The Geographer's Library

That which I had to say about the
operation of Sol is complete.
So,” said Tonu. He was standing at my open door, topcoat on, one foot
in the hallway and one hand on the doorknob. “I assume I have
answered all outstanding questions.” His voice and eyebrows rose
at the end of the sentence.
“Albanian Eddie?”
“Edouard, yes. I thought we had forgotten about him.” He smirked. I felt
at that moment as though I were looking at a reptile made of glass, some sort
of poison-weaned creature that would cut you as soon as you applied any
pressure to it. How anyone could trust him remains a mystery. “Edouard had
a talent for smuggling. He learned it under the closed and paranoid Soviets;
we certainly thought he would succeed in this trusting and open nation.”
“So what happened?”
Tonu advanced hesitantly back into my apartment and had nearly shut
the door behind him when he thought better of it and resumed the one-footin-and-one-out
position. “Same as Jaan. Greedy. Deceptive. Untrustworthy.
359