parse the unfamiliar sounds and smells. Then I remembered: the hotel, the trial today.
Faint grey light peeped between the curtains.
I hadn’t intended to sleep for that long. I’d wanted to get up early to see if the Pengali—
Damn, the Pengali. I jumped out of bed and went to the window. Through the crack between the curtains, I could see grey sky and a misty horizon. It was still before sunrise. There might be a sunny day ahead, but for now, a low blanket of mist hung over the ground.
The water in the canal was perfectly still, like a mirror. I couldn’t see the Pengali, but a lone fisherman with a rod stood on the side of the canal. Instead of peacefully gazing over the water—and his bait—he k
