A Trace of Smoke Excerpt 20

Waiting for the train, I tapped the box, anxious to know what it contained, but I dared not pull anything out here.  What if Rudolf had stuffed expensive jewelry in there?  Or cocaine?  Or a bizarre sexual instrument?

I took the subway back toward the courthouse at Moabit, staring at my reflection in the window glass while the train careened through darkness.

I climbed endless courthouse steps and pushed open the absurdly tall doors designed to make us feel that law was a grand process and justice