The Messenger (2011 reformat) (38 page)

What have we
here ? he wondered.

Saeed wasn't
worried. On rare occasions, enemy religious factions would send mail bombs to
government buildings, and if this were such a package.

Allah will
protect me, Saeed felt certain.

He walked to
the table on which the package had been placed.

It was an oddly
shaped box, oblong. It was wrapped in plain brown paper. There was no return
address, and the postmark appeared smeared; Saeed couldn't make out the postal
zone it had been mailed from.

He lifted the
box in his hands. It had some weight to it-ten to fifteen pounds, perhaps-but
it felt oddly balanced.

Saeed opened
the box and looked inside. . .