Frankenstein in Baghdad

Before dawn that morning, while the Whatsitsname is still sleeping, Majid’s senior astrologer awakens him to tell him where the Creature is and says that he needs to act urgently. When they arrive, they discover that Bataween is being sealed off because of a suicide bomber. The bomber is in a car directly below Abu Salim’s balcony; however, Abu Salim only watches passively. The explosion rocks the neighborhood, destroying the old houses on Lane 7, including Elishva’s and Hadi’s. Faraj and Hadi both suffer serious injuries, but both survive. Abu Salim’s family survives inside the home, but Abu Salim falls to the ground and is seriously injured; later, from his hospital bed, he takes great pleasure in recounting everything he’s seen from his balcony over the years.

Just before the explosion, Majid bypasses the cordon. The senior astrologer quickly reads the cards and tells Majid that the Creature is no longer in the house, saying that he left just 15 minutes ago. Majid insists on checking for himself, but the astrologer tells him that they are in fact responsible for the car bomb, as the junior astrologer sent the bomber there intending to kill the Creature. The bomb goes off, and they depart as the dust settles.

Back at his office, Majid discovers that the bomber originally planned to attack the police academy, but the junior astrologer pushed him to Bataween instead. Two weeks later, senior military and American officers open an inquiry into Majid, and he realizes that rather than being promoted, he may lose his job.

Mahmoud is asleep when the explosion takes place but far enough away that he goes back to sleep rather than investigating. When he does hear about it, he is initially worried for Abu Anmar and Hazem, but Hazem tells him that he is currently embedded with the United States Army and that Abu Anmar has left Baghdad. At the magazine offices, some government men and armed guards are already there; they tell Mahmoud that they are shutting down the magazine and seizing its assets, and that Saidi has stolen millions in aid from the United States. The men take in Mahmoud for questioning.

Majid, meanwhile, is subjected to an “endless” interrogation by Iraqi intelligence officers and American liaison officers. He fires the astrologers, who, as it turns out, have been in the midst of a power struggle for some time. The senior astrologer washes himself, trims his beard, and changes his clothes, deciding to take on a new image and a new life. When he leaves, he hires a taxi to take him to his home in the southern Zaafaraniya district. However, the driver encounters a roadblock and a detour and must let the astrologer out early on a side street. There, on Lane 7, the astrologer encounters the Creature. The Whatsitsname tells him that he wants the hands that dealt the cards, while the astrologer wants to finally see his face for the first time. When he does, he realizes the face is familiar, but still strange; after he dies, the Creature chops off his hands. 

The narrator meets Mahmoud by chance in a café where Mahmoud is selling his belongings, including the digital recorder, which he is selling at a $300 markup to include the story on it. The narrator initially tries to bargain him down, but Mahmoud insists that he needs the full $400 so he can pay what the magazine owes its former employees, and the narrator relents. Over the next few days, he receives more documents via email from a “second assistant” about the Tracking and Pursuit Department.

In detention, Mahmoud is interrogated for many hours, though he isn’t beaten, as he expected to be. In the morning, he is released. He sells off his belongings and decides to return to Maysan. Before selling his phone, he tries to reach Nawal, but her number is no longer in service. The narrator suspects the story is made-up, but while in a ward of the Kindi Hospital, he recognizes the voice of “the creature” in Abu Salim, who tells him more details. The narrator is still uncertain of the story’s veracity, but he is now interested in trying to corroborate it.

Hadi must remain in the hospital for some time. Once, when he needs to relieve himself, he gets a glimpse of himself in the mirror and is struck by how disfigured his face is—he reminds himself of the Whatsitsname. He screams in such terror that he falls and knocks himself unconscious. The Whatsitsname continues his mission, while fear of him and rumors about his existence continue to spread. Everyone believes his existence to be the secret plot of some other organization. Brigadier Majid is forced into retirement, but he once again uses his connection to get back into government service, now as a security officer in a remote local police headquarters.

The narrator continues to investigate the story for many months. However, he doesn’t manage to speak to Faraj, who now spends most of his time at home, and Umm Salim does not allow him to meet with Abu Salim again. At one point, he sees a picture of Saidi and realizes that he saw him some years prior at a conference; he was so impressed as to hope that someone like him would eventually take over in Iraq.

The closer the narrator gets to finishing the story, the more he fears his arrest, and eventually that is what happens. His incomplete, 17-chapter version of the novel is confiscated, and he is told he is not allowed to rewrite it. He begins to do so anyway, but he receives an email from the “second assistant” with a report suggesting he is going to be rearrested; in fear, he packs his belongings and disappears. 

Back in Maysan, Mahmoud is lying low to avoid the Mantis. One day, he receives the news that the Mantis has been killed: His car was ambushed on a highway and riddled with bullets. Mahmoud leaves the house for the first time in ages. Remembering that he hasn’t checked his email, he goes to an Internet café. Among his messages is an email from Saidi, who insists he is innocent and claims that the charges are a preemptive measure to keep him from taking down those in power. He claims that they visited Majid so that the astrologers could read Mahmoud’s future and that the result was that Mahmoud will become prime minister of Iraq. Saidi claims that all of his actions were meant to train and strengthen Mahmoud for that role and that he now wants to offer himself to Mahmoud to help him fulfill his destiny.

Mahmoud initially wants to apologize. Then, thinking about his interrogation, he starts to write a response cursing him off. Finally, he erases that email and sends Saidi’s message, along with a set of photographs from Hazem, to the narrator. He explains later that he thought maybe one percent of Saidi’s message might be true, and so he chose to leave it in a gray area, “trying to use Saidi’s own style against him, leaving him uncertain” (276).

On February 21, 2006, Hadi is arrested and charged as Criminal X. On the television, Aziz doesn’t recognize Hadi; Mahmoud believes the arrest to be a frame job in an effort to close the case. People in the streets rejoice, and in all the commotion, no one notices a pair of eyes looking out from the now-abandoned Orouba Hotel. The strange man smokes and watches the celebrations silently along with Nabu the cat, as they “were now close friends” (280).