The Hippopotamus Pool - Elizabeth Peters [155]
‘I think we can be, though. Riccetti knows I won’t turn over so much as a potsherd without proof of that rather important matter. Your assessment of his character is correct, however. He wouldn’t hesitate to slaughter the lot of us, including Ramses, after we have done as he asks. We will pursue our inquiries, but we will have to proceed with great care. The bastard has us neatly boxed in.’
‘You needn’t tell me that. Oh, Emerson, what are we going to do? I confess that for the first time in my life I feel just a little – well – out of my depth.’
‘That state of affairs won’t last,’ Emerson said with conviction. ‘What you need, my dear, is a good stiff whiskey and soda. Shall we drop in at the Luxor bar?’
‘No, we had better get back. The others will be on pins and needles. But,’ I added, smiling bravely at him, ‘I will take you up on that suggestion when we are at the Amelia.’
I was surprised to see how late it was. The sun was low over the western cliffs when we set sail for the West Bank. Emerson smoked for a while in silence and then said, ‘For the time being we must do precisely as he ordered. The absence of either of us from the excavation would surely be noted and reported by one of his spies. Agreed?’
‘We cannot do otherwise. What do we tell the others?’
‘Everything. In a case such as this, even O’Connell can be trusted to keep the thing quiet. He may have a suggestion. We are in no position to overlook any possibility.’
‘True. And one never knows – something may yet turn up!’
The Reader may wonder why I had not seen fit to tell him about my summons to Miss Marmaduke. The omission was not because I had forgotten or because I anticipated a rebuke. I had realized I must change my strategy. If Gertrude was in Riccetti’s pay, the direct, forceful interrogation I had intended might be viewed as a violation of his orders – and the consequences of that were too horrible to contemplate. I would have to proceed with the utmost subtlety, simulating absolute confidence in her, lowering her guard, remaining on the alert for the slightest slip.
Luckily I had cautioned Evelyn and Nefret to refrain from direct accusations and to behave normally. They did not have my skill at extracting information from a reluctant witness, and I had known, when Riccetti’s message came, that I would have to reconsider the situation.
So there was no need to tell Emerson about it. Possibly she would have left by the time we got back.
She had left. And so had Nefret.
We did not discover this for almost an hour. I wondered why the girl was not waiting in anxious expectation, as were Evelyn and Walter, but when I asked about her, Evelyn explained she had gone to her room to rest after Gertrude’s departure.
‘I am afraid I was rather short with the poor woman,’ Evelyn admitted. ‘She kept weeping and wringing her hands and making futile suggestions. She tried Nefret’s nerves even more than she did mine, I believe. We were so worried about you. It is a relief to have you safely back – but I can tell by your faces that the news is bad. What has happened?’
I allowed Emerson to tell them. Evelyn’s distress was so great I had to administer a medicinal glass of whiskey. It did her good, but her agitated inquiries, and those of Walter, made me forget all else until I realized the sun was almost down.
‘Where is Nefret?’ I cried, rising impetuously to my feet. ‘She should have woken by now. There is something wrong.’
She was not in her room, nor on the dahabeeyah. We searched it from stem to stern before one of the crewmen volunteered the information that the young Sitt had gone away in the carriage with the other lady.
‘Did she go of her own accord?’ Emerson asked.
‘Would we allow one to take her away by force?’ The poor fellow sensed something was wrong. His hands flew up in protestation. ‘She smiled at me, Father of Curses, and said she would soon return, and she ran to the carriage,