Chapter 31 Chapter Thirty

At 4:02 in the morning, Barry and I boarded the southbound train to Perpignan.Watching Barry move his lips and say Milton, I couldn't help falling asleep. He said he wanted to go to the dining car for tea, and I shook my head sleepily. "You're all a mess," he said to me, laughing. "You stay here and sleep, and I'll get my book. When you're hungry, we can go eat anytime." As soon as he left the car, my eyes closed.When I opened my eyes again, I found myself curled up on the seat like a child, with a long cotton skirt covering my ankles.Someone was reading a newspaper in the seat opposite, but it wasn't Barry.I quickly sit up.

The man was reading Le Monde, which covered his upper body and face.A black leather briefcase sat on the seat beside him.The newspaper reader was so quiet that I couldn't help shaking.After a while, I found the real cause of my fear.By now, I have been awake for a long time, I am watching and listening, and he has not turned a page of the newspaper. Turgut's home is on the other side of Istanbul. "Please come in," he stopped in front of a row of old houses and led us up the two-way steps in front of the door. The room was filled with a pleasing pale green light. "It's very pretty," said Helen, turning to our host.

Turgut smiled and waved away the compliment, but he did look pleased, "My wife loves our ancient arts and crafts, and her family has passed down many good things to her, some of which may still be From the palace of Sultan Muhammad." He smiled at me. "Good. Uh, now let's discuss something we haven't been able to discuss until now. First of all, I'm surprised that you also know Professor Rossi, but I don't know about your relationship yet. Is he your advisor , young man?" He sat in an upholstered chair, leaning towards us expectantly. I glanced at Helen, and she nodded slightly, "Uh, Professor Bora, I'm afraid we haven't fully opened our hearts to you until now,"

I conceded, "But, you see, we have a special mission and don't know who to trust yet." "I know," he said, smiling, "perhaps you're smarter than you think." That stopped me, but Helen nodded again, and I went on, "We have a special interest in Professor Rossi because of some of the information he conveyed to us—to me—and because he—er, He's missing." Turgut's eyes sparkled, "Missing, my friend?" "yes," Hesitantly, I told him about my relationship with Rosie, with whom I was working on my doctoral dissertation, and the strange book I had found in a cubicle in the library.I began to describe the book, and Turgut sat up in his chair and listened intently.I went on about how I showed Rosie the book and he told me how he found his own.I paused to catch my breath and thought, Three books.Now, we know of three of these amazing books—a fantastic number.

I told how Turgut Rossi had disappeared and that I had seen strange shadows flash across his office window the night he disappeared.At this point, I stopped again, this time to see what Helen would say, because I didn't want to tell her story without her consent.She moved a little, watching me silently from the depths of the couch. To my amazement, she picked it up herself and told Turgut everything she had already told me—her birth, her personal feud with Rosie, her research into the history of Dracula With great efforts, she came to this city to find the ultimate goal of Rosie's legend.

Helen finished her story well, and we all sat in silence for a while. Finally, Turgut said, "Your experience is very strange, thank you for telling me. I am very sorry to hear your family's sad story, Miss Rossi. I still want to know why Professor Rossi was forced to To write to tell me that he knows nothing about our literature seems like a lie, doesn't it? Still, it's terrible that such a fine scholar has disappeared. What did Professor Rossi get punished for— — or, as we sit here, he's being punished." The feeling of laziness disappeared from my head without a trace, as if a cold wind had blown it away, "But why are you so sure of this? If it's true, how can we find him?"

"I'm as rational as you are," said Turgut, "but I believe by instinct that everything Professor Rossi told you that night is true. What the old caretaker of the archives told me—that a foreign professor from Scared off there—he's got his word confirmed. I found Professor Rossi's name in the register. And there's that devil with blood on the corner of his mouth—" He paused, "and now there's this dreadful Anomaly, his name—and the titles of his articles—was added to that bibliography in the Archives. This baffles me, it was added later! You come to Istanbul, my colleagues , did the right thing. If Professor Rossi is here, we're going to find him."

"Well, I have a question for you." Helen narrowed her eyes and looked at the two of us, "Professor Bora, how did you come to our restaurant last night?" Finally, Turgut spoke up, "How did I meet you in that restaurant? I asked myself that question a few times because I didn't know the answer. But I can tell you in all honesty that I My friends, I sat at the table next to you and I didn't know who you were at the time. I was surprised and moved to find you interested in my archives. Now that I hear your bizarre stories, I think here in Istanbul, I can help you somewhat. Why did you end up at a restaurant I like? Why did I walk in there with a book? I understand your doubts, ma'am, but I can't answer your question, it's just a coincidence. The world is so big, there are so many wonders—" He looked at the two of us thoughtfully, with an open and sincere expression.

Helen blew a puff of smoke into the dim sunlight. "Well," she said, "we should all hope. So what shall we do with our hope now?" "Come with me," Turgut said suddenly, "come to my study." Turgut opened a door among the antique layers of wool and silk and stood aside politely. "