Captured!

"You are the woman Hari," one of them says. It is a statement rather than a question, and I can see that it would be useless to deny it. My fair complexion, unusual here, is a giveaway.

"Yes," I say. "How did you find me?"

"Someone saw you leaving the refuge with Trina and word got back to us. We knew that she works for Max, so there was a good chance that you would be here. Hand over the sheet of paper that you stole, and then come with us."

"I don't have the sheet any longer. It was taken from this room while I was sleeping. I think that Max must have taken it to return it to Gustav; he knew that I had it."

The conversation has woken Trina by now. I see her eyes open briefly, but then she shuts them again, evidently thinking that feigning sleep is the best way for her to keep out of trouble.

The man who has been doing the talking looks at me suspiciously. "Undress," he orders, evidently suspecting that I have the page hidden on my person.

Reluctantly, I do as I'm told. Meanwhile, the second man is searching the room.

Five minutes later: "So it's not here. All right, you can get dressed. You're going to have an unpleasant time of it anyway, but I hope for your sake that your story is true, because if Max hasn't returned that page then Gustav is going to make you wish that you'd never been born."

Once I have put my clothes back on, I am escorted out of the building. I am still barefoot; Trina had been unable to find any shoes that fit me.

We head back towards Gustav's. The streets are fairly quiet at this early hour, and those few passers-by that we do meet take one look at the two heavies and then quickly look the other way.

1. I manage to give my guards the slip.
2. Back at Gustav's, it turns out that Max has indeed returned the page.
3. Back at Gustav's, it turns out that there has been no sign of Max or the page.
4. Back at Gustav's, it turns out that Max has not been there but has sent a message. Apparently he is trying to use the page to blackmail Gustav, which sounds like madness to me.
5. Just as we arrive at Gustav's, we meet Max coming out.

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