The ferry reached Tangier after she had changed hotels twice. Alain found the window open above the port, her silk scarf lifting from the chair. The warm plaster still held her perfume. Downstairs, the porter watched him leave with the patience of a man who had been paid to remember nothing.
White fabric disappeared through a doorway on Rue de la Kasbah. Alain followed it into a room where four old men were playing cards under a slow fan. One of them pointed towards the sea before Alain had finished explaining.
He saw her again where the passage opened above the water, her hair caught across one cheek. She looked towards the ferry without turning fully, then passed her room key to a boy waiting beside the steps.
Alain reached the quay as the line was cast off. The man at the helm recognised the description and kept one hand on the wheel. A silk scarf lay folded beneath the compass, carrying a little of her perfume.
Magenta silk crossed the terrace at El Minzah the following afternoon. Alain heard the bracelets at her wrist above the glasses being cleared for lunch. A waiter passed between them carrying a silver tray, and her hem reached the far colonnade as he collected the last glass. On the quay, spray had darkened one corner of the card holder beside a coil of wet rope.