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By Root 1210 0

an enemy spy, who had sent Mr. Asad to prevent Ramses from returning to his activities on behalf of the War Office, and an archaeologist, who had found something of value in Luxor which he had determined to exploit for his own gain. Of all people on earth we were the most likely to interfere with such a discovery, not only because of our expert knowledge of the area but because of the bonds of friendship and loyalty that unite us with the members of dear Abdullah’s family. Emerson’s influence with them is paramount, his reputation awe-inspiring. Kuentz feared that once in his presence, Jamil might break down and confess. He was mistaken about that, for the wretched boy’s desire for power and wealth was stronger than loyalty; but he had good reason to be concerned.”

“I’m surprised he didn’t simply kill Jamil,” Nefret said.

“The murder of a member of our family would have brought us here at once, Nefret. Besides, he needed Jamil to spy on you and Ramses and report your activities to him.”

“Get on with it, Peabody,” Emerson grunted.

“Where was I?” I consulted my notes. “Ah, yes. Mr. Kuentz is a German agent, but he is also an archaeologist, and a good one. He recognized that the statue was the discovery of a lifetime; and although he continued to carry out his original assignment, his primary motive from then on was to make himself rich. I daresay he is not the only man who would be seduced from duty by such a prize.”

“I understand his point of view quite well,” said Sethos meditatively.

Being accustomed to his attempts at provocation and distraction, I silenced him with a stern look and went on. “You knew or assumed that the Central Powers had a man in Luxor. I will not ask how you knew, since you wouldn’t answer me, claiming that it is classified information—which it may be—but it would be logical for them to do so. Your role was to find out who he was and what he was doing. In pursuit of these aims you made several trips to Kharga Oasis—as Kuentz had done. The place is a hotbed of subversion, and readily accessible by rail, as the other oases are not. You learned that your counterpart had been there, but nothing more that would enable you to identify him.”

I turned over another page. “It came as a considerable surprise to you, I expect, to find that someone was impersonating you. Why? you must have asked yourself. Could it be that this individual was the German spy you sought, making use of your notorious—er—well-known prestige to win adherents? Or”—I paused to catch my breath—“could it be that there was another player and that the prize was an archaeological discovery of great value?”

“I thought you were going to state facts,” Sethos said.

“Those were rhetorical questions,” I explained. “But if you would care to answer them . . .”

“Why not?” said my brother-in-law, with an appearance of candor that aroused the direst of suspicions. “You seem to have it all worked out anyhow.

“I hadn’t been in Luxor for two days when I began hearing rumors about a great discovery. One hears such things frequently, of course; usually the rumors are false. The rumors about the return of the Master were more serious, and when I recognized one of my former hirelings I decided I had better move cautiously in reestablishing contact with my old organization. As you know, I wasn’t cautious enough.”

He paused to light a cigarette. “Continue, if you please,” I said.

“Do you really want to hear all these tedious details?” He blew out a cloud of smoke.

“No,” said Emerson. “I want to get back to the shrine.”

“I believe I can summarize the main points,” I said. “You wondered why, if the impostor meant to take over the antiquities business, he hadn’t stolen anything. We know the reason now, of course; the magnitude of the find was such that he did not want to attract the attention of the authorities until he had made arrangements to remove and dispose of the statue. Suspecting something of the sort, you decided to challenge him—a typically reckless and ill-considered move, I might add—by carrying out several daring thefts. Was destroying