Death Comes as End - Agatha Christie [62]
Imhotep shook his head doubtfully. Henet went on.
‘Besides, Imhotep, you must remember that Ipy was not Ashayet’s son–he was born to your sister Ankh. Why, then, should Ashayet concern herself violently on his behalf? But with Yahmose, it will be different–Yahmose will recover because Ashayet will see to it that he does.’
‘I must admit, Henet, that your words comfort me…There is much in what you say. Yahmose, it is true, recovers strength now every day. He is a good loyal son–but oh! for my Ipy–such spirit–such beauty!’ Imhotep groaned anew.
‘Alas! Alas!’ Henet wailed in sympathy.
‘That accursed girl and her beauty! Would I had never set eyes on her.’
‘Yes, indeed, dear master. A daughter of Seth if ever I saw one. Learned in magic and evil spells, there can be no doubt about it.’
There was a tap of a stick on the floor and Esa came limping into the hall. She gave a derisive snort.
‘Has no one in this house any sense? Have you nothing better to do than bleat out curses against an unfortunate girl who took your fancy and who indulged in a little feminine spite and malice, goaded by the stupid behaviour of the stupid wives of your stupid sons?’
‘A little spiteful malice–is that what you call it, Esa? When, of my three sons, two are dead and one is dying! Oh! that my mother should say such a thing to me!’
‘It seems necessary that someone should say them since you cannot recognize facts for what they are. Wipe out of your mind this silly superstitious belief that a dead girl’s spirit is working this evil. It was a live hand that held Ipy head down in the lake to drown, and a live hand that dropped poison into the wine that Yahmose and Sobek drank. You have an enemy, yes, Imhotep, but an enemy here in this house. And the proof is that since Hori’s advice was taken and Renisenb herself prepares Yahmose’s food, or a slave prepares it while she watches and that her hand carries it to him, since then, I say, Yahmose has gained health and strength every day. Try to stop being a fool, Imhotep, and moaning and beating your head–in all of which Henet is being extremely helpful–’
‘Oh, Esa, how you misjudge me!’
‘In which, I say, Henet assists you–either because she is a fool too, or for some other reason–’
‘May Ra forgive you, Esa, for your unkindness to a poor lonely woman!’
Esa swept on, shaking her stick in an impressive gesture.
‘Pull yourself together, Imhotep, and think. Your dead wife Ashayet, who was a very lovely woman and not a fool, by the way, may exert her influence for you in the other world, but can hardly be expected to do your thinking for you in this one! We have got to act, for if we do not then there will be more deaths.’
‘A live enemy? An enemy in this house? You really believe that, Esa?’
‘Of course I believe it, because it is the only thing that makes sense.’
‘But then we are all in danger?’
‘Certainly we are. In danger not of spells and spirit hands, but of human agency–of live fingers that drop poison in food and drink, of a human figure that steals up behind a boy who returns late at night from the village and forces his head down into the waters of the lake!’
Imhotep said thoughtfully: ‘Strength would be needed for that.’
‘On the face of it, yes, but I am not sure. Ipy had drunk much beer in the village. He was in a wild and boastful mood. It may be that he returned home unsteady on his feet and that, having no fear of the person who accosted him, he bent of his own accord to bathe his face in the lake. Little strength would be needed then.’
‘What are you trying to say, Esa? That a woman did this thing? But it is impossible–the whole thing is impossible–there can be no enemy in this house or we