The Violin Conspiracy

Ray arrives at the intimidating building where the competition will be held. The competition lasts for 10 days; there are four rounds in total, beginning with 60 violinists in the prequalifying round and moving down to six in the final round. American musicians are rarely chosen; only one has ever won the competition, and no American violinist has ever won. Ray’s fellow competitors are largely around his own age or younger, which makes him feel more at home. He notices people looking at him and assumes that it’s because of the color of his skin. However, a woman comes up to him and expresses her sympathy for his lost instrument. Others from all around the world approach him to do the same, and Ray realizes that he’s surrounded by people who truly understand his loss. Another woman approaches him with two friends; she tells him that he’s won her a bet with her friends that he would not engage with a fellow competitor, Mikhail Lezenkov from Serbia. Ray has never heard of him but quickly learns that he’s meant to be his biggest competitor; Ray and Mikhail are believed to be the competition’s frontrunners. Ray considers this and wonders if Mikhail or his family could have arranged the theft of his violin.