Summary

Leda works late into the night, trying to calm her anxieties. In the morning, she does not feel like going to the beach, or even to the town, afraid that she will see Giovanni. Yet she wants to “resolve the matter of the doll” (112), even though it is unclear what resolution she has in mind. She does not seem prepared to give up Nani to Elena. She decides to go into town, and there she finds a street fair with many vendors, selling everything from clothing to food to jewelry. She stops to admire a hatpin, “dangerously long and sharp, [with] a beautiful handle of black amber” (112). As she looks at the hatpin, her cell phone rings. It is Nina, telling her she has been following her and would like to speak to her. Leda agrees.

The two women meet. Nina is wearing the...