Paul Currier had told her very little

about himself, Marianna realized later.

A professor on sabbatical, he had had

ten years Foreign Service. He was di-

vorced and traveling alone in Yugo-

slavia, visiting the islands strung out

like stepping stones along the coast.

Why didn t she leave her bus tour and

come with him? It was a friendly, open

suggestion, not a proposition. And

Marianna accepted. For almost two

years, she had been numb with the grief

of her widowhood; now she felt alive

again, as attracted to this stranger as he

seemed to be to her. That afternoon as

they sat in a sunlit caf6 in the island

village, she wished her tranquil happi-

ness could last indefinitely. But when

she returned to their table after a few

minutes absence, Paul had disappeared.

Annoyed by her questions, the waiter

acted as if he had never existed. And at

the hotel, Paul s room was empty, pre-

pared for the next occupant. Heartsick,

she decided to take the morning boat to

Dubrovnik and rejoin the tour.

Anxious about her own plight and

with growing fears for Paul s safety,

Marianna made the mistake of confid-

ing in Lotte Ludwig, the too vivacious

foreigner who earlier had mistaken Paul

for his brother, the new Ambassador in

Belgrade. Suddenly the beautiful Illyr-

ian coast became a trap, a place for

violence and murder, for a deception

that had a terrifying motive.