Lord of the Silent - Elizabeth Peters [158]
It had obviously come as a considerable relief to Emerson to learn that Sethos could not have been the man behind Sennia’s abduction. I would never have believed him capable of such a thing, but evidently I had greater faith in Emerson’s brother than he did. The knowledge that Sethos had resumed his criminal activities was disappointing but not wholly unexpected. The news that he was threatened by a ruthless new competitor aroused some concern, but was of interest primarily because it explained much that had been a mystery thus far.
“The attacks on us in Cairo were meant to keep us there and induce Ramses to return,” I said. “You remember, Emerson, that I remarked upon how ineffectual they were—”
“We both remarked upon that,” said Emerson, with a sour look at me. “I had begun to suspect—”
“As had I, my dear. Poor Mr. Asad’s death was the only real tragedy, and now we know why the body was brought to us. The killer obviously expected that when Ramses heard of it he would come rushing back to Cairo in order to wreak revenge—and defend us from danger.”
We had settled ourselves comfortably by then, Emerson smoking his pipe and Nefret curled up on the settee next to him. I smiled pleasantly at my son, who began to protest. “Now, Mother—”
“You would have, you know. That is why I tried to keep the facts from you. But,” I went on quickly, “I was wrong to do so. We were also wrong to divide our forces. Now that we are together again and in perfect confidence with one another, I do not doubt we can deal expeditiously with the remaining difficulties.” Emerson opened his mouth, but his expression warned me that I had better go on talking. “I presume that before you removed your—er—guest you persuaded him to confide in you?”
“Precisely what I was about to say,” Emerson grunted. “What is it they are after? A new tomb, I suppose? It must be located in some relatively populous area or this fellow wouldn’t be so determined to get you out of the way. Surely not the East Valley?”
“Well reasoned, Father,” Ramses said. “We had arrived at the same conclusion. It can’t be anything but a tomb, and if the site were remote they could clear it without fear of interruption. This fellow—”
“What do you call him?” I asked.
Ramses looked blank. “We don’t call him anything, Mother. We don’t know who he is.”
“References to him would be simpler if we gave him a nom de guerre,” I explained.
Nefret chuckled. “Quite right. Would you consider ‘X’ too trite?”
“We ought to be able to come up with something more inventive. One of the more unpleasant pharaohs, perhaps? Or el-Hakim, the cruelest and most fanatical ruler of the Fatimite Dynasty?”
“It is just like you, Amelia, to waste time on something so trivial,” Emerson exclaimed. “Where is the damned tomb? The sooner we get at it and clear it—”
“That’s just the trouble,” Nefret said. “Sethos claimed he doesn’t know.”
Emerson jumped to his feet. “He lied. Just give me ten minutes with the bas—um—with him!”
“I think he was speaking the truth, Father,” Ramses said, glancing at his wife. “If you will allow me to continue, I’ll tell you what he said.”
Sethos had admitted that when he returned to Egypt in September it was with every intention of resuming his former business activities. He had not been in communication with his old associates for several years, so he was surprised to learn from one of them that they had been expecting to hear from him since the previous spring. All the Cairo underworld knew that “the Master” had returned; one of the most notorious, a man named Mubashir, had boasted of having spoken with him.
It was apparent that someone had taken advantage of his formidable reputation and habit of anonymity, for reasons which were not difficult to deduce. He was reluctant to approach Mubashir directly, so he decided to throw down the gauntlet, so to speak, by carrying out several thefts, including the robbery of Legrain’s storage magazines and the removal of the statue of Ramses II. This had the desired effect of informing the impostor that a rival had appeared on the scene. It had