Chapter 1

There are certain days when god smiles upon me, Pietro Trigiani. Such a day was the Monday in April, 2000, when Anna Maria Maraj entered my office. She looked very uncertain. She looked about, to see who was in my modest room even before she entered.

"You are Avvocato Trigiani?"

"Yes." I believe I was smiling at the woman. She was very lovely, even though she wore the cloth of a vedova, a widow.

"Come in please."

"I have no appointment."

"You do not need one today, Signora Maraj."

"You know me?"

I smiled again. I wished her to be at ease.

"I know you from the town. I see you in the market each day."

"Do you know my husband, Ridvan?"

"No, I do not. Is it important?"

"He is lost. Many days now. Weeks even."

"Ah yes. I remember. I read it in the newspaper. I am very sorry for your loss."

"They say he has drowned ... at sea. He was a fisherman. He and his brother. They are both lost."

"It is a great tragedy. Is there some way I can help you?"

"Yes. I wish to divorce him. I wish to have my name back."

I was startled by her request. It was very unusual. I did not understand.

"Signora Maraj, you must tell me more. What you ask is unusual. I must know more."

"I want to divorce Ridvan Maraj, my husband. I want my good name returned. Perhaps, if I am fortunate, I can have my dignity returned."

I opened my journal and began to write. Anna Maria Maraj. Divorce?

"Signora, will you please hand me one Euro or one thousand lire."

She looked at me oddly for a moment before opening her purse and finding a one thousand lire note, handed it to me.

"Excellent. From this moment, you are my client and I am your lawyer. Anything you tell me will be held in confidence. No one else will know unless you choose to tell them. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Very well. I must know all the facts. Everything. Can you do that?"

She nodded. Her face held no expression. No frown, no smile. Her eyes told me nothing.

"Why do you wish to divorce your husband if he is lost?" I began.

"I do not believe he is lost. I believe he has returned to Albania."

"Why do you think this?"

"He is a criminal. He and his brother are using their boat to do illegal things."

"What manner of illegal things?"

"Smuggling people to Italy. Perhaps drugs as well."

"How do you know this?"

"He has caught no fish for many months and yet he has money. I heard him talking with his brother Olek. I know they have been bringing people from Durres to a place near Vieste." She paused for a moment, he eyes searching for something.

"These people they bring. They are criminals too. They pay Ridvan much money to be transported in secret. They must pay in either American dollars or Euros. Nothing else."

"I see. Do you know why he has not returned to his home?"

"No. I am not sure. Perhaps because he knows I do not love him. I have never loved him. I kept my part of the bargain. That is all. I have paid the debt."

"Tell me about this debt ... this bargain." The woman was now quite fretful and unsettled. She was wringing her hands and pursing her lips as she looked downward, swaying in the chair. I wanted to know more about her and this strange situation.

"My parents got into some trouble with Ridvan. I was never told the nature of this debt. I was given to him as his wife in payment. It was against my will, but I could not risk him doing harm to my family."

"I see. Has something changed?"

"My father died suddenly and my mother left to be with my brother in America. She is safe now. My other relatives live in Campania, away from his influence. Ridvan knows he cannot hold me, despite his threats."

"What are his threats?"

"He said he would kill me if I tried to leave him."

I was shocked. I had never encountered such a thing before in my career.