Lord of the Silent - Elizabeth Peters [126]
“What shall we do now, Father of Curses?” Hassan asked.
“Await my orders,” said Emerson. “The Sitt Hakim and I will determine what is to be done.”
They went willingly after that promise, and Gargery staggered off to bed, leaning on Fatima. Neither of us felt inclined to lend him a hand, since the staggers were somewhat exaggerated. At last we were alone!
“What shall we do now, Father of Curses?” I inquired.
“I took it for granted that you already had a plan,” said my husband. “Whiskey and soda, Peabody?”
“Yes, thank you. As a matter of fact, I have been thinking.”
“Hell and damnation,” Emerson said mildly. “Well, my dear?”
It had been a rather tiring day, what with one thing and another, but a sip of the genial beverage had the usual inspiring effect.
“We must go to Luxor, Emerson.”
Emerson began muttering to himself. It had once been a habit of his, though he had not done it lately. “Never get accustomed to it. How does she . . . Must?” He sat down with a thump and stared at me. His heavy brows formed a straight line across his manly brow.
“I will explain.”
“Pray do.”
“One of the unsolved mysteries about this business is Mr. Asad’s role. The people who freed him could not possibly have supposed he would succeed in killing Ramses; he hadn’t the strength or the skill to do it. I believe the episode was designed to arouse our interest—”
“It certainly did that,” said Emerson, reaching for his pipe.
“Please, Emerson, do not be sarcastic. I am endeavoring to discuss this in a logical manner. I . . . Curse it, you have made me lose track of what I was saying. In short, Ramses and we were meant to search for Mr. Asad—here, in Cairo. Is that not what we would have done under normal circumstances? Instead, parental affection overcame our sense of duty and we did precisely the opposite of what our opponent had expected. Sending Ramses to Luxor was a serious error. The succeeding incidents, including Sennia’s abduction, were designed to get him back to Cairo.”
“He will certainly come back when he hears about Sennia,” Emerson muttered round the stem of his pipe. “If you had not insisted on keeping the other incidents from him—”
“He would have returned before this. I sometimes think the boy has not much confidence in our ability to take care of ourselves.”
“I cannot imagine how he could have got that impression.”
“Emerson—”
“I beg your pardon, my dear. Well, well. I am not entirely convinced by your reasoning, Peabody, but,” said Emerson, in a refreshing burst of candor, “I am always more comfortable in my mind when we are all of us together. Why can’t we just tell—er—persuade the children to come home?”
“Because the scene of action is in Luxor! I am convinced of it. You were right—”
“I was?” Emerson gave me a look of exaggerated astonishment.
“Emerson, please don’t do that. You were right in suspecting that there is something sinister behind the increase in antiquities theft. It is just like the old days, when Sethos controlled the business. What we learned today proves it: someone is masquerading as the Master. Has it occurred to you that this person may be one of his former lieutenants?”
Emerson shook his head. He appeared to be a trifle dazed.
“That assumption would explain the attacks on us, you see,” I continued. “Revenge for the death of his leader! Furthermore, it would be to the advantage of this individual to keep us away from Luxor. That is why we must go there.”
“Q.E.D.,” muttered Emerson.
“I have it all worked out,” I assured him. “The school holidays begin shortly. We will stay with Cyrus and Katherine. They will be delighted to have us. You and I and Sennia, Gargery and Fatima and Daoud and Selim and Kadija and—”
“Good Gad, Peabody, you can’t expect the Vandergelts to take in a mob like that.”
“—and Basima and—”
“The damned cat? Peabody!”
“The Castle is a very large house, Emerson, and I expect Daoud and Selim may prefer to stay with their kin in Gurneh. We can be ready to leave day after tomorrow. I will wire