The Hippopotamus Pool (16 page)

"Named after a member of your family, perhaps?" I inquired with a pardonable degree of sarcasm.

"So I understand," was the smooth reply. "The first American President was descended from—"

"Returning to the subject of the motorcar," Emerson said.

"Emerson," I said rather sharply. "You are forgetting your manners. Miss Marmaduke has not yet been introduced to the gentleman, I believe."

Both acknowledged the introductions with a conspicuous lack of interest. Highly suspicious—or was it? She was not the sort of lady to attract the interest of an impecunious younger son. Sir Edward, however, was the sort of gentleman to engage the interest of any female. I decided that only Gertrude's reaction had been suspicious.

"So you were at Drah Abu'l Naga with Mr. Newberry," I said, hoping to distract Emerson from the motorcar.

I succeeded, for the moment. "Were you present when the fatal accident occurred?" Emerson asked.

"Accident?" Sir Edward looked as bewildered as I felt. It was the first time I had heard of such a thing. "There was no serious accident, Professor. We were singularly fortunate in that respect."

"One of your workmen fell off the cliff to his death," said Emerson. "I would call that a fatal accident."

"Oh, that." The young man's face cleared. "To be sure. Such things occur, however. No, I believe, though the exact date escapes me, that I was not present that day. Is it true, sir, that you are planning to work there this year?"

"How did you hear of that?" Emerson asked.

"From Mr. Newberry," was the prompt, easy reply. "He was most kind to me last year, and I called on him before I left Cairo. I am looking for employment, you see, and I had hoped he would recommend me."

Emerson opened his mouth. I said hastily, "How long will you remain in Luxor, Sir Edward?"

"All winter, if I am fortunate enough to find a position. We poor relations must work for a living."

This time I was not able to forestall Emerson, for his mouth had remained open. "I am planning to work at Drah Abu'l Naga, yes. If you will dine with us tomorrow evening on our dahabeeyah, we may have something to discuss."

Sir Edward expressed effusive delight and I glared at Emerson. "We must be going, Emerson," I said. "Unless you intend to waste the entire morning. You too, Sir Edward, should be up and doing."

"But my dear Mrs. Emerson, I rose at dawn." He did not bother to conceal his amusement. "I have already made the rounds of the antika shops; his lordship is a collector, as you know, and I had hoped to find something that would interest him. However, the best of the dealers was closed—indefinitely, I was told."

"What!" Emerson jumped to his feet, overturning his chair. "Is it Ali Murad of whom you speak?"

"Why, yes."

"Damnation!" Emerson shouted. The poor flowers trembled and cast a shower of purple petals over us. "Come, Peabody. Hurry!"

"You will excuse us, Sir Edward," I said.

"I hope it was nothing I said."

"Well, yes, it was, but you could not have anticipated his response," I admitted.

Sir Edward gallantly assisted Nefret to rise from her chair. She was careful not to look at him, not even when he plucked a fallen blossom from her hair with a smile and a murmured apology. As we hurried off I saw him tuck the little flower tenderly into his waistcoat pocket. He made sure Nefret saw too.

Fortunately I knew where Emerson must be going, since he was out of sight by the time we reached our destination. We found him kicking the closed door of Ali Murad's house.

"Do continue, Emerson, if it will soothe your nerves," I remarked. "Kicking the door can serve no other purpose. We might have anticipated this."

"Hmph," said Emerson. "At least / ought to have anticipated it. The old rascal is shrewder than I thought."

"And guiltier, Emerson."

"Possibly, Peabody, possibly."

"But would fear of us explain his flight? We already have the fragment and the information you wanted; why should he hide from us?"

Emerson let out a profane exclamation. "By Gad, Peabody, you are right again. The only confederate he named was Abd el Hamed. There was no danger to Ali Murad in that; we were already suspicious of Abd el Hamed and might have got his name from any one of several other sources. No. If Murad has gone into hiding it is because he fears someone else. We had better have another little chat with Abd el Hamed. If Ali Murad has warned him, he too may have run for cover."

"Or been permanently silenced," I said.

"Always looking on the bright side, Peabody. Quickly, back to the dinghy."

I would not have been unduly distressed to have found Abd el Hamed weltering in his gore. However, when we got to his house he was sitting on a bench in the courtyard enjoying the sunshine and smoking a water pipe. He appeared so ostentatiously at ease that I suspected he had been warned of our approach—and had, in fact, expected we would come.

Emerson cut short his unctuous greetings. "Still here, are you? Ali Murad is wiser than you; he has gone into hiding."

Hamed gaped in exaggerated surprise. "Hiding from what, O Father of Curses? No doubt Ali Murad enjoys a well-deserved holiday. Alas, I cannot afford such a luxury."

"In that case my hasty journey to warn you was wasted effort," Emerson said. "But perhaps you are unaware that the boy still lives."

The hit was a shrewd one. Hamed's hideous countenance was well schooled in deception, but the stem of the pipe slipped from his hand.

"Your servant was careless," Emerson went on. "Don't bother sending another. David has told me all he knows, and I would take it personally if he were attacked while under my protection."

Hamed had recovered himself. "I know nothing of this. I sent no one after the boy. He ran away from me. He is a liar, an ingrate, a thief—"

"Enough," I said. "Emerson, shall we not search the house?"

"Why bother?" Emerson smiled at Hamed, who was flapping around like a distracted hen. "We have a great deal to do before we begin work on the tomb tomorrow morning." Reaching into his pocket, he flipped a coin at the old man. "For your holiday, Hamed."

Followed by the usual curious crowd, including a goat and several chickens, we descended the hill and made our way to the house where our men were staying. Selim was the first to reach us; his first question was an eager "Is it true, Father of Curses, that you have found the tomb? Where is it? When shall we begin?"

Emerson frowned, but I could tell he was extremely pleased with himself. He shot me a meaningful glance before saying loudly, "That is a secret, Selim, known only to me. Come in the house, all of you. A wise man does not shout his business to the wind."

The conference did not take long, since Emerson (I had begun to suspect) had nothing particular to say. He pursed his lips and looked mysterious and threw out vague hints. The men were extremely impressed, however. After Emerson had told them to be ready in a day or two, we took our departure. Lingering outside the door in order to tie my bootlace, I heard one of them say in awed tones, "Only the Father of Curses could learn such a secret."

"No, it is the magic of the Sitt Hakim," Selim insisted.

"Or the magic of her son. It is known that he talks with afreets and demons ..."

I did not repeat this exchange to Emerson. "What now?" I inquired, after I had caught him up.

"Luncheon," said Emerson. "Let me help you onto your donkey, Miss Marmaduke."

Emboldened by his affability, Miss Marmaduke said, "I am fascinated but bewildered by your activities this morning, Professor. Won't you explain to me why you went in such haste to that house in Luxor and what you said to that hideous old man?"

Emerson proceeded to explain. I have never heard such an unconvincing melange of lies and half-truths, but then I knew Emerson better than she did. After rambling on at unnecessary length about tomb robbers and the royal cache at Deir el Bahri and other unrelated matters, he finished glibly, "I suspected it was Hamed who sent the killer after David. The boy knew too much—and now he has told me what he knew."

"So you will enter the tomb tomorrow morning? How thrilling! I can hardly wait." She raised shining eyes to Emerson.

Nefret, riding next to me, said something under her breath. I decided to take no notice.

It seemed to me that Emerson had overlooked one potential danger, but when I went to look at my patient I found that concern was, unhappily, unnecessary. When we all met at the luncheon table, I reported, truthfully, that David was too ill to be questioned.

"I feared it might happen. Infection is in the air here, and that foot ofhis has been festering for weeks. He is feverish and semiconscious. I intend to keep him under sedation, rousing him only to take liquids."

After lunch I went to sit with the boy, for I was genuinely concerned about his condition. It was not long before Emerson joined me.

"Well done, Peabody. Marmaduke won't bother him if she thinks he ... Oh, curse it! You were speaking the truth. He
is
ill."

Wringing out a cloth, I wiped the lad's face and bony chest. "I believe he will pull through, Emerson. I have dealt successfully with more desperate cases."

"I know it well, Peabody." Emerson placed a hand on my shoulder. "Though I have always been of the opinion that your success is due not so much to your medical skill as your dogged determination. No one would have the audacity to die when you are doctoring them."

I was about to respond with an equally tender speech when Ramses slipped into the room. "Now we can talk," he whispered. "Nefret is having a literature lesson with Miss Marmaduke."

"How clever of Nefret to think of it," I said.

"It was my suggestion," said Ramses. "Couched in such a manner that neither could refuse. Father—"

"Oh, dear," I exclaimed. "Now she will be planning how to get back at you. Ramses, I do wish you would try to get on better with Nefret. Sister and brother—"

"She is not," said Ramses, "my sister." Without giving me time to reply, he turned to Emerson. "Father, you have not yet deigned to take me into your confidence, but I believe I have anticipated your intentions. You have not in fact located the tomb. You hope to do so tonight, by following the thieves who do know its location."

"I had intended to tell you," Emerson said resignedly. "Since I took it for granted you would find out anyhow. The plan is this—"

A low moan from my patient drew our attention to him. He was stirring feebly, his eyes half open, but when I spoke to him there was no response, and the water I held to his lips dribbled down his chin.

"He must take water," I said. "Dehydration is the greatest danger. Emerson, do you hold—"

"Let me try, Mother." Ramses took the cup from me.

He spoke softly into David's ear. The response was astonishing. The dim eyes took on a spark of intelligence, and the swollen lips parted obediently. Supported by Emerson's strong arm, he drank.

"A little more laudanum now," I said, measuring the dose into the rest of the water. He took that too.

"Well!" I exclaimed, as Emerson lowered him onto the pillow. "Howdid you manage that, Ramses? And please don't tell me you mesmerized or threatened him."

"I saved his life," Ramses said. "We are blood brothers. Or will be, as soon as he can spare enough of that fluid to go through the proper ceremony. I did not feel it advisable at the present time."

"Quite right, too," Emerson remarked, watching me replace the bottle of laudanum on the table. "Er—Peabody—"

"Take the bottle, by all means, Emerson."

"I would rather you did it, Peabody. Just don't overdo it, eh? We want to ensure Miss Marmaduke will sleep well tonight, not be in a stupor for several days. And, Ramses ..."

"Yes, Father?"

"Dismiss the idea at once. I strictly forbid it."

"But Father, if Nefret is awake when we leave, she will insist on accompanying us tonight! You surely do not mean to allow a female ..." He stopped with a gulp and an apprehensive look at me. "A young female, a girl, in fact—"

"That decision is your mother's," said Emerson. "But I believe I know what she will say."

"Quite, Emerson. Young she may be, and female, but despite those frightful handicaps she has demonstrated her ability to take care of herself— and others." It was a low blow; Ramses did not like to be reminded of the time Nefret had rescued him from danger, but I felt he needed to be put in his place. Ignoring his reproachful look, I went on, "She is one of us."

"All for one and one for all," Emerson agreed cheerfully. "You may as well give it up, Ramses, I have been trying for years to keep your mother out of these affairs and I have never once succeeded. Nefret is of the same breed, I believe. So, Peabody, you will make sure Miss Marmaduke sleeps soundly tonight?"

"If you believe it to be necessary. She customarily retires early."

"I want to be certain she goes early to her bed and stays in it." Emerson fingered the cleft in his chin. "She may be as silly and harmless as she appears, but the fact remains that it was she who approached us instead of the other way round. Not that we had reason to suspect anything at the time."

"No; but the situation has changed and I agreed we should take no chances. When do you want to leave?"

"As soon after nightfall as is possible. They will do the same; they have a long night's work ahead of them."

I finished sponging David off and covered him with a light sheet. "You really think that the thieves will return to the tomb tonight?"

"If they do not, we have lost nothing," Emerson replied. "But there isa good chance they will believe my claim that I know the location and they will want to remove as much as they can before we get to work. We have been bustling busily back and forth, Peabody, threatening people and stirring things up; I might have learned the truth from any one of a number of sources."

"It was a most ingenious idea, Father," Ramses said in his most patronizing manner. "Mother, if you have other things to do I will sit with David for a while."

I thanked him. But I took the bottle of laudanum with me.