Summary

Chapter 36 begins with the narrator receiving a phone call from Mustafa upon arriving back in town urging him to come visit at Mustafa’s home straight away. Mustafa asks the narrator why he went to the city, probing to see if he had been with Zuhal, and the narrator lies, saying he met with his publisher instead. The subject turns to the Glock pistol on the table, and Mustafa gives it to the narrator, who is an enthusiast. As they eat, the narrator asks Mustafa why he shut down Raci Bey’s factory. Mustafa replies that it was because it lacked fire escapes, although the narrator points out that no buildings in town do.

Chapter 37 opens with an online message from Zuhal describing her and the narrator’s relationship as something similar to lust yet undefinable. She asks him to describe a house...