Connie had stayed late at the hospital, and Hannah wanted to have something hot for her when she returned. She had turned on the radio and tuned in to Radio-Canada’s suppertime newscast. Hearing the news in French gave her a feeling of the habitual, of being in her own home. A report had just come on about Jacques Lanctôt, one of the instigators of the 1970 October Crisis. Hannah stopped what she was doing. She wanted to hear this. Luc’s most recent book, the one she was now contracted to translate, was about Lanctôt. Or rather, inspired by him. According to Radio-Canada, he had written an open letter to the newspapers condemning the attack on the World Trade Center in New York. A sentence struck her as the news reader quoted the letter: “Au nom de toutes les victimes innocentes, je crie vengeance.” She stood there, feeling her blood rise. Jacques Lanctôt was speaking out for the victims of terrorists? The previous year, on the thirtieth anniversary of the October Crisis, Lanctôt had given numerous interviews, visibly enjoying his notoriety, acting as though people had lost their memories.
