Crocodile on the Sandbank - Elizabeth Peters [110]
“But that is not the important thing. His lordship has a confederate—not a hired native, but a man as dedicated to evil as he is. That confederate is the man who is playing the role of the Mummy. This man’s whereabouts, prior to his public appearance here, are unknown. I believe he came here some time ago and set the scene for the drama—bribing Mohammed, introducing the mummy Walter found into an empty tomb. His costume, his role were planned well in advance—probably in Cairo, where, I imagine, young Lord Ellesmere arrived earlier than he led you to believe. Do you have an idea who this confederate might be?”
“No. Lucas must have bribed him well. Of course it could be a friend of Lucas’s—one of his companions in vice. I do not know them. But, Emerson, there is one great flaw in your argument. How could they know where to set the scene? We did not plan to stop here—”
“Then Reis Hassan is a liar. He informs me that you laid out your itinerary while still in Cairo, and that he tried several times to dissuade you from it.”
“Oh, that. I did mention the possibility of visiting Amarna—along with a number of other sites. But how could Lucas know?”
“From Michael, I imagine. Did he have an opportunity to speak with him before you left Cairo?”
“He did indeed,” I said grimly. “And to think that we introduced them, so that Michael might assist Lucas in the selection of a dragoman…. Good God, what a fool I was!”
“You had no reason to suspect any danger. Nor did Michael. His lordship was your friend, Evelyn’s relation. It was not until developments here became serious that Michael began to wonder about his harmless indiscretion. He is an intelligent man, and devoted to you body and soul; on the day of his disappearance he asked to speak to you alone—”
“And Lucas heard him! He struck him down and spirited him away.”
“Not Lucas, but one of his men. He kept the poor fellow prisoner in one of the caves that are so common in these cliffs, and when we obstinately refused to succumb to the laudanum he had placed in our wine, he carried Michael here to distract us while his confederate reached Evelyn.
“I must admit that the fellow has imagination; he acts brilliantly and unhesitatingly in emergencies, and makes good use of any fortuitous circumstances that can be turned to account. My illness was one such lucky accident—lucky for him—but I feel sure he and his confederate had planned some means of detaining you here—damage to the dahabeeyah, or to one of us. At that point in time, his lordship had not determined to commit murder. He hoped to attain his ends by less drastic means, although it seems clear he prepared for the worst, in case it should become necessary. And I was misled. Not until you were attacked this afternoon did I fully realize that Evelyn was the real object of the attentions we have been receiving, and even then I was fool enough to suppose that once she had accepted Walter, his lordship would give up his idiotic and dangerous games.”
Emerson extended his stick once again out the entrance. Another shot rang out, followed by the splintering of rock.
“Still there,” he said. “I wonder how long he means to keep us here. We are safe so long as we do not confront him. He will have some specious excuse to explain why he failed to rescue Evelyn; I think the fellow is actually vain enough to suppose he can get away with it. Shall we save our skins, Peabody, and sit still?”
“While Evelyn is in the clutches of that monster?” I demanded. “Don’t bait me, Emerson; you have no more intention of accepting this than I do. Do you think Walter—”
“I am extremely concerned about Walter,” said Emerson; I knew him well enough now to hear the controlled agony under his calm tones. “But at the moment we can do nothing to help him or Evelyn until we understand what is behind this affair. There is some more desperate motive