Chapters 16 & 17 Summary

The narrator hires a private detective, Mr. Bond, to return to Saranza for him to find out if Charlotte is still alive. Because the narrator had filed for refugee status when he left Russia the first time, he is allowed to travel anywhere in the world except for the USSR. Now, he must wait for his French nationalization papers to come through so he can apply for a French passport to visit Russia again. While "between two trains" in Moscow, Mr. Bond is able to find out that Charlotte is still alive and active. He encourages the narrator to go visit her, but he is having trouble with his paperwork; everything is taking longer than he expected. The narrator refuses to call or write Charlotte to tell her about his visit thinking it might jinx the process and she'll die before he can...