Frankenstein in Baghdad

Iraqi policemen and an American military policeman arrive in Lane 1; upon seeing Faraj, the American immediately stops and questions him about a nearby house, which Faraj explains he has been renting from the government for years. Nearby, four beggars are dead; the bodies are arranged so that each beggar’s hands are around the throat of another one. He affirms to the American MP that he knew of them. As onlookers gather, the policemen hastily wrap up the crime scene and depart. Later, another beggar, who witnessed the scene, tells Faraj that there was a fifth man there as well, but Faraj dismisses him as a drunk.

Later, Saidi takes Mahmoud on an errand, telling him they are going to visit an old friend of Saidi’s in an effort to get information to exploit and embarrass the Americans; Mahmoud is confused, but he doesn’t ask questions. Mahmoud is taken to see Brigadier Sorour Mohamed Majid, the director general of the Tracking and Pursuit Department, a secretive governmental organization in charge of monitoring and investigating unusual crimes and events. After a long conversation, Majid gives Saidi the file on the four beggars and tells him that they’ve been receiving reports about a criminal who doesn’t die when he’s shot.

Back at his hotel room, Mahmoud wonders aloud about Saidi’s relationship with Majid, noting that Saidi immediately began to ridicule him after they departed. He also notes the casual way Majid and Saidi spoke about things like civil war: “as if it were a film they were waiting to see in the cinema” (77). Saidi told Mahmoud to forget about the story of the four beggars, but the next morning, Abu Zaidoun, the barber, turns up dead. Although he was found with a pair of scissors sticking out of him, and although it was long assumed he would be murdered, his death was ruled as a heart attack, and Abu Zaidoun’s sons accepted the explanation.

Two men visit Hadi at the coffee shop and ask him to tell them about the corpse; Hadi is already uneasy about the digital recorder present, and Aziz gives him a sign to indicate that he shouldn’t trust the two men, so he refuses to tell them anything. Later, Aziz tries to convince Hadi to stop telling stories, believing they will eventually get him killed. That night, back at his house, Hadi drinks heavily. Just as he finishes off the arak, the corpse appears. 

One morning, Faraj discovers that a charity specializing in preserving old houses is marking houses in the neighborhood for reclamation. Despite their denials, Faraj believes they are attempting to take his houses from him and vociferously argues with them until they depart. He discovers later, to his chagrin, that some of the people from the organization were visiting Elishva to get her to sell her house to the state with the condition that she could remain there as long as she wants in the meantime.

Elishva has not been going to her usual church, but rather has been going to the Saint Qardagh Church “to fulfill some of her overdue ‘Islamic’ vows” (93), as well as visiting several houses of worship of other sects and religions. After a week of fulfilling these other vows, she returns to Father Josiah’s church. After mass, Elishva once again fights with her daughter Matilda about moving to Melbourne; after the call ends, she tells Father Josiah, very seriously, that she will no longer accept her daughters’ phone calls.

When Saidi is out of the magazine’s offices, Mahmoud works from Saidi’s desk and answers a cell phone Saidi leaves charging on it. One day, a call shows up from the number “666.” When Mahmoud answers, it is Nawal al-Wazir; surprised, he says nothing and hangs up.

Mahmoud dozes off on Saidi’s couch; he is woken up by an ecstatic Saidi at sunset. Saidi takes Mahmoud on an errand to a realtor’s office, then out to a fancy nightclub to celebrate, although Mahmoud isn’t sure precisely what they are celebrating. Saidi orders Bloody Marys for them, then whiskies; as they drink, Mahmoud realizes that he envies and admires Saidi, while Saidi realizes the same about Mahmoud.

When Hadi once again visits the old man near Andalus Square, he discovers that he has suddenly decided to sell his house. Later, Abu Anmar tells him that he is thinking of renovating the hotel and that he wants to sell the furniture currently in the rooms. Much of it is unusable, but in need of money, Hadi promises to try to sell it. As Hadi sits in the lobby with Abu Anmar, Mahmoud returns very drunk from his evening with Saidi. Hadi decides to tell Mahmoud his story about the corpse, in full, in exchange for dinner, a bottle of ouzo, and one of Mahmoud’s own secrets. 

Brigadier Majid is frustrated by his impotence and anonymity in his position—while he believes he provides valuable information, he feels that it is rarely acted upon, and even when it is, that others take the credit. In working day and night with a team of astrologers on the case of strange murders around Baghdad, all by the strange-looking man, he hopes to pull off a coup and be promoted to a higher position. However, the best the astrologers were able to come up with is that the criminal is “The One Who Has No Name” (112).

Mahmoud tells Hadi his secret: that he is in love with Nawal. However, Hadi dismisses this as a secret unworthy of his own, pointing out that his own could land him in prison. Mahmoud tries again, this time telling Hadi that he doesn’t believe that his family were original Arabs, but again, Hadi isn’t interested. Mahmoud tries to find a way to get Hadi to prove his story; however, Hadi won’t let him meet the Whatsitsname, which is what he now calls corpse Daniel, and he believes the Whatsitsname would kill him if he tried to take a picture. In the end, Mahmoud gives Hadi his digital recorder and asks him to do an interview.

After dinner, Mahmoud finds a group gathered in the hotel lobby watching a talk show discussing a deadly incident that occurred earlier that day. There had been a rumor that a suicide bomber was on Imams Bridge; the rumor was false, but the ensuing panic resulted in a stampede that caused over 1,000 deaths. Back in Majid’s office, Majid gives the final order for his men to arrest the One Who Has No Name. Questions swirl about in his mind, but he knows he must wait for the answers.